time is the master

It has been a week that I am on the island and even if my mind says that one week is 7 days and each day has 24 hours, it doesn't feel that way. Feels like I' ve been here for much more time. Talking about that with Michael (the retired but not tired teacher that hosts us), he told me that time seems faster when you are busy doing things, but then I think of all the things I have done since I came and it doesn't seem right. Maybe time seemed slow because it has been a week of adaptation and a week for elaborating all these new experiences. From one day to another I found my self as a member of an African rural family, sharing with them food, laughs, stories, sadness, happiness, visions...From one day to another I' m waking up with the cock's singing, going to bed at 22:00h and having my necessities done in the old fashioned way trying to hit the target (inside the hole).

Seeing children of 4-6 years old watching their families animals, carrying water, woods, babies. Watching the fishermen preparing their nets and then take their boats and row into the lake wishing that they are going to catch the necessary to feed the family first and then sell one part of the rest to the other people of the village for 100 sheilings per kilo and the other part to the companies for 150 per kilo. Seeing the women with the donkeys every day carrying water from the lake to the house, washing their dishes at the lake, washing their hair and their babies at the lake...Wondering about the ironic that it is to have all this immense quantity of water just some hundreds meters away and at the same time see the crops and the rest plantations dying from the lack of rains...


Spending 15 minutes watching the sun going down by the lake, admiring the colours and the sounds and in 30 seconds suddenly get attacked from millions of sea flies and mosquitos and start running back to the house...Feeling like a politician every time you are moving by car or a moto and all the children when they see the muzungu start cheering and waving their hands and you start also waving and smiling...



So many things that are the natural way here but for most of us are images from some old movies or the lucky ones from stories that granfathers were saying....Well, it looks that I was busy doing things but at the same time I am in a peace of mind and maybe thats the reason of feeling the time going by slowly....Time will tell.:-)