World Cup: Stuff I Like

- I like that the clock doesn’t stop. No commercial breaks until halftime. I love it. Sure, they add the additional time for penalties and such at the end but it goes WAY faster than American Football where those last 20 seconds on the clock can drag out for an hour.

- Listening to the announcers try to pronounce all the names. Too funny guys. Especially when they have to go between West African and Scandinavian names in the same game. Umlauts and glottal stops- it’s tough stuff.

- The announcers’ colloquialisms “He’s got ‘is shootin’ boots on!”

- During the big games, I can tell the score by how loud (and often) all the people in my apartment building cheer or boo.

- World Cup is the top story on most international news sites.

- Even if the electricity goes out during the day (like today) , you know it will be back on by game time. Guaranteed. I don't even want to think about what would happen if the power stayed off for a big game! We can’t always be sure to get electricity back so soon.

- Vuvuzela. They are controversial. Some people love them. Most people hate them. I think they are great. Sure the incessant droning of thousands of vuvuzela can get old. But they are hilarious! I want one for Youth Group! Vuvuzela were around here even before the World Cup (people had them at football and rugby games). They are ridiculously loud and probably annoying in mass quantities but I’m in. Its Africa’s unique mark on Global Football.

So that's it so far! We'll see how the next round goes!

Papers and World Refugee Day

It’s something I take for granted pretty much every day of my life. I have a State issued Drivers License. I have a federally issued Passport. I have a county issued birth certificate. I had a school ID and a work ID. I have a Soc number, a phone number, an address. I have multiple documents that say “This is Linds. It’s her. We guarantee it. She is who she says she is.” The county, State and Federal Governments of the United States back up my claim that I am who I say I am. I have an identity.

This identity gives me access to government services. Because I can prove who I am, I can do almost anything. My passport gives me easy access to countries that other passport holders have to struggle to enter. My Soc number means I can be legally employed. My Soc number meant that I could take the ACT and SAT’s and go to college.

But what if you don’t have an identity- at least a legally documented identity? No county, State or Federal Government stands behind your claim that you are who you say you are? You can’t even prove your country of origin.

What happens when you are paper-less? When you have no identity? When no one but yourself knows that you are who you say you are. You can’t be employed. You can’t travel. A paper-less refugee can’t be resettled in a new country. You have no access to government services or aid. You can’t even take your Grade 8 exams so that you can go on to finish your education.

Identity is everything.

Without an identity, how do you change your circumstances? You can’t continue your education. You can’t be employed. You can’t leave. And you can’t stay. You are in a continual state of limbo. Even if you want to change things- you can’t. You lack the essential tools to change anything. Because you aren’t even seen as a person.

Everyone has the right to identity.

This weekend, we are celebrating World Refugee Day. UNHCR's latest stats say that 43.3 million people in the world have been forcefully displaced from their homes because of violence or persecution. 43.3 million people. That is the highest number in decades. 15.2 million are refugees (they have fled their home country for a new country). 27.1 million are Internally Displaced (they have fled their home area but have found relative safety in another area of the country). Roughly 1 million more are awaiting status verification. And these are the people who have been counted. Not all of them are paper-less (or stateless) . But many are.

Water-less No More.... I hope!!

So the water issue is fixed. Not a clue what was wrong. That's kinda the way it goes- if I'm not here to ask the repairman, we will never get an actual answer to what the problem was.

But who cares! I can get a shower! And wash the dishes! And cook something that you need to add water to (like pretty much any meal- pasta, curry, rice, you name it!)

I got home first today, saw there was water and jumped in the shower. I heard my roommate come in and I yelled that there was water- she replied "I could smell Herbal Essence- I figured it was back!"

I mean a few days without water isn't the end of the world. It feels like it could be- but its not. At least I don't have to carry all my water from a central location back to my home like many of the families I work with. Running water really is a luxury that I take for granted. And HEATED water. Wow. We are blessed!

More Water-less-ness

Yeah the water is gone again. Fun. This is day 4. I need a shower.

Hopefully the plumber can fix it today.

