Ol Pejeta Safari

So this week, finally, I was able to go on safari!!!! I went to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy near Nanyuki (north of Nairobi). There just aren’t words. If you ever want a case for creation, go on safari.

So my friends and I stayed in tents in the conservancy. Now before any of you freak out that I was camping in a game park with lions (mom that means you) the camp is surrounded by an electric fence (it was all of 2.5 ft tall and it was in the trench that surrounded the camp, but apparently it was effective! No lions in the tent with me!). The camp has a great view of a few of the water holes so animals are always coming right up to the camp (never anything dangerous like a lion or anything) so we would watch the giraffe, zebra, impala, warthog, and buffalo from the dining room or our open tent door. I mean I was about 15 yards from a giant buffalo (one of the ‘Big 5’).

Our first day out, we went on an afternoon/evening drive. We saw plenty of regular game (zebra, giraffe, impala, gazelle, warthog, etc). Now you don’t just go driving out in the conservancy in a car or something. We were in a modified van- it’s a regular van but the top flips up so you can stand while you are driving through the park (you can see way better and take better pics- plus it’s just fun!). so how this works is you drive around for 3.5-4 hours and try to see as many animals as possible. There are other people out in other vans too, but the park is 90,000 sq acres so you don’t see people too often. Our driver/guide (Steve) was great- he really knew the park so we were able to see 3 of the Big 5 in our first afternoon out- we saw buffalo, rhino and lions!!!! I loved the rhinos- sooooo cool, but the highlight of the evening was spotting the lions. Friends of mine have come out to this park and never seen lions so we were so excited!! There was a pride of about 10 lions hunting (well the male was just chillin’ while the ladies were hunting warthogs). We saw them stalking the warthog but they didn’t make a kill (the warthog got into a hole before the lioness got him). So amazing to see!!!

So dad, you trained me well for safari by taking us on all those “whoever spots the 1^st deer gets a quarter” trips of my childhood! I was the one who spotted the rhinos on a plain above the bush we were driving through!

We went on 2 game drives the next day, but we only saw zebra, gazelle, impala, giraffe, baboons, warthogs- the regulars. It’s crazy that seeing zebras and giraffes can become common place!!

Our last day out, we got up early and went for a drive at 6:30am. And we hit the mother load. Not only are the bush and plains amazing that early in the morning, all sorts of other animals are out. We were driving down the road, my friends and I admiring giraffes or something and all of a sudden it was there- in the middle of the road. An elephant!!! It was huge. It was amazing. It was about 50 feet from us and moving our direction. Our driver moved the van so that the elephant could pass and it just sort of meandered down the road.

So in the end, we saw 4 of the Big 5: we saw Rhino, Buffalo, Lion, and Elephant. The only one left is the leopard- but that one is hard to spot since they are most active at night.

So it was amazing. I loved it!!!! There is no way to explain what I saw- it was just beautiful and diverse and amazing. We would be driving and I would just be standing there thinking “Dang I love Africa!”. There is no other place in the world like this. And I get to live here.

Check out some more of my safari pics by clicking on the link (that part of the sentence that is underlined- or just click on the link on the right to my webshots page).

Insane Busy-ness!!!

So this weekend we ran a VBS/camp/retreat for kids from the Horn of Africa. It was a blast! I'm completely exhausted but we all had a great time. 4 days of craziness, games, Bible stories, veggietales, crafts, plays and zebras. Thats right, there were zebras and monkeys living on the grounds of the center we stayed at. And I saw a warthog and a baboon just running down the road. So random. So funny! But this retreat was for entire families (we just ran the kids portion of the program) so it was fun to see these families interacting together outside of our weekly fellowship!

Now tomorrow, I'm taking 2 of our teen volunteers (who came to help out with the retreat) on a safari!! This is my first safari in my entire year here and I can't wait!! There will definitely be tons of picture next week!!

Quilts!!!!

Thought my mom would like to see pics of my new quilt- so you all get to see it too! It's a patchwork gitangi (traditional cloth prints) quilt that a friend of mine made- I love it!!!

