Rat Huntin'

I'm going to write a book and its going to be called "Rat Hunting for Dummies"  because I am becoming an expert.  Not always successful, but I'm developing some mad rat huntin' skills!!

A friend (who lives in the same compound as me) called me this evening saying she had a rat in her kitchen again and would I come and kill it?? How and when I was elected rat-control person for my circle of friends, I don't know, but I am.  All the creepy crawlies are coming in our houses because of the rain and I get all the "kill it!!!!" calls. 

But this time, this was the epic rat story (only out done but the time we found the rat we had been hunting for days in the couch and our housemate screamed bloody murder and brought every guard to our house because they thought someone had died, as we were trying to beat the rat out of the couch on the balcony). 

So my friend Kimberly called, she had a rat trapped in her kitchen and she wanted me to get rid of it.  I'm still at a bit of a loss when we can actually SEE the rat.  If you know there is a rat around, you set the trap and hope it gets it.  But when you have the rat cornered?? What do you do, bludgeon it???  Stomp on it?? Herd it towards the trap??

So my friend is hiding in her room.  I get the trap ready and went into her kitchen and shut myself in. The goal was to get the trap set on her porch and then scare the rat out there and shut the door.  Not a bad plan- but the EXECUTION of said plan left a lot to be desired. 

I went into the kitchen with my big rubber rain boots on and the trap in my hand.  I saw the rat (and this is not a small rat) sitting on top of her fridge, behind some stuff.  But when I walked past it, I herd it drop to the ground behind the fridge.  So far, all is going according to plan.  I got the trap out on the porch and I go back into the kitchen to scare the rat (who is now on the floor) into the porch.  I move the fridge.  I move the stove. I move every single thing on her counters and bang on the doors and sides of the appliances.  The rat is MIA.  I KNOW I heard it fall but I checked under the fridge, behind the fridge, inside the back compartment of the fridge.  Nowhere. 

I moved everything, but this rat had hunkered down and was hiding somewhere in that kitchen.  I looked for 30+ minutes but we couldn't find it.  I said we should just go, let things quiet down and he'd come out again.  But she had guests coming over and needed to bake something so I stayed with her and she cooked- standing on a chair- and I stood guard.  No sign of the rat for another 20 minutes.

Until she opened the stove door.  The rat ran out from under the oven (still not sure how he made it over there).  Kimberly ran for the door- screaming.  The rat ran for the door too.  Its running all over her feet and she is wearing a long skirt so the skirt is sort of herding the rat along with her- and that just makes her scream louder!  She got out the door and the rat ran into the corner.  My friend is still screaming, so I leave to quiet her down before all the guards and neighbors come running.  And then I ran back into the kitchen.  I heard rustling in the garbage can and I think he got in there so I tied it up and threw it out!  But after the bag was tied up and on the porch, it didn't rustle any more so we weren't SURE it was gone. I moved all her appliances again but no luck.  So we called it a night and I went home and her guests were starting to arrive. 

I had left my apartment in a hurry and my housemate was home so I didn't bother to grab my keys or my phone.  I got back to my place and found it locked up tight.  That's no good.  My housemate was out.  And I didn't have a phone to call her.  So I had to run back up to my friend Kimberly's to have her call (down 3 flights, up 5 more).  But her phone battery is dead. She only has a car charger and her fiance has her car up country.  One of her guests arrived and had a car, so we borrow her keys, run down stairs and try to charge Kimberly's phone in Katia's car- and I try to call Julia and see if she can come home and let me in.  Thankfully, she was 5 minutes away and not halfway across town. 

So I am back in my apartment, Kimberly is hopefully rat free (I'm sure I'll hear the screams if the rat thwarted us again...)  and we all had a good laugh (well at least I did!!) 

Let It Rain Meat!

The Long Rains are here and we need them.  Rainy season isn't the most convenient of seasons (with tons of mud, power outages most days, cold nights, increased traffic jams and face it- the laundry on the line will just never dry) but we need the rain- desperately- so we'll take the inconvenience that comes with it. 

The Rains also bring out the bugs.  And I mean tons of them.  Nairobi flies are out (with their little acid filled bodies- they fight dirty!) and tons of other bugs are making their way into our houses to avoid all the water.  But the biggest offender is the Flying Termite.  When the rains come (because the rains usually come at the same time in the evening- right around dark with additional showers through out the day) the conditions are perfect for the Flying Termites to swarm.  They are attracted to the sound of the rain pounding and the darkness outside their holes and they come out in huge swarms.  They fly to the lights- so if your windows are open, our your windows just don't shut tight, they WILL find a way in to your house- usually in large numbers.  Then they fly and bounce around the room until their wings fall off and then they wriggle and crawl around until you can sweep them up and get rid of them.  They don't hurt you, they just get into everything. 

I happened to comment about the invasion of the flying termites on facebook a few days ago- and a Kenyan friend responded, basically saying "what do you MEAN shut your windows!?  Let it rain meat!!"  Its true- flying termites are a favorite food of some Kenyan tribes and it is also true that they are a wonderful source of protein!  The night security guards at my building will gather hundreds of the termites when they are out after a good rain and take them home to eat.  I just don't see myself adding them to my next curry as a meat substitute...

My best termite story happened my first year in Kenya- click here for the story, or here for a lovely flying termite recipe I found in a magazine last year... it even gives you great helpful hints of how to collect the termites if its not raining!!  

Todays's Adventure: Baking Lessons!!!

I love to bake.  And cook.  And hang out with my teenagers.  Today was a great day because I got to do all three!  School is on term break right now, so this was the perfect time to have another baking party with my teen girls. 

 

Baking lessons soon morph into math lessons (hey, fractions are hard!), english lessons and science lessons.  We skipped the savory stuff this time and went straight for the sweet.  Chocolate cake.  Sugar cookies (with homemade colored sugar to decorate them). All from scratch!!