Water-less Weekend

The water to our apartment ran out. That actually doesn't happen much here. Other places I've lived, a lack of water was fairly common (on internship it was almost expected-everytime I'd wash my hair the water would run out as soon as I had the shampoo all lathered) It was strange though, because all the other flats in our building didn't have a problem. I figured the pump was broken (the pump that pumps the water into the holding tank on the roof) but apparently that was working fine.

A guy came by to fix it today. He was "on the way" from 9am- I think he actually arrived around 2. He's fixed the problem, which is great and water is SLOOOOWLY making its way back into the tank on the roof. We can flush the toilets now but there isn't enough pressure yet for a shower (or for water to even drip out of the shower). Hopefully by tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in my building not watching the game...

I'll get the score tomorrow morning. Uppp sounds like the US just scored. I guess my neighbors want to make sure I keep up with the game anyways.

it's HERE!!!

Ok pop quiz for all you in the US- what is today??  The rest of the world stops today because the World Cup is starting!!  I know I know- World Cup really isn't our thing in the States.  We are all about the Olympics, we love the Superbowl and World Series and we are all about the NBA Finals but the World Cup just sort of alludes us.   We don't understand 1 whole month of football (this is a global event- its not soccer, its football!)  Probably because the US Team isn't so hot.  But that laissez-faire attitude won't fly in East Africa. World Cup is like the Olympics (winter AND summer), the Superbowl, March Madness, Stanley Cup Finals and the MTV Music Awards all rolled into one for us here.  The 2012 World Cup in South Africa is all we've been talking about for months.  Before that, we were talking about Africa Cup of Nations.  And before that we were talking about something regarding football- I just don't remember what. 

And it's not like any East African countries qualified for the World Cup (at least as far as I know- I am not the definitive source of World Cup info- I'm just doin' my best here).  For sure, no East African country is considered a favorite to win.  But everyone has THEIR team.  Everyone.  All the kids I work with have a team.  Everyone has a favorite. Some of the big ones are Argentina, Spain, Netherlands and England.

Personally, my team is Brazil.  Its not like I have a great reason for choosing them.  I haven't studied the players and the games and the info to make a wise choice. I pretty much only choose Brazil because they won the first World Cup I was exposed to (in college) and all my friends that year were from Brazil, had lived in Brazil or just favored Brazil to win and I jumped on the bandwagon.  So go Brazil!!  Plus they have a killer record!

So who knows- I may even watch a game or two! But only if Brazil is winning!

Rat Hunting in Heels

Just when I think there's nothing exciting to write about... I was just getting ready for bed tonight when I heard my roommate yell "Linds????" from the living room. Its about midnight so I figure it must be something important. I ran out, and she is practically running to her room. She herd "scuffling" in the cupboard in the living room. That's usually an indicator of a nocturnal visitor (ie- rat or a mouse or a something (the geckos don't make too much noise)).

So I went on a rat hunt. At midnight. In my pjs. I needed some type of foot wear because I'm not rat hunting in bare feet (learned that LAST time) and unfortunately the closest shoes I could find were my high heeled church shoes. Yup- I went rat hunting in heels. And I had to have some type of weapon (b/c I'm still not sure what to do once I FIND said rat- I know I need to look but what do I do when I find it? beat it with something?? stomp on it with my heels??) So I went armed with a broom. Not that a broom would be a great help but it was something...

I hunted all over the living room and I couldn't find the rat- but I did find droppings and fresh chew marks in the stuffing of the sofa (rats really seem to like our sofa! Good thing our land lord is taking it back soon! Good riddance! I'm all for a not so rat friendly sofa!) The trap is set. Hopefully we'll get him tonight!

Cold season is here and the rains are raining- that's when we seem get rats/mice/unwanted rodents. Must get too cold for them outside at night. Like I said last time, if this rat would cook like the rat in Rattatoui, it can stay- but it had better have some mad kitchen skills! Some how I doubt that is the case! Anyways, there is a massive rat trap slathered with peanut butter waiting for him in next to the couch. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. Regardless, I'm moving some more sensible shoes closer to the door- if I have to go rat hunting again tonight I wanna be able to do it with less "style".

Random Thought of the Day...

