What I LIKE

What I like

March 30

There are some things here in Kenya that I like, I mean I just plain ole like em. 

1. The  weather here in Kitale is awesome. I couldn’t ask for better weather even with the rain and the mud. The weather here is perfect!! 
2. #2. The people here in Kitale. Now not everyone has been warm and receptive, but the people that I’ve met are wonderful, warm, and caring folks. You can’t go wrong with people like that. 
3. #3 The area around Kitale. This area is rolling hills, with farms and communities. It reminds me of the Stafford area in Portland, but just not with the big expensive houses. 
4. #4. The schools that I’ve been in.  These are great schools. The teachers are dedicated to the art of teaching and I believe they all want to be the best teacher they possibly can be. 
5. #5. The students here are wonderful.  They are not perfect by any means, but they teach me something everyday.  For the most part they all work hard to achieve good marks, and they ask some of the best questions I’ve ever heard. The best one by far was, “Do you think God is pleased with you because you love your dog?” Great question!! OH I answered YES, I do. 
6. #6. AIC Church Naisambu. Love this church. Love the Pastor. Love the people. Can’t say more than that!!!

Town

Town

March 29

I went into town to pick up a HP printer cartridge for the church’s printer. I need to get some things printed and I figured the least I could do is pick up a cartridge of black ink.  

Sometimes it’s really hard getting people to listen to me. I had to push my argument with Pastor Kibet about not getting the old cartridge refilled. I asked him if he knew for certain what was in the filler ink? He didn’t know, so I told him that it’s a very good chance that it’s not all ink and that can ruin the printer, and then does the church have the money to buy a new printer? Then he wanted to print the bulletin everyweek on this little printer. So then I asked him what would be the cost of the ink to print the bulletin’s compared to having the bulletin photocopied. AND because we know the owner of the photocopier maybe we can get a good discount on the copying. Then compare the different costs and go with the lesser one. See to me this just makes sense, but here in Kenya they don’t always think that way.  It’s crazy

Then I can’t believe how people here on the farm are treated. I’ve heard yelling and just plain ole not talking nice to the workers, what the heck is up with that? I mean, come on now. If you are a Christian, is that the way you should treat people? How would Jesus treat people. Did He berate them, and tell them they are dirty and not good for anything? NO, Jesus never did anything like that. It’s just not right what goes on here, and yet I don’t know if I can say anything to Alice or not. 

Last night Alice was going on and on about how her children bless her with things. She told me that the tile in the house, curtains, locks, toilets, sinks, etc were all bought by her kids and this is God’s way of blessing her. She asked me if this happens in the U.S. I told her no it doesn’t, not like she explained. Our kids do other stuff for us. After that I kept my mouth shut. Personally I think she was bragging about what her kids do for her, knowing that I only have one daughter who is recently married. I don’t expect Robi and Drew to buy me stuff for my house. OH PLEASE! I want them to set up their own home, where they will laugh, love, and grow old together. That’s what I want from my daughter and son-in-law. I want them to love each other with abandon for the rest of their lives, and I’ll be totally happy with them and for them. That’s how God will Bless me, not by material things. I want what really counts in life. Besides if I call my kids and say, “hey I need some help with ...” they’ll come and help me with whatever it is. That is more important than buying crap. SHEEESSSHHHH

Sorry I had to vent!! 

Safari time

Safari Time

March 28

Found out today that I’m going on a safari. Well, not really a safari, more alone the lines of seeing the sights. I get to go to Lake Bagoria, Mombasa, and Maasai Mara. Maasai Mara is a National park where we’ll be able to see Elephants, lions, leopards, chetahs, buffalo, rhino’s, hippo’s and a ton of other animals. I’m excited!! Then I looked into Mombasa and I’m hoping we go into the old town and see what it’s like, and then there’s a place where hand made crafts are made and can be purchased. 

At Maasai Mara I’m hoping to get lots of photos of as many animals as I possible can. OH and a sunset or two.  I’m looking forward to get out of Kitale for a bit. This town doesn’t have a lot to offer in terms of entertainment, and right now I could use some entertainment! The only form of entertainment here is the TV and like always Alice is talking during the program and I can’t hear a bloody thing. UGG!! Oh well such is life here in Kenya.

BuckyBeaver in Kenya

Bucky Beaver in Kenya

Tonight I went to a neighbors house to visit an old woman. I never did get her name, but she is Dena’s mom. Now Dena’s Mom is 96 years old, and she has one front tooth that sticks out past the rest and you see it when her mouth is closed. She was born here in Kenya and when she was younger she babysat for whites that lived here in Kenya. Now the whites were most likely British since during that time in Kenya, Kenya was a colony of the British Empire. Anyway, Dena’s Mom was so funny. She kept asking the same questions over and over again. To me it’s obvious that she’s on the verge of allsheimers. (I know I spelled it wrong, but I can’t find it on this dictionary on my computer) Here in Kenya the family takes care of their aging parents. Dena’s Mom was pretty much shocked to find out that I live basically alone (except for Vee who lives with me). She didn’t understand why my daughter didn’t give me her daughter to live with me so I wouldn’t be alone. Then she didn’t understand why I didn’t have cows, chickens, and a farm so I can stay busy.  She wanted to know why my daughter didn’t care for me, and I had to explain that in America not all family members live together. Well Dena’s Mom didn’t like that idea. She told me again that my daughter needs to give me her daughter so that I won’t be alone in my house. It was kinda funny cause she keep repeating herself asking who I was etc, and then we went through the whole question and answer thing again. Then she asked me if I had a wife.  YES a WIFE.  She thought I was a man, and then a few seconds later she was talking to me as another woman. Who knows where her mind was, but I must say she was funny.

