Sunday 1 Feb

I got up early and took a cab to the pool to meet my internship supervisor a day early. The first day of the internship was scheduled for Monday but Evan, the internship coordinator, told me I could meet Mary Beth, my supervisor with the kids at the pool on Sunday. So I went. The cabby, joking around, tried to charge me 50 N$ for the ride which would only be 5$ in America, probably an appropriate amount for the distance. However the price is only supposed to be N$ 7.50 or $.75 American. I promptly and sternly told him “no”. He laughed and said "haha ok ok" and gave me the correct change.
I walked up to the entrance of the pool where about 200 kids were sitting. I asked them if they were from Catholic AIDS Action to which they said yes. I told them I was Clarke and I would be working with them this semester. They all promptly jumped up and surrounded me. They instantly want to touch you, look at your watch, feel your arm hair because its so different, feel your hair hair which they say is very soft and be all over you. We played some hand games while waiting for Mary Beth. She took her bike around the back end of the pool and when the kids saw her they all started chanting her name. They know what to do as well because they line up by girls and boys. She gives them a prep talk before going in and tells them to behave. I meet her and the other volunteer from Germany, about my age, Barbara. Barbara says if I like having kids all over me I might as well jump in. So I got to the locker room to change. The boys room has recently burned down so after climbing over the door lying on its side to get in imagine a room where the burnt ash and effluvia of the ceiling are all over the floor. There are holes above you letting the sky in and burnt and blackened pipes lying crippled from the ceiling every which way. I changed in a little cubby with no curtiain, I wasn’t worried, no one else was coming in. It smelt like fecesand urin. I went to the bathroom on one of those large metal wall urinals where it is literally a wall that several men can pee on at once. It was warped from the heat of the fire.
I then got in the pool with the kids. Ten of them jumped on me at once. It was so much fun. You just throw them around and have a ball with them. Take some to the deep end etc. I then actually go to teach 10-12 boys for a while. They loved it and were pretty attentive for a bunch of really enthusiastic little kids. It was awesome. I had a nosebleed so I had to get out for a while. I talked to Mary Beth and found out about her travels to south America and the middle east and now here. I met Cathy from New Zealand and Lynn from England. Both of these women help Mary Beth out and are referred to as Grandma. It was a really good time.
I then took a cab ot the parliament gardens to meet the rest of the crew for our community meeting which was really nice. Kristen laid out he basics and told us she was a bit homesick. We played an awesome game of ultimate and I sucked a little bit. Then we went home and chilled out and got ready for the internship.