If I were baking all this alone, it might take me 2 hours or so.  I love that with these girls, this becomes an all day event.  That is because its more about time together and enjoying each other then it is about getting the task accomplished.   Sometimes this approach to life can drive me crazy (particularly when there is something we HAVE TO accomplish in a certain time frame), but on days like today, it just makes it more fun! 

Since we had so many cookies and so much cake, I had a few of my friends from up country and their girls stop by and help us finish it all!! 

So in the end, great friends, good food and a lot of fun.  It was a great day!!! Now to take on the disaster that is my kitchen.... (although I can't complain too much, the girls helped with most of the dishes and mess...)

I Won't Be Putting Krispy Kreme Out of Business...

... but I just found a recipe for donuts!!! I've been missing donuts lately. A lot. I'd love a nice glazed yeast donut.  From Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Hortons, I don't care.  So I found a recipe for them online.   And these are even baked instead of fried so you can have the illusion of them being sort of healthy.

 

Honestly, they'd taste better fried.  

But they were still yummy!!  And I got to try out the dount cutter I got when I inherited my grandfather's cookie cutter collection! 

What To Do....

Today was one of those days.  It started great and actually it ended great too, it was just the middle that drives me crazy. 

Today was our meeting day. I had a pretty big group of teens, things were going well as we sang and enjoyed each other company.  Until the heckling started.  There was a group of young people, from the same ethnic background as my teens, who were in the compound.   Its a long story I won't go into online, but this group of young people basically kept teasing and yelling pretty much the dirtiest slur you can yell at people here- all directed at my teens.  We don't have a direct translation in English, well we have a direct translation for the word but not for the weight that word carries.

I've got to hand it to my teens.  They were angry. I was angry.  I said "well if they think its funny that we are singing (they were calling the others inside a building to come to listen to us and join the heckling) why don't we give them a good concert!"  I've never heard my teens sing with such enthusiasm!   And considering my teens tend to be a "fight first ask questions later" group, I was amazed that there wasn't a brawl.  Seriously.  The teens were able to pull it together and we continued on with the lesson. 

We dealt with the problem, but it still galls me.  My teens take flack from people all over the city- in school, on the bus, in the market, on the street- simply because of their ethnic origins.  They are the minority and they are judged for all the things people from their home country have done.  Then they go home and take flack from some of their families, friends and neighbors because of life choices they have made.  I can't do much about all those other people but they WON'T be treated like this when we come to meet!  I won't stand for it!   And thankfully, neither will my coworkers. 

But then I have to set a good example (which is probably a good thing- having to be a good example kept ME from starting a brawl today!)  I want to teach them to stand up for themselves, they don't have to take this abuse from people.  But also, there are times, when you have to be the bigger person and let the insults (as horrid as they are) pass. 

Who Invented Skype??

Seriously, whoever invented skype is my hero.  It makes living on a different continent than my family so much easier!  I remember my first overseas trip, we weren't even able to call home and we had incredibly limited email access.  On my internship in India, we would call home once a month from sketchy phone booths (we had to call our families in the middle of the night their time because we couldn't be out on the streets after dark.  And it cost an arm and an leg.)  We were only able to email on the weekends.  My roommate, who was engaged to a guy back home at the time and was always anxious to get his emails, would wake us up at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings yelling "its EMAIL day!!!" and we would argue over who's turn it was to take her to the nearest email cafe. 

Now I can skype with my family and friends anytime!! I just met my nieces who are still in the NICU!!  They can't have any visitors but I can skype with them!  I can skype with my nephew and see how big he is getting!  Skype is awesome. 

Baby Elephants

 I went with some of our volunteers to see the baby elephants at the elephant orphanage yesterday- so fun!! Talk about cute!!

Gardens

Here's a link to a really interesting article about the parallel between the Garden of Eden and Mary in the garden on Easter morning.   Enjoy!

Amefufuka!

Ok all you Lutherans out there, you know how this works.  If someone says "Amefufuka!" (He is risen!), you say "Amefufuka kweli kweli!" (He has risen indeed!)"

Today is Easter!  Its been a busy week and I got to the end of the week realizing I never really planed anything for Easter.  So a friend and I decided to have an Ethi Easter (ie lunch at the local Ethiopian restaurant!)  Best plan ever!   I love Ethi food and it was the perfect time to catch up with my friend before she moves out of the city! 

Shiro and shekla is a great way to celebrate Easter! 

Happy...

One of the kiddos was trying to write "Easter" on my board today.  This is a darn fine phonetic attempt!  Too bad English doesn't make any sense and spelling is tough...

Happy Birthday Ams!!

Today is my dear friend and teammate's birthday!!  We got all dressed up and surprised her at a Thai restaurant in Town. 

I Am My Father's Daughter...

I was getting my lesson ready for this weekend but I had already printed it out when I thought of something to add.  So I grabbed a pen and wrote in the margin.  Then I looked at it and realized I could hardly read what I had written.  And it reminded me of the old days, before my family had a computer, and my dad would write his sermons by hand.  His handwriting is worse then mine, so there were weeks when he would get to a certain point in the sermon and have no idea what he had written.  I am very very lucky I live in the age of computers!  Because between my handwriting and my spelling, my teachers weren't sure I'd survive.  (I had one teacher tell me it was a very good thing we didn't judge people's character by their spelling anymore... I didn't appreciate THAT backhanded compliment!) 

When The Rain Comes

We tend to mosey here.  I mean we walk to get where we are going but most of us don't always break any land speed records to get there.  We enjoy the walk, the people us, whatever.  Until the rain comes.  Days start out nice and warm and sunny.  But out of no where these certain kinds of clouds roll in, the sky get dark, the wind picks up and we know.  The rain is coming.  NOW.  There isn't a lot of warning. 

