I also found out today that "it's OK" means "yes", not "no, it's OK, don't worry about it" as I'm used to. That's why everyone gets confused when I say "no, it's OK"! I also learned that "grades" are called "classes" and "classes" are called "subjects". When someone says "What will you take?" or "And what to take?" it means "What would you like to drink?" Although everyone I've talked to speaks English, I've been having a hard time understanding people. It's not that their accents are hard to understand, it's just that things are said in a different manner than I'm used to. I can't quite explain it. I usually have to repeat and confirm what people say to me.
This afternoon we visited the Meru School for Mentally Challenged Children where MKMF has three different projects. The 138 students (72 boys and 66 girls) who attend the school live in dorms and MKMF sponsors 5 of them for their boarding fees which the government doesn't cover. MKMF also dug a fishpond there which they stocked with tilapia and mudfish, who normally feed on tilapia, to keep the population in check. In addition, MKMF worked on a water project there to supply water to the school.
I couldn't get over how beautiful and clean and neat the school is. Everything is immaculately kept, even the dorms were nice and tidy inside. The school also seems to be run in a very organized manner. For example, there are three different levels of classes for children with autism. In each class they are taught depending on their abilities. I was excited to find out that they have art classes, which public schools in Kenya don't commonly have. Tomorrow I'm going to look into helping out at one of the classes. In addition, they have nature and music classes. Some of the kids help out around the school cooking, cleaning, and working in the vegetable gardens. I was really impressed.
We went on a shopping trip later in the day at a big supermarket (which turned out to be more like a Walmart) so I could pick up some shampoo and tennis shoes. I wasn't sure what my size would be but when I looked in one of the shoes I saw the usual American sizes I'm used to, so I asked for a 9. I should have known that was wrong by the reaction I got. It turns out they use UK sizes here and after a few tries I ended up being a 7.
When I got home, Barita told me she'd run out of ideas for dinner and asked if I had any suggestions. I knew there were a ton of tomatoes in the fridge so I suggested tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Vegetable oil is used more commonly here and Barita didn't know what pepper was. We did happen to find some shoved in the back of all the spices though. After explaining how it's made, they were still a little confused about how it's cooked. I told them you don't cook it, just eat it plain. They found that really strange.
I ended up making spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and garlic bread for everyone. I was nervous Alexia would hate it because she was disgusted by all the spices I was using but she ended up loving it! Barita wouldn't stop talking about how good it was and called Dorcas to tell her what she'd missed out on. She said she was going to throw some over to her so she could catch it and try it. Later Barita said she didn't want to eat another thing because she would lose the sweet taste in her mouth. I'm supposed to make it again next week!