2.

(A brief note before this story; I HATE SPIDERS!)

As I was boiling my milk, a spider crawled out of the wall. I thought our spiders at home were hairy! This was the “Elvis Presley” of spiders; he had quite the ‘do. At first I was calm, and looked around for something to squish him with. I had an empty juice box and thought that that would keep my fingers a sufficient distance from him so that if I missed, the chance of him coming into contact with my skin would be minimal.

He moved. I missed. He jumped. I shrieked. No one came to rescue me…

He landed in my empty milk pitcher, so I quickly filled it up with water. He thought that he escaped but I reigned supreme… at least for now.

Now that I have finished with the milk, I am boiling some water “for 20 minutes to kill the amoeba.” I wanted to go to bed, but it is better to do this now so that if I need it tomorrow, it will be ready.

For supper, I had Ugali and beef and cabbage stew. Ugali is very similar to polenta except it is white and not quite as firm. It is made with cornmeal and water and boiled for 3 hours. The cabbage stew was fine, just very greasy. Lunch was corn and beans. The corn is reminiscent of hominy corn and run of the mill beans boiled together with some cabbage. Instead of cutting the corn off the cob like we do, they let it dry and then cook it for hours. It is still quite hard in the end but edible. I don’t like it much, but it is fine.

I have told Jane that she can teach me how to make all of the Kenyan dishes and I will show her some of ours. I discovered today that there are avocado trees in the complex. Perhaps I will make guacamole and tortilla chips or maybe French toast. There is no maple syrup but I do have a tin of strawberry jam.

Internet!!!

I finally have the internet!

It has been a real learning experience for me to "pole pole"(take it easy/ go slowly) and allow things to happen in "Kenyan time."

I have been writing a lot and I would still like to share what I have written and thought over the past few weeks. It will be dated information, but still new to all of you. I have been having a great time and I'm learning so many things. I am safe, healthy, and in good hands.

Please feel free to leave comments on this page.

1.

I arrived in Nairobi safely and was picked up at the airport by Shem and David. We got stuck in traffic trying to get to Peter’s office. Not a big surprise considering it was 7am and every one was trying to get to work. Finally, we arrived and Peter took us all to get some breakfast. We left David with the car and went to get a cell phone and sim card. Through a series of events that took hours and would take hours to explain, we ended up spending 26,000 Ksh for the package of the phone, data cable, and software. We then went to the Celtel shop to get it configured and realized that the software was not compatible with my laptop. So, I will borrow one of David’s to work on my Blog. This whole business plus stopping for a few groceries on the way home took over 12 hours. It was well after dark by the time we got back and Rev. Mwirabua still wanted to greet me and Jane wanted to feed me. I finally got to bed after 11 and Jane wanted me for breakfast at 9 (which was very late for her, she gets up at 5:30).

I assumed I was staying with Jane in her house, and that she would be here during the week and at home over the weekend, however it turns out that in the Chogoria Girl’s Boarding School there is a building attached to the school that has several floors, each one a large apartment. The floor I was given to stay in is actually larger than Jane’s. It has three bedrooms, two small and one large. I have a big dining/sitting area, a small balcony, a bathroom, and one of the sweet housemothers will be bringing me a giant jug of hot water to bathe with. She wanted to bring it in the morning and the evening, but I told her that only in the morning was necessary. I can’t imagine hauling that up the stairs twice a day! Right outside of my window are the dorms for the young girls. The older girls are on the other side of the school in the newer building that was just being built when I was here in 2004. Those of you that have been to Chogoria Girl’s Boarding School might be able to figure out where I am staying from my description.

Jane took me to the market today and we bought groceries and a small gas stove. It is similar to our camping stoves, but with a bigger tank of gas.

I was just interrupted by a knock at my door. It was Millicent the housemother again bringing me fresh milk from the cow. She was just here about 20 minutes ago bringing me tea. She thought it was funny that I had never boiled my milk before. Yet another thing I am learning on this trip. (Joye, I had the milk thing explained to me and I will be careful, no I do not have a refrigerator)

Jane and I were talking this afternoon about what I should help with at the school and I think the best thing for me would be to assist the computer teacher. The other thing she thought would be to help organize the library, but I’m not sure what system (if there is one) they use and how fluent in it I will be.

This morning was a brisk 65 degrees which warmed to probably 75 in the afternoon. Jane in her huge sweater thought I was crazy to be wearing a short-sleeved shirt. She will be bringing me an extra blanket in just a bit.

This week ended up being an excellent time for me to visit because the students are taking exams. This means that Jane has a bit more time in her day than she usually would to make sure I have everything I need and know how to do things.

The girls outside are very noisy, but they sing beautifully!

"All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready to Go..."

It is not even midnight and everything is ready to go for tomorrow. I was hoping to get everything into my hiking pack so I would only have one checked piece of luggage. Alas! It just wasn't meant to be. I only packed three pairs of shoes! In reality, I think I did okay. I'd have to say that probably half of what I am bringing over is a gift or donation, and I intend to leave most of my clothes there.

It hasn't sunk in yet that I will be gone for two months! I haven't even had time to think about it yet. I just finished finals and handed in my last paper this morning. It's okay though, I will have plenty of time on the plane.

I just want to say thank you to everyone again for everything. So many people helped out in so many different ways. I'm really blessed to have such wonderful people in my life! I would especially like to thank Sharon for literally emailing everyone and their uncle in Kenya to make sure that everything was arranged and that I would be safe. Sharon you are an amazing woman!

This is just a test

This is just a test to make sure that I can post pictures from my computer without web hosting somewhere. This picture was taken on my last night in Venice last summer on tour with the NDSU Concert Choir. We sang in the street and all of the little Italian ladies leaned out their windows to listen to us. The gelato was definitely a highlight! Don't worry, I didn't actually lick the gelato statue.