Pasho

Patricio has always been old for his age.  But this experience has already taught him so much more than we could have anticipated.  But I think what amazes me most is how much he continues to teach me.  This past weekend in Mwanza, we took some time to talk about how they last few months have gone for each of us.  We had set some goals for ourselves and we wanted to see how we've all done.  I will readily admit that when we got to Mwanza, I was pretty exhausted and feeling down about everything.  I go through pretty regular cycles of culture shock and frustration. 

During our discussion, I was talking about how I really wanted to fix my attitude before we headed back to Bukoba.  To that, Patricio replied, 'You just have to look past the bad.  Think about the positive.  You can always find something good past the bad.  Even if it is just one thing, it's there.'  We've only been back a few days and I've already told myself to 'look past the bad' at least 5 times.  My boy, Patricio, who by the way, has more nicknames than I can count now....is pretty amazing.  (Nicknames include: Pato, given at birth, Ticho, given by Nino, and now Pasho, given by his friends at KEMPS.  I often wonder which he'll stick with.....)