If you though this experience would change me to like manual labor, you thought wrong (LOL)

I am at my half way mark!! Wow, it's going by incredibly fast. Last week I didn't do too much of anything. One day I went with Dela to paint someone's house. I didn't mind the work so much but the fumes were getting to me a little. My eyes were burning and my nose was running. I thought, this can't be a good sign (lol). So when Dela informed me that we'd be coming back to finish the rest of the house (total of like 5 or 6 days) I had to let him know I didn't know if I was down with it. I am trying to be as open to everything as possible but when I feel like paint fumes are poisoning my body... nah, I'm okay. Then another day he went to harvest some corn and he told me he would come and get me when he needed my help, and sorry if this is going to sound bad but I was really happy that time never came. I really don't like manual labor, and no experience will change that. It's just not how God made me. If anything I've become more willing to help people do it and not complain, but I still dislike it... strongly.

On Wednesday night, Dela put me on the schedule to be the speaker for our bible study class. Although I don't really like speaking to groups of people, it definitely helps that the people I'm speaking to don't understand me that well (if at all). Dela just interpreted for me, so I figured even if I messed up or was sounding bad, he would just make it sound better when he translated it to them. So it was fine. Although, I was suppose to speak for an hour and I think it was maybe 30 minutes. But I think most people were actually happy about that.

One thing that is really interesting about my experience here is that I'm always with Dela, so I feel like I'm understanding everything more so from a man's point of view. For example, last Sunday evening the bible study class came over and all the women cooked. Since I don't really know how to cook what they were cooking and most of the women don't speak English, I just kinda sat back and watched them. Then, when some of the food was finished, the women served the men and as the men ate the women finished cooking their food. Dela invited me to eat with all the men so it was one bowl of fufu, 6 men, and me eating together. There was one bowl because like most things in the village, things are communal, even the way they eat. I don't think that I've ever seen someone eating by themselves in their home. Anyways, by the time the women started eating, they barely had any food, cause the men ate most the food. I felt bad and awkward in this situation because here I am a woman, but receiving "the rights" of a man. I wish I could understand better how it is to live as a woman here in the village. But the only way I can understand this is by observing, although my observation is limited as well, seeing that I don't speak the language and I'm not around the woman as often as I am the men. I ask Dela a lot of questions concerning how the women live and what their role is, but this is a man's point of view. Sometimes I get a sense of how it is to be a woman here from the things people (mostly men) say to me. But because I'm a foreigner, volunteering in this village, I know that they treat me different then what they treat the women of the village.

So, not a lot to tell. Just busy trying to work on these proposals for my committee and trying to get this application for Teach for America finished. Hope all is well back in the U.S. I'm a little sad I'm missing the inauguration of our new President next week but when I get back to America I'll try and watch it then, cause I know trying to watch it here is going to be way too difficult. Talk to ya'll later.