At first, when the dark clouds come in, everyone starts to walk with purpose.  Moms start hurrying their kids, all the people selling things on the street start to pack up.  But it gets darker and the wind gets stronger and everyone starts to jog.  MAYBE you can make it home before the rain! Probably not, though.  Then the rain is eminent- and everyone is flat out running for anything that will block the rain. Its hilarious!  The eminent rain makes all the matatu and bus drivers drive even crazier then usual- the roads are treacherous when the rain is coming!! 

I got caught in the storm a few days ago (and every day since then...) but this was the first real day of  Rainy Season- we weren't expecting it.  I was at my office, and when everything went dark, I rushed to shut up the office, gather my things and leave- trying to beat the storm.  I was within site of my destination when the rain came.  And this was not some nice, spring drizzle.  This was like someone opened the fire hydrants.  It took me 5 minutes to get inside and I was wading through 6 inch rivers running down the road.  I was soaked all the way though.  I mean, I could wring out my jeans, soaked. 

But we need rain.  Desperately.  So I don't mind.  Plus my jeans and hair needed a good wash anyways.  Looks like the rainy season is really here though! Its rained every day this week!! And we need it! 

I love my office

I think my team is just hilarious.  We are 6 people from 5 different countries- so miscommunications are an everyday thing. 

Here's part of today's conversation:
Me: You sound like Yoda, Ams (she was talking in weird voice)
Ams: The bear???
Me: No.
Ams: The guy from Lord of the Rings???
Me: Noooooo

Then I showed her a video of Yoda on youtube.

Ams: He's so profound!!!

It usually takes us far too long to all get on the same page- and we are all getting better at anticipating the miscommunications.  But they are always entertaining! At least we all have a good sense of humor!

Language Surprises

 I was teaching yesterday and discovered that one of my teens is incredibly conversant in English.  He had never once spoken to me in English.  Ever.  Since I met him 3 months ago.  No one else told me he spoke English! (I'm not sure that anyone else knew).   One of the girls was translating for another guy and I noticed he was correcting her translation under his breath!! Ha!  Busted!  I guess he finally feels comfortable using his English skills!!  I understand, if you don't feel confident in your 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language, its easier to just use the language you speak well.  But come on! He has heard me struggle through some painful swahili conversations with him- I'm sure it was quite entertaining!  My swahili is far from amazing. 

In other news, you know you're congested when you are eating Salt and Vinegar potato chips and you think they are regular flavored chips.  I mean I actually did a double take and checked the bag to see if I had bought the wrong kind.... But I am going to beat this cold! One of these days!!!

Nothing makes you feel better when you are sick then ginger/honey/lemon tea.

Well, tea and soup with stars in it.

And Sudafed.

In case you were wondering, it is the craziest feeling to have a cold/flu/fever/whatever when it is 90* out.  Its just plain weird!   At least I'm starting to feel like a person again! And I'm going to work tomorrow regardless, so my body had better just cooperate and get over this crud. 

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

High Points of today:
-  impromptu singing/dancing with a group of teen girls to classic Bollywood (Indian musical) tunes.  Gotta love the Bollywood tunes!!
- eating goat after our meeting and the little kiddo next to me making her goat meat "baaaa" and run around her plate
- a friend of mine randomly breaking out in a rousing chorus of "I am 16 going on 17" as we drove down the highway- you'd have to know the guy to understand how amazingly hilarious (and completely unexpected) this was!

Not to rub it in but I wasn't forced lose an hour of sleep yesterday!! Haha! Pole sana for all of you North Americans who lost time!

Funniest Event Today (well so far):

I was teaching my teens and since we had a few teens with us who don't speak english , one of the girls was translating to make sure we were all on the same page. She's really good at translating so I'm teaching, she's translating and we are just bouncing back and forth between 3 languages, not loosing any time.  I, without thinking, said a sentence in English and then ended with "hakuna shida"- swahili for "its no problem".  I often mix english and swahili (especially when the word I'm looking for is better described in swa).  So I say "blah blah blah english sentence- hakuna shida".  She translates "blah blah blah S sentence- its no problem".  And we all stopped.  And looked at each other and tried to figure out what had just happened.  We all knew it didn't sound right but we couldn't figure it out for a minute.  We had switched languages!  And didn't notice!

Ok- maybe it is one of those "you have to be there to see what's so funny about it" because we all were rolling on the ground laughing about it for about 5 minutes.  But seriously, that is the mark of a good translator- someone who will translate back and forth without realizing she had switched.   Usually, its easier to translate one way but hard to reverse your brain and translate both directions at the same time.

And Another One Bites The Dust...

Today was incredibly normal and fine until I left work!! I left the office with the intent to do some grocery shopping. I had had a nice morning tutoring one of my teens and I spent the afternoon planning my lesson for tomorrow- things were good!

I took the bus from my office and got off near the store- I still had a 10-15 minute walk but that's nothing.  I'm walking along, minding my own business when I realize my sandal isn't walking with me.  Shoot.  It's broken.  And it wasn't just the "pop it back in" kind of broken- it was broken broken.  Now I have 3 choices, I can keep walking barefoot (and that is just dumb- there is broken glass everywhere, not to mention a million other things I shouldn't be walking on), I can find a fundi (a guy who repairs shoes) but I don't know of any on the road I'm walking on, or I can find a new sandal.  I've often thought I should carry an extra pair of sandals in my bag for just such a purpose but of course I don't do that because who has room for an extra pair of sandals??   I'm not too far from a place that sells shoes so I backtrack and find a new pair of sandals (and the sales people all giggle at my one sandal on, one sandal in my hand entrance to the store, but I was laughing too). Crisis averted.  And I continue on my way to the grocery store.

