First i would like to make a shoutout.. to my mom .. because its her birthday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY mother
♥
Next i would like to say. life is amazing.
This past weekend was awesome two of my friends and i travelled 6 hours to Maasi Mara and went on a safari. we were gone 2 nights/3 days.
it was honestly the most amazing sights i have ever seen in my life and i will never forget it as long as i live. it was AHHH words cant even describe
ALSO today was a great day. the kids are done exams so i thought i would be more bored then usual ON THE CONTRARY i can do MORE now! ive played more games and had more activities today then i have any other day. Also today i was invited over to go tomorrow to the house of the lady who makes chipati which should be nice.. ALSO today my friends at the corner asked me where i was friday.. i guess they missed me. . ALLLLLLSOOO today (this one is especially good) one of the teachers got her glasses! ok this was a big deal.. glasses are expensive
this lady is honestly amazing. one of the nicest teachers ever, a rare find, and she really truely cares about all the kids. anyways she had serious seeing problems and she had to hold paper about an inch from her nose to read.. (im not exaggerating) it tugs at your heart strings a little when you see that BUT she got her glasses which she has been saving up for for a LONG time and now she can read at a semi normal distance! PRAISE GOD!!
hmm tonight me and Kathy went to see a Bollywood film (in theatre) . it was awesome. i didnt know what i was missing out on.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
AS PROMISED
OK so HERE IT IS. the promised post.
i figured i better write today as promised before i start a riot on the homefront.
Life is going wonderful. The kids are amazing. The teachers I work with at the school are amazing. Life is amazing.
Writing in here is semi- frusterating because there is so much I dont know what to write!
Ok lets try and back up a little.
I dont think I've mentioned yet the couple that moved into our house here. Terri and Mike, when I heard there was a couple moving into our house I admit at first i was a little skeptical. We had a good thing going. 3 of us living off cornflakes and bananas. AND even the first day i wasnt sure. I was hoping for the grandmother grandfather type, and they were certainly not that!
BUT when Terri informed us that her hubby likes a full meal every night and then asked if we minded if she cooked every night and if we would mind if she bought all the groceries, i knew she was a keeper. LOL but seriously we get along great, they have lived all around the world. Mike is more the .. tall .. string bean accounting guy who likes to talk about the news and Terri has a masters in leadership training so they are an interesting couple to say the least.
Anyways they have been here for a while, but I can't remember if i mentioned them.
Oh they also bought be frosted flakes for my birthday which was definetly appreciated. .
Hmmmm
I've been helping out mostly in nursery and standard 4 these days as you may know. It is going well. Starting tomorrow we have exams so things will slow down quite a bit.. well .. there will be a lot of marking..
We have been having to leave the school after we eat lunch these days because with the election coming up things have been getting a litttttttle sketchy around kibera.
Terri and I were talking about it. There are a lot of young guys just kinda standing around everywhere because they dont have jobs (they are hard to come by here) and politics seems like a good way to spend their time.
On friday we were not allowed to go to kibera at all because there was suppose to be these huge rallies from both sides the entire day which is ALWAYS bad news lol. Anyways things are very exciting here. Sometimes it gets frusterating
When we have to leave early or cant go places, I do not feel unsafe, I cant really explain it, i think the city here... you are.. more on your guard? but it is not necessarily MORE dangerous then any other big city. I think the amount of people who will yell something or make a comment as you walk by is about the same as home. One of the girls I live with and I were talking about this and she agreed. She said the first few people who yelled at her from a car when she got into the country were all white tourists so even though there are more things to be careful of, it sometimes gets frusterating.