Why do anti-parasite meds taste like liquid Banana Laffy Taffy????

Happy Memorial Day

- from the proud sister of a soldier

I'm sending out a new email update/newsletter this week.  With pictures and info about ministries and stuff like that (all the stuff I don't write about here on the blog).  Let me know if you want to be added to the mailing list.  Either write your email address in a comment at the bottom of this post (I'll delete your address before any of the comments appear on the blog) or send me an email.   I send out an update about once every 2 months or so, so you won't be inundated with unwanted emails- I promise!

rest

I sometimes forget the importance of rest. I mean, I know that it is good, even necessary, but the reality is that my life is crazy and I don't rest as much as I should. I just don't realize how much I neglect rest until I actually take some TIME to rest!

Last week, my entire team hopped on a bus for 10 hours and went on a retreat to the Coast. My boss, an ex-military guy, started the retreat off  with a question: what does retreat mean? Its a military term. Retreat means to fall back and regroup (my answer). And that's what we did. We spent the week hashing out business stuff (like reworking budgets, sorting through decisions that we've been needing to make as a team, planning team and individual goals for the next several years, etc) and relaxing. It was a lot of work (we were in meetings from 8am until 3 or 4pm everyday) but it was also a great time to spend as a team. It was also a great time to really relax during our down time.

Pictures of our meetings would be incredibly boring so here's some of my favorite pics from my downtime. I spent most of my afternoon free time at the ocean. Because there is nothing like the beach for relaxation!  Our hotel was right on the Indian Ocean- it was warm and ridiculously beautiful!  Otherwise, I spent my free time teaching Team Swimming Lessons.  Only 2 of us could swim when we left Nairobi.  When we left the coast at the end of the retreat, 4 of us could swim! 

Sea urchin

Team swimming lessons

Now you all wanna come visit, huh?  

COAST!!!!!

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for a team retreat at the COAST!! I can't wait! I've never been to Kenya's coast yet- and its supposed to be amazing.

So pray for good weather, good meetings and time of rest and growth for the team.

COLD

Ok, I'm so cold sitting in the office, that I raided the Christmas Play Costumes. I'm now wearing the shepherd's headdress as a shawl. That is some desperate cold. Its been raining for months now (with some major flooding lately) and its just wet and cold. And muddy. Very very muddy. Yuck.

But there is warmth on the horizon! We are leaving for our team retreat/meetings at the Coast next week. I hear its 95 there now! YAY!!!!

PS- When I was in Asia for Christmas, my sis bought me this electric hot water bottle thing (it was a life saver there!) Never really thought I'd need it here but I might bring it to the office tomorrow!

Todays Lesson: Don't Fall Asleep With The Windows Open...

Its important to continue learning no matter how old you are, right? 

Well today I learned: Never fall asleep with the windows open and a light on.  When the rains come, you will have a house full of flying termites.  There has to be a sermon illustration in there somewhere....

But learn from my mistakes!

I had a crazy long day, so I decided to take a nap this evening (its my day off and that's what days off are for! Napping!) So I fell asleep but the balcony door was open in the living room. I woke up a while later, hearing the rains. It was dusk.  And someone in the house had left a light on in the living room.  I walked out of my room into a complete Termite Invasion!  I mean there were hundreds of termites swarming everywhere!! Ugh!!!

I ran back into my room, grabbed a hoodie and put it on so my hair would be covered (I've written before about getting the flying termites stuck in my hair! Gross!!), grabbed a shoe and I was ready for battle!  I turned off all the lights in the house except the one in the bathroom (to lure them all there- this is a strategic, night-ops kind of battle!)  They are swarming everywhere.  I just start stomping them with my feet and hitting them with another shoe- hundreds of termites! Disgusting!  I'll save you all the gory and grisly details but I finally won. I swept them up and that was that.

Or so I thought.  I was on my way out the door to meet a friend when the invasion happened.  I opened my door, and the hallway was swarming with THOUSANDS of termites!  The building doors were open (as usual) and the hall lights had been turned on.  I put up my hood again and just ran down the stairs through the swarms.  DISGUSTING!!

