Picture of the Week- Sunset

So here is a link to the most amazing youtube video of all time!! Kel and Gavin dancing at their school's New Year's Eve Party. Too funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUaw3V3vKDY

Amazingness!

One of my favorite pics this week...

Turkeys running across the frozen (and rapidly thawing) river

Road to Bethlehem

Here is a really interesting series of articles on BBC- a reporter documents his trip walking from Nazareth to Bethlehem (through Palestinian and Jewish lands) with various donkeys and guides. Make sure you start at the beginning of the article (the first entry is at the bottom of the page- each new entry is on top of it. Here's the link.

Interesting Marketing technique

I think this is just hilarious. Why would you advertise your christmas trees by hanging one a hundred feet in the air with a cherry picker?? I guess its effective- it made me notice the tree (as it dangles above the road). too funny.

More Winter Pics

for all my friends who don't get snow...


This one looks like something out of Dr Seuss!!!

snow...

I love having outdoor trees to decorate this year (inside ones are fine, but I love outdoor trees that get snowed on!!)

Mzuri Sikuku ya Kuku Mku!!!

Or "Happy Turkey Day"!!
(literally "Happy Great Day of the Big Bird")

Go Vote

Make sure you go vote today!! There is a nifty state-by-state (or in Michigan, county by county) results map on the side bar in case you are wondering how it all is working out.

11 Things I'm Gonna Miss About Kenya

(because narrowing it down to 10 was impossible!)

1. Z- one of my favorite kids ever- so adorable, such a trouble maker!
2. Bargaining with vendors for everything from tomatoes to meat to shoes. All prices are negotiable and bargaining is half the fun! The interaction, the laughing at my Swahili, the hilarious conversations that last 20 minutes, the “A-a bwana! Ni bei GHHHAli sana!!!”
3. Tea fields
4. The smell at night- no way to describe it, but after a dusty day, there is this fresh, night smell.
5. Samosas (meat, not veg) and Bajias
6. Safari ant invasions (and other random insect invasions- flying termites, Nairobi fly, cockroaches, etc)
7. Matatu Bongo mixes- the most unique and amazing music you will ever hear- nothing beats being in a Westlands Matatu and hearing “Banjuka tu” blasting out the speakers.
8. Goat- we are sooo missing out on this amazing food in the States!! We really need to eat more goat (especially the shekla at Habesha)
9. Whole Fried Tilapia at Kosewe- enough said!
10. Feeling like there were things everyday that I wanted to photograph- moments I wanted to remember.
11. Having random adventures- every day.

Obviously this list was excluding all my people here- I have amazing friends who I will miss SO much. And its no mistake that almost half of this list is food- we take food seriously here!! (Plus I’m Lutheran- we take food VERY seriously!)

So pray for a safe and uneventful day and a half of travel for me!! I leave on Monday night. Craziness. See ya all soon!!

Bike Races and Goodbyes

So the Canadian branch of my organization decided to have a "Ride For Refugees" this weekend in Toronto to raise money for programs benefiting refugees. And my roommate, being the Canadian refugee worker that she is, decided to ride in solidarity with her sending organization. We got a few friends together here and they rode 41km- that is a very long way when you are riding at an altitude of 8000ft though the very hilly highlands of Kenya!! There were a few near-misses with matatus and donkey carts, a few drizzles of rain, and uncountable potholes but I think they had a blast. I was the photographer/emt so at least I didn't have to try to bike up some of these monster hills- I got to kick back in the follow car.
After the mini-marathon, I went to say goodbye to the families I have been working with. So sad. I'm planning to come back to its not GOODBYE goodbye but given the transient nature of refugee culture, its very possible that some of the families won't be here when I come back. I hate goodbyes. I can't wait to get home, but I hate missing things here too.

So I will be back to MI in a little over a week- crazy!!

The 2 Week Count Down

So I'm leaving in 2 weeks!! I got the official word today (it was this whole big thing with travel agents, tickets, power outages and multiple public holidays but I finally have confirmed tickets home).

It's crazy- I'm so excited to see everyone from home, and I'm so sad to be leaving my friends here.

Lots to do, lots of goodbyes to say, lots of goat to eat (it really is too bad goat isn't a major staple in the States- its really good.) So I'd better get to work! See ya all soon!!

NEWS!!!!