I walked the 10 minutes to the store and I had another errand to run at this mall.  I had dropped a spare key at the theater there 2 weeks ago and I'd been back at least 2 other times to pick it up but it wasn't there.  The employees could confirm that they had found it, and they knew it was mine but the manager had it or something and he was never there when I was (don't worry mom it wasn't a key to my house or anything).  So I was out to pick up my lost key.   Finally got that back!! Awesome!   So I'm thinking this afternoon has been inconvenient but still a win.  My shoe broke near enough to a shoe place that it wasn't a major crisis and I finally got my key back from the theater.  Great. Now on to groceries.

I shopped and the checkout lines were long, as they always are on Friday afternoons. I expect that. I was enjoying listening to my headphones and just waiting when the guy in front of me wants to chat.  That's cool.  He's got to be at least 80.  That should be interesting.  Yeah- he's been in-country since the colonial era. And he felt the need to loudly extoll the wonders of colonialism and British rule and how that had to do with the length of the lines.  AWKWARD!!!   Yeah the lines were long and yeah we would be waiting a while but that truly has nothing to do with who is ruling the country!  Its 5pm on Friday- the lines are always long!   Colonialism was no good.   All countries desire to be free of a foreign ruler- that they are better off with that freedom!! And even if you held colonial views (which I do not, by the way- freedom is good) perhaps the very long, crowded line isn't the place to be talking about it!! Where the majority of the people who will hear you are the very people you are insulting!!  I always take the view that I'm a guest in this country- I may have opinions but I don't parade them around.   So this guy goes on, and on and on- all the while I am looking for any escape. But there was none to be had. Until the cashier at the till closed our lane down because of a problem and I practically ran the other direction so I wouldn't end up in line with this guy again!!  

I have no patience for people who hold to ideas of "degrees of humanity".  People are people.  One group isn't better. One isn't worse.  One isn't smarter.  Its not always a black or white issue either.  People are always trying to tell me why one tribe is better then another.  Cultures are diverse and that is awesome- that diversity means we all have strengths and weakness as cultures.  But people are people.  Can't we just leave it at that??

March Is Reading Month....Isn't it???

Maybe March isn't Reading Month anymore.  It was when I was a kid- there were reading games and prizes and I loved it.  I love to read.  I don't just read books- I inhale books.  Seriously- I don't know what my parents did with me when I was a kid- how did they keep up with my habit??? I would bring a 400 page book home from the church library on Sunday afternoons and have it half done before supper.   My dad used to joke that I should read his seminary books and just give him the recap (I didn't, by the way. He read all of his own required reading.)

One of the teens I work with has had to put school on hold for a bit while she deals with some family things, so I've been supplying her with books.  To keep her English and reading skills up- but also because its fun!! And it is important to develop a habit for reading for your own edification, not just to pass a class.

For the past few months, I've been trying to track down books that would be at an appropriate reading level for her and be something inspiring.  I've been raiding friend's libraries, used book stalls in the market, bookstores- and this week I hit the mother load.  I had been finding interesting biographies like Frederick Douglas and Wycliffe, and while both inspiring an educational (and she has been enjoying them), I had another book in mind for her.  And I finally tracked it down.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

I love the Chronicles of Narnia.  If you've never read them, you should.  If you've only seen the movie, then you HAVE to read the books (the movie was fine- the books were infinitely better).  I never read them until I went to college but they are wonderful- and interesting for almost any age bracket.  And that was the beauty of this.  This teenager is FAR behind in school, so finding something that was at her reading level was often too immature for her and would be boring.  But finding reading material that was at her emotional level was far beyond her reading comprehension which would be frustrating. 

But C.S. Lewis came through for me! The Chronicles of Narnia was intentionally written for children but appeals to adults as well because of the intricate storyline and allegory.  Allegory can be confusing, but I think it is more like a game!! Its a puzzle! You have to figure out what the deeper picture is!  Fun stuff!! So we'll see how this works out!

Shiro Success!!

I love Ethiopian food.  I love food from all over the world, green Thai curry, these insane noodles from China that only people from a certain province would make, Indian butter chicken,  I’m really not that picky when you are talking about international cuisine.  I make most of these in my house on a weekly basis (not the Chinese noodles, but I’d try if someone could find me a recipe!) I love most ethnic food.  But I don’t particularly love most Kenyan food.  There is nothing WRONG with it, it just on the bland side.   It rarely has spices or heat.   I eat it- no problem.  I cook it too.  Its just not my absolute favorite or anything.  I prefer the food to the north or east of Kenya.  From the Horn of Africa.  Or Ethiopia.  These guys know how to use spices!!  

I have an amazing Ethiopian restaurant down the street from me (actually I have 7 Ethi restaurants within walking distance but one is infinitely better than the rest!)   So I end up there quite a bit.  This place is a common meeting place for friends of mine, we bring all visitors there (in fact we have a team that comes to help us every year and their goal is to see how many times they can eat there in a trip- they tell me they dream of the food when they are gone.  I believe them- I dream of it too!)   Its like an Ethiopian version of Cheers!  The guys there usually know who I am and what I will order when I walk in the gate.  

I’ve tried to make Ethi food a few times.  Absolute failures.  It just wouldn’t work for me!!   A friend of mine marched back into the kitchen at the restaurant once to ask the cook how to make shiro (Shiro is one of our favorites- its made from chickpeas that are ground into flour and then the flour is cooked into this loose, not liquid but not solid, stew kinda thing that you eat with flat bread.  Its one of those foods that you truly have to eat to understand- there just aren’t words to accurately describe it).  So the cook in the restaurant gave her a recipe but it never worked for me.   I was hanging out with a friend yesterday who was telling me that there was a new Ethiopian shop near my house.  I was so excited. You can buy shiro flour (its not something you can easily find here in Nairobi- there are areas of town where it is sold but I could never track it down).   So I made a trip there today.  I have a new favorite place!!  The shop was full of shiro, lentils (not my fave) and any dry Ethi food you could want.  The mama who works there said she also sells injera (a sour Ethiopian flat-bread that you use as your plate and utensils) but she was out for the day.  I told her about my failed shiro-making attempts and she told me her way of making shiro.  

