What to Say?

Man... I've been thinking all week about what to write here. I've been told my blog is lame (sniffle), and I've been told it looks like I'm 'having a lot of fun', so maybe my content hasn't been quite right. I just... got nothin' better.

For the last 2 weeks my knee has still been a pain. I have a knot in there, which seems like a not-good thing. Turns out, walking a lot isn't nice, but a whole lot better than chooing. That deep of a squat, with all my weight - super painful! I can hear it crack and grind, too, which is just nasty. Whatever. Monday I crashed, again, on the very same knee. We were on the way to my house -almost there!- and slid in the mud. It was enough to bruise and scratch it, but mostly just hurt my poor knee's pride. So, I'm deciding to take a whole month off from boda bodas. We'll see if that helps.

My org is planning a World AIDS Day event. Sort of. If we can move past donors onto actual activities and content, at least. So, don't hold your breath.

I've been practicing the cloth pads from the Many Moons design. It's good, and seems to be working. They are costing around 20/= a piece. When I asked the women what they would charge/pay for these, they say 10/=. Regular disposables cost 10/=!! We clearly need to have some talk on pricing goods, as well as investment. But, the positive, we are generating interest and curiousity.

As for the assistance from you all, from Cheryl and OU, and the other private donors out there, let me again say Thank You! I am thinking about a "symbolic" donation, where a certain amount of money equals a number of pads. We could then just buy the materials here with that money, saving the shipping expense and stress. Or, directing that money to LunaPads, to keep things concentrated and to also give props to the ladies there for their generosity and kindness. What do you all think?

Also: I doubt I'll be back here for 3 weeks, until just before Thanksgiving. We are going out to Nairobi to dine with Embassy families, which is awesome! Sorry for the slightly long delay there. But, after that, life will be sweet - a week for turkey day, then a week at site, then back to Kitui for IST, followed by Xmas (also in Nairobi) and then a trip to Lamu for the New Year.

It sounds like a big vacation, I know, but I swear - we do work sometimes! And all of us are realizing Kenya doesn't really need PH PCVs. Good thing then there are 52 set to arrive in May! (where the hell are they going to stick all those suckers???)

Oh, and, the body count is now at 5. So, that's, what... 36 of us left?

And, before I forget, 'cause I know you're all just dying to hear, Cathy really has died. I was going on the hibernation thing, until I came home and found him, um, 'skeletal', due to the efficient red ants. Happily (?) he has been replaced by a loudmouth too rude to introduce himself. At least the new one poops less.