The Return of Rainy Season….

So here in Kenya, there are 2 rainy seasons- the Short rains (in Oct/Nov) and the long rains (March and April). Pretty much every evening during the long rains, the storm clouds roll in and we get major downpours- I mean MAJOR downpours most of the night. And with the downpours come cold cold nights, power outages and some uninvited guests- flying termites (aka “flying ants”, or “my evening exercise” as I try to kill all the ones that get in my house!). So the termites come out in SWARMS when it rains and they all fight like mad to get into houses (if the lights are on). They fly all over like crazy, bumping into everything and each other until their wings fall off, then they crawl around. Last night they kept dive-bombing my dinner! These flying termites are a delicacy in some parts of Africa, but I wasn't really felling like being all that adventurous, and eating one last night. Here is a picture of my window sill last night: fun fun!!!

So far, my best termite attack story happened during the short rains (in November) but I saved it until I could back it up with pictures. I had gone to my classmates’ house to watch movies one night; we were all watching the movie when one lady went out to the kitchen to get something. Next thing we know, she is screaming so I stayed with the kids and the other lady runs into the kitchen. Then they are both screaming so I run into the kitchen to see them dancing around, flinging dish towels at all the huge bugs that are attacking them. So we all start flicking dish towels, trying to kill all the termites. It was absolutely hilarious! We eventually get all the ones in the house, but no windows actually close all the way here, so went outside to try to stuff something into the widows to keep the rest of the termites out. So we are all outside (2 of my classmates, 2 kids and me) and the window sills are COVERED in termites. The lights were on in the bathroom, so there were literally hundreds swarming that window sill. I was standing back a little bit, holding the toddler, when someone inside the house tuned off the bathroom light and all the termites swarmed the nearest light- the porch light that I was standing under! All I could see was a wall of termites flying at me, everyone is screaming, I’m twisting around so they don’t hit my face, so my hair fans out and all these termites get stuck in my hair. The toddler I’m holding is screaming and I hear the door slam shut as her mom and everyone else runs in the house and locking me and the toddler outside. With the bugs. All crawling in my hair and clothes. Sooooo disgusting! My classmates had to help me pick the bugs out of my hair. But it was seriously one of the funniest things I have ever seen- would have been funnier if it didn’t end up with me having termites in my hair, but still funny!

So I say "Amefufuka!"

And you answer "Amefufuka kweli kweli!"

So I come from a liturgical tradition and on Easter Sunday (and for a bunch of Sunday's after that- every Sunday until Pentecost) we always great each other with "He is Risen" and the other person answers "He has risen indeed!" So here is it in Swahili: "Amefufuka "(He has risen) and "Amefufuka kweli kweli (Truly He has risen!)

Enjoy your Easter celebrations! If you are interested, check out this article (for all of you slightly computer illiterate, you click on the word "article" in the sentence above, it should be underlined- that means it's a link to a different page) and read a modern take on the story of the resurrection. And if you are REALLY bored, check out the Washington Post's Peep Diorama Contest winers- people made whole scenes out of that really weird Easter Candy- people have WAY too much time on their hands!

Happy Easter!

So today we had an Easter Service with one of our Fellowships. We had a party for the kids, the adults watched the Jesus Film and then we had a camel feast! Yummy!!

Kay, Easter just doesn't seem the same without your cinnamon rolls, but I'm sure I'll make do. I have plans for Easter Dinner with a big group of friends, so that should be fun. Plus I'm loving the 4 day weekend from school! We have our big test coming up soon, so we are all enjoying a break!

PARTY!!!!!

Ok, so today is a day of CELEBRATION!!!!! Aside from the fact that today was our 90th day of class (not counting weekends) we just completed and tested over our 100th unit! So to celebrate, my classmates and I went to our favorite Ethiopian Restaurant and ate a ton of wonderfully spicy food and rejoiced that we don't have to study this weekend!

Rwanda

So I spent the last few days visiting friends in Rwanda. It was amazing. It’s beautiful and green, with amazing hills- just gorgeous! I flew into Burundi first– also gorgeous!!! We only stopped for 45 minutes in Bujumbura to take on more passengers, but I have never seen such a beautiful airport- usually airports are in dusty fields on the outskirts of major cities, but Bujumbura is on the banks of a lake, surrounded my mountains and jungles! But back to Rwanda. I was able to go with one of my friends to some of her ministry sights- we helped cook food for about 200 street kids and chatted with some of the Mamas from the church as we cooked. We were able to visit some of the HIV/AIDS patients from the church support group. We got to see their homes, meet their families and hear their stories. Plus I did a lot of exploring! Rwanda is very different from Kenya- both are great, just so different! Plus the best way to get around the city of Kigali is by motorcycle taxies- super fun!

So here are a few pictures from Rwanda.

Here is the hotel from Hotel Rwanda. (it's the one near the top of the picture that is yellowish, to the left of the tall blue building).

Now I’m back and it’s back to school- although, my classmates and I figure we only have about 6 weeks of classes left!!