We need to be back on the compound at 6pm which is when it gets dark. This one i would never argue with, after 6 is NOT a good time to be out in the city but some days i just wish i could walk more freely through kibera,
I am friends with a number of people down the short road from the bus to the school
There is a lady who makes chapati who i buy from most days to have with Chai,
also, the first few days we were at the school the headmistress was worried about a group of guys who hang out at a booth close to the school, she thought they might rob us, so clearly in my mind the next step was to make friends with them so we wouldnt have to worry about that. The first couple days they thought it was hilarious when i said "Hi" and "Bye" and "See you tommorrow!" BUT now most of them know me by name and come and greet me in the mornings
OK this is getting long already haha SEE this is the problem i have so much i can say yet. hmm
I visited St. Nicholas childrens home from saturday night to sunday. Annalie and Sarah Wassink (some of you may know her, she lives in our area, about an hour away from me, we know the same people, and we met here!!) work there. I had visited there right after i arrived here and was excited to visit again. The children there are so special. Their stories are like those unreal stories you read about or see in the movies. Sarah knew some of their stories and was telling me. There is one boy Mike, he just turned 17, and is now finished highschool (the school year ends here in december) He was found wandering around a bus station when he was a little kid and after a long series of events ended up at St Nicholas. He has absolutly no family or relatives, he has to leave the school soon because he is done highschool. I cant even imagine. His whole life has been at St Nicholas, leaving the grounds to go to his highschool but thats basically it. A lot of the kids have stories so much like this one.
They are like one giant family there, and for being hurt so badly all those kids are SO ready to give of themselves to you, running up to you asking your name, about your family, holding your hand they just love to talk.
Sarah and Annalie are amazing for them. Sarah is staying a year in Kenya and has been here for around 7 months already, annalie is staying for 6 i believe, or maybe 8 and has been here for a while too. Everynight they tuck all the kids into bed, the rooms are like, hotel room style (obviously not NEAR as nice) with two bunk beds in each with two rows of rooms, two halls on the outside edges the girls on one side the boys on the other.
We made the rounds and got to the last boys' room and they made us stay for i think over an hour just talking, they were the oldest ones (including mike) they have their own boy group called "Tempo" a little while ago someone came with a video camera (i think from the states) and made a music video for them. i PROMISED id spread the news of their band all over the world and they were pretty pumped so HERE IS THE LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtBGEXCUa9s
i think this one is part swahili part english. they have like 9 songs(someone brought them to a studio once to record)
we had church w them in the morning (you can see the church at the beginning of the video)
it was great to worship w the kids, it is an anglican church, and the pastor was wearing the robe thing.. which i cant say i was used to but we had tea w him after and he was an amazing down to earth guy. the kids have thier own chior (a bunch of the girls- they got choir robes from somewhere too) and the guys also performed a song (they are too cool to join the choir but want to sing still LOL) one of the boys had a drum so they were playing some pretty crazy beats with the music, and trust me these kids KNOW how to play . for one song a girl had a stick and was hitting one of the metal poles that is holding up the roof it sounded amazing! but the intstrument playing is all kind of spontaneous and the instruments switch hands alot.
Last week we were at joysprings church (the church from the school i teach at) and that was the first church ive danced at. no "frozen chozen" in this church let me tell you! but the worship was awesome, and all they had was an electric keyboard, their voices and their feet
if you ever come to kenya you will see that especially the kids will try and make everything into a song or dance.
just a couple days ago.. well.. on second thought i could keep typing FOREVER. ill save that story for another time!
haha!
God bless!
oh and
P.S. i didnt realize you could leave a comment unless you signed up? that SHOULD be fixed now! and thank you all for the messages and emails ive been getting! !
i figured i better write today as promised before i start a riot on the homefront.
Life is going wonderful. The kids are amazing. The teachers I work with at the school are amazing. Life is amazing.
Writing in here is semi- frusterating because there is so much I dont know what to write!
Ok lets try and back up a little.
I dont think I've mentioned yet the couple that moved into our house here. Terri and Mike, when I heard there was a couple moving into our house I admit at first i was a little skeptical. We had a good thing going. 3 of us living off cornflakes and bananas. AND even the first day i wasnt sure. I was hoping for the grandmother grandfather type, and they were certainly not that!
BUT when Terri informed us that her hubby likes a full meal every night and then asked if we minded if she cooked every night and if we would mind if she bought all the groceries, i knew she was a keeper. LOL but seriously we get along great, they have lived all around the world. Mike is more the .. tall .. string bean accounting guy who likes to talk about the news and Terri has a masters in leadership training so they are an interesting couple to say the least.
Anyways they have been here for a while, but I can't remember if i mentioned them.
Oh they also bought be frosted flakes for my birthday which was definetly appreciated. .