I went home and made it for dinner.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Seriously, this lady is going to be my new best friend.  Her recipe, well not so much “recipe” because there were no measurements,  so her method for shiro making was awesome!! It turned out just like the shiro at the restaurant!!   And WAY cheaper.  The restaurant is pretty cheap as far as restaurants go- but I got 1kg of shiro flour for about the price of 1 family size portion of shiro at the restaurant.  I can make shiro for my whole building with 1kg of flour!  

I guess I’m going to have to add shiro and greens to my weekly rotation of ethnic food!! Yummy!!!   Next Ethiopian food to conquer: Ethi Cabbage.  I don’t know what I’m missing, it shouldn’t be so complicated, but mine never tastes like the amazingness that comes from the restaurant!

Blaze Orange Camo Shoes

I'm originally from MI.  And many of us in MI love our camouflage- or at least that's what everyone in the rest of the 49 states think.  But I don't mind camo. Or blaze orange.  I wore a blaze orange ski cap the entire time I was home on furlough - it kept me warm and alive (ie not shot by a hunter when I was out taking pictures in the woods). It was great!

A friend and I were browsing in a market today and found these amazing shoes.

I'm not sure if it would qualify for your blaze orange while hunting or how on earth would you hike out to a blind in these babies. But if you feel the need to slay a deer in style, these would be for you!! 

Makeover

I work primarily with youth.  And in Kenya, youth means anyone over 13 who isn't married, so a lot of my "teens" are actually closer to the age of a younger sister or brother rather then a 13 year old (although we have a pretty big age mix).

Today, the girls decided I was in need of a makeover because apparently the mascara I was wearing just wasn't enough.  So they attacked me with eyeshadow. 

After our meeting one the little kiddos decided I needed a new hair do too.  Several of the little kids didn't believe my hair was real- they were sure I had a weave. After confirming it was in fact my natural hair still attached to my head, they gave me a new do.  So I was just completely made over before I left!  I remembered to fix my hair before I the compound but I had forgotten all the eyeshadow I was wearing.  Oh well.  I'm sure I've looked crazier then this on the bus! 

Fun fun day (even if it involved a make up ambush!)

40 Days

I love Lent.  I know.  I'm weird.  Add it to the list of crazy things about Linds (and I think that list may be long...)  Lent is my 2nd favorite season of the Church year (Advent its the best, sorry!)  Can you tell I come from a liturgical tradition?? I have favorite seasons of the Church Calendar! 

I love Lent.  It's not fun in the traditional sense of the word "fun" but I love it.  Its all about contemplating the sacrifice Christ made. I love the contemplative seasons- during Advent you contemplate why Jesus was born.  During Lent you contemplate why he died.  You can give something up to help you remember or add something on to your day (like a Bible study) to help you keep the holiday.  But Lent is not about what you give up for 40 days (Lent is 40 days by the way- technically it takes place over 46 days but each Sunday we are freed from the fast).   Its not about how many days you can go without coffee or Facebook or how many books you can read and learn from (although there is nothing wrong with any of those things).

This Lent is pretty special for me.  I'm teaching a class where we are walking through the Gospels step by step over the next 27 weeks and right now we are at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  It fits in so well with this season of Lent.  I love how even at the beginning, everything Jesus did was incredibly intentional.  Jesus knew where he was going and what was going to happen in the end.  The goal was always the cross.  It wasn't the surprise ending. 

Last year I posted a video for Ash Wednesday.  It was 40 pictures drawn for the 40 days Jesus was tempted in the desert.  Check it out!! My favorite picture is the one where Jesus is staring at the night sky (maybe that's just because I love to stare at the night sky too!)  Happy Lent! 

PIZZA PIZZA

A few girls from my teen group wanted to learn to bake and have been asking me to teach them.  So today I had a few of them over- soooooo fun!!! Oh my goodness. Seriously, it was one of the most fun, hilarious, random, enjoyable days I've had in a long time.  We talked about cooking, we laughed about learning language, and just enjoyed each other AND enjoyed the pizza and brownies they made from scratch.

Its great when even some of the quieter girls start to come out of their shells.  We are definitely going to have to do this again!  Although maybe not for a few weeks- by the end it was 7 and a half hours of fun and I'm beat!!!

Autumn Trees (who cares that its Feb!)

What do you do when the power keeps cutting in and out all night (after an entire day of power outages)??? Watching a movie is out.  So is taking a shower (no hot water).  Cooking is complicated by candle light.  You could read.  Or make shadow puppets.  Or sleep.  Or play I spy.  Or sit on the porch and enjoy the fact that Nairobi actually dark for once. (These are all things I've done during power outages by the way... you have to get creative or go crazy!!)  

But tonight, after the power went out for the 4th time in an hour and looked like it was going to be out for a while, I decided it was time to break out my Autumn Tree Photo Puzzle.  When I was home this fall, I took about 30 pictures of a big, beautiful tree near my house.  They are all close up pieces of the tree so when you put them together, you get a huge, layered, beautiful fall tree.  It started out as a "let's see if I can do it", silly kinda project but when it turned out so neat, it ended up morphing into a whole big thing.  My mom wanted to keep it (gotta love moms- they'll display your art work even if you are almost 30...) but she thought it would be cool if I put each picture in an acrylic frame and glue those together to add depth to the layers.  It took forever to figure it out but in the end it was awesome!! I decided I needed it at my house in Kenya too.  Well, the pictures- not the frames. Lets face it, there was no way I was making room for 30 acrylic frames in my luggage!

