i'm an idiot

my sociocultural idiocy has only further been demonstrated to me during an experience today.

so jess and i went to this area of town called Eastleigh where there are a bunch of somali and ethiopain refugees. jessica has been visiting VCT centers to talk about AIDS stigma, so thats where she wanted to go. she had heard about a mosque that offers AIDS counselling and wanted to go talk to them. we got to the mosque just after one of the prayer sessions and this hord of men was just streaming out the doors. we tried to wait until the crowd cleared, but they just kept coming. then we remembered that we probably weren;t supposed to go in anyway, being women. men and women pray separately, and often even have separate doors. there is an area that women aren;t supposed to ever enter at all, so we didn't want to be disrespectful and just barge in looking for what we wanted. by this time the crowd is still really thick and we feel super conspicuous. some guys asked us if we were converting, and we replied no that we were just waiting to see someone. the crowd never did thin down enough, and they kept asking us if we were converting and we felt like such a spectacle. men were crowding in around us, these two wazungu girls who look confused. they were just pushing in on all sides. it wasn't scary, just awkward. they said that they didn't offer AIDs counseling, so then we just felt stupid all the way around.
we then wanted to try somali food, just out of curiosity. so we found a restaraunt and asked for a menu. they don;t have one, you just ask for waht you want. not being familiar with somali food, and it being difficult to explain that jess is vegitarian, this was very difficult. in the end, i ordered rice and chicken. they brought me noodles and fish, no problem. that happens. ;-p
last week we went to the city police station to talk to some prisoners who had been there for a number of months. i've never smelled such a combination of bodiy smells. piss and shit and SWEAT like i've never experienced. made me want to run outside to get a big lungfull of deisel exhaust. anyway, the men we were there to see have been held there for 4 and 7 months respectively without being charged with any crimes. they have no promise of a court date, as they haven;t commited anything, but also have no way of being released. they told us stories about being beated up by other prisoners, being urinated on by street boys, and having their food spit in. i was appalled.
and winter suddenly ended. today it was hot as hell.

love!