Hmmmm
I've been helping out mostly in nursery and standard 4 these days as you may know. It is going well. Starting tomorrow we have exams so things will slow down quite a bit.. well .. there will be a lot of marking..
We have been having to leave the school after we eat lunch these days because with the election coming up things have been getting a litttttttle sketchy around kibera.
Terri and I were talking about it. There are a lot of young guys just kinda standing around everywhere because they dont have jobs (they are hard to come by here) and politics seems like a good way to spend their time.
On friday we were not allowed to go to kibera at all because there was suppose to be these huge rallies from both sides the entire day which is ALWAYS bad news lol. Anyways things are very exciting here. Sometimes it gets frusterating
When we have to leave early or cant go places, I do not feel unsafe, I cant really explain it, i think the city here... you are.. more on your guard? but it is not necessarily MORE dangerous then any other big city. I think the amount of people who will yell something or make a comment as you walk by is about the same as home. One of the girls I live with and I were talking about this and she agreed. She said the first few people who yelled at her from a car when she got into the country were all white tourists so even though there are more things to be careful of, it sometimes gets frusterating.
We need to be back on the compound at 6pm which is when it gets dark. This one i would never argue with, after 6 is NOT a good time to be out in the city but some days i just wish i could walk more freely through kibera,
I am friends with a number of people down the short road from the bus to the school
There is a lady who makes chapati who i buy from most days to have with Chai,
also, the first few days we were at the school the headmistress was worried about a group of guys who hang out at a booth close to the school, she thought they might rob us, so clearly in my mind the next step was to make friends with them so we wouldnt have to worry about that. The first couple days they thought it was hilarious when i said "Hi" and "Bye" and "See you tommorrow!" BUT now most of them know me by name and come and greet me in the mornings
OK this is getting long already haha SEE this is the problem i have so much i can say yet. hmm
I visited St. Nicholas childrens home from saturday night to sunday. Annalie and Sarah Wassink (some of you may know her, she lives in our area, about an hour away from me, we know the same people, and we met here!!) work there. I had visited there right after i arrived here and was excited to visit again. The children there are so special. Their stories are like those unreal stories you read about or see in the movies. Sarah knew some of their stories and was telling me. There is one boy Mike, he just turned 17, and is now finished highschool (the school year ends here in december) He was found wandering around a bus station when he was a little kid and after a long series of events ended up at St Nicholas. He has absolutly no family or relatives, he has to leave the school soon because he is done highschool. I cant even imagine. His whole life has been at St Nicholas, leaving the grounds to go to his highschool but thats basically it. A lot of the kids have stories so much like this one.
They are like one giant family there, and for being hurt so badly all those kids are SO ready to give of themselves to you, running up to you asking your name, about your family, holding your hand they just love to talk.
Sarah and Annalie are amazing for them. Sarah is staying a year in Kenya and has been here for around 7 months already, annalie is staying for 6 i believe, or maybe 8 and has been here for a while too. Everynight they tuck all the kids into bed, the rooms are like, hotel room style (obviously not NEAR as nice) with two bunk beds in each with two rows of rooms, two halls on the outside edges the girls on one side the boys on the other.
We made the rounds and got to the last boys' room and they made us stay for i think over an hour just talking, they were the oldest ones (including mike) they have their own boy group called "Tempo" a little while ago someone came with a video camera (i think from the states) and made a music video for them. i PROMISED id spread the news of their band all over the world and they were pretty pumped so HERE IS THE LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtBGEXCUa9s
i think this one is part swahili part english. they have like 9 songs(someone brought them to a studio once to record)
we had church w them in the morning (you can see the church at the beginning of the video)
it was great to worship w the kids, it is an anglican church, and the pastor was wearing the robe thing.. which i cant say i was used to but we had tea w him after and he was an amazing down to earth guy. the kids have thier own chior (a bunch of the girls- they got choir robes from somewhere too) and the guys also performed a song (they are too cool to join the choir but want to sing still LOL) one of the boys had a drum so they were playing some pretty crazy beats with the music, and trust me these kids KNOW how to play . for one song a girl had a stick and was hitting one of the metal poles that is holding up the roof it sounded amazing! but the intstrument playing is all kind of spontaneous and the instruments switch hands alot.