Cricket in my shoe

Cricket in my Shoe

March 27

I was getting ready to head out to school the other day. Now my shoes aren’t in the house unless they have just been cleaned. No one wears shoes in the house here, we mostly go barefoot inside. So I was on the front porch getting ready to put my shoes on. Now for some reason I decided to shake my shoes to make sure there wasn’t a beetle in them.  Well, no beetle, but a cricket came out and jumped away. At first I was startled a little, and then I laughed cause how often in life do we have a Cricket in My Shoe.

The other day I was home alone, well not really Ednah was home but she was in the other house watching some stupid Nigerian movie on the tele. Anyway, I went down to my bedroom got what I needed and came back towards the dinning room. Well, low and behold there is a cockroach skittering down the hall. What do I do? Get a shoe and smash it? Nope.  Run away screaming in terror? ME? screaming in terror? Hardly! What I do is create a brand new game for everyone to play. I call it “Kick the Cockroach”.  What fun it is too!  You kick the cockroach down the hall and see how long it takes to kill it!  It’s quite fun and entertaining to boot! HEY what can I say, this town is pretty much dead when it comes to entertainment. A girl has got to keep her mind occupied least we go insane. lol

OH and I swat at the flies on a hourly basis as well. I use my fan that I bought in Liberia, and it works really well for the purpose of killing flippin’ flies.  Ednah told me that there is a wasp here that if it stings you, you will sleep for 2 days.  So far I have not experienced this and I’m praying that I don’t either. 

TGIF & Saturday

TGIF

March 25

It’s Friday and NO SCHOOL for me.  But I will go down to Legacy and talk to a teacher down there and pick up my change from one of my purchases.  Then I’ll try and find Roselee and see what safari her son is going on when he comes here from the States with his wife and sister in law.  After that it’s wash the clothes and get them hung up in my room.

Saturday

March 26

What a day. I was up at 5am and out the door at 5:30am and walked down to Legacy. Jesse and another guy walked me down to the school, so I wouldn’t be walking in the dark all by little ole self. Anyway got to school, and guess what? My 8th graders were in the classroom working on homework at 6am. 6am these kids are doing school work.  Where did these kids come from? I mean who does that? I’ll tell you who, Kenyan’s do that.  Well I was shocked. 

Then we were off to Eldoret to the airport and Poa Place. Now the airport was a total bust because the kids couldn’t go in the terminal for a tour, and apparently no planes fly into Eldoret on Saturday so nothing was taking off or landing. It was a waste of time. Then we left and went to Poa Place. Now this place is kinda like a zoo, but it’s not. It’s a mini fair but it’s not, and people go there to have weddings, conventions, and the like.  The Zoo aspect of Poa Place is kinda neat. They have 3 kinds of Monkey’s and a few baboons. There was a baby baboon that was just 2 months old. SO cute! Then there’s the snake house where they keep, wait for it ... snakes.  LOL But the best thing this place has are 2 chetah’s one is 8 months old and the other is 5, and 2 lions, male and female. Oh they have a camel as well, but I can’t stand camels so who cares?  haha After the kids saw the animals, then they went to the fair part of the park. There they road a Merry Go Round, but not one with animals. This one just had the swings and it went round and round. Then the kids did other things, and some of them went swimming. I didn’t cause the water was green and I’d look like the great white whale is I put on my suit and went into the water LOL.  The kids seemed to have fun, one thing I noticed here is that not all kids know how to swim, well only 2 of them could actually swim, the others faked it. It’s not like there isn’t any water around here, I just hope Owen, Amon, and Carlos all learn how to swim.

The ride home was like the ride there, HELL... That road is horrible in areas. We almost got into 2 wrecks. But then again our driver is an old man and he really should retire, but I don’t think they retire here. Not sure. LOL

Pictures

Don't know why but I am unable to download pictures. If you want to see pics you can see them on my Facebook page. If you don't have facebook, then you'll need to wait until I get home.

Sunday Morning, nothing like Monday Morning the song

Sunday Morning, nothing like Monday Morning the song

March 20

Last night couldn’t sleep worth a darn. It was almost 2am when I finally was tired enough to go to sleep, but I’m not sure how long it took me to sleep. This morning I needed to get up early to go to another church with Alice. So here I sit in a skirt, yes a skirt and believe me it doesn’t happen often here, waiting for the car to come and get us. Apparently the church where we are going is an hour away. Not sure on that. Often Alice doesn’t communicate with me exactly what I need to know. Even when I ask. lol

So here we sit waiting on the guy with the car. Man I miss my truck.

We were finally on our way in, and I can’t believe I actually rode in one, a Matatu. Or more commonly known as a mini van turned into a taxi. On the way up to Kapnyarkwat. Now this village is populated by the Pokot people. They are a traditional tribe that has only recently began wearing clothes (thank you Lord!) They live in traditional tribal houses, and until recently their method of living was raiding cattle or what we call cattle rustling. I met the commander of the cattle raiders and we had lunch in his home. Litterally in his house. This particular band of people no longer raid cattle I was told, but I bet that they just might if the opportunity arose. I was told that the commander doesn’t participate in cattle raiding anymore because he became a Christian and he gave up his gun, an AK-47. 

I met another man, but he was younger than the commander. This guy’s name is William and he helps with the church that has begun in the village. William translates the Swahili to the native language of the Pokots.  It was very interesting having my English translated to Swahili and then translated to the language of the Pokot. I’m sure some of what I said was lost in translation. For me it was very confusing to speak and then have what I said translated twice. I kept getting ahead of the second translator and I had to really slow down and that’s when I get lost on what I am saying.

