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.

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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!

Chickens on a Matatu

So matatus are my main mode of transportation (aside from my feet!) Matatus are the size of a mini-van that drive along specific routs (like a bus) and hold officially hold 14 passengers (but I’ve never been in a mat that had less then 20!). Matatus are affordable, mass transportation in Nairobi- we have buses (especially in the city) but out where I live you are either walking or catching a mat. So I was taking the matatu to a neighboring town to go to the vegetable market where I buy my veggies every Wednesday and Saturday. I bought my fruit and veggies (and for all you who know me well, aren’t you impressed that I actually BUY and EAT vegetables!!!) and caught another matatu home. We were driving for a while before I noticed something different. I was sharing the matatu with not only 18 or so passengers, but 3 live chickens as well! They were just kind of shoved under the seats. Gotta love it!

A slight amendment...

A slight amendment to my previous post. I guess Nairobi flies CAN fly. I only know this because one was flying (well FALLing is more like it) into my lap, and that one had wings. Hadn’t seen any with wings before. Learn something new everyday!

Invasion of the Nairobi Flies!!!!!!

So it's not quite as bad as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or anything, but still!!! Ok, so Nairobi Flies are these teeny, tiny bugs (that incidentally don't fly) but come out during the wet seasons to wreak havoc on all. They are really little, and don't buzz or make noise or anything. They don't spin annoying webs or get into your food. They just kind of crawl around. What's makes them so bad you ask? They are kind of like a bee, in that in order to defend themselves, they have to die. They are sneaky these flies- when you squash them they secrete this acid that blisters and burns you. They are about the size of an ant, so thats what makes them so sneaky- you think you are just brushing off an ant, but really you just spread burning acid down your arm. I, thankfully have not had any acidic experiences yet- but friends tell me that these little guys get into your clothes or crawl on you when you are asleep and defenseless.

I tried to take a picture of this stealthy bug- but mine didn't turn out too well (these are TINY little guys) so I'm cheating and borrowing an encyclopedia pic. So here is the little menace- doesn't look too scary, huh? These little guys are seriously something out of a Sci-Fi movie or something!

Just Some Random Things About Life in Kenya

Ok, so I realized that all the posts I put on here for the past 2 weeks have been pretty serious. Things in Kenya are still very serious, but I figured you all needed to see some of the lighter things too. Life in Kenya continues on. We are all concerned about what will happen here, but we continue to live too.

So here are some of the random things I’ve seen or done in the past few weeks:

This may be one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while. “Tena” in Kiswahili means “again” or "repeat". So why on earth would a company name and market toilet paper called Tena in Kenya? I’m all about recycling and everything, but this is a little more earth-friendly then I want to be!

I just found this candy bar “Trixy”. It’s supposed to be kind of like a Twix bar- but I really only like it because it makes me think of Golum in the Lord of the Rings “trixy hobbitis”. It really doesn’t taste like a Twix bar at all. And the wrapper is somewhat deceptive as to the amount of “caramel” actually included in the product. I haven’t really found any yet. But it does have chocolate on it!

I’ve had several more Safari Ant encounters recently. Hope you like these pictures, they came at great peril. I had to sacrifice my feet to a few safari ant bites to get them! (I moved off the path to take the pictures, but I didn’t realize that I stood right in a huge pile of them. At least they didn’t get up my pant legs! That’s the worst!)

And here are some of my kids:

So keep praying for Kenya, but I am really glad that I’m here. I’m sad for the country, and concerned about its people, but I’m glad I’m here, experiencing this with them. The good and the bad.

Back to the Grind- well sort of...

So some things are slowly getting back to normal here. My school opened this week and I was able to go into Nairobi for church on Sunday. But other things are far from normal. So many people are homeless- either their homes were destroyed in the chaos, or they have been forced out of their homes and areas. There are 2 different refugee camps in walking distance from my house- 2 different camps for 2 different ethnic groups.

We were able to contact a lot of the families that we work with in Nairobi- their houses are still standing, but food is a major concern. All of the shops around them have been destroyed, so even if they had money to buy food- there isn’t anywhere to buy it. So now we are working out how to feed these families.

Here is the break down of casualties during all of this:
250,000+ internally displaced people (but we are hearing rumors of figures as high as 600,000)
5000 Kenyans as refugees in other countries
600 dead

Please continue to pray for Kenya. Tensions are still high and there are many things that need to be resolved before Kenya can even start to rebuild.

Kenya's National Anthem

O God of all creation
Bless this our land and nation
Justice be our shield and defender
May we dwell in unity
Peace and liberty

Plenty be found within our borders.

So keep praying for Kenya. Things have quieted some around the country, but tensions are still high.

Pray for Kenya

Things are still pretty intense here. The reports I’m hearing haven’t changed much in the past few days. We are all still just staying put for now since it’s still safe where I am living.

The front page headline on all national newspapers was “Save Our Beloved Country”.

Please pray for Kenya. Pray for wisdom. Pray for all the people who are displaced (BBC is reporting figures somewhere around 70,000 internally displaced people). Pray for some type of conclusion to all of this violence.

Nairobi

Nairobi is still really hot- riots intensified in town after the announcement of the reelection of President Kibaki. Today, my boss, his wife and I went out (not into Nairobi, by the way) to restock some basic food supplies- it’s the first time I’ve been out since Christmas. Good thing my mom and sister dragged me on all those Day After Thanksgiving shopping sessions! I was able to utilize all of those hard honed skills of getting through crowds, finding the important or limited items and finding my purchases quickly. The store looked like Florida with a hurricane coming- there were TONS of people and everything was gone. The check out line stretched through the entire store (this is a big market- kind of like a walmart)-it took 3 hours (literally) to get to the register. But I was able to get food- so I’m set for a while. My friends in town tell me things are still pretty crazy in there. So I’m staying put for a while longer. But I’m safe where I’m living-so don’t worry.