Quite Possibly My Favorite Sign in Nairobi

I'm just intrigued by a Lebanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. Haven't had the guts to try the sushi yet- but one day I will! Just to say I ate sushi at a Lebanese restaurant!

Thanks to all the family who put up Facebook pictures of the Family 4th celebration!!! It's so fun to see the pictures!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Hope you all have a great day with family and friends!!

After work today, I plan to watch 1776 (a classic musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence- if you haven't seen it you HAVE to! It's a road trip staple in my family! What's better then guys in wigs and tights singing and dancing and declaring a country free?) and I'll listen to the 4th of July Adventures in Odyssey episode "The Day Independence Came" (if you don't know Adventures in Odyssey you have been missing out!!! Check out the episode here!

I guess I do more 4th of July-y things when I'm not actually in the States!

2 months robbery free!!!

Woohoo!!!!

New Skills Aquired

So since I've lived in Kenya, I've learned plenty of new life skills:

• How to navigate the complex matatu (public transportation) system of Nairobi
• How to bargain in Swahili
• How to change the gas can on my gas stove without blowing the house up (always a useful skill!)
• How to identify a colony of Safari Ants from a distance (so I can avoid the bites!)
• How to wash clothes by hand in a wash tub in my shower
• How to disinfect water using only UV-A rays from the sun and an old coke bottle

And most recently:

• How to fix a toilet! I had a small (gushing) plumbing problem in my house this week but it was the middle of the night so I had to figure it out on my own!! I could so become a plumber!

And just over a year ago, we were all celebrating at my sister and brother-in-law's wedding (and I was pretty much eating the bouquet that was hurtled DIRECTLY into my face!!) Congrats guys!! Hope you had a great anniversary!!!

The best part of this entire picture is Lyssa's face! So shocked!!

Life Happens Around Chai

I decided to change the name of my blog because here in Kenya (as in many parts of the world) life really does happen around chai (tea). We take chai breaks at 10 am and around 3 pm (especially now that its so cold!) but Chai time is when you sit and talk, discussing life, politics, families... you name it and you talk about it at chai time. When I was in school, chai time could last more then an hour if we had a lot to chat about!! We have chai after Bible studies, we have chai after church, you have chai when you visit friends (or strangers). Chai is an important part of life- its where you build deep friendships, its where you catch up on the news, its when you just stop everything else and spend time with people. So if you come to Kenya, you'd better like milk chai- its 1 part whole milk, 1 part water, loose tea leaves and a ton of sugar! And it is sooooo good- you should try it at home!!! Some people don't like the taste of hot milk but I LOVE it!!

And if you get really brave- add masala seasonings (ginger, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon and other spices) for Masala Chai (the epitome of chai!!!) Its spicy, and warm and just plain good!!

Arachnophobia

So I woke up today feeling like I was in an episode of the Brady Bunch. Do you remember the one where they go to Hawaii, and Peter wakes up with a huge tarantula on his chest??? Yeah- that was me this morning. Only it wasn't a tarantula, but it was a big, nasty spider- realistically, it probably wasn't as big as the one on the Brady Bunch, but was pretty big!!! I woke up and saw it just sitting there!! So gross!! I think it was trying to escape the cold (because buildings are built to stay cool rather then warm here, its always colder inside the house then it is outside!)

Ok, I admit it- I am so my mother's daughter

This is me with my feet literally IN my fireplace (just near the fire place was no where near warm enough). But winter is coming and it's freezing cold at night!!! I know, I know, this is how my mom melts the soles of her shoes every year when we are camping- but its COLD!! Seriously!!

American Politics in Kenya....

Today I was talking to some kids in my community and all of a sudden, out of no where, this one little guy (maybe 10 years old) starts telling me all about politics in the States and the current election news. He's talking about Obama and Hillary- it was absolutely hilarious- and amazing! I mean a 10 year old kid in Kenya is telling me about the latest in American politics (its a good thing I try to keep up on the election news with the BBC web site!) When I was 10, I don't know that I would have known much about American politics and I was living there! So as much as it seems like all anyone talks about on the news in the States is the election- the entire world is watching and talking about this one.

Oh, I forgot...

