Day 2

I tried to think of a better title than "Day 2" but I came up with nothing, so I'm going with it. =)

So, I started the day with an amazing hike over a mountain and around a beach. Rocky took four of us. Rocky is the owner of Rocky Road, the place I'm staying. There is a girl from Germany that I'm sharing a room with. She's here volunteering for three months and just finished secondary school. There is also another couple here for two days. They're backpacking through South Africa. So, all of us went and it was absolutely amazing. I am blown away at the scenery here. It is also pretty nice that I hiked in shorts and a t-shirt and it's the middle of the winter here!

Katie and I met with the kids after school today and Frya (my roommate) came with us. Katie asked them to write down everything they know about HIV. I was very impressed with how much they know. It was really interesting to hear their perceptions and talk about how the people in the village perceive things as well. One girl said that people don't want to get tested because the nurses at the clinic gossip in the village about who's getting tested and about the test results. Most of the kids in the group got tested last year when they did an HIV and AIDS awareness week. They talked about how it felt to get tested. It was a great conversation and the kids were respectful. There was a big discussion around why they know so much and the rest of the people in the village know so little about HIV. One girl said it's because people don't want to learn about it because they're scared.

I'll be working with the kids again tomorrow and possibly at a camp this weekend for kids learning about the environment, so that'll be great. The little kids are SO friendly! They will run right up to you and hug you. The girls love to play with my hair! It's funny to hear them chatting away to me in Africans and when I say "What?" they just laugh hysterically. They can understand English for the most part, but they can't speak it well, yet. They start learning English in first grade, so the kids in the group are fluent.

The weather has been awesome. It's really warm during the day - low 70s and cold at night! When the sun sets I definitely have long pants on and a fleece jacket. There is always a fire going inside at night, which is really nice.

All right, I've been in front of my laptop for quite some time now responding to emails and typing this, so I'm off!!