At the end of our time with the church William’s mother presented me with a gift. She gave me a beaded necklace that is commonly worn by women in the Pokot tribe and she gave me a gord that is used to ferment milk. Fermented milk is a very common drink to have in this part of Kenya. I’ve tried it and to me it’s yucky, and it smells worse.  It was suck a wonderful jester on this woman’s part I was stunned. I didn’t have any idea at all that this would happen, but I’m so glad it did.

Pastor Kibet and me

Yesterday was a good day. I went to town and after a bit I called Pastor Kibet and he came and met me for Lunch. We always have a good time. I can tell that man anything and he listens to me. It’s so refreshing. Here in Kenya I see a lot of hypocrisy in people and it’s driving me totally nuts. I know hypocrisy is alive and well in America, but here it’s so blatant it’s hard not to question Christianity in Africa. I think part of it comes from the culture and how deeply embedded the culture is here in East Africa. I’m not sure, I’m only speculating. It’s odd, but real.

Saturday Night

I'm just gonna say it.  This town is so flippin' boring!! It's 10pm on a Saturday night and what do we do? We go to bed! UGG. I want to go to a movie, meet friends for coffee or heck even a drink! There is nothing to do in this town, I mean NOTHING. GRRR

OK the one thing I like to do is watch one, I mean ONE, TV show. It's called Soy Tu Duena and yes it's dubbed in English but it's just getting good but what do people do when I'm trying to watch the bloody show?  They TALK. It drives me NUTS.. I mean don't they know its rude to talk during someone's only entertainment. It's not like I can watch again tomorrow, but what does Alice do? She talks all during the show.  Drives me nuts.

OH tomorrow I get to go to a church that is an hour away and I might get to give my testimony or tell people all about my life since Robb died. I've done it twice so far, and I'll be honest I don't want to do it again. I just don't.  

I think a friend said it best, buy some beer and go have a beer with Spot! At least he wouldn't talk during Soy Tu Duena!

No Holiday Here

No Holiday Here

March 17 2nd installment

St. Patrick’s day is just not celebrated here in Kenya like it is back home. No green rivers, no green hats, and no green beer.  When it comes to night life, there is none here in Kitale, so you all can stop worrying about Cait having a good ole time in Kitale Town. It just ain’t happening. There is literally nothing to do at night here. There are no  malls to hit, no coffee shops to visit with friends, and no movie theaters in town. There are bars, but you don’t go in them without an arsenal of firearms at your disposal. So you could say it’s pretty darn boring here in Kitale. I’m sure people get together for meals and the like, but not here at Alice’s house. So I’m not sure if it’s a Kenyan thing or just an Alice thing in not having people over for dinner.  Mary has come a couple of times, but she’s Alice’s best friend and they get together often. As for people from church, nope no one has come over via an invitation for dinner. Odd I think, but then again this is Africa.

At the secondary school today the student’s were engaged in different sports. Netball, Badminton, Volleyball, Football (soccer), and tennis. What these kids need is a coach. Especially for the tennis. I was watching them and oh boy they sure are using the racket wrong. Now it’s been a heck of a long time that I’ve taken tennis lessons, but I did when I was a kid. What I saw was a bunch of kids wanting to play the game, but unable to correctly hit the ball because they lack a coach. I would love to coach them, but I am not a tennis player by any stretch of the definition and I don’t know enough about the basics to teach them. I wish I could, but alas I can not.

I was asked

I was asked if I was ever worried about being charged by an elephant or lion while I'm walking through fields?  OK, just so everyone knows, I'm not even close to any elephants or lions. The largest wildlife I've heard here in Kitale are monkeys, aside from the rhino that I petted at Capt. Davies. My biggest worry when I walk through a field is whether or not the bull will charge me, and I do my best to stay away from him!

What I Miss

What I miss

March 17

I’ve been here in Kitale for 10 weeks now and I must say there are things back home that I really miss. Aside from my family I mean. Things that I start thinking about and all I want to do is get on a plane and come on home. I never thought I’d miss things as much as this, and it’s not just things but it’s food as well. 

I miss my stuff. I know stuff shouldn’t be focused on but I’m being honest here OK. I miss being able to watch my TV. I know it shouldn’t matter, but TV here is so horrible. If you don’t have a satellite dish you get like 4 channels. Now the shows are either in Swahili or in English. The English shows are OK, but it’s nothing like NCIS or Hawaii 5-0. Then the actors here just don’t do it for me, if you catch my drift. Then there are some shows that are filmed in Mexico but dubbed in English, and those are sorta ok, but most of the time the plot is so easy to figure out. Then there is really no variety of shows to watch. There’s no Food Network, TLC, USANetwork, Discovery, and a host of others. It’s so sad really. Well for me it’s sad ok. I must say that if TLC’s What Not To Wear ever did a show here in Kenya it would be a HOOT!!! Up here in Kitale fashion isn’t what you’d expect. 

I miss my truck.  I know I shouldn’t but I do. I miss not being able to drive my own self where I need to go. Like today for instance. I needed to go into town to get some stuff printed, but I couldn’t go because it was raining. I get to town via a motorbike, and there’s no way on this earth I’m going to get on a bike when it’s raining outside. It’s just not safe to do so.  So I miss my vehicle. 