The guards were happy though.  They are from Western Kenya where flying termites are a delicacy.  They had a bucket with thousands of termites in it- they were going to fry them up later.  They even taught me the recipe for termites while I was waiting for my friend to pick me up.  One day I'll try it.  But not today.

Flooding

This is the stream behind my house.  Its usually a trickle. Last night it was a raging river. 

The picture isn't incredibly clear, but look at all of the plastic bags stuck against the tree trunks.   Those were dragged there by the flooding.  The water is at least 3 feet higher then normal in this picture and the garbage stuck in the trees showed that the river was at least 2 feet higher then that.  Insanity.  And its still raining.  I can hear the river running with the windows closed in my house (normally you can't even hear it when you walk over it.)

A friend of mine has a flooded apartment.  What a mess. Its been pouring rain for months (and its not yet Rainy Season).  Its not yet clear if this is just Rainy Season come early or if it will just keep raining into Rainy Season.  At least its not a drought like last year. 

The Hilarity of the Day

Today, I had a few random things I needed to accomplish- things I hadn't planned to do today (or at all for that matter) but they needed to be done today and that was that.  Plans change.  Plans tend to change a lot here.  So I decided to go to the office, leave my computer there (downloading the latest episode of NCIS) while I ran all my earrands.  This was supposed to be fast- maybe 1 hour?  But when is anything ever fast?

I ran out to the other side of town, met up with some people that I needed to meet up with, finished with that. Then I ran into some other people I knew so we were chatting when I ran into one of my teens who was supposed to be in school. She wasn't.  So we had a chat about that that morphed into this whole other thing. In the midst of that semi crisis, I ran into yet another friend who was going back in the direction of my office with 2 humoungus bags and her 2 toddlers- on a matatu.  I finished with the teen and told the other friend that I would help her get the stuff and the kids to the other side of town because this is a 3 matatu exchange trip (we switch mats 3 times to get to where she is going) 

One of the huge things that just drives me crazy here is that babies and todlers ride matatus too.  On one hand, I get it- if you don't have a car, how else will you travel?  But on the other hand, its crazy dangerous! No child safety seats, no nothing. Often you see women with their tiny little babies tied on their backs or sides as they get in the matatu.  Yikes!!

But my friend was going to take matatus with or without me, so the least I could do was help out. I carried the 2 year old and held the 4 year old's hand as we walked to catch the mat.  Mom had the bags.  Once we got a matatu, we got the bags, mom and the 4 year old in the front seat behind the driver and I climbed in with the 2 year old who promptly falls asleep.  Once we get to the stop, we all get out, the 2 year old is still sleeping on me, and we cross the highway to catch matatu #2. One matatu shows up but its full and we have a ton of stuff and sleeping kids so we let it pass.  We wait.  and wait.  and wait.  and wait.  And now this tiny little 2 year old feels like she weighs 90 pounds-  and everyone and their brother is staring at me, the white chick holding a not white baby as she sleeps.  So the mom suggests that I sit down on a rock near a tree while we wait.  Sounds good to me.  So I sit down.  For about 1 second.  Then I notice all the ants that start dropping onto my shoulders and hair and her hair.  Then they start biting.  Yup I sat down underneath a tree CRAWLING with safari ants.  I stood up right away and try to hand the baby over to the mom but a matatu shows up that can take us so I only get the ants out of her hair before we jump in. They are still crawling in my shirt, hair and jeans.  Fun times.  I end up in the front seat behind the driver with BOTH kids on my lap ( b/c the matatu is full and mom has all the bags).  They both fall asleep.  So I now have 2 sleeping kids in my arms, safari ants in my clothes and hair (biting the whole time) and I'm trying to get my coins out to pay adn all this stuff. 

We get to the stop, I'm trying to wake up the 4 year old but he won't wake up, the ants are still biting and when you get out of a mat, you have to do it in a hurry because they just take off. I ended up carrying both kids out of the mat at once (one under each arm, both still somewhat asleep). Surprisingly we only lost 1 shoe in the whole deal (and a guy grabbed it for us before the matatu left).  I'm sure we looked hilarious. 

