Two weeks...

I would estimate that it has been two weeks since I last posted. No chit chat, right down to business. I will try to summarize as interestingly as possible what I have done since my last post.
I last posted on the Tuesday of a rather eventful week. I had just been pick pocketed. Wednesday was a lull before the excitement of Thursday afternoon. For some reason, the school was deciding to take it easy that day. After lunch, all the boys were rounded up and carted of to some distant open space to play football. The girls remained at the school to play netball, which is a bit like basketball, but very polite. They don't bounce the ball, they don't run with the ball... I don't like it. Anyway, I was standing around watching the girls play netball when I was reminded of a stabbing pain just below my waist on my right side that had been bothering me for a few days. I turned to a fellow volunteer and asked a question that had just popped into my head: Where is the appendix? I happened to be holding my side where it hurt, and she said, "Right there," pointing to where my hand was resting. I burst into tears because I was worried that I might have appendicitis. The week could not go much worse. She immediately called the doctor of a clinic where some volunteers that she lived with worked, and after telling the headmaster, we started walking. When we got there, the doctor took some tests and told me I had food poisoning, probably from eating the beans at the school. So from now on, peanut butter sandwiches, which I am totally okay with.
The following Sunday, I was hanging out with my roommate, Erin, and two other volunteers from Canada who arrived around the same time as Erin, named Michelle and Ingrid. They were part of the group that went to the monkey park the previous weekend. On Sunday, we decided to go visit a giraffe sanctuary. It was really cool. When we got there, we went up to a raised platform where guides gathered around two waiting giraffes. Every group of tourists instantly got a guide, which surprised me at first, but after a while I realized we were expected to give him a generous tip. First, they let us feed the giraffes from our hand while putting our arm around their neck. Then they would throw the food pellets and the giraffe would catch them with her tongue. After that, they would give us a food pellet to put between our lips so the giraffe was trained to "kiss." I'll put up pictures probably next week. After feeding the giraffes, we went for a walk to see the one male giraffe that they have at the sanctuary and that they keep in a separate enclosure. It was really cool. I was sure to ask our guide if he had ever seen giraffes fighting, and he said he had. I was jealous. If you haven't seen them, Youtube it, because it's awesome. (Also recommended viewing: Battle at Kreuger. About seven minutes long, but worth watching as it's an epic safari battle involving lions, wildebeests, and a crocodile.)
Perhaps not the most exciting of posts, but as I am lazy and impatient, I will update you on the following weekend (involving a trip to Mombasa, on the coast of Kenya) in a later post. That's all for now...