I miss the foods I like.  Pot Roast, Fried Chicken, Taco’s, Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Macaroni salad, Chicken and rice, Steak, Baked Potatoes, and the list goes on and on. I miss my favorites. Coffee Ice Cream, Chocolate Pudding, Cake with yummy frosting, most of these you can’t get here. I did find Coffee Ice Cream at the Coffee Shop, but it’s not like home. I would love a piece of cake, yellow with chocolate frosting, oh ya that sounds so good to me. You see, cake here isn’t cake at all. It’s yucky. I just don’t like it and I don’t see the point of eating it if I don’t like it. What I did find here are grapefruit. Expensive as all get out, but so totally worth the money to buy them.  In town, there are no Mexican, Chinese, or Italian restaurants to be found at all. Maybe in Eldoret there might be, but here in Kitale that would be a NO.  Then driving to Eldoret isn’t easily done because the road is crap and not something you do on a whim.

I miss my house. I miss my front window with my plantation blinds. I miss how the light comes through in the mornings. I miss my office where I can be surrounded by my books and my computer and printers and be totally content. I miss my Aspen Trees in my back yard and how the leaves flicker in the wind. I miss my books, I know silly, but it’s true. My books don’t just reside in my office, they are basically all over the house. They are like dear friends that will come along with me to visit another world in story. Love my books. Here in Kitale books stores aren’t what you would think, but that’s another story. I miss my shower!!! Man I miss my shower.  I miss hot water spraying down on me.  I miss my queen size bed with the pillow top and my down comforter.  Here in Kenya I don’t have a pillow top mattress, what I have instead is a really thick hard mattress made of foam.  I bought this mattress because the one that was there was thin and broken down so it didn’t provide any comfort between me and the boards supporting the mattress. Then today the faucet on the shower here broke so I’m not sure how that’s gonna get fixed. More than likely I’ll buy the parts and then have someone fix it.  I miss my kitchen and my sink OH and my dishwasher. I really miss my washing machine and dryer.  I did my wash today and it’s hanging here in my room, and not drying because it’s been raining. UGG    Man I miss HOME.

The Phone

The Phone

March 16

Here in Kenya mobile phones are used by just about everyone. I realize that some don’t have a phone, but most people I come in contact with do have a mobile phone. What’s so interesting and different from how we, Americans, use the phone. Here in Kenya, if your phone rings, you answer it no matter what the heck you are doing. If you are in the middle of a conversation you ignore the person you are talking to and answer you phone. In America, that is considered just plain ole rude. But here it’s the norm.  When it happens to me I always think, ‘what I’m not important to you?’ Silly I know, but it’s the truth.

The second thing with the phone that I think is so different is how people talk and say goodbye on the phone. In America we usually say goodbye, see ya, later dude, or I’ll chat at ya later, at least something like that. Here in Kenya, well not so much. I’ve been hung up on, and literally dismissed without a second thought. Not one person has said to me ‘goodbye’ after our conversation on the phone. Now I’m just talking Kenyan’s here OK. It’s so odd to me.  This reminds me of good phone manners that my grandfather insisted on. You always greet the person with “Hello John, how are you?” and then end the call with “Goodbye, Good day, and thank you.’  Here it just doesn’t happen. I’m not sure why either. It’s something I haven’t figured out yet. Maybe I won’t , but then again maybe I will. HA

Rain

It started raining last night, and it rained all night long. I woke up with a headache, you know the kind that is in the front of your head in your sinus’ and it just won’t go away. Well, it’s still raining at it’s 11am. It’s not raining hard, but it’s constant. I guess today I get to experience mud, red mud and from what I’ve been told it gets all over everything. Should be a fun day. LOL

School

It seems the Kibomet Secondary student’s don’t think my English class will be counted towards their grades/marks.  WOW are they in for a surprise or what?

OH MY the power is out again!!! I just don’t get it here in Kenya it happens all the time. It drives me nuts. really it does.

Another Sunday Under the Belt

Another Sunday under the belt

March 13

Well it’s another Sunday is just about done. Church was good this morning and there were more people at the English service than last week. Things are looking up for that service. Pastor Kibet asked me if I see anything he could improve on with his preaching, and when he first asked me a couple of weeks ago I didn’t have an answer for him.  Well today I did. I told him to stick to the outline that is in the bulletin. He skipped around and it was confusing for me, so I know it was confusing for others. Later he came over to the house and he told me he would have information for next weeks bulletin for me by Monday. I’m glad because I want the bulletin done by Thursday so it can be edited, and then print on Friday.

After church I came home and worked on the bulletin a little and then I redid the color on the AIC logo. All I did was change the background color to a darker grey and now the AIC shows up much better. Then I went online to check out what’s going on in Japan. What a mess that is and so very sad. Here in Kenya, I haven’t heard anything on the news about it. Which is really odd, I think. Someone told me that Africa doesn’t have weird things happen like earthquakes and power plants blowing up. I told this person, “well yeah, but Africa has its own host of problems that the rest of the world doesn’t have.”  

Mary Muttai came over this afternoon and she asked me if I can type Swahili and I told her sure. I just type letter by letter is all. She wanted me to see how fast I can type, so I did one song in Swahili, and she then asked me if I could type her notes from the school. LOL  I thought it funny. Just because I don’t speak Swahili, doesn’t mean I can’t type it. 

We just finished dinner and Ednah spilled an entire glass of milk. It went into the Ugali, which is ok by me, and all over the table. She’s still cleaning it up. Michelle, she’s 6 months old, is in her walker. Yes, they have walkers here in Kenya. I think China made so many that when the U.S. said they weren’t safe, China decided to sell them to the African’s. Now walkers here are really odd because I have yet to see a home here in Africa that is strictly one floor. Nothing here is level. Most houses have livingrooms that are sunken, which is something I just don’t get, and these living rooms have no railing or barrier around them so it would be easy to fall into them. I tell ya a lot of things here are odd to say the least.

