April 8th

Two out of four of my classes are now finished, we still technically have 2 weeks of teaching left but the professors decided to end class. Starting in 2 weeks will be Revision Week, we are still not entirely sure what that exactly means but we do know that only 2 or our classes will meet that week, hopefully! Final exams start April 27th and end May 16th. I have one about once every 5 or 7 days so I will be able to travel in between and study of course!
Yesterday walking home from school I saw a lawn mower for the first time since I have been here. Usually men use machetes to cut the grass. The first week I was really surprised by the number of machetes but apparently it is a common gardening tool: digging up weeds, cutting grass, etc. When I volunteered at a school a girl had a machete one her desk, it was a Friday and therefore they had to do lawn work at the end of the school day.
Women carry everything on their heads, buckets of water, firewood and even a refrigerator - a normal size fridge not one of the ones in dorm rooms, a normal size with a freezer at the top and fridge at the bottom - it was insane! Women also always carry their children one their backs using fabric. It allows them to have both of their hands free and be able to go about their normal day. I always imagine how hot it must be to have another body so close to you all the time in this heat, but everyone is so used to the weather and culturally people have less of a ’personal space’.
A few days ago we were sitting in traffic and saw some very interesting things being sold by hawkers. Some of my favorites have been: plunger, dead rats, plastic lawn chairs, children foam building blocks and machetes. You can also buy roles of toilet paper, towels, books, cds and whatever else you can think of you are most likely able to find it on the street.