meat, police, and peanut butter

MEAT:
well, i must say that if i had to spend thanksgiving apart from y'all, then the next best thing was the way i spent last night. victor, jane, and i went to eat at carnivore. we didn't tell jane where we were taking her, so i think it was a pretty fun suprise for her. carnivore is known to be one of the 50 best restaurants in the world (at least that's what i read somewhere), and i'd say it lives up to the hype. i didn't know much of what to expect so that made it even better. i think if we tried to live without expectations we'd be happier people and get much more excited about things.

anyway, the place is very african safari looking, with all the waiters wearing african print tops in brown colors. the light fixtures are all made of guords that have holes drilled in them to let out the light (super artsy, i loved it). there is a set menu; so you eat what they bring you. first was some sort of fried cornbreadish something with guacamole. then bread and soup. then they bring out this pyramid thing of different sauces for you to eat with each kind of meat. then a baked potato (very exciting, as this is NOT something kenyans eat) with SOUR CREAM...i don't even eat sour cream on my potato, but i did last night b/c i haven't had it for 5 months. then comes the meat. there are lots of waiters who just walk around cutting off various types of meat for you to try...chicken, ostrich, lamb, crocodile, beef, turkey (victor's favorite and first time to try it; very appropriate as it was thanksgiving), and pork. i really liked the ostrich, both the plain kind and the ostrich meatball. and whatever kind of sausage we had was amazing. when you've had your fill of meat, you put the little carnivore flag from the pyramid down. then they bring dessert, which you get to choose. i had cheesecake, which tasted more like custard but was still very good. victor had pineapple pie (he was a bit confused as to why it was served warm) and jane had the blondie brownie with ice cream. there was live music and african dancing towards the end of the meal, and this was the first time i've seen more than 10 mzungus in one day (the restaurant was packed with them). victor spotted some important parliament government person leaving with a group of chinese people. so yeah it was pretty sweet and i'm so glad that victor and jane got to come along. victor had said something to me a while back about how he'd given directions for lots of MSTs to get to carnivore but had never been there himself. it was definitely a day to thank God for ....for the food, the people, and for a phone call from people from home. and we took a taxi home (much safer at that hour) and whenever i'm in a car i'm always thankful that i get to wear a seatbelt...seriously, i mean i never wear one in a matatu, so little things get me excited.

Policemen:
our matatu got pulled over on the way to town today. the cop took away the keys, so pretty much we were stranded. the conductor tells everyone something in swahili and people start getting out. i assumed i'd have to walk the rest of the way into town. that would have been a long walk and i was only about 75% sure of where to go. i followed everyone else that got out (a favorite strategy of mine). and fortunately the conductor found us a new matatu, paid the driver for the rest of our ride, and we made it safely to town. that was really nice of him b/c usually they just leave you on the side of the road to fend for yourself.

Peanut butter:
today i was at BOLM. it was one of the best days there. popo, alex, rodgers, and eric did the mandazi skit...have i mentioned this before? it was hilarious as always. we talked to them about thanksgiving and thanking God for our blessings. then we played that silly turkey game again. afterwards i taught the kids to make no bake cookies. they got to have them with milk later, which was quite a treat. most of them have never tasted peanut butter. so i went around and put a spoonful on each of their fingers (we didn't have any bread). they all got to try it and loved it. i'm thinking we'll have to make pb&j one of these days. then i brought beads for them to make jewelry with. they are amazing and know how to make all kinds of cool bracelets and rings. they taught me to make this braclet with all these loopy circle looking things. seriously, you could sell this stuff in the u.s. at the end they burn the ends of the string so the bracelet won't fall apart. only i was wearing the bracelet and it wouldn't go over my wrist. so steven, one of the boys, brings this burning coal and holds it close to my wrist to burn the ends. it was so hot, so naturally i started yelling. quite funny. rodgers and i stayed and ate githeri with them. they seemed quite happy to see me eating mwafrika (african) food. i kept teasing zekayo (my favorite little boy) b/c he is always smiling. i asked him if he could make a sad face. but he couldn't and just kept laughing and i thought maybe he would choke on his maize. part of me wonders how i'll ever be able to leave these kids. they are so precious and appreciative. i feel so fulfilled going there and just loving them as christ would. can i please stuff a few into my suitcase?