Everyday i see stuff here that is so dangerous it’s not funny. Typical stuff here is like a tractor coming down the road and on it are 3 to 5 guys, or a tractor pulling a trailer with a whole slue of people in the trailer. Then the Matatu’s which are basically a taxi in a MiniVan. The Matatu’s carry as many as 12 people at a time. Now if I remember correctly a mini van is designed to carry 7 people in all, so that’s 5 folks over the limit for the vehicle. What’s really crazy is when you have a guy hanging out the side on the Matatu and the van is barreling past you. OH what about the motorbikes here. I’ve seen as many as 4 people on a motorbike at a time. The driver and 3 passengers all on one bike. It’s crazy. OH and NO HELMETS either.  But hey it’s Africa and that’s just how it is here. 

Noticed something really crazy today:  A guy was hammering on a metal spike next to the Diesel pump at the service station today. I happen to know the owner and he said, “in the U.S. they’d use a drill.” then I said, “yah, but ya gotta love Africa, I’m outta here dude, before the whole station goes up in smoke.” The owner just laughed.

Sunday home alone

March13

Today I went to the English service that begins at 8am, well I was late getting there. The service is actually growing in numbers and that makes me happy. Then we had the bulletin for the folks at the service, and they seemed to like it. Once I got mine I noticed errors! OMG I couldn't believe it, silly stupid errors to boot! I told Pastor Kibet that the bulletin needs to be finished by Thursday and then do an edit and print on Friday for service on Sunday. I think it's the best way to catch any mistakes. This first one was really difficult to get completed. The PC that Pastor has isn't all that great and I've never used Publisher so there are some things that I don't understand with the program. (wish I had a book) Anyway, I'm going to see if I can find a book in Nairobi that will help me with publisher, as Pastor Kibet doesn't have Adobe InDesign and I can't afford to buy it for him. I need to make sure that someone can do the bulletin after I come home. I know there are a couple of people who can use the computer, and I know that one of them can handle learning the program. I just need to learn it. lol


Alice is gone for the day. The choir is singing at another church today so she won't be home until 4 or 5pm.  Not sure what church they are going to, but they are taking a pick up or a lorry to get there. I'm glad I'm not going. That road is HORRIBLE!! Aside from the pot holes, there is so much dust it's pathetic. It took me 4 days to recover from the dust on that road when we went to Eldoret for the wedding.  I'm not looking forward to travel that road again, and I will be on it in the future when I go to Mombassa to see Silas at his new place. Thankfully the road is good from Eldoret and on to Nairobi and Mombassa.

Widow's Meeting AGAIN

Widow’s Meeting, again

March 12

Well we had another widows meeting, and I’m just gonna say this about this last one. Even though we didn’t need to travel and I didn’t put on a skirt, I am not a fan of these widows meetings. I think they are good for the Kenyan women but for me I really don’t find them helpful to me. Mainly because of language and culture. Swahili is always spoken and my Swahili isn’t close to being good enough to understand everything, and culturally Kenyan’s don’t think that widows can be productive. Many times widows are watched closely to see if one does something that’s considered wrong. Then I think most men don’t want anything to do with a widow especially if she has kids, and many women in Kenya have more than 2 kids. If I understood more Swahili I think I would find these meetings more beneficial, but for now not so much.

Another thing about these meetings that kinda drives me nuts is the length of prayers. I swear it’s like a contest to see who can pray the longest. OH MY GOODNESS! Now Alice can pray forever, I mean that in a good way, but enough already. Then Pastor Achoki has to shout out to pray. I mean what does he think, God can’t hear him or something? It drives me a bit crazy. 

Town, Teaching, Designing

Busy day today. Went to Legacy and taught 7West, well actually I read to them a story from Kenya. Then I came home and took a shower, then I called Mike to come and take me to town. Once I got into town I got my errons completed, and I managed not to get run over by a car. You know they drive on the left side here. I walked up to the ORANGE store where I puchase my internet modem and put time on it, then went to the TransMart and picked up coffee and Grapefruits (yummy too). Alice doesn't buy them because they are expensive, but I just have to have my grapefruit. Then I walked back towards the Coffee Shop where all of the Mzungo's hang out. LOL. Well I went to have lunch. YEAH. Food was pretty good, and I found out they have a Sunday Buffet from 12-3pm every Sunday. 


While I was in the Coffee Shop I discovered that there is WiFi in Kitale. I was shocked! I need Wifi to download books on my NOOK, and I really need to get that done soon. So I found out where the WiFi was and walked down there. Come to find out that they won't let you connect unless you rent a room, since it's a hotel. UGG. So I walk out, and then I see 2 white men sitting at a table, so I said 'hey guys.' Then one of them said to me, "I'm in the middle of a conversation." Well I walked away and said outloud, Well that was RUDE... Why are American's so damn rude here? I mean, they think their shit don't stink. It really pisses me off. The Kenyan's are nicer than this guy. He was an ASS.  All I did was say HI, the other guy looked at me, so what was I supposed to do? Flip him off? geeesssshhh


When Mike came back and got me I went to Kibomet Secondary school to teach my Form 1 student's. We went over the essay format AGAIN, well actually several times. And then I told them the essay is due Thursday. Then I told them, they better get this right, because when I grade it I'm not going easy on them. They have the rubric and know what I'm looking for, so they better get it right. LOL


After school I met up with Pastor Fred Kibet and we worked on the new Church Bulletin for the English service. What's funny is we had to work at his place in his bedroom. NOW, I know as a single woman that's the last place I should be, but the guy is 26 years old, Dylan's age. His place is so so tiny. 2 rooms that's it. Sitting room and bedroom, and the window in the bedroom doesn't open. ugg, how does he sleep at night I'll never know. Anyway, we got the bulletin almost finished. So tomorrow I'll go and finish it and print one copy to see if I screwed up. I love this guy. He's a great friend and I mean friend!