Last week we were at joysprings church (the church from the school i teach at) and that was the first church ive danced at. no "frozen chozen" in this church let me tell you! but the worship was awesome, and all they had was an electric keyboard, their voices and their feet
if you ever come to kenya you will see that especially the kids will try and make everything into a song or dance.
just a couple days ago.. well.. on second thought i could keep typing FOREVER. ill save that story for another time!
haha!
God bless!
oh and
P.S. i didnt realize you could leave a comment unless you signed up? that SHOULD be fixed now! and thank you all for the messages and emails ive been getting! !
Sunday, November 18, 2007
HELLO! i WILL write soon! i have tons to write!
until then :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=370881&id=227400038
until then :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=370881&id=227400038
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
sorry i havent posted lately! i WILL get around to it soon!!
Thanks for all the love in the meantime!
p.s. i added some more pictures..
heres the link :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=369436&id=227400038
Thanks for all the love in the meantime!
p.s. i added some more pictures..
heres the link :
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=369436&id=227400038
Friday, November 9, 2007
Say goodBYE to teenhood!
So today i turned 20!
It was a very VERY good day! i woke up to an email from my mom that she had stealthily hidden birthday cards in the lining of my suitcase before i left, and it was a fab day ever since. Everyone i live with is AMAZING!
i got to pick a dinner (one of the other girls.. next door .. is an AMAZING COOK)
so they let be pick WHATEVER i wanted under the sun!
clearly i picked pancakes..
they didn't really seem to understand the logic but that's OK!
So school went great..
two people bought me two chapatis each so i had chapati coming out of my ears..
(i don't know if it was for my birthday.. they saw that i bought some yesterday and wanted to get me some?--Kenyans don't really celebrate birthdays.. some don't really know when theirs is.. but occasionally they will have cake) anyways it was a great day.
at night we had the feast.. NOT ONLY was there pancakes,
but homemade syrup (i had my doubts at first but i am not a homemade syrup BELIEVER [not to mention it was still hot])
pineapple (one my favorite fruits) coffee cake (yes for dinner..)
Cinnamon buns (how do they KNOW these things?)
and CAN YOU BELIEVE WE HAD DESSERT? apple crumble
yes it was absolutely amazing.. i d like to consider myself somewhat of a pancake connoisseur and THOSE were delicious pancakes i MUST SAY
well moving on from the pancakes (sorry they are hard to get over) almost all the simpacters from far and wide showed up for my birthday! there are many sleeping here overnight just so they could come! i got presents and the ones who couldn't make it sent me messages. so as you can see the people i live with are amazing.
In FACT I've decided almost everyone here that I'm working with is amazing. (on a more serious note)
We have the teachers and pastor at the school. they are such special people, they had me and Elise over to their home to eat lunch the other day. The faith of these people is INCREDIBLE and this is what he (the pastor) says to me : "white people have so much better faith then we do" ....
wow
i was basically speechless... and a little angry actually
all the Christians around here are amazing..
at the st.Nicholas school where Sarah teaches & stays (it is an orphanage as well) the girls get up at like 5 in the morning and go pray.. these are little girls.. no one is TELLING them to do anything they just get up before anyone else and go pray..
and I've heard so many things like this..
we were talking to Rose the other day.. (pastors wife / headmistress of the school)
and we were talking about our weekends..
"so what did you do Friday night?"
"oh we had a prayer night here "[joyspring school is also their church]
"oh.. so you had a meeting?"
(keep in mind she is saying this in a nonchalant way, it is completely normal to her and she would NEVER brag about anything like this, we wouldn't have known if we hadn't asked about her Friday night)
"oh no.. we stayed up praying all night"
"OK.. when you say all night.. you mean.. till 12?"
"no till morning"
"... wowza"(i may just have thought that in my head)
"[me again] so you must have slept in pretty good on Saturday"
"oh.. no we just wait till Saturday night to sleep.. we have things to do"
"uhhhhh" [a little bit in awe at this point]
there are many many more stories like this
ANYWAYS the girls and I (that's proper grammar for my mother)
were talking about how the faith of people here seems so incredibly strong even compared to most (including myself) back home, it seems to put some of us to shame!