Since today is June 1st, I have officially broken the "1 Robbery a Month" streak I'd been in for the last 3 months!! My plan for this last month was "No Robberies in the Month of May!" So praise the Lord, I haven't been robbed this month!!

The Wonders of Imported Foods...

So guess what I managed to find in a store here? Frosting!! Like for a cake!!!! And not just any frosting- Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip frosting- my absolute favorite!!

This may not seem like a wondrous event- but trust me, when you go this long without even SEEING frosting- it makes any day a good day!! Who cares that I don't have an actual cake to put the frosting on- you can eat frosting right out of the can! Or on biscuits (biscuits are shortbread cookies here- not like the stuff you get as a side dish at Kentucky Fried Chicken, that would just be gross). The frosting options are endless. Apparently, I'm very easily entertained- but this seriously made my day!
Things here are going well- I'll be sending out a newsletter in the next week with more of an update about what I'm doing. If anyone would like to receive my e-newsletter, you can give my parents your email address or you can leave your email address in the comment section of this blog (I won't post it for others to see- I will be the only one who can see it).

Flowers here are amazing- check some of these out! These are just growing by my house or in the yard at the office. So beautiful.

Sokoni (aka: In the Market)

So here is where I spend my Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings- at the market. I love to go to the market and talk with the mamas and fight over the prices, and try new fruits and vegetables that I've never seen. So today, a few of my friends let me take some pictures. Not all of my usual ladies wanted to be photographed so this is only a few of my friends but you can get an idea of what the market is like (but none of these pictures capture the vast amount of people and food crammed into this market!!)



So I look a little goofy in this picture, but you can see a lot of the market behind me



So I was given this little guy as a gift- I told the guy that I can't keep pets and he's too small to eat, so I just took a picture instead.

I buy a lot of my fruit from these mamas- their pears are seriously the best pears I've ever had
And here is the mountain of pineapples that are in the road each week- yummy!!!

Happy 50th Dad!!!

So if you see my dad, tell him Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Wow- last Cinco De Mayo, Kelly, Gavin, Dad and I were contemplating breaking into Kelly's shower gifts to make homemade salsa (with Aunt Brenda's amazing recipe!). So many
changes in a year! Kel and Gavin are married! We all live on different continents! Good changes. So here we all were a year ago today:

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

If you see my mom- wish her a happy birthday!! Don't worry mom- I won't tell how old you are!!

A Walk in the Tea Fields

So I think I've mentioned that I live in the middle of tea fields. They are amazingly beautiful and just kind of go on forever- so some friends and I went for a little trek through the fields this evening. So for any of you who though tea was grown in a little tea bag- here's what it really looks like (and really- try loose leaf tea some time- it will blow your mind! Tea bags have nothing on the real stuff!!)

I love Rainy Season

So I love rainy season. The rain gets kind of annoying, the termites are crazy (see my previous post about Termite Attacks) but the fruit that is out this season is AMAZING!!!! I tell my friends that we just don’t get stuff like this back in the States- we definitely don’t get anything this fresh, but I’ve never seen most of these fruits at my local Meijers! I mean we are talking passion fruit, tree tomatoes, guava, mangoes, pineapples, pears and some other fruits I’ve never heard of or seen before in my life!

This is my kikapu- or the basket I carry all my veggies and fruit in from the market.

So here is passion fruit- it comes in a few different colors, but basically you peel off the hard shell (kind of like an egg) and eat the seeds that are encapsulated in the juice. It’s really good- a little bitter and it kind of looks like a brain but yummy!

Tree tomatoes are super sour and the juice stains pretty much everything, but they are really good in fruit salad.

I still don’t know what this one is called- I’ve asked friends, people in the market no one can tell me what it’s called. It’s kind of like passion fruit- sour and you eat the little seed/juice capsules inside and this one is CRAZY sour.

And this one, I don’t know what this one is called either. And I don’t know what it tastes like because I’m still waiting for it to ripen (the mama in the market told me to wait a week before I try it) but I’m told it had the texture of a mango but it almost sickeningly sweet. I guess we’ll see.

Nimemaliza!!!

Today was my last day of class!!! I'm done with all my tests (which I did very well on) and now I'm fluent- well not fluent- at all- but I have a really good base for learning more Swahili as I go.

