friday afternoon.. we've been rejoined by the other gappers and it's once again so joyful and lively around camp (: i've gotten so many hugs and 'we missed you's and it's so nice that a sense of amicable affection has developed in this way.. i really do thrive on company and being around people. we've now gone over our mark of 800 bricks and our camp leader seems very pleased about that.. now when the new load of gappers arrive at muhaka (whilst we're at tsavo national park) they can get stuck into construction without having to stop and make more bricks halfway through.
everyone's pretty chilled out now - playing cards, snoozing on the couches, catching up with each other.. my spirits are back up again because i feel proud of what i accomplished during the week (despite the dullness of it). i know i wasn't very enthusiastic it when writing yesterday but now that it's done, i think it's pretty cool i can say i spent a week making toilet bricks in kenya.. (: plus i'm so very keen for the weekend and for the next 3 weeks during which we'll be visiting both tsavo and a monkey sanctuary (: i need the change and the adventure.. and i think i deserve it (:
given my brick-making career is now over, here are my finished masterpieces.. well, those with people's names on them anyway.. please don't hate me if your name isn't represented here, i love you all but there's only so many bricks i could make.. >.< and also please excuse my awful scrawlings: a twig in wet, sandy cement isn't the most practical writing tool.
Making bricks all day long can be very boring, but it might also become a quite interesting task if you allow your brain to ‘let go’; no?
ReplyDeleteA movement repetition is like embracing a meditative state of mind where each step of your hard labor becomes part of your own ‘mantra’, allowing your thoughts to drift away into another world, another place, completely out of time…
This reminds me of the inner journey of an alpinist, ski mountaineering the top of a glacier in the Swiss Alps.
I loved your idea of naming those bricks. Suddenly you gave them life and beauty, while at the same time creating a beautiful connections with those that you love and who love you….
Your dad is completely right leila, just by doing the simple task of engraving names (which by the way is fantastic in so many ways, thanks for the smiles and goodvibes.) it just made you start to enjoy the hard work... if that makes sense? Like you looked forward to the next brick cause you could put on a different name in a obviously new creative way.
ReplyDeleteJust such a great way to pass something boring.
Damn i love you xx
ps that last comment was from twix. stupid blog didnt put my name up :P
ReplyDeleteun si si grand merci pour avoir donné mon nom à une toilet brick kenyanne! je me sens si honorée: Merci à ma petite-fille d'avoir associé ma pensée à cette brique d'amour Je trouve ton idée superbe, et créant une chaîne d'amour à travers l'espace et en sublimant le côté pénible et ennuyeux
ReplyDelete.
Je t'aime Leïla!