Babies are MESSY!!!

Well, i have arrived safe. I've been here less than 4 days and already it feels like weeks!!

the babies are beautiful, and very well loved. but one thing i wasn't prepared for was how much noise, and how much mess they make!! because the 30 or so children all eat at the same time, they also POO at the same time. which means the baby change room is full and there are so many crying babies after meals waiting to be changed. it breaks my heart- you want to cuddle them - but you pick up one baby and you get wet nappy all over your pants and then baby vomit all over your shirt (i can't believe i'm blogging about baby vom. what a charmer.) and then the 5 babies you didn't pick up to cuddle then start screaming because they need to be held also. MAYHEM. i need a strategy to deal with this issue because at the moment, meal times are traumatic!! other than the 3 meals per day, life is pretty laid back. the tiny babies nap between meals for the most part, so we spend a lot of time playing with the toddlers - maria, martin, dorcas, and prince.

the toddlers are SO smart. they are up to 3 years old, and they're bilingual, they know every baby's name (even the triplets and twins they can tell apart!)- they are the cutest little munchkins. and they LOOOOOOOOOVE cuddles :-D

yesterday a new baby came in. he had no name, and no mother, and he has big scars on his face, poor little man. he was so dirty too. he has now been named jacob. he's 8 months old and is the size of a 3 month old baby. he looked so sad, and weary - like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. i hope he settles in soon.

last night 2 volunteers and i went to the big town (Arusha) for an african bbq (motor mechanics by day, bbq by night). the journey was TERRIFYING though that may just be culture shock. we caught the dala dala at night as we got caught up with feeding the babies dinner (dala dala at night time is a big no-no as it's quite dangerous. sorry mum!! dala dalas are the local transport - they cram as many people as possible into the minivans and just drop you off along the road where you need to go). the destination was fantastic though. we had a HUUUUUGE feast of lamb, chicken, beef, african salads. basically just a few tables with a giant bbq raosting meat on sticks. had a very good atmosphere.

okay that's enough for today- i'm a bit all over the shop as i have so much to write in my first african post but am conscious that baby mess is not the most interesting topic of conversation. i promise next time i will keep it short and sweet. i will also try and work out how to post a picture on each post. internet in the village is BAD. so i'm just going to try to access it in arusha once every one or two weeks.