So with the power out, I got out all the pictures and a bunch of candles and started put the puzzle together by candle light.  Which was kinda tricky because you have to match up all the branches and stuff.  But it kept me entertained!  I finished it up just as the power came back on.

And in the end, it turned to pretty well if I do say so myself!  The finished picture I left in MI for my mom is better- the depth and 3D-ness the frames added was really cool but I'll take what I can get!  Now I've got my beautiful Michigan Autumn up on my door. 

Happy Valentines Day!

I love to bake.  And I will take just about any opportunity to bake for my teens.  They don't get a lot of sweets and they aren't able to bake at home (I'd estimate that none of our families have access to an oven, they all cook on either charcoal or kerosene stoves).  So they don't actually know how to bake- although that's going to change.  Some of the girls want to start learning to bake, so a few are going to come by my house for cooking lessons.  I'll teach them somethings (pizza, cake and cookies are all high up on the list) and they will teach me something too (we're talking about samosa, injera and pilau) Fun!!! 

But this weekend I decided to make my famous sugar cookie recipe, using my grandma and grandpa's old cookie cutters that I got when I was home on furlough (its more fun to use the old cookie cutters! Thanks Grandpa!)  and I figured out how to color the sugar on top to make them extra festive (Pinterest is just amazing!! You can learn anything on there!). 

You Know Its Gonna Be A Good Day When...

You know its gonna be a good day when you show up at your meeting and are literally run over by little kids yelling "LIIIIIIIIIINDsey!!!!!" as they climb all over you.  It just has to be a fun day after that!  These aren't even the kids I work with!  But I AM the human jungle gym for all the little kiddos, so I guess that's why they were so excited to see me.  

One of the little girls drew this picture of me:

Considering THIS is the picture she drew of me about 6 months ago, I think she's improved considerably!!  Either that or I've stated to look more like a person and less like a sea creature!

New Locks

So after several break-ins in my compound and in neighboring apartment buildings, we are beefing up security.  The compound manager is talking about CC tv and new guards and that's great (I'll believe it when I see it).  But ultimately I'm responsible for my own security.  I'm always careful to lock my house (and my room) but it seems like the culprit somehow had keys for all these break ins (definitely an inside job- no doors or windows broken but someone gets in and out with all their electronics and cash).  Nice. So far we have been blessed- no one's been in our house but who wants to chance it?  So how do you defend your home when someone apparently has keys to the houses?  Antigen locks.

I'd never heard of an antigen lock before but they are pretty nifty!  We use the big, old-school keys here in pretty much every door (like the keys in Cinderella- remember when the wicked stepmother locked her in the room and she had those massive keys??  They are like that). 

 

Big keys require big key holes, so there are big key holes in the doors (the kind you could spy through if you wanted- I believe that may have ALSO happened in Cinderella- not sure, its been a while since I've seen it).  The antigen lock fits into the key hole and blocks it.  No one can put a key into it or try to pick the lock until you remove the block that is locked into it (with a separate key). 

 Its really just one more lock to lock on your way out the door (lock your door as usual then put in the antigen lock, lock that and go) but it insures that no one can even try to get into your place while you are away (well they can't get in with a key at least).  Definitely worth the $7 I paid for the antigen lock!!   Why didn't I know about this before??

Bola's Birthday!!

Today was Bola's 2nd birthday!  Bola (the son of one of my teammates) had a blast and so did we.  

 

Here's the birthday boy dancing to his birthday song: 

I WON!!!!!!!

Ok, I'll get to what I won in a second- here is what I had originally planned to post today: 


Time to dust off the old Math skills!! One of my teens is having a rough time in school so she's coming in one day a week for some help.  We dove in today- long division.  How long has it been since I figured out LONG division- the writing out all your work and everything??!?!!  A very very long time.  And this wasn't just long division- this was long division with decimals.  It didn't take long to figure out that the girl really needs to go back to multiplication basics and learning decimal places, and work on those before we move on (phew!! I have a slight reprieve from long division!) 

What I don't understand is why to teachers continue to pass our kids onto the next class if they haven't mastered the material from the previous classes?? That is setting them up to fail!  At some point, if you don't understand the basics, it will be impossible to move on.  Its better to hold them back until they understand the material rather then pass them on and leave them confused! 

Now, for the contest.  I wrote the above post at work this afternoon and then I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  I was already getting a good chuckle over a new brand of shortening called "COWBOY Spesheli Cooking Fat"  Now I'm pretty sure "spesheli" isn't a swahili word- its a swahili-ized "special".  And why do cowboys love this particular brand?? Are there even cowboys in Kenya??? So I'm getting a good laugh over the Cowboy shortening and stuff.  I paid for my groceries and the cashier told me "You won!" then he told me to go get my prize from this table outside.  People were winning shampoo (jealous!) and snacks.  Guess what I won??  

2.3lbs of margarine!!! Woo-hoo!!!!! I'm not being sarcastic- I love to win anything!!   Now what to DO with 2.3lbs of margarine??? Not a clue.  I don't think I use that much margarine in a year.  I guess I'll cook it into something for my teens. 

Black History Month

I was laughing a little today at my inbox- everything is about Black History Month.  And that is great- there is definitely a need to remember all ethnic groups that make up America and to be honest about our past as a country.  But it just makes me laugh- because here in Kenya, we just call it history.  No need for a special month to remember it.   