We talked about it for awhile.. we realized that most people in kibera have almost nothing possessions wise. they rely on God for absolutely everything.. if they don't have enough money to eat or to pay rent they pray and expect/get results.
these people learn to rely on God every day for their most basic needs literally "give us this day our daily bread" and it has brought them to a place where they have seen Him work and give true incredibly heartfelt thanks because of it.
Sometimes in the big west, we say that God provides but we don't really believe it , i mean..
who goes to work everyday? me
who makes the money around here? me
i provide for myself
all i need is me
i count on me
many people don't intentionally think this way but I know for myself i have definitely been caught up in this way of thinking quite regularly.
I think the pastor said that because most of the video tapes, and on t.v. the people who are preaching are all white. It was very very frustrating for me to here. He had this "women of faith" tape with singing on it and the camera went to the crowd and he was like "LOOK how much they mean it!"
and then,( this was all while we were eating lunch at their house)
the classic Benny Hinn came on.
Now I'm not going to say if he is a fake or not a fake because i suppose ultimately i personally dont know.. but i do have my opinions, but its so easy to listen to all the words, because most of what he says is true.
We told him that is NOT true, and how we all saw how special their faith was.. we talked about it for awhile.. they were amazed at the idea that maybe the slum of kibera is a special type of blessing in and of itself, they were fascinated by the idea that maybe in North America we have TOO much,
"So what you are saying is, our trials and troubles bring us closer to God"
Forgive me if this blog is just a big jumble of words, it is kind of a mishmash of events and thoughts!
It MAY or may not be the after effects of delicious pancakes
I might be going to Nathan (missionary kid's) soccer tournament
and NO (this is for all my relatives) by KID i mean kid. aka child so don't get any crazy ideas.
so GOODNIGHT & Thanks for the comments so far!!
p.s that was an inadvertant hint that i like getting comments so i know that im not just
[as i once said..]"blasting this into the unknown world of cyberspace" ;)
It was a very VERY good day! i woke up to an email from my mom that she had stealthily hidden birthday cards in the lining of my suitcase before i left, and it was a fab day ever since. Everyone i live with is AMAZING!
i got to pick a dinner (one of the other girls.. next door .. is an AMAZING COOK)
so they let be pick WHATEVER i wanted under the sun!
clearly i picked pancakes..
they didn't really seem to understand the logic but that's OK!
So school went great..
two people bought me two chapatis each so i had chapati coming out of my ears..
(i don't know if it was for my birthday.. they saw that i bought some yesterday and wanted to get me some?--Kenyans don't really celebrate birthdays.. some don't really know when theirs is.. but occasionally they will have cake) anyways it was a great day.
at night we had the feast.. NOT ONLY was there pancakes,
but homemade syrup (i had my doubts at first but i am not a homemade syrup BELIEVER [not to mention it was still hot])
pineapple (one my favorite fruits) coffee cake (yes for dinner..)
Cinnamon buns (how do they KNOW these things?)
and CAN YOU BELIEVE WE HAD DESSERT? apple crumble
yes it was absolutely amazing.. i d like to consider myself somewhat of a pancake connoisseur and THOSE were delicious pancakes i MUST SAY
well moving on from the pancakes (sorry they are hard to get over) almost all the simpacters from far and wide showed up for my birthday! there are many sleeping here overnight just so they could come! i got presents and the ones who couldn't make it sent me messages. so as you can see the people i live with are amazing.
In FACT I've decided almost everyone here that I'm working with is amazing. (on a more serious note)
We have the teachers and pastor at the school. they are such special people, they had me and Elise over to their home to eat lunch the other day. The faith of these people is INCREDIBLE and this is what he (the pastor) says to me : "white people have so much better faith then we do" ....
wow
i was basically speechless... and a little angry actually
all the Christians around here are amazing..
at the st.Nicholas school where Sarah teaches & stays (it is an orphanage as well) the girls get up at like 5 in the morning and go pray.. these are little girls.. no one is TELLING them to do anything they just get up before anyone else and go pray..
and I've heard so many things like this..
we were talking to Rose the other day.. (pastors wife / headmistress of the school)
and we were talking about our weekends..