Pin the Beak on the Turkey

okay, please help me out here...do turkeys even have beaks? i start imagining things when i'm away from the familiar. i had the kids at both juvenile homes play pin the beak on the turkey. this was quite a smashing success i think. it was a bit crazy b/c we did this with 5 groups of kids (that's about 3 hours total) of 20 each. and of course we had a few peakers. but we solved this by giving a prize to the person who actually put the beak the farthest away from the right spot b/c at least those people were honest. in any case, they had fun laughing at each other. i told them all about american thanksgiving, the pilgrims, and giving thanks to God. then this afternoon i brought beads and string and they were all making bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc. they were so into this, so i guess we'll have to do some more next week.

yesterday i was meeting elizabeth to see her sister's baby. she surprised me by kidnapping ruth and sam and bringing us all to her house to celebrate thanksgiving. i thought that was super nice of her. since she lived in america for so long, she understands that it's a big deal.

more car stories...last week, i'm guessing it was an undercover policeman that tried to get our matatu driver to pull over and stop. the guy refused, so the cop started reaching inside the matatu to pull the keys from the ignition. the driver then rolled up the window so he couldn't get in. pretty funny. then a few days ago, the police were stopping buses, which is really rare. usually there's a worker on the bus who is always standing to let people on and off and collect money. apparently though, they are supposed to have a seat. so our bus driver quickly made some passengers get off, so that we didn't have too many people. then we let these people back on as soon as we got around the corner. last night victor, milham, and i were riding home with some people and another car bumped into us. i couldn't even feel it, so i think the damage was pretty minor. but our driver was really mad b/c the other guy didn't pull over. so he pulled right in front of him at an angle and parked so that the guy was forced to stop. it turned into this 2 hour ordeal b/c they couldn't come to an agreement. the cops came. then we went to the police station and waited ages for them to sort it out. i think it took abotu 2 1/2 hours to get home.

please continue to pray for my health guys. i'm still feeling exhausted and completely drained. but God is good and i trust that i will get through this.

Lost

people have a very strange way of telling you that you're losing weight in kenya. one day i came home and amie said, "you're cutting back." i thought she meant that i was doing as much, was coming home early. and that was true. i hadn't been feeling that well, so i was trying to rest a bit more. but, no, she meant that i was losing weight. then last week, i went to blue house and one of the teachers said, "you've lost." i stupidly said, "i've lost what?" again, he meant losing weight. anyway, i don't know why people think this b/c it's not true. if i've lost any weight, it would mean i'm back to the size i was when i got here. there's no way you could lose weight here b/c all we eat is carbs. i'm thinking i could easily become a vegetarian now :) okay maybe not. afterall, i am going to carnivore tomorrow, a famous restaurant, where they mostly serve meat. i think i'll make up for what i've missed the past 5 months :)

speaking of blue house, when i was there on friday passing out the penpal letters, i walked into the classroom to find that teacher smacking this girl on the head. he didn't seem the least concerned that i was observing this. i hate how they discipline kids here. the fact that this is a christian school really gets to me even more. and i think it makes it harder for me to gain kids' respect b/c i don't carry around a cane, so they're not afraid of me.

did i mention that the matatu conductor that sits in the back of the van and takes money frequently hangs out from the side of the vehicle? yeah, they run and jump into the vehicle while it's moving. yesterday the guy was hanging out the door, leaning from the outside into the front passenger's window, and holding open the sliding door with his foot, all while having a conversation while moving. now that's talent.

the house has been quite full. milly, a girl from kibera, was staying with us to watch elisha while maxine went to kisumu. annie and fairburn, more of peter's siblings, have been staying with us the past few days. they're all leaving with maxine tonight though to go to mombasa. i'm a bit sad for her to go b/c she's so funny. found out that her husband is nigerian and i guess they're planning to move back to africa soon.

baraka's birthday

today was baraka's 2nd birthday. amie's sister and her kids came over. we had cake , cookies, and crisps. i thought it was funny that one of their traditions is to let the birthday kid make the first cut in the cake. it was more like baraka was stabbing the cake with this huge knife. we played musical chairs, simon says, and a game sort of like "i have never." what i appreciate about people here is that they get really excited about simple games and are easily entertained. even the adults were cracking up playing simon says. that would never happen in the U.S.

