things that make me happy right now

So the other day I was having a happy day so I started writing down things that make me happy right now so if I have a bad day, I'll be able to look at it and remember things aren't so bad. I thought maybe you'd want to read it:
-waking up every day and being able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro
-brushing my teeth outside at night and seeing the stars (we brush our teeth outside because there are no sinks or anything inside, thus we spit outside)
-the spaghetti I had the other night (see below for story)
-my family-my mama is in Nairobi for the week and she calls every other day to check in on me even though my baba (father) and sisters are here with me still
-my language progress- It's going really well!
-my community assignment- All of us were paired with an organization in our town to work with until the end of training. I'm working with an organization called FriFAT (Friends Fighting AIDS Together). It's a support group working with people who have AIDS and they do beadwork to generate income. I met with them this week and they said they are interested to see my beading techniques. yay!
-my group of fellow trainees, they are awesome

There are more but I can't remember right now.

So, spaghetti... last weekend one of my friends made spaghetti for her family. Although it was quite hilarious the process of lighting the jiko (charcoal stove thing). How many people does it take to light a jiiko? 3 Mzungus (white people) and 4 Kenyan children. We've got the techniques down now though. So anyways, my friend made the sauce and had leftovers so we decided to cook dinner for another one of my friends' family that night. Although, we had to get permission to be out after dark and get escorts home from our babas (no elephant sightings though). We decided that the family might not like the sauce because the other girl's family added loads of salt to it earlier that day. So, we made made pasta and put a ton of garlic and butter on it. Then, we added the sauce to ours. Then we made garlic bread toasted over the jiko. SO AMAZING. I'm sure it would have been better if we had spices, but for now, I will just fantasize about the garlic butter noodles.

We're planning a Fourth of July party this weekend. We found out we can't make burgers, you can't find ground meat and it takes forever to grind meat yourself. Therfore, we're gonna make black bean burgers and shish kabobs. I'm excited.

Next week we are having a practice language exam, but if we reach the adequate level then, we won't have to take the test at the end. I'm nervous, but we'll see how it goes. Also, we find out our site assignments next week. So, I'll know where I'll be living and volunteering for the next two years.

So, life is good. PS can people please email me or post comments here with pop culture news (I know about Michael Jackson) or Red Sox updates? I feel so out of the loop and I pay by the minute so I don't bother looking up those things. THANKS!