I came home and had to walk through the field where there were 20 cows or so grazing. Now I'm not used to walking next to cows, but here in Kenya, it's what we do. A couple of them are pregnant too! That bull was busy a few months back LOL

Spot the Calf

Spot is doing really good. He's been seperated from Mama and I went and visiting him and he was hungry. So I told the guy to feed him. Tomorrow I'll feed the little guy. He's so darn cute

Visiting Choir Sunday, Monday at Kibomet

Visiting Choir

March 6

A choir from Turbokabkong or Turbo to sing. I felt lousy so I didn’t stay long. I think traveling to and from Eldoret yesterday did me in. It’s not the traveling part, but rather it’s the dust part. The road is so bad with holes and parts no pavement at all there is so much dust that just really got to me. There is a lot of dust here in Kitale and surrounding areas. I think I just had my personal fill of dust for a couple of days and that’s why I feel lousy. I wish I felt better so I could have heard their choir.

March 7, 

Tomorrow is my granddaughters 7th Birthday! WOW time really flies when kids are growing and getting older. It seems like yesterday that my little Maddy was born, and I’d hold her while I was on my computer. YEP that was 7 years ago.

Today being Monday I went to school only to find out that I didn’t have a class. This happens all the time. I don’t have a class and no one tells me until I get there and check the schedule. I’m glad I have Kibomet HS to teach at. Today there it was crazy. 68 kids in one class is way to many to help write a 5 paragraph essay. You would think it’s a simple assignment, but not with these kids. I’m walking them through the entire process. I really need to talk to Evelyn and split the class up and take one section on Mon and Wed and the other on Tue and Thur. At least then I could be more effective in the classroom. I do love these kids. They are fun to teach. 

When I was leaving I met up with Pastor Kibet. I adore this man. He is such a good friend now. And man I needed a friend here. It’s difficult to live in another country and not have a friend whom you can talk to about anything. With Alice, there are some subjects I just can’t talk about at all. There are times when I feel it’s necessary to talk about culture and christianity colliding and how to prevent it from happening. I enjoy talking to Pastor Kibet because he listens without trying to persuade me to change my mind. He listens to me and what I have to say, and he often gives good solid advice on how to handle a certain situation. I think, also, that with Kenyan women they don’t have any frame of reference to how I think whereas, Pastor Kibet does. Here in Kenya, women who become a widow aren’t expected to remarry ever, even if they are young. I see it so differently from how Alice sees this issue. I think that if the right guy comes along and you both feel the same way towards each other, then if he asks to marry you and you want to, then get married. Alice doesn’t see it that way. Somehow she understands scripture to mean that once you are widowed, you stay that way because it’s good. I see it differently, and when I tried to voice my opinion, well lets just say I was shut down quickly. I didn’t push the issue because I don’t want to cause conflict. There is enough conflict on the farm without me adding to it. 

Understanding scripture here is kinda odd. Many people take one tiny section of a verse and base their lives on it. For instance in Rev 22:15 it talks about throwing all unclean things outside, meaning dogs, pigs, and other stuff. So that little tiny part of scripture is understood that dogs are to be cast outside and not cared for. Here in Kenya, people kick at dogs all the time. They see them solely as working animal that is to guard the home. What the Kenyan’s don’t understand is that if you take really good care of your dog and treat the dog well, the dog will be 100% better at guarding your home. They don’t get it. They read scripture and then follow it not knowing the context of the verse or what it’s really saying. It’s totally crazy.

I’m fighting a cold right now, but I’m not sure if it’s truly a cold. It might be all of the dust from the trip to Eldoret. Not sure yet, I should know more tomorrow if I feel like I have a cold or not. I know it sounds crazy, but hey it’s KENYA. lol

update on Spot and Momma

Everything is looking good for my darling little calf. His Momma is up and acting like a normal cow. 

Another Wedding

Another Wedding: Getting there OH BOY

March 5

We began our journey from Kitale in a school bus that’s more like a touring bus than the yellow school bus that we are familiar with. I road in the front seat straight across from the driver. OK, I’ll say this first. The guy knew how to drive this bus! I mean he was great! Now what I don’t understand is why we didn’t pop any tires on the trip. Kenya’s roads aren’t what you call good. For the most part they are full of pot holes and  the government doesn’t take good care of them. Don’t know why, but that’s how it is. Anyway, so the bus driver just barrels right on through the holes, like they don’t exsist. It’s crazy. Then here in Kenya, traffic laws are either non-existant or just not followed at all. OK so picture this if you will. We are in a huge bus driving down the road. A car pulls up on the left to pass us cause we are basically in the middle. Then a car pulls up on the right to pass. Both of the cars are on the shoulder. Then we in the big bus, begin to pass a truck, not just a pick up mind you, but what they call here in Kenya a Lorry! So here’s 2 cars, 1 Lorry, and a huge bus all traveling fast down a 2 lane road all in the same direction!! CRAZY stuff.  All I can say after sitting in the front seat, I’ll be sitting elsewhere on the way home. LOL And that is just one instance where it got a bit hairy.