I ended up getting them on the their last matatu (b/c I was going a different direction and at this point we had met up with yet another friend who was going their way).  But I still have safari ants in my clothes!  and they are still biting! Sneaky guys, you can't find them all!!!  And in the end, that 1 hour errand turned into a 4 hour deal (not counting most of the matatu riding!)   I think I'm just going to go home and take a shower to get the rest of the ants off.  The rest of the work can wait until tomorrow!

My Favorite Pics

 After going through my pictures from Kitangela Glass, here are some of my faves.  Check the post below for the story...

 All the glass used here is recycled glass- old windows, beer bottles, coke bottles, etc. 

Kitangela Glass

Today, some friend and I went to see this glass blowing place outside of the city. It was AMAZING!!! Seriously!! It was so cool!  I've never seen the whole process of blowing glass before, but this was crazy artistic with a great Kenyan flair!

Here's a picture of the craziest moment of the day.

Look close.  Its not that flames are spurting out of that furnace at the guy.  The crazy moment of the day was when I realized that these guys are pulling molten glass out of a 2000+ degree furnace, waving and twirling it around this little room with 6 other guys, and they are doing all this IN THEIR BARE FEET!!! (well they had sandals on but I'm not sure that would really make a difference!)  We asked about the lack of protective equipment, but the manager said its been made available, but most choose not to use it.  Fair enough, I guess!

 It was truely amazing to watch this whole process- its such an art AND a science!!  Here, the guys is shaping the piece that he has blown.

 Here is one of the more experienced guys adding a decorative edge to the vase- look at how screaming hot that glass is!!

 Here's another guy in a different part of the facility, blowing more glass.

 It seems to be just using air, gravity, heat and chemical reactions to do this- but once again, its the balance of science AND art- because there is no way its just that simple!

The grounds at this place were amazing.  It was like being in a story book- all the paths were made of mosaic glass, clay and cement pieces.  All the shops and workshops were little huts in the middle of the woods.  They do pottery, stained glass, industrial glass, metal work, and of course the glass blowing.  We spent a few hours here and still didn't see it all (including the illusive ostrich I only heard about later!)

Plus, the owner has these HUGE rottweiler dogs running around free- in the stained glass SHOW ROOM!! I was afraid of breaking stuff- how this monster of a dog made it through is a mystery to me! 

 I love Nairobi.  It literally seems to just appear out of nowhere!  This is the city skyline. 

And these are the Ngong Hills.  If you've seen or read Out of Africa, this is what Karen Blixen was talking about.  "I had a farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills once..."  We stopped by her historic home, so this was taken on her front porch.  The hills look like knuckles. 

So this was my fun, random day off!

The Earth is the Lord's...

 The Earth is the Lord's.....

 ... and everything in it....

... the world....

.... and all who live in it.  Psalm 24:1

 Happy Earth Day!

Youth Football- Day 2

So some of you don't believe I can PLAY football!  I'm shocked!!  Some of you even demanded pictoral proof (MOM- my own mother didn't believe me!)  So for all you doubters out there, here's the proof.  I got SKILLS!!!

Today, I even learned how to not only kick the ball in a somewhat straight line in the relative direction of another player, but I learned how to do that thing where the ball comes to you and you kick it up in the air and bounce it off your foot for a while (a little while being 2 or 3 times).  You can tell from that succinct description, that I have this ALL  figured out!!! or not... 

Lots of fun, and lots of sunburn (even with the sunscreen I wore!), lots of laughing (mostly at my lack of ability).  So its been a great day!  We even got the guard to play for a while! Even with the invasion of Nairobi Flies when we took a break.  Nairobi Flies are these crazy little bugs that are about the size of an ant but they are full of acid- so if you squash them on your arm or something  you get a big old acid burn.  They are SNEEKY!!

Term-Break Football

Schools in Kenya go year-round with 3 month long breaks scattered threw out the year.  This time, I figured we needed to take advantage of the fact that the youth are all out of school for an entire month and plan some stuff to do together- thus Teen Term Break Football!! (For all of you in the US, football is actually "soccer" to you- but the rest of the world calls it football so lets just jump on that bandwagon please! life would be less confusing!)