My big news for the month is that I'll be on my way back to the US to raise support for my next term in Kenya soon- as in 'end of this month' soon!! As I was talking with my leadership (both here and in the US) about WHEN I should plan to come home, I mentioned that since it was nearing the holidays, I’d really like to be home for the holidays this year and they agreed! As we talked out some other details, we decided that the best time for me to transition home for a while is at the end of OCTOBER!!!

I'm crazy busy now, trying to get stuff in order to come home, but I can't wait to see my family and friends!! And at the same time, I'm really sad to be leaving (but I plan to come back, so its not like its the end or anything- but still hard to leave all my people here!)

So that's what I'm up to!! If you're in the greater BR area- I'll see ya really soon!

Oh, and since I'm getting back just in time to catch the tail end of a beautiful Michigan Fall, I expect to see pictures!! I haven't had a Michigan Fall in 2 years!!!

Impromptu Public Holidays!!!

So I'm loving this whole impromptu Public Holiday thing. Muslims have been observing Ramadan for the past few weeks and Eid ul Fitr (the celebration of the end of Ramadan) is a public holiday here. But here's the catch- no one knows when it will be! It all depends on when you can see the crescent moon in that last week of Ramadan (so Eid can vary from place to place- I saw that the Philippines were celebrating it today). So you have to wait for Eid to be announced. Today, Eid was announced for tomorrow (if that makes sense- it officially starts at sundown tonight but is celebrated tomorrow). Gotta love an unexpected day off!

More Amazing Flowers from Kenya

My Fake Autumn

So I'm missing Fall (which is possibly my favorite season in Michigan) and even though I'm missing the leaves starting to change, deer season and all that, I do have a pseudo-fall! The Jacarandas are in bloom around Nairobi! I love it! They are amazing!!! Trees here don't do the color-changing thing like they do back home so Jacarandas are as close as it comes! They turn downtown Nairobi into this crazy purple and the petals fall all over the roads and sidewalks (kinda like fall leaves) adding some color to Nairobi (which as much as I love it, tends to be on the dusty, dirty side). Admittedly, this is actually more like Spring then Fall (since we finally seem to be rid of the icky, wet, freezing-ness of summer and coming into the hot season) but I'll take what I can get!

ps- I have NO idea how I got a picture of a Nairobi street without cars!!! It was pretty early on Saturday morning (and this is a side street) so maybe that was it. The streets here are never this empty! Honestly!

Mwalimu Lindsey

Speaking of English being a hilarious language (see previous post), I am now teaching English. I'm working on basic literacy (English and Swahili) with the women who come to our sewing program, and I'm teaching one of the girls English (reading, writing, speaking) until we can find her a full-time teacher (my teammates are covering the other subjects). But teaching English is ironically helping my Swahili because I will give directions in English but then I have to translate things back to Swahili so my students understand (at least for now). So talk about an adventure! My spelling has improved since I was in school so don't worry! I'll try to make sure to teach these ladies to spell things the correct way (although Swahili spelling is WAY easier then English! In swahili you spell it like it sounds- no breaking rules, no weird sounds (except for that ng'u sound- its a little challenging!!))

English is a hilarious language. Last night I was sitting around a table with 2 Ausies, a woman from England, a guy from Zimbabwe/New Zealand, 2 irish guys, a Canadian, 2 other Americans (1 from the deep south, the other had lived in Ireland for years) and myself. Talk about cross-cultural communications! All 10 of us speak English as our first language but we all definitely don’t speak the same language! So hilarious! We may use a lot of the same words but the meaning of said words is VERY different!

Just found out that some of my extended family check the blog almost every day, so I feel like I should say something deep and profound for them to read to reward their diligence but hey! this is me! profound kind of alludes me! No heroic stories of my roommie and I battling safari ants this week (although they did sneak attack my feet a few times!) I do have a horribly disgusting story involving 4 rats and a water jug but really- you don't want to hear that story. It's nasty.

I got to see pictures of my parents new place! It's amazing (for all of you who haven't had a chance to see it yet!) The colors are great mom (and so is the new vase!!) But I do think that the fire pit looks a bit like a spaceship! But I love that the river is deep enough for some swimming!

Other then that, no real news here! Its been kind of a quiet week (which is nice!).

I heard the family weekend at the Lake was great fun (as usual!) I miss you all a ton! Thanks for checking out the blog!

1 Year in Kenya!

Woohoo!! I've been here one year and 1 day!!! So excited!