last night i stayed with maria...it was a nice chance to get away and sleep in a very comfortable bed, take a shower, and eat vegetables. her neice was there and is getting ready to move with her family to the u.s. she is very nervous about it, so i spent a long time answering some of her questions.

this morning i went to kibera and made soup (yes thank you lots for the recipe heather) for nerea (the cook from sarah junior) and some neighbors. i'm not sure that they like it that much, but they all at least tried it. i think people have a very hard time eating new things, more than americans. b/c their diet is so simple and limited. mostly it's all carbs.

on friday i was at BOLM. the kids were supposed to have a program for parents at 10. i guessed it would start by 11 or 12 since it is africa afterall. instead, we left at 3 and it still hadn't started. TIA. we had fun though tie dying bandanas with the kids, playing games, and they fed us lunch. i had the opportunity to chat for a while with steven, a 15 year old there. he was saying that it's much better for him to be at this place than at his home. i seriously want to adopt some of these kids; they are so stinking cute. also, i passed out the pen pal letters to the students this week. they were all immensly excited. i must apologize b/c there was no time for proofreading, so the writing is atrocious. and there was a slight problem with some of these boys have crushes on the girls who sent pictures...you should read one of their letters; it's quite entertaining...drama.

thursday morning i was walking to get on a matatu. i am constantly looking behind me to make sure someone isn't out to steel my stuff, ever since being mugged. so anyway, i saw someone coming up behind me really fast and then he put his hands over my eyes. and i jumped in fright only to find out that it was my friend andrew. i think he felt bad that he scared me. it was just very unexpected for him to be near my house b/c he lives in kibera.

wednesday was graduation for the class 8 students at juvenile. i had tears in my eyes when they all stood up in front of the parents. i'm really sad to see them go. again, this program was supposed to start at 10. it started at 12:30. one of the boys told me he had no pants to wear home (they just have school uniforms that they are given to wear). he was leaving in the morning, and i wasn't sure how i was going to get pants on such a short notice. so victor gave me some of his pants to take to him the next morning. i'm not even sure if they fit the kid, but probably someone will wear them. it's very humbling how victor can just part with his clothes b/c he really doesn't have that many and i know he liked those jeans. so i'm hoping to buy him some new ones here.

some funny things:
a sign in the matatu says "no smoking, oxygen in use."
the bus driver today called the crosswalk a "zebra crossing." i had no idea what he was talking about (they pronounce zebra with a short e)
did i mention that goalith is pronounce (goalie ith)

Mamba Village

Today we took the Sarah Junior kids on a field trip since it's the last week of school. we went to mamba (meaning crocodile) village, which is in Karen, the ritzy part of the city. it was so interesting observing the kids' reactions to everything. first was the bus trip. imagine at least 4 kids sitting in the two bus seats (like one american school bus seat). i had a kid on my lap and we were all piled in. most of them never ride on a bus b/c they never can afford to leave kibera. one kid was crying b/c he was afraid. i was so excited b/c they started singing the songs from the CDs i gave them (thanks ash) like the ABC rap and jungle safari.

when we went into the place most of the kids were scared to death of the animals (there were crocodiles, ostriches, rabbits, and some native birds). the guide would poke the crocs with a stick to get them to move and show their teeth. in turn, the kids all jumped back from the fence and some were even hiding behind me. they also got to go on a boat ride (the lake there was designed in the shape of africa), a horse ride (many were too scared to do this), the jumpy bounce thing (again some kids were afraid), and a few rides. the rides were hilarious. picture this miniature ferris wheel that a guy turns by hand to get it to move. most of them liked that. then came the swings. imagine rickety looking seats, paint chipping, etc. most of the kids liked it when it was going slow. but then they started going fast a bunch of them were crying, so they had to stop the ride. i opted not to ride, as i get motion sickness easily from spinning. this was a wise choice b/c matroba (one of the teachers) was so sick afterward and laid down on the ground.

for lunch, they got soda and chips (french fries), a huge treat for them. this girl spilled her plate of chips and broke the plate; no biggie right--i mean that's totally an amy back move. but no, as a punishment the teachers made her wait like 20 minutes before she could havea new plate of food. i think this was so mean b/c it was totally an accident. man, i'm thinking of all the stuff i've broken in the back household...like when my skiis knocked that plate off the wall. not to mention how many cups and plates i've broken.