So here is my wenzangu (fellow classmates) and wallimu (teachers):

And here is the sign we put over our classroom- it says "the class of the complainers". We put up the sign because we love the word "wanung'unikaji"- it's fun to say!!! But we also were a class that lived up to our name- we were pretty good at complaining in Swahili!

1 MORE TEST!!!!

So tomorrow (Wednesday) is my final test in my kiswahili class!!! I took my written final last week and got a 96% (which I am pretty proud of- especially considering I ended up having to explain the concept of Independence Day and "no taxation without representation" in Swahili, but that was kind of my own fault- I got a little carried away in my essay! I tend to think bigger then my vocabulary- I forget that I don't know all the words I do in English until its too late to turn back, so I end up coming up with some pretty creative ways to explain stuff!)

Now tomorrow is my oral final- more challenging then the written final to be sure, but I think I'll be fine. It just depends on how tricky my teachers want to be- I have an idea of what they will ask, but they can ask pretty much anything they want!!

So keep me in your prayers as I finish up at language school!

Completely unrelated, but here is a chameleon I found in my yard! The are so fun to watch!

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!!

Sunset

So here is a view of the sky at sunset from my yard. I love the thorn tree!

My Guard Lizard

So today I got a guard lizard! Well, it’s really a baby skink that I found at school. But I love lizards and most Kenyans aren't particularly fond of lizards. When I picked it up at school, my teachers freaked out- it was great! They always freak out when we play with the chameleons and skinks! So it’s a watch lizard! Better then a watch dog any day! It eats bugs! It scares off intruders! Well maybe not the last one, but I named it Mnung’unikaji after my class’s favorite Swahili word of all time: kunung’unika (to complain). We call our school Darasa la Wanung’unikaji (the Class of the Complainers). So I’ll either call him that, or Sid.

Read more >> Options >>

I LOVE Ethiopian food!!!

After church yesterday, we took some of our friends to our favorite Ethiopian place for lunch! YUMMY!!!!! This is my friend's daughter's first taste of Ethiopian food! She loved it!

Punda Cart Surfing

Ok, I have to get a picture of this sometime, but until I do you will all just have to settle for a verbal description.

So as you go down the roads of Kenya, you will see pundas (donkeys) EVERYWHERE!!! They are used to pull carts and all sorts of other tasks. But the thing that is the most fun to watch is the young guys who are punda cart surfing. The carts that the pundas pull have 2 wheels, so they kind of teeter-totter back and forth if they aren’t balanced and they usually are piled high with TONS of stuff (everything from produce for the market and fire wood to people's possessions). So sometimes you see guys standing up on the carts, balancing like a surfer as the punda is running full speed down a huge hill (and pundas can run remarkably fast!). It’s absolutely hilarious. It also has to require a great amount of skill. And I think it would hurt a lot more falling from a punda cart then it would falling from a surfboard. But like I said, I have to get a picture of this- it’s way cooler when you can see it!

A Month After the Elections

So things are rough here again. It’s complicated and big and crazy. I struggle to understand all of what’s going on and why it is, so I’m not exactly sure how to explain it all. But this was a hard week for Kenya. We had thought that we were starting to see an end to all of this, but this week changed all that. There was intense fighting in various areas of the country, but this was more then just the political protests of a few weeks ago (not that all the fighting a few weeks ago was strictly political either, but this was much worse). Thousands more people are displaced - (some had started to return to their places only to have to move out again, some were forced out of their homes and towns as fighting came to their communities). UNICEF is reporting at least 300,000 internally displaced people in camps around Kenya, 80,000 of which are children under 5. Friends of mine are displaced. Displaced seems like such a small word for what’s happening. I don’t know what the word is that accurately describes this, but displaced isn’t it. Displaced is to clean. Too easy. Devoid of emotion.

So keep praying for Kenya. When I ask friends what needs to happen in Kenya, they always say the same thing. They don’t know what will fix all of this, but they say “Mungu anajua”. God knows.

On a more positive note, in the midst of this crazy week, I managed to get a 97% on my Swahili mid term. I was pretty proud of that!