Butterflies and kamikaze motorcycles

We had a great last couple of days with the kids, they braided my hair and taught me some of their songs and dances. For anyone who remembers, Victor, the little boy with the bee sting, has been taking his medication and has both eyes open again.On Friday we said good-bye to Priscilla, Alfred, Judy and the students, which was very hard. Priscilla wanted to keep Nikki and I to raise us to be "fine Kenyan women" and learn to balance things on our head and stuff. We took a Matatu from Vihiga to Kima, which is our next stop. What is a matatu you ask? A matatu is a 15-person van (though the Kenyans usually manage to fit about 25 people in) that acts as the main form of public transit in Kenya. When looking for a way to describe the driving style of matatu drivers, I could come up with only one comparison, the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. Thank goodness I don't have a weak stomach! Though we shall see how I feel on Wednesday, after our six hour matatu ride... The drive to Kima would be about a 15 minute drive on a well-maintained road....however, these are NOT well-maintained roads. There are so many potholes that the drivers often go off-road because it's smoother.

Kima is a one-road town which is the home of the next organization we're volunteering with, called Kipepeo (meaning "butterfly" in Swahili). When we arrived we had drinks and introductions and I was surprised by the number of international volunteers they have! There are people here from Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, New Zealand, and the Czech Republic. To get to our hotel, we had the option of taking motorcycles, another form of public transit. Of course I said yes. The plan was for my dad to go first, me second, then Laurissa third. However, my driver obviously did not hear this plan as the moment I was on he took off, leaving my dad far behind. The ride itself was very fun, with no helmet or anything, but I became nervous when I lost sight of everyone. There I was on the back of a motorcycle driven by a strange man into the dark countryside with no sight of anyone I knew. I was just planning how I was going to jump off when he pulled into the hotel...and I am still alive.

Yesterday was a day of volunteering with the street kids and today Jethron (one of the unnaturally energetic leaders of Kipepeo) took us on a hike up one of the boulder-covered hills. The scenery was incredibly beautiful! I now sit here covered in a layer of sweat wishing for a bottle of water. It was worth it though! I don't know when I'll have internet again, but I hope it won't be too long!

Holly