victor and i also spent a long time last night making samosa for them. samosa is an indian food. sort of like a wonton on the outside but filled with hamburger, cumin, and onion. and then fried, of course, b/c everything is fried here. i had so much fun learning to make them. you make the dough first and then you have to cook it a bit on the chapati pan. then you cut them into the right shape and fill them with meat. victor was up until 1 a.m. finishing them. he used to have to make 300 of them everyday he says when he lived with an aunt or something. this was while he was going to school, and he never got paid anything for doing it. he says he doesn't regret it though b/c it has shaped who he is. he's definitely an expert. we got up this morning and fried them. he let me get creative with the extra dough. i put cinnamon, sugar, and butter on it, then rolled it up like a cinnamon roll and we fried it. it was pretty good. it occured to me this morning, as we were standing on the back "patio", rather the cement behind the house, and frying the samosa on the jiko, that you all would find this so strange. that we don't have a stove and are outside cooking. but i realized that it's so normal for me now. a jiko is a little "stoveish" thing that you fill with charcoal and light. when we're out of gas in the house we use this. or if you live in kibera that's all you use. the gas, is like a propane tank with a little ring on the top that serves as a burner for setting the pan. this tank sits on the floor, or sometimes we put it on a stool so you don't have to bend over so much.

forgot to mention that on monday at juvenile, when i got there all the kids were doing chores to get the place ready for parents day. fine, except, they give these kids these crazy dangerous tools, called slashers. they're sort of like a long machete, but not as sharp and with a rounded end. they use them for chopping down weeds. but after the kids were down hacking stuff down a bit of chaos set in. one boy victor, was mad at rashid, and proceeded to start hitting him in the shins with it. i had to break up the fight, but i really thought that at any minute victor was going to start swinging it again. another kid had a pair of huge bush trimmers. he had them opened and hanging around his neck in a way that looked like he was going to cut his head off. obviously, he was just trying to be goofy, but still. craziness. did i mention that dennis was hanging from the bars on the ceiling to hang up the paper chains we made. yep, he climbs up a door and then supports himself with his feel against the wall and his hands clinging to the bars. i so thought he was going to fall. and he would have if oscar hadn't pulled him down. instead oscar opted to stand on a chair and hold a kid on his shoulders to tie up the chains. it's funny b/c i know i'd get sued if something like this was happening in my american classroom. TIA

Guacamole Madness

Okay, so i tried to do something nice for the class 8 kids at juvenile kids, so i thought i'd have them make guacamole. everything went pretty well at first. they were all chopping up the tomatoes and avocados and onions. then before they ate, i gave them this speech about how much i enjoyed working with them and the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people when they return home, blah, blah. anyway, then i showed them how we eat the guac on the crisps. we didn't have any plates so i reasoned that they could just dip the crisps into the big bowl of guac. I HAVE NEVER SEEN FOOD DISAPPEAR THIS FAST, EVER!!! as soon as i gave them the chips they all hoarded around the bowl and started sticking their entire hand into the guac and crisps. it was nuts and everything was gone in about 2 minutes. lovely.

saturday i made zuppa toscana (the olive garden soup) for popo, emma, eric, ken, and julius at popo's house. and we made chapati too. it was pretty cool b/c we made so much soup that we were able to pass it out to lots of the neighbors. i was a bit bummed that emma and ken refused to even have one taste of it. i tried to kid them saying, "i've eaten your food for the last 5 months and you won't even taste some of mine." but they refused, so whatev i guess.

yesterday i finished what i hope will be the end of blood tests at the hospital. while waiting for the results, i went to Java ( the american coffee place) and ate a bagel (heavenly), read my bible, and journaled. it was heavenly. i really needed some good quite God time, but sometimes it's hard to do that at church here. the service is so long and partly in swahili. plus, things start to really irritate you. like last week, the head teacher of the school got up at church to talk about the importance of education. then proceeded to say that if you don't send your kids to school you're going to hell....um, what the heck???? that is so not biblical. so i have to tune some of these things out although not all churches are like this.

by the way mom, the letters have arrived...have to go pick them up from the post office right now. just in time...the kids are leaving juvenile on wednesday.

