Week in numbers and photo links :)

6: Mosquitos I counted INSIDE my mosquito net this morning
80: Gifts delivered to Red Rose elementary kids on Friday
1.23 million (ok I don't know but a lot): Bacteria residing in my stomach following traditional goat boil last Wednesday
3: Papers I need to finish by Friday in order to go camping in Naivasha this weekend!!! (following unproductive weekend due to above-mentioned bacterial condition...)

So ya, apparently two months is a pretty standard time in which some local bug gets you. My friend Sufia says she thinks it's the adrenaline you have when you first arrive that helps boost your immune system, because everyone she knows has succumbed to something or other right around the two month mark. My guardian angels intervened and let me get through the week (there were minor indicators starting Wednesday night) so I could attend a really neat meeting in Buru Buru with a local fair trade group who has registered on World of Good already (I presented the marketplace at a meeting about three weeks ago) and needed some guidance getting their inventory and shipping issues worked out. I also got to attend and play Santa Claus at the Red Rose Elementary Christmas party on Friday - which in true Red Rose fashion was a seriously wonderful and fun experience. I was joined by one of the few international students I've met at U of Nairobi, Lars (he's an undergrad taking six courses of some sort from Germany) and some Kenyan Rotoract friends Rosemary and Evans, who also helped me wrap the goodie bags we brought for the kids. I still haven't sorted out internet so I'll direct you to the Red Rose site to see the albums and I'm sure many unflattering pictures - but hopefully you can tell what a treat it was that my food poisoning held off until approximately two hours after the party concluded. See the blog post and links to the photo albums here. Talk about the Christmas spirit - these kids just might carry me through my first Christmas away from home.

After the party I came and laid down for a nap, thinking four hours of dancing with 3-9 year olds had taken its toll. I woke up achey from head to toe, and with a fever that would grow through the night. The stomach problems didn't really start until the next day, but suffice it to say I didn't really leave my bed (let alone the house) until this morning when I went to the doctor for a rehydrating IV drip. Wow - talk about feeling better - I wish I could keep one of those in my closet! So I've survived my first Kenyan food poisoning and while the heat in this cyber cafe is threatening to undo all the good of this morning's drip I should be back in class tomorrow or Wednesday. The truly tragic thing about this all is that I appear to have lost any desire for goat meat, which I really, really liked.