"so what did you do Friday night?"
"oh we had a prayer night here "[joyspring school is also their church]
"oh.. so you had a meeting?"
(keep in mind she is saying this in a nonchalant way, it is completely normal to her and she would NEVER brag about anything like this, we wouldn't have known if we hadn't asked about her Friday night)
"oh no.. we stayed up praying all night"
"OK.. when you say all night.. you mean.. till 12?"
"no till morning"
"... wowza"(i may just have thought that in my head)
"[me again] so you must have slept in pretty good on Saturday"
"oh.. no we just wait till Saturday night to sleep.. we have things to do"
"uhhhhh" [a little bit in awe at this point]
there are many many more stories like this
ANYWAYS the girls and I (that's proper grammar for my mother)
were talking about how the faith of people here seems so incredibly strong even compared to most (including myself) back home, it seems to put some of us to shame!
We talked about it for awhile.. we realized that most people in kibera have almost nothing possessions wise. they rely on God for absolutely everything.. if they don't have enough money to eat or to pay rent they pray and expect/get results.
these people learn to rely on God every day for their most basic needs literally "give us this day our daily bread" and it has brought them to a place where they have seen Him work and give true incredibly heartfelt thanks because of it.
Sometimes in the big west, we say that God provides but we don't really believe it , i mean..
who goes to work everyday? me
who makes the money around here? me
i provide for myself
all i need is me
i count on me
many people don't intentionally think this way but I know for myself i have definitely been caught up in this way of thinking quite regularly.
I think the pastor said that because most of the video tapes, and on t.v. the people who are preaching are all white. It was very very frustrating for me to here. He had this "women of faith" tape with singing on it and the camera went to the crowd and he was like "LOOK how much they mean it!"
and then,( this was all while we were eating lunch at their house)
the classic Benny Hinn came on.
Now I'm not going to say if he is a fake or not a fake because i suppose ultimately i personally dont know.. but i do have my opinions, but its so easy to listen to all the words, because most of what he says is true.
We told him that is NOT true, and how we all saw how special their faith was.. we talked about it for awhile.. they were amazed at the idea that maybe the slum of kibera is a special type of blessing in and of itself, they were fascinated by the idea that maybe in North America we have TOO much,
"So what you are saying is, our trials and troubles bring us closer to God"
Forgive me if this blog is just a big jumble of words, it is kind of a mishmash of events and thoughts!
It MAY or may not be the after effects of delicious pancakes
I might be going to Nathan (missionary kid's) soccer tournament
and NO (this is for all my relatives) by KID i mean kid. aka child so don't get any crazy ideas.
so GOODNIGHT & Thanks for the comments so far!!
p.s that was an inadvertant hint that i like getting comments so i know that im not just
[as i once said..]"blasting this into the unknown world of cyberspace" ;)
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
WHOOHOO!
So todays post isnt really about me its about one of my best buds Katelyn!
Shes one of the group of a few tight buds we have (dubbed "the family") We've been friends since we were born and TODAY is the beginning of excitement!
Kate landed herself a column in the Standard and here is the introduction column!
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765340&auth=CHERYL+CLOCK+Standard+Staff
heres the link to see her first article online
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765342&auth=Katelyn+Muir.
im excited!
and i think you all will be too
Shes one of the group of a few tight buds we have (dubbed "the family") We've been friends since we were born and TODAY is the beginning of excitement!
Kate landed herself a column in the Standard and here is the introduction column!
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765340&auth=CHERYL+CLOCK+Standard+Staff
heres the link to see her first article online
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=765342&auth=Katelyn+Muir.
im excited!
and i think you all will be too
Monday, November 5, 2007
EXCITING NEWS. i exercised today. hahaha you thought it was going to be something super. BUT it is good, we got a treadmill over the weekend and now us SIMpacters can work out.
We all eat less and yet we are all gaining weight, mysterious i know...
