A real update this time

I finally have a bit of time to really update you all on what's been going on here.

Last Friday I went to Muranga with Immaculate from Mothers' Concern and Matt and Victor. Muranga is a rural area about 2 hours drive from here. I'm not sure if I've written about Mothers' Concern yet, but it's and group that provides support and loans to mothers. In Kayole, they make beaded baskets and jewelery. The group in Muranga is building a bore hole so they can sell water to the community. It was really interesting to see more of the work Immaculate does and just to see another part of Kenya. After that, we went to see Fadhili, one of our neighbors, play in a concert in Nairobi to benefit Maisha International Orphanage.

Over the weekend I went to visit my host family from last time I was here (3 years ago). I rode the matatu (public transport vans) there with Christine and Jenni, which was nice, and then they came to Eunice's house and ate lunch with me. I spent Saturday night there and really enjoyed catching up with Eunice and her two boys, Gabriel and David. When I came back on Sunday, I had to ride the matatu by myself, but it went fine. I even managed to switch vehicles and get off at the right place. It was nice to have a bit of freedom since Alice usually doesn't let me go places alone.

On Monday Candlelight had a goodbye party for Jenni, Marc, and Matt (and me). It was really nice - the kids sang us some songs and then all of the teachers talked a little about the work we did there. I'm really glad I'm not leaving yet because otherwise I would definitely have cried...

Since Jenni and Marc left now, I have more freedom to do what I want to. Yesterday I went to Nancy's brother's graduation in town. It was nice to meet more of her family and to hang out with her and Wema more. Wema lives next door (he's Fadhili's brother) and I'm so glad I'm getting to know him and Fadhili better.

This weekend I was going to go to Nyahururu to visit Professor Mpesha's daughter, but she had to change the plans, so I think I'll be going next weekend instead. This means that I have the whole weekend free, so hopefully I'll find something fun to do!

quick update

I've been so busy the past week and I'm still so busy that I don't really have time to write a whole update, but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing very well and still having a great time. Jenni and Marc left to go back to Tennessee today, so that's a bit sad, now I'm the only visitor here for the next few days...

Okay, I'll try to update again soon (with a real update...)

Safari

Last weekend I had a good time hanging out at Masai Mara on safari. All of the wazungu (white people) staying with Fred and Alice went along, so that was fun. It was Jenni, Marc, Matt, and me. We left early on Friday morning and got back on Sunday afternoon. It was nice to see some cool animals and I also enjoyed a little time away from the city. There are some pictures on facebook if you want to see which animals we saw: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078527&id=15302439&l=33a629c203

Today I went to Candlelight in the morning and then I needed to go to the bank, so Nancy and Wema took me. We decided to walk there, which was great because I got to talk to them a bit (when they weren't talking in Swahili...). After we went to the bank, I took them to the grocery store to buy some lunch. We got yoghurt, cake, and ice cream...haha, great lunch, I know! We took it all over to Nancy's house and just enjoyed hanging out for the afternoon. Overall, it was a great day and I'm still falling more in love with Kenya and the people here!

Learning to cook

Yesterday I didn't really have anything to do, so I decided to go to the market where Christine works. On our way to the matatu stop, we saw Caroline, one of our neighbors, driving the "Senior Driving School" truck, so we got a ride with her. Then, we went to the market and hung out for a bit. After that, we went to one of Christine's friend's houses which is close to the market. There, we had chai before heading to the internet cafe. For lunch, Moses (Christine's friend) and Christine decided that I should cook lunch...haha... So, Moses bought the food and they had me cook. This was definitely an interesting experience because, first, I had never cooked any of the food before, and second, Moses' house is one room, with just a small gas tank for a stove. I cooked sukuma wiki (kale), ugali (corn flour and water), and beef stew. Overall, it turned out well and I had a really great time. Then we went back to Christine's shop and I helped her with a bit of her sewing. She taught me how to sew with a sewing machine that is not electric. It's actually kind of fun, once you figure out how to make it go forwards instead of backwards. I posted some picture from my day on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078070&id=15302439&l=0907f1a7de

Ice Cream!

Yesterday I got together with Emmanuel, a friend from Calvin, and some of his friends. We had a good time and I had some excellent food, including ice cream - Andes mint and chocolate chip - and cake!! Seriously, ice cream has never tasted so good!!!

Last week I worked in the library, visited two different schools, played a soccer game, went to the market to buy a jacket (it's surprising cold here some days...), and got measured for my dress for a wedding. This wedding is on August 15 and apparently I'm in the wedding...even though I hardly know the people who are getting married. Hopefully I get to know them at least a bit more before the wedding. The dress is just like a typical American bridesmaid dress - it's maroon, satin and it's long. Luckily, it's much cheaper than a dress back home, so I don't mind having to buy it. The school that I visited on Wednesday is called Rehema and it is in the slums. Jenni and I taught a CRE (Christian Religious Education) class together and then we ate lunch there. This school was pretty crowded and I can't imagine how hot it is in the classrooms during the warm season, since it was a chilly day and even then the classrooms were warm.

This week, please pray for my friend, Nancy (the librarian), whose grandmother passed away yesterday. She is traveling to her home village this week for the funeral, so pray for safe travels for her and the rest of her family.

Dancing

Everything has still been going really well here and I've been enjoying some more new cultural experiences. Last week I went to a different school - Maximum Impact, which is pretty close to Candlelight and my house. I taught class 8 science for two days, which was really good. They were learning about making work easier by using tools such as levers, wheelbarrows, and pulleys. I enjoyed it because I really felt like they were understanding the material, and I also understood the material, which always helps. I also taught class 1 Kiswahili, which was interesting. I managed to teach them some shapes and also told them a little bit about my family and where I come from (in Swahili, of course).
Today I went to church with everyone from the house and I really enjoyed it. The church is very small, and only about 4 months old. After that, I went to a prewedding, which is basically an event to raise money to pay for a wedding. It was really interesting and I enjoyed dancing and hanging out with Nancy. I think I had better practice dancing every chance I get since I'll be going to at least one wedding in August. It's interesting because they don't just ask you for money, they really get you to pay small amounts a number of times. Like they would say, "Sarah, buy this napkin for 100 shillings" and then 15 minutes later, "Sarah, you're a young person, give 20 shillings." Luckily, my friends explained what would happen before we got there, so I was prepared.

Please pray that my relationships continue to grow deeper as I finish up my first month here.

Pictures and more

I finally got the pictures to go up on facebook, so you can find them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076963&id=15302439&l=44c174ceae

I've had a pretty good past few days, with a lot of time for relaxing. On Sunday I went to church at Lifespring, which is a more western style church. I got to see the family I stayed with last time I was here, which was great. The two kids have grown up so much! I'm planning on staying with them for a weekend sometime soon. Sadly, on Sunday I also got a bit sick with a headache and fever, so spent most of the rest of the day in bed. Since I was still feeling a bit sick on Monday morning, I decided to stay home and just relax for the whole day. I did get out for a walk in the afternoon, which was nice. In the evening, the 1010 group came over because they left on Tuesday morning. We had some snacks and then Alice surprised me with a birthday cake, which was so nice!! It was a bit sad to say goodbye to all of the 1010 people - the house is so quiet now... As they were all preparing to leave, I realized how happy I am that I'm staying for longer. I've made such good friends here and I'm definitely not ready to leave them yet.

Please pray for the health of the other Americans staying with Fred and Alice and also two of our Kenyan friends, who are sick with typhoid and malaria. It seems like so many people are getting sick right now...