Once we got to the church in Eldoret, the bus parked and we walked into Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church.  Now this wedding was a bit different from the last wedding I went to. First off, the choir was really good. The service itself began with a mass, which blew me away cause like always it was in Swahili and I didn’t understand a word. UGG. The entire ceremony was 3 hours long. Now I don’t know if that is normal for a Catholic church or not. I’ve never been so I have no frame of reference. All I know is that the service was “hecka long.”

The reception was at The Eldoret Sports Club in Eldoret.  I looked it up on the Internet, and all I can say this place was nothing like what is pictured on the Internet. LOL  Dummy me thought it would. I should know better by now.  Anyway, the food was pretty good, and pretty much standard for a Kenyan wedding. The music is way to loud, I mean so loud that the sound is crappy. Normally I’d really look forward to the cake, but not so much at a Kenyan wedding. The cake is kinda like a spice type cake with raisens in it and you only get a bite and not a piece of cake. So it’s a little disappointing not to get to eat cake at a wedding. It’s a wedding and you get to eat cake, right? NOPE, so very sad. And to think I know of a couple of weddings back home in July and I won’t be there to eat cake, and that’s even more sad. But I’ll be at Nick and Annette’s wedding. I just hope they have a traditional American wedding cake. PLEASE, pretty PLEASE.

OK this wedding took 8.5 hours. Now personally I think that is a little excessive, don’t you think? But I must admit is was nice to get out of Kitale for the day even if I had to wear a skirt. I”m wearing shorts all day tomorrow. it’s getting late and the bus driver pushes the gas, and then he breaks, ugg.

On the way back home I could have sworn that we were going to crash. That road is just plain ole scary at night. I’m glad I’m finally home and in my room on my computer. OH and I told Edna and Alice that this was the last Wedding I”ll attend in Kenya. They just take way to long. 

Visiting Choir

March 6

A choir from Turbokabkong or Turbo to sing. I felt lousy so I didn’t stay long. I think traveling to and from Eldoret yesterday did me in. It’s not the traveling part, but rather it’s the dust part. The road is so bad with holes and parts no pavement at all there is so much dust that just really got to me. There is a lot of dust here in Kitale and surrounding areas. I think I just had my personal fill of dust for a couple of days and that’s why I feel lousy. I wish I felt better so I could have heard their choir.

Captain Davies

Today I went with Standard 2 (2nd Grade) to Captain Davies. This is a place that is owned by a man whose name is Captain Davies. He's a former MP here in Kenya, but has lots of ties to the US, mainly California around Santa Cruz. Anyway, he has created a Nature/Animal Reserve. It's really a very cool place. The most amazing thing today was I was able to pet a rhino. There are 2 rhino's there, Mike is 14 years old, and Selena is 15 years old. Selena is pregnant and it shows LOL. Anyway, the first thing I thought when I saw both of the Rhino's was that they are so darn cute, and they are HUGE. I mean as tall as a 15hand horse or so. Massive animals, but yet adorable at the same time. They even mixed it up a bit in front of us. The kids all hurried away from the fence, but me being the crazy white woman, just got closer and took pictures. Fun stuff, I tell you.
Then we walked to take a look at some antalope and zebras running around. We couldn't get real close so my pictures probably won't turn out very well. Then we saw a black and white monkey. These guys were really high up in the trees and hopefully my pics of them will turn out.
After that we saw 2 osteridges and then a couple of horses. One looked like it might be Welsh Pony, but I am not sure on that. He looked like one though. The others who knows what they were. The guys attending the horses had no idea, they told me they were horses. LIKE DUH I wasn't born yesterday.
Then it was time for the kids to have lunch. Me I had a soda and called it good. Here in Kenya they have a soda called Krest and it's a bitter lemon flavor, but to me it's not bitter, it's YUMMO


After I got home I was chillin' on my bed when I heard really loud music. Well the choir began practicing outside my room on the grass. OH man they were loud too! Everything they do is loud here. I just wanted to chill and be quiet, but the choir kept it up until after 6pm. UGG


I checked on Spot and his mother today when I got home. I got the cow some fresh water and made sure Spot was ok. Then I checked on the dogs. Both are chained away from the cow and calf. I made sure the dogs had fresh water, and then I hung out with them and talked and petted them for a while. I wish I had access to build a kennel for the dogs. That way they wouldn't need to be chained up. Here in Kenya the dogs are basically wild to a point, and when ever there is a calf born the farmers need to be there to keep the dogs away because the dogs will kill the cow and the calf. Alice said there were 100 dogs hanging around when the calf was born. Not sure if that is true or not. Then Simba, my darling dog, bit the cow twice when the guys were milking the other cows. That's when Simba and Max were sent to Doggie Jail and will be until the cow can get up on her own.  


So that is my day today. Tomorrow I'm off to a wedding that I didn't realize I was going to until today. It's in Eldoret, about an hour and a half from here. We will travel by bus to the church and reception.Weddings are an all day affair here in Kenya. I'm not really looking forward to go to this one. We won't get home until 8pm or so. 

Spot the Calf

Spot the calf

March 3

WOW what a crazy day. First off today is the 3rd anniversary of Dylan’s death. So not such a great day for me. I went to school but I found it really hard to concentrate on what I needed to be thinking. Good thing I only had one class today. Then at Kibomet the kids just finished exams and instead of teaching today I told them to take the day off and we’ll hit the essay on Monday. Once I got home I thought I’d take off and go to town and hit the coffee shop, eat a brownie, and then have a grilled cheese and chocolate shake. But that didn’t happen. I fell asleep on my bed.  After tea, I got online and did some browsing around and that took forever. After it got dark, I decided to go outside because of the cow and her calf. Alice said something about needing to move the cow. Considering the darn thing wasn’t getting up, I thought Wow I’d like to see this. Well instead of just watching, I ended up taking care of the little calf. I named him Spot and I pushed, drug, pulled, and said a few cuss words and got the little guy into the compound. The cow managed to get in the compound as well with the help of 8 guys holding her up and bribing her to keep moving. It only took 2.5 hours to move that cow about 25 yards.

