Youth Voices: Frenzied Fortnights

Starting with Joyce's return and a long conversation on how people here will take hippos in as pets and use them to hunt people they don't like, [HAHAHA], this week has been the best yet.

Another hippo fun fact: to assert their dominance over each other, they spray their turd as far as they can. That is fascinating…thank you, Hope.

Hope has been on a hunt to find the hippo that lives on the shore of ICIPE. Apparently, it has been spotted before. We have spent hours parkouring on the trees to get a glimpse. Hope fell into the water [HAHAHA]. Worth it? Yes.

I started drinking coffee this week. On Tuesday, Hope and I ended up drinking two shots of espresso with Joyce. We played SPIT (if you don't know this game, you do not know me), and it was definitely the most mind-boggling game I've ever played. Since I'm lactose intolerant, I've just been adding water, sugar, and cocoa powder. We've also been trying foam art! Later on Tuesday, we were chefs in the kitchen. We made spinach, ugali, and fish. It was very good, but the spinach was so bitter - I realized I had forgotten to add any type of sweetener/spice.

Then, the next morning, we got up bright and early for our road trip to Mgori County at 6 AM. Little did we know, the car would be coming at 10 AM. Cruel. We ventured in the ICIPE car to farmers' houses. I loved our interviewees today. First, we entered this lavish home decorated with children's accomplishments and posters of Jesus. She was the type of person that, when she smiled, you would want to smile. She understood most of our questions, and soon enough, she served us tea and bananas...[CONTINUE READING]