Brian in Malabo

Brian joined us in Malabo shortly after I got here. I think he had an interesting time. There is not a lot to do, but we found something to do each day. I enjoyed most of all, the times Brian and I would play pool (at the clubhouse or on the Wii) and cooking with him. Cooking is such a pleasure and a unique experience since we have to improvise once in a while. Brian was up to the challenge each time. Although he didn't do it up often, his Mohawk haircut was a hit everywhere. Brian and I helped distribute the school supplies Marathon provides for a few of the schools. That was an eye opening experience for both of us. Some of the schools are boarding schools and the children take part in cleaning up after meals and doing there own laundry. It is not uncommon to not have electricity during the day. So the classrooms can be dark if it is a cloudy day. The language in EG is Spanish, so Brian and I didn't always understand what was being said but that didn't pose a problem, if we didn't have an interpreter we said the few words we knew in Spanish and one of the students would know a little bit of English and we were able to get by. It was like playing Charades, acting out and pointing to things. It was great fun. Africans are a very friendly, emotional people, so we were very aware of how appreciative the students and teachers were to receive the supplies we brought.

Brian said he plans on coming back at Christmastime. We look forward to seeing him then.