But pray for Kenya. Pray for peace. Pray for reunification. Pray for wisdom. Pray for some sort of conclusion for all of this.

A Winner Has Been Declared

I just found out that officially, Mwai Kibaki has been re-elected President of Kenya.

Day 4 of Election Confinment

We still don’t have an announcement of a winner in the elections here. There are 14 million registered voters here in Kenya and all the results are tallied by hand, but with all the accusations of fraud- people are getting very impatient and upset. We are hearing that the gap has narrowed to 38,000 votes separating the 2 main candidates, but even those numbers are being called into question- by both sides. I still can’t leave my house and I hear Nairobi is a mess. The church I attend canceled services today because you couldn’t get to the church because there were riots in the 3 communities surrounding it. But the biggest problem is that all of these divisions go so much deeper then just political affiliations.

I’m still fine- a little stir-crazy but fine.

So pray for Kenya. Pray for peace as this is settled, patience as we wait and for unity for the country when this is all over.

Day 3 of My Election Confinement

So the presidential elections were 2 days ago and there hasn’t been a conclusive outcome- votes are still being tallied and tempers are rising. There are allegations on both sides of corruption and fraud and people are getting pretty upset. I am sticking close to home, because all the reports I’m hearing from town don’t sound too great. Hopefully they will announce the outcome soon. But I’m sticking close to home until they make the announcement and everything cools down.

Good thing I have a lot of movies and books! But seriously, keep Kenya in your prayers. Everyone here is asking that we pray for peace.

Election Day

Today is Election Day in Kenya. Please pray for peaceful voting sites and conclusive outcomes. Already, there has been a huge voting turnout (which is wonderful) but tensions are high as this is being called the closest election in Kenyan history. And we are only halfway through the election day! A friend of mine got in line to vote at 6:30 am in the city I live near. At 1:00pm she was finally able to vote (that's how long all the lines are and I'm not even in Nairobi!).

Here is a link to the BBC articles (hey, this all made front page BBC news today!)
Kenyans Vote and Kenyan Rivals.

Christmas Beignets

Ok, this is for mom- I've managed to carry on the Christmas morning beinget tradition! They weren't as good as yours, but they weren't too bad. I was looking forward to the fact that I didn't have to share them with DJ or Gavin this year, but I ate enough that now I'm feeling a little sick. But they were still good!!

S0 here's the proof-

Frying the dough:

Look at those pretty beignets!

And the first batch that didn't turn out quite as well as the rest (I think I had the oil a LITTLE too hot- they turned golden brown the second I dropped them in- and then they burned after that!)
Hope you all have a very merry Christmas! I'm going over to a friend's house for the rest of the day to celebrate with their family!

PS: Mom, here is your Christmas present! I'm using it this year! My favorite part of the whole thing is that the donkey is twice as big as all of the people!

Christmas Baking

So part of the trick to celebrating holidays away from home is to take some of your old traditions and do those as well as creating your own new traditions (that way you still feel like you are connected to you family and what they are doing but you don't wallow in the fact that you aren't there too.)

So this year, I decided to try my hand at a little holiday baking (like we do at home) and then for my new tradition, sit down and listen to Stuart McLean read Vinyl Cafe Christmas Stories (Thanks Julia for letting me in on this Canadian tradition). If you have never heard Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe stories before, don't feel bad because I think it is a mostly Canadian thing but you have no idea what you are missing (seriously, you have to get your hands on "Dave Cooks the Turkey"- I have never laughed this hard in my entire life! Right now, it's on Stuart McLean's Itunes podcast so check it out) but back to baking.

Ok, for all of you who know me well, you know that baking is something I like to THINK I can do, I'm just not always able to pull it off. I mean I try hard and all that, but sometimes the things I bake just rebel. It may be due to the fact that I HATE to measure ingredients- I'd much rather just guess that there is enough. But this year, I really was wanting some good Christmas-y treats, so I am ATTEMPTING to bake (or maybe I'm cooking because I haven't used the oven at all yet). But the whole baking thing is even harder here- because it is all from scratch. I found this great recipe for chocolate fudge, looked yummy, sounded really yummy- but the only catch is that it requires marshmallow cream. That is just something you can't really find outside the US. But I found a recipe to make your own marshmallow cream. And me, being the adventurous sort of person that I am decided to give it a try. So here is a chronicle of my fudge-making attempts.

Making the marshmallow cream (from scratch):


Boiling milk and an obscene amount of sugar:

Melting in the chocolate:

The finished product:

Me licking the spoon! Yummy!!

I guess this baking attempt turned out pretty well!
Have a very merry Christmas Eve!
Love from blazing hot Kenya!

FREEDOM!!!!!!

I don’t think I’ve looked forward to a Christmas break this much in a long time!!! Today I took my last test of the year (I’m sure there will be plenty to come in the next year, but who wants to dwell on that?) This was my first oral test and I think I did pretty well. Written tests are definitely easier, but this wasn’t quite as bad as I had anticipated! We had been given a list of questions that would be on the test, but the teachers were free to go ‘off script’ at any time so we really weren’t sure what they were going to ask. They didn’t ask the really hard explanation questions that they asked us during the practice sessions (like ‘why do students in America use computers instead of writing everything by hand?’), so that was a blessing! Explanation questions are always hard because you know what they are asking and you know the answer- you just don’t have the vocabulary to answer, or you have to get really creative with the vocabulary you do have in order to answer. But I think I did pretty well.

Ok, quick topic change but aren’t these the coolest looking flowers? This is Bird of Paradise or Crane Flower– it’s beautiful and it even kind of looks like a bird!

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