Jet Lag in Avocado Falls

Avocado Tree 

When I first arrived at the Rafiki Village I was shown to the house where I would be staying. The actual guest house is closer to the entrance of the village but the ROS (Rafiki Overseas Staff) are playing around with accommodations for visitors so I am actually staying in one of the houses ROS would normally live in long-term. I must say the place is pretty classy. There's a kitchen, a living and dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. The living room is nicely furnished and the dining room has a large dining table in it. The bedrooms are fully equipped with plenty of closet room and mosquito nets over the bed.

I had maybe two hours before my orientation to shower and take a little nap. By this time I was really starting to feel jet lagged so I allowed myself 45 minutes or so to sleep. Then on my way to orientation I was greeted by Jack, the Village's new canine resident. Still a puppy, this Jack Russel terrier was being chased by about 17 of the resident boys living at the Rafiki village. Each boy came up to me, shook my hand and introduced themselves to me. One of them even called me 'Auntie'! It was the sweetest thing!

At orientation I learned that there are a lot of interesting noises that can be heard throughout the day at Rafiki, particularly in the houses. For instance, avocados will quite regularly fall from the tree onto the roof of the house I'm staying in and make sometimes very loud noises. The second morning I was here I woke up only a few minutes before I heard this huge boom! Though it was slightly off-putting I simply assumed it was another avocado falling from the tree. Another noise one might here is the music and emceeing coming from some sort of recreation center located right down the street where famous people often go to perform. Though the music often goes long into the night it is easy enough to tune out and by God's grace hasn't kept me from sleeping thus far. I have also heard the calls of many different kinds of birds and have probably heard monkeys too, though I haven't actually seen any in or around the village. One of the house maamas tells me that there are many but I learned today that one of the responsibilities of the guard is to keep the monkeys away so he must be really good at his job! 

I slept fine the first two nights I was here but on the third night I found myself wide awake at 12 midnight! I suppose the difference amounts to being tired from the long journey and then having recovered from that my body still had to adjust to the 7 hour time difference. Hopefully my body has got it figured out now and willingly goes to sleep tonight. 

And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so...And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves...and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

Genesis 1: 11; 21