Huge praise everyone--I finally slept most of the night. Such a relief. I think my body is finally adjusting to African time. Today we went to the slums again, I've been there the last 3 days. We got to teach there in the schools. First I taught a math lesson with some of the other MSTs. Yes, me the art teacher, was teaching about area of a triangle. It's difficult b/c the wall separating each class is not really an entire wall. And so you have to shout at the top of your lungs when you ask the kids anything. Instead of raising their hands they snap at you and say teacher. i also got to teach part of the Christian education class. We taught about prayer. Everything is very last minute. you don't know what you'll be doing until right before it starts. and usually there is no other teacher in the room. i was so humbled today b/c i was giving out pencils to the kids who gave an answer, and i had one left. The teacher asked if she could have it. seriously, they have nothing here. it's a bit tricky giving out stuff though. we are told by are leaders that we have to give things out more as an incentive for answering questions. otherwise, people will constantly harass you and ask for money. especially since i'll be here a while. we went to a kindergarten school after this, and it seemed a little bit nicer. they actually had the ABC's sewn onto burlap and hanging on the wall and other such "posters" like that. and we fed the kids rice and beans, which i think is a huge meal for them. everytime you walk through the slums the kids say how are you? and their voice goes up at the end. i truly feel like a celebrity.
i had ethiopian food for lunch. it comes on this huge tray. there is injera on the bottom, which looks like a thin sponge, the thickness of tortillas. maybe it's made with eggs and flour? and then all these meat and vegetable topping sit on it. you share it with everyone and rip off the injera and dip it in the toppings. very good. and speaking of food, i forgot to mention that there's a chicken living in our kitchen at the house. yes, it's true. i guess most weekends we run out of water in the sink and toilet. so you have to take a pan and dip it out of the extra water supply outside. but no worries it is back on again. it is truly amazing how much people really rely on God here to take care of them because they have few material possessions.
yesterday we went to church. it was 3 hours long, as i heard it would be. one person spoke in swahili and the other would say the same thing in english. they shout the message, which is very hard to get used to. the team has gotten to lead some worship songs several times now. i think the kenyans crack up seeing these americans jump around on the stage and try to dance. i love that their worship is so dance oriented too. they really know how to have fun and are so genuinely nice. after church there was another service for young adults about dating. they are really targeting this i think b/c of the aids problem here. but a bunch of little kids came to and i entertained them by giving them paper and crayons. it was so cool watching them draw. and their motor skills are actually pretty good considering. one boy drew an amazing picture of one of the buses here. i took a photo to show you all. i'm so excited that God is giving me a few opportunities to use my art background here.
so much more to tell but must go. i'll be on safari from wednesday until friday. can't wait to tell you about it.
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