Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh….how to describe our last two weeks…?
Well, to start off, the leader of the organization introduced the conference as a scam (Not too promising). The first few days were pretty shaky. Our room had cracked walls and maybe a few ghosts and Carrye’s bed was eternally wet, but it gradually started to become more comfortable. The town we were in is called Mlalo and is located in the mountains and dinosaurs live there. We (Emily and Lizzy) swear. We saw them.
We were supposed to do some tree planting, but it involved two trees and a couple plants. On the plus side, we got taken to a lot of schools and got a chance to really interact with kids. We had a discussion about corruption with some of the upper level students.
The best part of the summit was being able to help out in the kitchen with Mama Elisa and Dada Pia. Mama was a temporary grandmother to everyone and made fun of me (Emily) for farting in the kitchen all the time. We had three really awesome cultural nights. Kim, Carrye, Sally, Rosy, and Marshall did American night and made potatoes and eggs and banana bread. Miriam and the two of us cooked for Korean night with a Korean volunteer named Sasa. She taught us how to make two types of Korean pancakes and cold vegetable tea stuff and a spongey egg thingamabob quiche-y magiger. Vegans have sadness.
Mlalo was so amazingly beautiful and we all took a lot of epic walks. Some people went to pride rock and some climbed to the cross.
On Easter, the bells started going off at 4 in the morning and then suddenly a marching band started playing right outside our room and, seeing as I (Emily) wasn’t going to be going to sleep anytime soon, I ran outside and followed some kids down the path to the cemetery. A huge crowd gathered around a cross and was listening to the preacher as she passionately preached about Easter. It was awesome. A bunch of us dressed up and went to church later that day.
Custard apples exist in the mountains and they are delicious. Like creamy mangoes with a bunch of seeds. Pear peeling is the greatest thing in the world. Sugar may or may not belong on pasta. We are addicted to rice. Donuts taste better when you sneak them. Ugali is fine with us. It means we can eat with our fingers.
Love you all!
Emily and Lizzy (Bob)