I have a few theories. A) the africans WANT to be fat, yes they think fat is the way to be, so its not like they take care to get rid of fat in food, now that im thinking about it.. i wouldnt be surprised if they purposely add EXTRA fat. or B) because we cant leave the compound after 6 (when it starts getting dark) we get bored. and we eat.. though it doesnt seem like a lot, but its not like we do much activity after 6. and C) the high altitude. i dont know what that would have to do with fatness but im just throwing it in there. ANYWAYS so this is our new and exciting news.. the workout machine, and apparently we are also getting one of those step machines. so i took it for a test run for a half hour today (clearly not running the entire time.. *insert brisk walk*) and it was good.. but .. at the same time awkward .. since the kenyan cleaning ladies were watching me and laughing at me.. i dont know if thats a good.. or bad thing.
not to mention the little girl deena (super cute) came to sit and watch me and kept asking me all these questions and its really hard to answer while your running // slightly out of breath..
.
so basically i signed my life away and signed up for every single day this week ( you have to sign up to use it at certain times) soon we're all going to be super fit HA
.
ok but lets talk about whats REALLY been going on.. well.. not that that didnt happen, BUT i dont think you really care about the exercise machine..
.
so school was good today, the teacher who was mysteriously sick since the day me and elise started is back.. but she never introduced herself so im a little unsure if she either doesnt like us orrrr is still a little under the weather, OR didnt notice that there were two white people (the only ones for miles) in the tiny school.. haha we will find out tommorrow i suppose. Anyways why do i tell you this? because i have been teaching class 3 and four which was needed BECAUSE this teacher was gone, but now that shes back, teaching class 3 (my favorite bunch) im a little unsure of where i should be once again..
.
so i spent a little while in class 2 today , (it was the first time i was in standard 2) and some girl drew me a picture and wrote me a note that said(and i quote)
We all eat less and yet we are all gaining weight, mysterious i know...
I have a few theories. A) the africans WANT to be fat, yes they think fat is the way to be, so its not like they take care to get rid of fat in food, now that im thinking about it.. i wouldnt be surprised if they purposely add EXTRA fat. or B) because we cant leave the compound after 6 (when it starts getting dark) we get bored. and we eat.. though it doesnt seem like a lot, but its not like we do much activity after 6. and C) the high altitude. i dont know what that would have to do with fatness but im just throwing it in there. ANYWAYS so this is our new and exciting news.. the workout machine, and apparently we are also getting one of those step machines. so i took it for a test run for a half hour today (clearly not running the entire time.. *insert brisk walk*) and it was good.. but .. at the same time awkward .. since the kenyan cleaning ladies were watching me and laughing at me.. i dont know if thats a good.. or bad thing.
not to mention the little girl deena (super cute) came to sit and watch me and kept asking me all these questions and its really hard to answer while your running // slightly out of breath..
.
so basically i signed my life away and signed up for every single day this week ( you have to sign up to use it at certain times) soon we're all going to be super fit HA
.
ok but lets talk about whats REALLY been going on.. well.. not that that didnt happen, BUT i dont think you really care about the exercise machine..
.
so school was good today, the teacher who was mysteriously sick since the day me and elise started is back.. but she never introduced herself so im a little unsure if she either doesnt like us orrrr is still a little under the weather, OR didnt notice that there were two white people (the only ones for miles) in the tiny school.. haha we will find out tommorrow i suppose. Anyways why do i tell you this? because i have been teaching class 3 and four which was needed BECAUSE this teacher was gone, but now that shes back, teaching class 3 (my favorite bunch) im a little unsure of where i should be once again..
.
so i spent a little while in class 2 today , (it was the first time i was in standard 2) and some girl drew me a picture and wrote me a note that said(and i quote)
STD2 My Teacher 5/11/07
My teacher is madam jack
She teaches at joyspring education center
She came to teach at STD2
She is a good teacher
We love her
and this folks is all after about 10 minutes of just sitting in the class hahaha i have to say.. i did not mind std 2 at all!! (except for the fight that started in the back[its really hard to stop fights when you dont speak kiswahili and you dont use a cane]) MOVING ON..
so let me backtrack to the morning where i helped in nursery
..
i dont know about the school YOU go/went to .. but i know that for our school there were classes that were rowdier and there were good classes..
