May 30

I'm sitting in a coffee cafe drinking hot tea here in Nairobi. I leave for home tomorrow night. I'm anxious to get home to my family and friends. I've had a good time here in Kenya, and I've learned a lot. I'm glad I came, but next time I think I'll stay closer to Nairobi.

I probably won't be able to post again here until I get home. Where I am staying there is no Internet service available at this time, so won't be able to post again until I get home.

I think everyone should come to Kenya and see for themselves the land and the people. Hopefully I'll be back next year. Time will tell, and so will my checking account.

Nairobi 2nd full day and on

Nairobi 2nd full Day

May 27

Well yesterday proved to be a bust all around. I didn’t do a darn thing all day long. Well I did take a shower, but that was about it. lol

Today is Friday and we are going to the supermarket to day to pick up spices and coffee for Nick. AND I’m going to buy another suitcase to bring with me. My bags are a bit heavy and it will cost me an extra 100 bucks per bag, then my 3rd bag will cost me 200 bucks. So to avoid the extra weight fees I’m buying another bag, and I’ll put the extra stuff in there so the other bags won’t weigh over the limit. Crazy I know, but it’s what I got to do.

Yesterday I made the mistake again of falling asleep in the afternoon.  I should know better than that by now that in doing so only gets me no sleep in the night. Now I have a little headache and I know it’s from little sleep.

Nairobi 3rd full day

May 28

Finally hooked up with Paul Osiago. I met him at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi. Alice and her daughter, Julie, came with me only because Alice wanted to know what tribe Paul is from. Turns out Paul is a Lou (President Obama’s father’s tribe and the current PM) and Alice doesn’t have a lot of nice things to say about Lou people. Interesting I think. Anyway I finally am with Paul and I’m so darn happy. We went to his apartment and it’s so nice. Wood flooring throughout and tile in the kitchen. Paul has decorated the place so nicely, very Kenyan and yet there are American aspects to the space. 

We went out to dinner to a Italian place and oh MAN the food was so good. After that we went to a bar where the big football (soccer) game was on. Barcelona vs Manchester United. Now until recently I’ve never been a soccer fan, but I must say I really like to watch these guys play. The game is fast and the best part is there are no time-outs at all. I don’t totally understand all of the rules of the game, but I like the game. I think I’ve become a fan. OH and the bar was PACKED with people. Lots of guys and more guys. Some were even cute LOL. I actually had a beer there, a White Cap, and it’s a lot like our beer in the states. 

After the game was over, Barcelona won 3-1, we drove to Paul’s apartment and since it was late we went to bed. Not together OK....geessshhh dirty minds people. for shame.

Sunday May 29

We got up had coffee and then took off for the city of Nairobi. The first thing Paul and I did was go to the meat market downtown. This is where the freshly slaughtered meat is sold. It smelled yucky and there was meat everywhere. Beef, chicken, pork, goat, and fish, all kinds of fish available. Paul bought goat, chicken and fish for his mother in law. Apparently the tribe of Paul’s mother in law eat lots of goat, but don’t ask me what tribe that is cause I really don’t know. Then on our way to delivery the meat, we drove past the in-laws and we stopped and talked to them. Turns out we were invited to dinner there. Awesome!  So the rest of the day we drove all over Nairobi, because there essentially was no traffic. Nairobi is a city of almost 5 million people and traffic here is horrendous. I don’t even know how to describe it. From Paul’s place to the airport is about 8miles. Getting there during the week will take up to 2 hours time, and just pray there isn’t an accident cause traffic will come to a full stop and stay that way forever. Anyway, I got a super good look at Nairobi West, East, North and South areas. I saw different schools where I could teach if I wanted, and we drove past the American Embassy.  I wanted to go in, but we were running out of time.

We stopped by a friend of Paul’s but I can’t remember her name, and then we went to his in-laws for dinner. Now dinner was really good. I’m told that normally the father in law feeds people, but he didn’t need to feed me cause I ate. It was so good. The goat was super good and the chicken and rice was delicious. I had a really nice time and the conversation was all in English, which was a huge switch from being in Kitale.  As we were leaving Paul’s father in law said that the door was always open for me to come in. I thought how nice of him to say that.  Once we got home I hit the hay cause I was so tired.

