Another Day at SAFI

It's beautiful I tell ya!

It's been a good one. A run was not in the cards for me in the morning. I don't have an alarm, so that obviously didn't work. Luckily Emily and Camille plan on waking everyone who doesn't have an alarm up for our morning runs/walks.

The food science students (including me) met with Dr. Steele to discuss odds and ends concerning Emily's solar drying proposal for here at SAFI. It was an informative meeting. Then we hurried along with Betha and did some anthropometric measurements on the little kids at day care. We wrote down their names and asked them their age and such and then measured their weight and height. We used a wooden board with the measuring tape attached on both sides and then used a wooden board to make sure we were reading it correctly and then recorded it. Then we sent them to be weighed. It was not very exact, that's for sure. They would round the numbers a lot; we were just there to assist. Since it is the families that are leaving, it is best to measure them the way that they were measured in the beginning when they first came into the program. At least that's how I assume it's going down and the main purpose of it all to see improvements.

Anyway, the funny thing was that the really little kids were incredibly scared of us. Some of them would start crying once they got closer to us, or they would just stare at us with those big eyes! So cute! I can't blame them, I mean really. Most of them are probably seeing a white person for the first time, and my goodness, there are four of them! It reminds me of how I vaguely remember being in nursery. All I remember was crying because my Mom was leaving me and not wanting to be anywhere near those strange faces! We must have seemed like aliens to those kids with our white faces looking at them and measuring them. It probably gave them nightmares…let's hope not.

Next stop: Reading.

I started reading up on the solar dryer that we are going to be working with. We have set up a plan of how our weeks are going to go. It looks pretty good! Hopefully we stay on schedule. Some decisions need to be made still, but we are getting it figured out. Emily is really good at leading, and she is a good student facilitator. She's pretty dang organized, that's a huge plus. Camille and Nicolle have been working on their papers and getting sources and such. Sounds like no fun to me, but they have been really dedicated. I'm impressed. Who knows what Adam does…but really, no one knows what Adam does.

This chair would be an awesome reading chair. I want to make it when I come back. It seems simple enough of a concept. We shall see. I'm no master wood worker.

Workouts, oh yeah!

Here's our plan: Wake up and run, and then after dinner we will use a Jillian Michael's DVD (compliments of Camille) and then a Yoga DVD (compliments of Nicolle).

Last night was so great! I seriously loved working out! Aaaah! It is so fun! I love the burn and I just love it all. I feel so good afterwards. If I didn't workout, I think I would go crazy.

 Before Jillian Michael's workout DVD.

Okay, so this is what I think everyone in the picture is thinking...Me: Mhmm...let's get this started. Renee: I'll punch yo lights out! Camille: I've been holding this position for hours! Emily: Why are we doing this again guys? Nicolle: Who put Baby in a corner? Get her out of there.

(These statements in no way reflect what was actually been said or thought for that matter in this exciting time of working out for the before statements, and the following statements. These are intended for humor and laughter, or as Dr. Steele would put, ROFL.)

After Jillian. Before Yoga.

Me: Guys, that really burned. Camille: Next time, no cameras. Renee: Guys, that was nothing, I am super calm right now. Emily: Yeah, you can't touch this. Nicolle: Mmm...guys, I think I've developed a nervous twitch.

After Yoga.

Me: Must. Hold. Position. Renee: All I'm saying guys, is that I'm totally at peace right now. Camille: Where'd Jillian go, I can totally take her right now. Emily: I am grounded with the Earth. My spine has elongated and I feel whole. Nicolle: This is not a Kodak moment. I will use my Yoga powers to destroy your camera!

This morning I was able to go for a run. It was amazing. I stuck with it even though I hadn't been running in a long time, and it was worth it. Apparently lots of the Malawians were laughing at Camille and me as we ran by because they stay in shape by doing their harvesting, and making dinner and repairing parts of their house, or balancing things on their heads to carry them as they walk around (so jealous of their talent). That makes sense to me I guess. At one point, I ran by a bunch of kids and they were yelling 'asungu'!! It's just so funny! Another little girl started running a little bit with me with a big smile on her face. It was pretty funny. Another man was walking the other direction and with a smile asked, 'Are you running?' I told him, 'Yes, yes I am running.' He said, 'Oh good. Have a good day.' It was so sweet…even if he was laughing at me after he walked by.

Last night was interesting. I probably had the coolest dream ever! So, I don't remember it all, obviously, but we'll work through what I remember…

So it all started on a very high building. I was there atop it and had a knowledge that I have super powers. Suddenly, I see Spider-Man there too. He's chillin' on top of the building with me because that's what he does sometimes. Anyway, suddenly, we both realize danger is coming, but mine is not the spidey sense kind, I'm just super smart or something I guess. So Spider-Man suddenly lost his webbing, and somehow I could fly with my powers, so I carried him along and we flew away. It was a pretty rough air chase and we were dodging attacks from I don't even know what was chasing us. Then I needed a break, so we landed. All of the sudden, this evil gang came out of nowhere and was out to get him. I was sick and tired of the madness, so I used a series of kickboxing moves to scare them off and get them out of my way. We ran inside a building and took the elevator up. There was another Spider-Man that looked exactly like him but he didn't have any powers. It was so strange. So then I started taking him around with me or else he would have definitely gotten beaten to death by the gang too! Anyway, we end up finally away and really high up on this concrete slab connecting two skyscrapers together. Somehow, this other chick was there too. She loved one of the Spider-Man's, yadda yadda. We were just trying to do some figuring out as to who was who and what was with the lack of webbing or any of Spider-Man's powers and such. This part gets a little hazy now…but I just remember it being some kind of thing where the Spider-Man's had what the other was lacking in power and then they decided to give the full power back to the original Spider-Man, and then one girl ended up being with the normal guy, and then some other girl ended up being with the original Spider-Man. Wahoo! Happy ending!

So I thought it was a happy ending at first when I woke up…but now as I've been thinking about it, it kind of was, but wasn't. I'm glad they ended up happy and all, but I helped out two Spider-Man dudes…how did I not end up with either of them?! These girls came out of nowhere, seriously, they came out of nowhere! Oh well, it happens. Right? When you have super powers, you don't end up with someone else maybe…oh wait, the original Spider-Man ended up with that lady and she didn't have any powers. Oh well, it is what it is. Plus, I don't actually have super powers, but I can still use those kickboxing moves on people. Meh, I'm satisfied.

I wonder what I'll dream about next!