i was in a seriously good class (i was one of the 'rebels' if you can believe that)
ANYWAYS im seeing its the same at this school
now let me tell you about my experiences with Nursery .. aka preschool
The Facts:
there are 50 4-5 year olds (maybe a 3yr old and a 6yr old or two) in a fairly small room
their teacher pinches their cheeks when they are bad
they only UNDERSTAND kiswahili (though they do math and such in english and can read certain words.. if i speak english .. aside from sit down they have no idea)
i DONT understand kiswahili (or speak it)
they are a little bit scared of their teacher
they are NOT scared of me
i AM scared of them (a little hahaha!! )
the teacher leaves the room to go .. to the store(<- to get the food for the kids NO im NOT suggesting shes a bad teacher just in case that thought crossed your mind..)
i am sitting with 50 kids who are not scared of me, dont understand me, and are cooped up
they start going crazy
.
.. dancing.. yelling.. throwing hats... little almost crying children running up to me trying to tell me something frantically about another kid in a language i dont understand... me trying to decide whether to try and gain some sanity in the room.. or just be the cool sub who lets the kids have fun... things getting a little crazier.. even more crazy..me trying to act tough and giving the kids the evil eye (note: the evil eye isnt very effective) and walking around trying to look like i MIGHT enforce some rules (if i KNEW the rules) .. the other teacher comes back in.. sound level goes down a few knotches.. the kids in the aisle get their cheeks pinched.. i sigh in relief.
(i could say this is the end but that would be a lie, because the teacher left again.. i tried to woo the bad kids in the back with a story book i brought.. and i let then try and look at it.. then decided it was a bad choice when 50 kids all of a sudden started piling on top of eachother to look at the book.. and i managed to barely get it[the book] out alive. )
yes all in all nursery is an eventful class. but for some reason i like it
ive always liked the rebel kids
.
i just need to learn some more kiswahili to yell something and catch them off guard.
anyways its a good way to spend my mornings (oh yeah..i mark their work if you were wondering what i actually do in that class[and i taught them a song once...])
anyways i really like my standard 3 class and i hope i can get them back at some point.. EVEN though the kids in standard 2 DID ask if they could sing to me..
.
today i discovered HOT FRESH chapati (if you recall --like a pita pancake only better)
it was delicious, the nursery teacher bought me one (they make them on the streets---[all the leaving me alone issues were forgotten with the warm chapati])
a mere 5 shillings in kibera.. thats like.. 8 cents what a DEAL
.
anyways this is getting a bit lengthy
i DID have a couple more serious things to write BUT i suppose i can just write them next time because its not something that will change
anyways this is a little little taste of what life is like..i could honestly .. (im in the writing mood) sit here and write PAGES on life here right now .. its so different in certain ways yet so the same in others its crazy
.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
.
p.s. we watched lion king.
and there is DEF. swahili in there..
remember rafiki? asanti sana squashed banana?
yeah..
thank you squashed banana
(it has so much more meaning now)
and who would have thunk it that hakuna matata means no worries for the rest of your days?(for real)
on that note..
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Request
Please pray for my roommate Elise, her friend from home unexpectedly died today.
She hasnt talked much about it yet, which is the problem, she has a hard time speaking english and gets even more frusterated when shes upset. Please pray she was already having a hard time here, connecting with people and Im sure this isnt going to make it any easier for her. So please pray as she will obviously be going through a tough time, also that maybe she will find someone who speaks french who she can just carry on a conversation with around here..
* her friend: it was his 21st birthday and everyone went out for his bday and he just unexpectedly collapsed and died
She hasnt talked much about it yet, which is the problem, she has a hard time speaking english and gets even more frusterated when shes upset. Please pray she was already having a hard time here, connecting with people and Im sure this isnt going to make it any easier for her. So please pray as she will obviously be going through a tough time, also that maybe she will find someone who speaks french who she can just carry on a conversation with around here..
* her friend: it was his 21st birthday and everyone went out for his bday and he just unexpectedly collapsed and died
Thursday, November 1, 2007
PICTURES
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=357562&id=227400038
ok so i THINK this link will work, BUT if this doesnt work let me know
ok so i THINK this link will work, BUT if this doesnt work let me know
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