Cultural Diversity is Hilarious

I just got back from a retreat.  8 of us got together this weekend to plan out some changes in the work that we are doing.  But we weren't just 8 people, we were 8 people from 8 completely different ethnic backgrounds.  Which is just really fun.  I love cultural diversity.  I love observing how we all do "normal" things, I love discussions where we come at things from 8 different perspectives. I always say, I think this diversity is our greatest strength.  Obviously, that much diversity can be a hinderence if you aren't prepared to be patient and learn but in the end, its what makes us strong- and effective. 

But back to our retreat.  8 people, 8 ethnic groups (all from different parts of Africa except for 1 Asian and myself).  We have 8 different ways of seeing issues and 8 different ways to solve problems- we also had 8 different ways of eating watermelon.  It was amazing.  We all ate watermelon differently. How many ways are there to eat watermelon, you may ask?? Well, at least 8.  At the end of each meal, there was fruit and I happened to watch as we all ate.  I tend to be ridiculously observant sometimes and this is what I saw:

- there was the one who would pick it up with their hands and eat it (and the seeds)
- there was the one who would pick it up with their hands, and spit out the seeds
- there was the one who would pick it up with their hands but remove the seeds with the fork they were holding with their other hand- then eat the watermelon
- there was the one who would remove the seeds with a knife on their plate before cutting it up into little pieces to eat with a fork....
- there was the one who would cut off the rind, then eat it
          (any thoughts on which one was me??? I bet you can't guess!)

You get the idea.  8 people, 8 ethnicities, 8 ways of eating watermelon, 8 ways of doing just about everything.  But you know the 8 of us can agree on a lot.  All 8 of us care about the same community.  All 8 of us want to see lives transformed and situations improved.  It doesn't matter that we speak 7 different languages, come from 8 different places, and can't agree on whether or not Chinese food is good.  We all work well together towards a common goal. In fact, I kinda forget we are all so different sometimes...

My Cutie Nieces

Here are my cutie pie nieces!! (I don't post pics of kids faces unless their parents say its ok- so you're stuck with the cute cropped pics for now).  They are beautiful!  And they are hard core fighters!  I still can't believe I've gone from absolutely no nieces or nephews to 1 nephew and 2 nieces in 3 months!  Our family is growing like CRAZY and I love it!! 

This is Avery Marie, the bigger of the two, kicking at my brother's hand (that's right!! DJ was given leave so he was able to get back home and meet his girls! Its an amazing story of God working out huge details to get him back- ask him about it!)

And this is Emma Grace, holding her mom's hand.    ADORABLE!!!!

I can't believe I'm missing all this (although even if I was in MI, I still wouldn't be able to see them yet- its mom, dad and grandparents only in the NicU).  I miss them and love them and I'll meet them one of these day!  For now there's facebook, emailed photos, skype, phone calls and all the other wonders of technology that keep us connected when we are far away! 

Early Arrivals!!

My brother and sister-in-law's twin girls are here!!!! They were delivered yesterday by C section at 26 weeks gestation. They are tiny. But they are beautiful.  Avery (2lbs 1oz) and Emma (1 lb 7oz) are also fighters.  So please be praying for the girls to grow strong and healthy, and for wisdom for the doctors who care for them.  Pray for Alicia as she recovers and pray for their whole family as my brother is serving in the military overseas and can't be home for all of this. 

I can't wait to meet you girls- even if its only over skype for the time being!!

Goat-Stealing Birds

I hate birds.  Not like little robins that come out and prove that spring is here.  I hate birds of prey.  Big birds with sharp beaks and claws.  Yuck.  I think my hate/fear/aversion to birds stems back to an ill-fated trip to Busch Gardens when I was a kid and we went to a bird show where they had huge birds of prey swoop over the audience and down to the presenter...  My vague memories of that event are just pure fear- and my parents tell me I absolutely hated it.  The rest of the trip to Busch Gardens was a blast- it was just those creepy birds...  So needless to say, I've never been a fan of birds of any size. 

Today was the day where our Fellowship shares a meal together- and that is always fun.  We go early and cook, have a lesson and then eat.  We cook and eat outside, which is never a big deal until today.  Today, we were bombarded by these huge, nasty birds.  And not like tiny little sparrows- I'm talking about predator birds, birds that hunt.  Like hawks.  Or something.  And I'm not talking about 2 or 3 of these hunting birds- I'm talking about 20-30 of these birds.  They started circling above us, perching in the trees above us, then dive-bombing our plates trying to steal our precious goat meat!!  They actually got some meat off one girl's plate as she was walking!  The look on her face was amazing!  We all just sat there, crouched over our plates like we were in prison, trying to make sure the birds couldn't steal our food- because how do you scare off 20-30 birds that are completely intent on taking your meat??

So like I said, I hate birds.  I'm a fairly fearless person most of the time but I HATE birds.  I know its irrational but that doesn't change anything.  I still hate them. 

Ultrasound Magic

Today was just a fun day.  One of my kiddos came to see me at the office to talk about her schooling.  She ended up staying for lunch, but I didn't know she would be there so I had brought Green Thai Curry that I had made last night.  FYI Thai Curry isn't an East African Refugee favorite.  If I had known she was coming I would have made something she would eat.  And she did give the curry a valiant effort- so I gotta give her props for that. But I don't think she's going to be singing the praises of my amazing culinary skills the next time I see her.   Oh well- my curry was amazing. 

As we were eating, she was looking at all my photos of my family on the wall.  She loved the pics of my nephew so I brought up my sister-in-law's ultrasound pictures on my computer (because I think twin ultrasounds are just incredible to look at- she sent me this awesome pic of the twins where you can see them both so clearly!).  She kept starring and starring at it and then said "Wait- they are still INSIDE her?!?!!?!?!"  She'd never seen an ultrasound before.  So I explained how and ultrasound worked and she just said "America has magical things!"  Ha!!!  I love these kids!

