Nairobbery

So I debate telling you this story for fear that you will worry, but it was quite the excitement for the day. 4 of us were finding a matatu to come back home in and there is always a huge crowd of people in this area of the city. i haven't worried about my bag being taken as much b/c i wear it across my shoulder and it has pockets and a zipper. i had heard stories from the africans about people having their bags slashed open and then the pick pocket takes whatever falls out. Our African friend Jane said that this happened to her friend and her Bible fell out. She said she hoped the pick pocket came to know Jesus :) Well today, I was falling Julie, an MST, and I saw this man get very close to her and i noticed i could see partway into her back. hers is one of those drawstring sacks made of a thin slick material. i really couldn't help her b/c i was too far behind. but when we got on the bus it was very evident that the bag had been slashed. fortunately, there were 2 layers so nothing fell out, and she wasn't carrying anything too valuable anyway. but this is why they call it nairobbery my friends. don't worry though, mostly we're celebrities as americans.

a bit about the food i've been having...it's pretty good, i love chipati, this thick crepe like tortilla thing that they eat plain or with salt or vegetables. i'm eating TONS of carbs all the time, which probably means i'm going to become quite lumpsome, as our African team leader, Victor calls it. the morning starts with a cup of chai and bread and butter or peanut butter...they do sell it here, not jiff, but it's fine. and lunch isn't until about 2 p.m. i've had a variety of lunch foods ranging from chips (fries), they seem to be common here b/c they're cheap, to Samosa, an Indian food I tried today. it's a flaky fried outer triangle shaped thing (sort of like egg rolls but bigger) filled with meat and onions or vegetables. i've also had chicken dishes, pizza (yes i know american food in africa), cabbage, kale, and tomato stew. and for dinner, we have sort of a house keeper/nanny, Eunice, who does all the cooking. normally we have rice and something. last night was this amazing egg and tomato mixture, i thought it was chicken. usually it's beans and rice, and sometimes beef stew and rice. there's never much meat in things though b/c it's so expensive. i haven't had ugali yet, the maize and water mixture that supposedly is less than stellar, so that's fine by me. sometimes we get a real treat of mango or pineapple--it's so much better here than in the states since it's locally grown. i rather like everything else...but seriously so many carbs...i thought i was supposed to loose weight here!

we taught in 3 schools today. wednesdays seem to be busy days, which is good. i love that you can pray in schools and talk about jesus here...so different from back home. often we're teaching regular subjects like English but it can always be done in a christian context. we've been going to sara junior school, and sara, the girl who started the school is coming to visit next week. she is british i think, and about my age. she raises support for the school. a big part of our time there is helping 65 kindergarten and preschools get lunch. and i've been helping Nirea, the cook, do the dishes the last few days. It is so humbling working with her knowing that everyday she comes and does this and has only a bar of soap and piece of sponge to wash dishes with. Julie brought them ladles to serve the rice with b/c we had been just scooping it out with another bowl. seriously guys, we do not know how blessed we are in America. be thankful for your utensils today.