Positive Changes

So I have still been feeling under the weather even today. Mama gave me the african medicines she gave me last time I was here and I told her I couldn't do it bc I remembered the awful taste, BUT I did it anyways and chased it with loads of water. I almost vomited it up though!

My mama is worried bc I am eating very little. I told her I do this when I am sick. She threatened to text my mother but then realized she had deleted all her texts and hadn't stored her number so she was out of luck!

Bc I was feeling unwell yesterday, I hung out with Mama at home. We discussed many things but one topic (which you all will laugh at) was the world economy and the stock market. First, she does not understand that my grandfather could be in his 80s and still working. I then tried to discuss with her what the stock market is and she followed pretty well. I compared it to the market for food but instead of buying ndizi (bananas) you bought a part of a company. I used the cell phone companies her as an example of what a big company was like Zain and Vodacom. Then I told her that say you put in TSH (tanzania shillings) 5000 and then the company does well then you may have TSH 6000. I then tried to tell her you could lose money, but this is where my explanation fell short. She wanted to know what contract there was to ensure you did not lose money. She could not understand why someone would invest in something that could lose money. I told her that you do not use money that you need for food and shelter, but she still thinks it is silly.

She learned other things, like how in Canada prices are fixed. What price is listed is what you get. This is a strange concept to someone who spends almost every day bargaining.

This morning we made big progress (hence the title of this blog)- we had whole wheat bread and I made oatmeal. Even Neema (the housgirl) liked the oatmeal and she normally does not like things that are healthy.

At work things have been going well. Dr. Msuya is letting me do a lot more now.

Time to sign off... my lower back kills from all the laundry and ironing yesterday!