After breakfast, we headed across the street for our Kiswahili lesson. Our mwalimu (teacher) was Joyce. She was full of energy and taught us three verb tenses and a lot of new vocabulary! The class started with us saying our names, such as "Mimi ni Kate" (I am Kate). Throughout the rest of class, Joyce called on us rapid-fire to answer her quiz-like questions, catching some off guard!
After our lesson, we rested some from all of the new information and played games. Next was lunch. The squad split up into three groups depending on where people wanted to eat. My group went with Ken and Karen to Sai Villa and got to hear all about the crazy things that have happened to them on safari.
Our group then headed to the marketplace which was somewhat hidden in an alley. The clouds were rolling in as we walked over, and the rain hit just as we got there! The market people all said, "karibu (welcome), come inside, come inside!" The people are very kind here. We all walked away with new things though! They are very persuasive. The other groups visited other restaurants and visited a shop with crafts such as sewn bags and pillow cases made by disabled people.
Another "highlight" from today was our fluid mechanics lesson. We did problems for the first hour, then went over the solutions. Cathy and Ken explained in detail what our goals will be in the villages too, such as gathering all necessary qualitative and quantitative information for designing a water system.
Dinner came next. We walked over to Sai Villa as a group of 21 this time instead of seven. Dinner was potluck style because we pre-ordered 15 or so dishes to share. As the food came, we passed each plate around the entire table, like a real family! We all tried naan and its accompanying sauce with meat or veggies and many types of pizza. One of my favorite parts of dinner was explaining the ways of being Minnesotan to the out-of-staters.
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Katelyn Y.