I'm still having a blast catching up on all the crazy stuff I've missed and I love being able to spend the better part of a day talking with a teenager and trying to help her figure out where she wants to go in life (and how to get there). 

Man Do Things Change

You leave a place for 4 months and you'd be surprised at how much changes.  The neighbor kids are taller. Groceries are more expensive.  The conductors are doing bomb searches at the bus stop.   You  know, the usual.

Security is definitely tighter here since I left.  There really are guys doing wand checks on your bags before you can get on the bus now.  The guard at my office has a wand for security checks now too.  But you know what, that's a good thing.  The world is dangerous.  At times its dangerous here, but it also can be dangerous back home.  At least we are taking the proper precautions to keep safe.  Its just like how having 24/7 security and walls and razor wire around our compounds keeps us safe.  Its not scary, it makes you feel safe and secure. If you can't tell, I'm a 'face your problems head on' kinda gal- so I'm just glad we (as a city) aren't ignoring security risks. 

Some people get bent out of shape when security asks to look at their bag or when guards ask them where they are going in a new compound- I say  "Heck yes look in my bag!!" If they are checking my bag then that means they are checking everyone else's bags and we are as safe as possible. Its not an inconvenience to stay safe.  I often think that when I'm at the airport. People get all upset in the security lines but you know what- at least we are safe.

The Trip Back

Ok so my trip back to Kenya- this was one of my more exciting trips, I gotta say.  I made it here safe and sound and there was no sprinting through the airport with 20lbs of books in my backpack like years past.  But it was still an adventure.

Since I was flying out of Chicago, my parents and I decided to go a day early- in case the weather was bad or whatever.  My travel agent hadn't given me the number I needed to confirm my ticket and baggage and because I was leaving right after an extended holiday weekend she didn't get back to me until I was leaving MI on Tuesday.  My flight was confirmed but she said I was only allowed 2 bags.   Sometimes with the flights I have I  can have up to 3 checked bags (which is AMAZING!!).  So I left MI with 2 carefully packed bags that were ounces under the maximum weight and a bag full of stuff I was still trying to rearrange and make fit in my carry-ons,  things like every pair of jeans I own, all the books I wanted to bring back- basically everything too heavy to go in my checked luggage.   But at 1am, I was in the hotel picking my seats on my flights when  I saw that, miracle of miracles, I acutally was allowed 3 pieces of checked luggage.  Now I know that to most people this does not sound like a huge deal but it is.  Trust me.  When you end up carrying most of your earthly possessions around with you- an extra bag always comes in handy.  This extra bag meant I could bring an extra set of sheets and towels and I could take all my jeans and books out of my carry on.  YAY!!!

So I go to the airport, with 3 pieces of checked luggage, a duffel bag carry-on, a massive purse/laptop bag, a coat and my passport- and all my luggage weighs more then I do.  But I got to the airport and all my bags in and checked in without incident.  Well, except for watching a very suspicious man get taken down by airport security right in front of me (and my parents- thanks for freaking out my mom creepy dude!)  But he was taken way by security and I got on my flights. 

Here's where it gets interesting.  Unbeknownst to us, London was experiencing hurricane force winds.  Apparently the big bridge was swaying and all sorts of other stuff.  But we were flying for 9 hours, watching cheesy movies so no one on the plane (except the crew I suppose) had any idea what was coming up.  There was some serious turbulence at different points (and when I mean serious- I mean SERIOUS- the 'feels like your falling out of the sky', 'people wake up screaming' kind of turbulence).  As we are getting ready to land, the pilot comes on the intercom and says that we are in for some very big turbulence, put your seat belts on and basically just hold on- oh and "know where your exits are".  Usually on a flight like this- the take of and landing might be a little rough but not for more then 5 minutes or so.  But this was crazy rough for the last 45 minutes.  The plane jerking from side to side.  Up and down.  It never felt like we were out of control- just like when you are driving a big van on the highway and the wind just whips and its hard to control.  It was so crazy, people were getting sick.  But we landed. Safe and sound.   I was at the back of the plane and while I was waiting to get off, the flight attendant was telling the couple next to me that that was the worst winds she'd ever felt (I thought so too- but I figured I don't fly ALL that much).  She said if that wind had been in the forecast when we were leaving Chicago, we never would have left.  Awesome.  Just what you want to hear.  At least she kept her mouth shut until we landed. 

But after that, the trip was smooth sailing- so to speak.  I got back to Kenya, was surprised by my friends picking me up at the airport and I went home to sleep.  I'm still fighting jet lag- and it may be winning at the moment.  Its always harder on me to fly East.  I go to bed at a good time, but I wake up around 2am and I'm wide awake until 7am or so and then I crash for a few hours.  But that doesn't help me adjust to the time here!  So pray that I get past the jet lag fast!

I got to see some of my kids (and some friends) today but I'm going to try and take it slow until I can get my body back on Kenyan time. 

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!!!

So I'm back.  Back in Kenya after a 4 month absence and back blogging after taking a break for almost as long.  Tons happened since I last blogged but it was nice to just take a break and not feel like I have to write about it all. 

I'll give you a "trip back to kenya" update one of these days- it was definitely one of my more exciting trips but I'm beat so this is all you're gonna get for now!

I got in late last night so I went home and went to bed.  After almost 28 hours of traveling, sleep is about the only thing I'm good at at that point.   Today I woke up, went to buy some groceries and then walked to my favorite restaurant in the entire world. Its Ethiopian, its wonderful and its a 15 minute walk from my house.   I've been craving shiro and shekla since I left.  No one cooks goat and chickpeas like these guys.  So here's the Before:

 And After:

And I still have a ton more in the fridge! Now I need to start unpacking and get some rest before I go see all my kids tomorrow!