Another day in Nairobi May 30

Got up this am and Paul had to work some, so he dropped me off at Westgate mall where I’m currently sitting and typing on my puter. David Yego is on his way and will be here shortly then we’ll go have a bit to eat. Not that I’m in need of food. LOL

To Nairobi

To Nairobi

May 25

6 more days left.  We drove down to Nairobi with Roseline Yego, or more commonly known as the Bishop’s wife. Matthews drove us down and I swear that man owns the road. He’s a great driver and I wish he drove me everywhere I went since I’ve been in Kenya.  Anyway, it took us forever to get down here, but we finally made it to Bishop’s house.  We had tea and waited for traffic to lighten up a bit before we took off for the Eastlands and Stellah’s house. When we left the Bishops it was 7:15pm, we finally go to  Stellah’s house after 9pm.  It took us 2 hours to drive through Nairobi because of traffic. It was insane!! I know Nairobi is a major city, and it’s the biggest city in East Africa I think, but 2 hours is a little excessive I think.

Once we finally arrived we got settled in and had supper.  It was good, rice with a bean type stew.  Again Alice wanted me to eat a lot more than I did, I guess some things will never change. I was full so I stopped eating. Simple really.  Now I’m in a bedroom, I think it’s Ian’s room and I’m about ready to hit the HAY.  I’m beat. I wish I could have stayed at Bishop’s place. Then I could hang out with David for a bit. He’s a nice guy, and he’s cute to boot!!!

Last Night

Last Night

May 24

OK well Alice put on a great dinner and had Steve & Ann Muttai, Jen, and Christine from school over, then Nelson, Sara, and Eunice were here as well. Great food, great fellowship and it was a really nice time. We laughed and ate, just like good baptists LOL

Anyway the school staff gave me a pair of Safari boots as a going away present and a Kikoru and Steve and Ann gave me a map of Kenya. The map is a really cool one that I’ll frame and put up in Dylan’s old room

I’ll really miss Ann and Steve. Talk about nice folks, wow I couldn’t have asked for nicer friends than those two.  

Earlier in the day I met with the Principle and Deputy Principle of Kibomet Secondary School. They gave me a list of students who need assistance with school fees. Most of these student’s are from single parent families, peasants families, and are orphans. This school is a good school and these kids only want a chance to finish through Form 4 or grade 12. Then I went to say goodbye to my class, basically all of Form 1 students. They didn’t know I was still in town because no one had seen me. They were surprised and then sad when I told them I am leaving Kitale and going home tomorrow. One girl even looked like she was crying. I had to leave at that point, but I told the kids that I’ll try my darnest to come back to Kitale and this school.

After dinner, everyone left and I was getting a little more organized for the trip down to Nairobi.  So Alice comes in my room and starts asking me about my stuff that I haven’t packed yet.  I told her anything left here after I’m through is staying here. So then she starts asking me about the stuff on the table that I haven’t put away in my bags yet.  Well most of it is staying the only stuff that going with me is my tooth paste, toothbrush, my comb and brush, and my deorderent.  So she starts to gather up the stuff that’s left. I”m like thinking, can’t you give a girl time to get out of the house before you grab up all of the stuff.  I thought it so odd and yet so Alice.  

Then everyone asks for my stuff that I have. My iPod, MP3 player, phone, and other stuff people were just asking me for it. I kept thinking, well who is going to replace what I leave here?  Alice wants my MP3 player, but it cost 80 bucks, and I don’t have the money to replace it, so I’m taking it with me. I just really don’t get it at all. The senior pastor asked me for a laptop computer, 2 different people asked me for a digital camera, and scores of people asked me for money for school fees. OH and Mike asked me for $$ so he could pay his brother back the money for the motorbike, it’s something like ksh66,000, which converts to about $767. I’m convinced they all think I”m the great white hope or something. So be aware if you come to Kenya, and I think you should, everyone and anyone will ask you for money. Practice saying NO to the mirror, it will save you a lot of time and energy.

Last Day in Kitale Kenya

Last Day in Kitale

May 24

It’s finally here, my last day in Kitale.  Kibet and I are going into town and I’m going to buy him lunch.  I also need to make a couple of stops around town as well.  I’m giving Kibet my modem so he’ll have internet access, so we can email each other as often as we want. 

Being in Kenya has not been easy.  At times its been difficult with the way the culture is so engrained into the lives of the people here.  When I see something that is just wrong I want to shout out, but of all those times it’s been a cultural thing. Here in Kenya culture often overrides Christianity and that is so sad. Traditional marriages happen often (having more than one wife) and no one here sees anything wrong with that.  It’s just another thing I really don’t understand at all, especially when the bible says a man of one wife.  I think what the Kenyan’s do is use the old testament as a foundation. I”m not sure, I could very well be wrong, but that’s what it seems like to me. 

