Only in Africa...

So I know it’s been awhile since I last posted…so get ready for two new posts!  So much has happened in the past three weeks, but I will try to hit the highlights. 

Of course, we love spending time with the kids here at Mariann; but we have also loved getting to know the teachers.  They are a hoot!  We’ve started a staff movie night every Friday.  Which movies have we watched so far?  “The Sandlot” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.” J  Our friend, Susan (aka “black mzungu” or “black American”—the kids’ nickname), was especially captivated by the movies.  At the point in “The Sandlot” where Benny hits the ball so hard toward the camera, Susan jumped because she thought that the ball would come out of the screen!  We find that we have to explain some things—the game of baseball, the Fourth of July, why animals are talking, etc.—but I think it only adds to the experience! 

Mr. Silas is quite the character; I hope that all of you will meet him one day.  The other night, I went up to the teachers’ lounge to socialize.  Mr. Silas asked me, “Katy, do you sleep under a mosquito net?”  I answered, “Yeah, even though we don’t really need one here.”  And he said, “Oh, no.  You’ve got some mosquito bites here (motioning towards the side of his face).”  I realized that he was talking about my zits and said, “Unfortunately, those are not mosquito bites.”  Ha!  Thankfully, Africa has conditioned me not to get embarrassed and take these hilarious instances in stride. 

Just the other night, there was a snake in Standard 8’s classroom.  *Side note: Monte Cox (aka Arap Sang), who was a missionary here for over a decade, said that he only saw a snake once in all of his journeys through the bush.*  A student from Class 8, Laban, calmly came to the door of the teachers’ lounge, knocked, asked if he could enter, and informed us that there was a snake.  Quite a different reaction than an American—I would have run in there and screamed!  We all rushed to see the small green snake, which was quickly stomped by Mr. Silas.  This is how the conversation went down afterwards:

            Us: What kind of snake is that?  Is it a black mamba? (half-jokingly)

            Silas: I think it is a type of black mamba.

            Us: What?!?!  Will it hurt us?

            Silas:  It is not harmful, but somewhat dangerous.

            Us:  What?!  It is not harmful, but dangerous.  Isn’t that the same thing?

            (Five minutes later)

            Silas: It is not dangerous.

So, we have only been here five months, and we have seen what may or may not be a dangerous snake.