Now I’m in my room, under my mosquito net, lights off, and typing away on my computer. I’m beat. It was a long day and I had very little sleep last night. Tonight should be much better sleep wise.

I'll say it here

OK what just happened in Germany is horrible. I personally would like to shoot the guy who opened fire on the bus carrying US servicemen.


Kenya Power sucks. We are without power once again. It happens all the bloody time. The power just goes off. Then here I am in the house by myself cause Edna is in the other kitchen and I don't know where the candles are or where the heck the matches are. Then I keep forgetting to buy a flashlight/torch at the bloody store. UGGGG


Then today I saw 3 cockroaches. It happens. It's Africa. At least I know how to kill them LOL

Yesterday

Yesterday

March 2

Yesterday when I went into town with the girls we took a shortcut through to town. Now I would never take this shortcut on my own, it is just plain ole dumb for me to do so, but with the girls I felt safe. Anyway we crossed over several railroad tracks, and I’m not even sure they actually have trains on these tracks anymore. Then we climbed up a short incline to the main road. After crossing the road I figured out where we were as I’d been there before with Alice only from a different way. So I’m really getting to know Kitale pretty well. I’m confident that if I needed to go into town on my own I could without any problems and get back home.  I’m feeling pretty good about that fact. Now we walked all over Kitale. We went to the bank, dress maker, Pharmacy, Transmart, then we had lunch. After lunch we went to the open market so the girls could look for clothes. Now while we were walking to the market, a guy said very loudly, “Hello, How are you?” Then he said, “I LOVE YOU.”  I stopped dead in my tracks. Turned around. Then I said to him, “You better be careful, I”m way more trouble then you can handle buddy.” Then I walked away. Edna just laughed at me. 

Now today I didn’t have any classes. The kids were taking exams and so that leaves me with not a whole heck of a lot to do. This is a good thing actually, since yesterday I was out and about in the sun I woke up this am with a dreadful headache. So I’m glad I had today to recover from my adventures in Kitale with Edna and Sarah. I ended up doing a bit of my laundry and I rigged a drying line up in my room. It works really well and Alice got a kick out of it. You see here in Kenya you don’t hang your underpants out on the line for the world to see. You either hang them to dry inside the house OR you put something over them on the line outside so no one can see your underpants. Personally, I think it’s a bit silly, but then again ... well I won’t go there.  So now my clothes are clean and dry. 

You know the Kenyan women like doing laundry, well that’s what they told me anyway. I told them that it’s not a chore I enjoy. Edna then told me she likes it because she can see the dirt wash away from her scrubbing and it makes her feel good. Now why can’t I feel the same way about laundry? Is it because I’m an American and we have machines that do the work or does it have something to do with stupid American pride? HUM I’m not sure, but it’s interesting to witness here in Kenya.

A New Month

A new month

March 1, 2011

Christie is the maid here at Alice’s house. She’s 23 years old, the mother of one, and she is Ugandan. She is so sweet! She is beyond kind to me and works her rear end off around here. Although I’m not sure Alice thinks the same as I. Right now Christie is washing my clothes. I told her I would do it since I have no more classes today, but she refused me to even help her. She said that it was her pleasure to do my wash. Personally I don’t know how doing someone’s laundry can be a pleasurable job, and smelly socks aren’t any fun at all, but Christie is a wonderful young woman. 

When she mops the floor, she doesn’t use a mop. She uses a rag and she bends over and washing the entire floor bent at the waist washing the tiles. Now this house is all tile floors, so there’s a lot to wash.  This morning when I got up, Christie was cleaning the tables in the sitting room. She’s always doing something around here. I’ve only seen her sit once during the day and that was with Edna and they watched a program on TV. 

Town today Yeah

I went into town with Edna and Sarah. First we hitched a ride in a pick-up with a teacher from Kibomet Secondary School, then we got on boda boda, which is essentially a bicycle with an extra seat on the back and the guy peddles you to where you want to go. Well it only cost 20 shillings. I gave the guy extra cause I’m not light weight. LOL

Once in town we went all over the place, I mean all over. Bank, dress shop, pharmacy, lunch, and then to the open market where Edna and Sarah shopped for clothing. I gave them fashion advice. I know DON”T LAUGH!! I’m actually pretty good at it. ANYWAY after that we came home on a motorbike. I rode with Mike again. YEAH, I’m so glad I got to get off of my feel.

While we were in town the kids from the local high schools were parading around and singing. Why? Well I’ll tell you. Yesterday the results for the national school rankings came out so to celebrate the kids walk around town and sing. It’s really quite interesting. School rankings here in Kenya are a BIG DEAL. Then being the top student in the country is like becoming king for a year here! If a student does well in school, say  an A or high B student they can go to the university. If you get a lower grade than that, you still can go, but you are very limited in your options. The school I teach at now, Kibomet AIC Secondary School did very well in the rankings. It should considering the biology and chemistry lab they have. 

So that was my day. Got to get out and into town and that doesn’t happen often. I know I’ll be going this weekend, but I’m glad I got to go with Edna and Sarah. I had a good time.