Living on a farm is a total new experience for me as well. It’s nice in the fact that there are birds singing all day long and I can’t get enough of the song birds here. The livestock make all kinds of noises 24/7 and that’s OK too.  Chickens are wandering around the compound all day long, and now that there is a rooster here there’s a lot of crowing. It’s kinda funny cause he gets the morning and afternoons mixed up, but he’s like most male species only thinking with part of his brain. LOL All of this has been educational, but the one thing I won’t miss are the flies. Not sure but there are a constant pain in the ass here on the farm. I won’t miss the cockroaches that are just everywhere here in Kenya, and the many different spiders that I’ve seen. It’s a little disconcerting when bugs scurry across your bed. YEAH, that I won’t miss at all.  

What I will miss are the people, especially the kids that live in and around the compound. There are something like 7 or 8 kids and they run around all day long. They always come up and want to shake my hand and greet me properly. They are so darn cute.  I’ll miss Christie, the house girl here. She works so hard, and yet I don’t think she’s appreciated at all. My prayer for her is that she’ll find a way to support her daughter so she’ll be able to go to school in the new school year. I’ll miss Ednah and how she always says everything is medicinal. She cracks me up. I’ll miss little, well not so little, Michelle. She’s one happy baby, except when she’s pissed off. LOL  And I’ll miss Alice. That woman doesn’t know when to stop or slow down. I wish she would, and take time for herself every now and then.

So I’m off to Nairobi in the early morning. We aren’t taking the bus as originally planned. YEAH  Roseline Yego, the Bishops wife, is going into Nairobi and she will give us a ride.  Hopefully I’ll get to an Internet cafe so I can post another blog before I come home.

Internet

Internet

May 21 Saturday

Well I went to get online, and I couldn’t. I forgot to go to the Orange store and get more airtime for my modem yesterday. RATS!!! Today I don’t have the time to get into town. I’m speaking at the widows meeting and then apparently we are going to Alice’s Aunt’s home. Now personally I don’t want to go to the aunts house. It will be another day of people speaking in Swahili and me sitting there like an idiot. Drives me nuts.  I would like to go see the guys at the Orange store and shoot the &*%$ with them. LOL They are nice guys and I’m hoping they will have a Orange T-Shirt for me :o)

Like yesterday I sat there not knowing what anyone was saying unless Joe or Alice translated for me.  I only have 4 days left in Kitale, and I’d rather spend my day with Kibet and hang with my friends, Ann & Steve Muttai. I’d rather do what I want to do instead of being paraded around like some novelty.  I’d rather go see the kids that live on the road and say hello to my fan club. Those kids are so darn cute. Robb would have loved those little kids. So today I’ll be doing stuff that Alice wants to do, I’ll be a good girl and not say a word about what I want to do.  I not happy.

False Christians

False Christians

May 19

Something that I’ve seen here that really disturbs me and that is false Christians. I’m not saying there aren’t any in the U.S. but here is so blatant and right in your face. A woman here has actually said that the pastor doesn’t come to people’s homes to visit, he comes to eat food. Now I personally know the pastor in which this woman is speaking about, and one thing I know is he doesn’t go to visit anyone with the mindset of getting food in return. What I’d like to say to this woman is, well if that is true and he does just visit people to eat, then maybe the church should pay him more so he can feed himself more adequately. I don’t understand why anyone would say such a thing like that about a pastor.  The only answer I can come up with is jealousy. It’s kinda funny as well because this woman and her husband believe they are such “good” Christians, and here they are showing their true selves. All I can say I’m glad I’m not them. I’d hate to be on the receiving end when God speaks and calls them on the carpet for their actions.

I can only imagine what is being said about me behind my back by this person. I’ve come to be very close with the pastor. He’s a great guy, and we have some great discussions about the gospel and how to apply it to your life. He’s even counseled me on some areas in which I wanted to help someone here. I’ve helped a young man with school fees so he can learn more about computers and the windows operating system. But this young man isn’t the only one I’ve helped, there are a few others as well.  Then I’ve spent a lot of time with the pastor putting the bulletin together for the church. Both of us have agonized over getting the bulletin put together and copied so it’s available for the congregation every Sunday. It’s a lot of work, and I’ve spent a lot of time in the pastor’s house working on the bulletin.  Now most likely people have said a few uncalled things about me being in the house.  Well the only reason I’m there is because that is where the church’s computer is located, and its not in the church because the door locks aren’t good and the computer would get stolen. If the computer was at the church, then that’s where I’d be until 8:30pm on some nights. But it’s not, so go ahead and speak of things which you know nothing about, I’ll just let God handle the rest.

Should I have put this in my blog? I’m really not sure, but I can say one thing and that is I feel better now that I wrote it down.  I really can’t stand it when people are mean to my friends. It’s one of my worst faults because now I just want to go to that woman and give her a what for and not hold anything back. I’m extremely loyal to the people that I love, and watch out if you hurt one of them. I’m liable to come out spitting mad.