Motos and Taptaps

Today I rode a motorcycle for the first time in my life. Johanne and Danielle, who will be the one to take me to and from CHOAIDS everyday, picked me up. They sandwiched me between them and off we went. We squeezed between cars so closely that I felt sure I would lose my kneecaps, but despite that it was incredibly fun. I think I'm a natural. I will soon be pursuing a newfound dream of being a biker chick.
I did however sustain a fairly disgusting burn from touching my calf to some hot part of the bike.
I tried to get a phone but there was some miscommunication and they attempted to charge me about ten dollars more than it was worth. Long story short: I am still phoneless.
We went to the orphanage then and after being there about an hour the kids showed up, having just gotten out of school. They all took turns kissing my cheek and telling me their names. None of which I can spell.
The littlest one we think is about three. He was abandoned in a hospital about a year ago and they don't have any of his records. He is a little shy, and enjoys waving at me while peaking around the corner of the house.
I helped another little boy, who was seven, with his homework. We read some simple words together (Papa, Lili, Popo etc. etc.) So I felt that I was learning something too. Every time he got something correct I cheered "bravo!"
Johanne and I worked on getting to know each other. She speaks pretty good English, but it still takes us a bit of navigation to communicate effectively. We had café au let (Coffee with milk) and bread, then some papaya juice, and some chicken. All of which was so delicious that by the time they were ready to eat their full meal (around 3:00) I was too full!
I said bye bye to the kids around 4:00 and came back to the hostel for a shower and some dinner. Over dinner I met a man from England named Michael, who has been staying in the hostel for nine months now. He was going to the supermarket and asked if I'd like to tag along to see where it was. It was about a forty minute walk but we took a TapTap one way. A TapTap is a brightly painted truck with a canopy over head, and benches lining the bed. You wave it down and climb aboard, then when you see where you want to get out you taptap on the window to the main cab, and they stop.
When you're walking down the street, children will call out "Blan, Blan!" which literally means "White, white!" as in look, a white person. It's not rude, it's just observant. It is however rude to ignore them. Which is exactly what I'd been doing. Michael explained this to me. So after that I started replying to them with "Good morning!" though it was 6 at night. Oops.
I've seen a lot of the city today and I can't wait to get some better pictures. I will try to upload them to my blog but thus far I've been unsuccessful.
Anyway, I hope all is well! Write again soon.