So we had a long, sun burn (for me) filled day of football.  I'm still not the most athletically inclined person you've ever met but its fun and the teens love to laugh at my lack of skill and ability!  I love these days.  The teens are themselves when they play. One girl was just laughing and smiling- I'm not sure I've ever seen her really smile before. 

We'll play some more football next week (and I'll try to remember the sun screen). 

Random Sighting of the Day:

I was walking home from paying my electricity bill at the grocery store, when I noticed these 2 dudes walking down the street next to me handcuffed together.  I did a double take and yup- 2 dudes cuffed together, meandering down the street while the police officer with an automatic weapon walks casually behind.  They must have been picked up for something and are on their way to the nearest police station? but that's a long walk!  Maybe the Walk of Shame on a busy street cuffed together is part of their punishment.  I guess the officer wasn't too worried about them taking off- people were walking in between the guys and the officer as they made their way towards Town. 

Random.

What To Do With Your Leftover Easter Peeps...

This is what I did last year on the massive bonfire in our yard (the one where we burned all the brush and trees we cleared over the winter) Yummy!!

Who Rolled the Stone Away from the Tomb?

Who rolled away the stone from the Tomb????

CHAR did!!!

All of you from Good Shepherd should remember this historic Children's Sermon. Everybody else- sorry! Its a long long story involving a children's Easter play and some slight confusion as to who was actually present at the Resurrection (for the record- Char was NOT there for the actual resurrection- just our recreation of the event!)

I love Easter. Some of my best childhood memories are from Easter. Not just the crazy Easter Play fiascos (like the Moldy Bagel Play, Char rolling the stone away, etc) but listening to my old school tapes of Psalty the Singing Songbook telling the story of how Charles Wesley wrote "Christ the Lord is Risen Today!" and someone else adding all the Alleluias. I remember great Easter Breakfasts at church, a few mishaps with strawberries and new white Easter dresses, a trio (or was a it a quartet) of dads singing the He Came Riding Into Town way WAY back in the day when we were still meeting in a friend's basement for services, and a sunrise Easter service on a beach in Florida when I was on a mission trip.

Easter has some of the best music (well except for Christmas). Easter also has the best message. Christmas is important (obviously)- Jesus came. But EASTER. Easter is the crux of the issue. Jesus came at Christmas, but Easter is WHY he came. He came to die- for us. Its all about redemption. Its all about new life. I love it.

So Happy Easter from the other side of the world!
Amefufuka! (He has Risen!)
Amefufuka kweli kweli! (He has Risen Indeed!)

Good Friday

Good Friday and Easter just seemed to come out of nowhere this year.  Part of it is probably because work has been crazy lately.  Part of it is the lack of Cadburry Egg commercial in East Africa.   Most of you are thinking "Geez Linds, just look at a calendar!"  which is true.  I'd have a better idea holidays were coming if I looked at a calendar more often.  But I think the real reason Easter snuck up on me this year is because my church here doesn't follow the church calendar. and I miss it.  I miss Lent and the 40 day march to Easter.  It puts it all into perspective.  Easter doesn't just come out of nowhere if you are anticipating it for 40 days. 

I know liturgy and church calendars are a little old school for some people, and that's fine.  But I love it. I love that all of the holidays and important things aren't just "stand alone" days that come out of no where. They all fit together in a huge puzzle.  Advent is connected to Christmas which is connected to Epiphany which is connected to Lent which is connected to Palm Sunday which is connected Good Friday which is connected to Easter which is connected to Pentecost which is connected ....  At the end of the year, we've walked through the entire story from start to finish.  It gives context and perspective. 

So have a great Good Friday! Even if it came out of nowhere and surprised you!  Please keep praying for the rain to hold off tomorrow during Youth Group- we've had yet another week of torrential rains and we still don't have a place to put the Youth if it rains.

Happy Birthday Danielle!!!

I hope you have a great day!!! If we were on the same continent, you, Annie and I would go out to TGI Fridays as per our tradition that started in India. But unfortunately we aren't. Next time I'm home, we'll go!
Wow - India was a long time ago! We all look so little!!! Take care of the newest McGrew and have great Birthday!