Healing is on the way!!!!

hallelujah! praise God !!! the doctor has finally determined that i have h. pylori, a bacterial infection in my stomach. it turns out i never had malaria, ever and that i have been misdiagnosed by another clinic 3 times!!! craziness. i'm so relieved and hoping to be feeling better quickly. i can't tell you how freaked out i've become about this in the past month. despite that what i was doing during october, was in some ways the best month yet, i have felt so blah, that it has been wearing me down emotionally. the doctor thinks i may be suffering from a bit of anxiety, which is causing other problems as well. which makes a lot of sense. i would wake up in the middle of the night and open my bible to psalm 41 and pray "the lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness." (thanks immensley to the beccaccio family for that verse!). at one point i really wondered if i was going to die in Kenya. i know that sounds funny and extreme now, but i just kept thinking, oh my goodness, how can i still have malaria. it is going to kill me. (when the last lab guy took my blood he said, "i bet you don't have malaria." i asked why and he said, "you'd already be dead if you had it for this long." yeah, that was super comforting :) of course he was right though.) i spent a lot of time praying to God and pleading that i didn't want to die before i saw my family again, but i also reached the point where i thought, you know if this is God's plan, then i have to be fine with that. Popo, julius, rodgers, and a few other people on the team have been graciously praying for me the past few weeks. i stayed home all day yesterday and popo, eric, and gabby came to visit me and even brought black currant fanta, my fave. tara decorated my room with all kinds of fun get well signs and we even spent one evening singing "my favorite things" and "the sun will come out tomorrow." but it's not really as bad as it sounds. honestly, physically i haven't felt as bad as i have emotionally and mostly i've been trying to carry on as normal. i think being sick has really helped me rely on God much more. and showed me that i truly am powerless without God and that i have all sorts of pride issues that i need to deal with. please pray that i will recover quickly and be rejuvenated. Gabby called today and said that she had malaria. i told her to go get a second opinion...i'd say she definitely doesn't have it. pray for her too please.

i was so happy to go see the kids at BOLM today. they were all sad that we couldn't come last week, and it was great being back.

culture, masks, my health

Sunday, Popo, Emma, Jany, Gabby, Julius, and Alex, a Canadian girl, went to this cultural fest that was taking place downtown. It was super awesome. there was lots of singing and dancing, a band from columbia, a chinese dance group using techno sounding chinese music, and many other local groups. there were these acrobats where one guy held up 6 people. they would just run and jump up on each other and instantly be 3 people tall. my fave had to be this guy that imitated michael jackson...hilarious. i didn't know what the song was at first b/c lots of people in the group were dressed like masai men, and it was all serious until they started singing, "it don't matter if you're black or white."

monday the juvenile kids finished decorating their masks and they look super sweet. they really came up with a lot of creative ideas. they also told me that the poster we made together for the contest won. i was in shock. i started jumping up and down b/c i saw the rest of the posters and didn't really think ours was that great. yesterday i made guacamole for a group of women in kibera. they ate it up very fast and liked it i think, although they thought it was so strange when i first started making it. on monday night, i stayed with tara and some of her kenyan friends. we made them fajitas and guacamole too. they also loved it. the one girl has traveled all over for various missions...china, u.k., etc. i enjoyed hearing her stories and was so interested in what she was saying about christians in china. she was explaining that even though people can be persecuted for their faith, that the church was more alive and vibrant there than anywhere else.

i have spent much of today and yesterday at doctor's offices. i would really appreciate your prayers for my health. it has turned into this forever long saga that i don't want to get into. so to keep it short basically a few weeks ago i was treated for malaria on 2 different occasions with medication and shots. i still wasn't feeling better yesterday, so i went to see a specialist--an italian doctor who is known to be an expert in malaria and other diseases. after checking my blood (by 2 different people) they said i definitely did NOT have malaria. praise God for that!!! so they are running lots of other tests. but it could be that i have now had so much wrong medication dumped into my system that it's making me ill. i haven't mentioned all of this before b/c i know that westerners freak out when they hear about malaria. so please join me in praying that they will find out what, if anything is wrong. God is good even when i'm sick, and i know that this is all happening for a reason. my faith has been strengthened through all of this despite that it is dampening my spirits a bit.

Chapati Making

This afternoon has been a glorious time of cooking chapati. I went to Popo's house with Elisha, Julius, Andrew, and 2 muzungus, Gabby from Utah, and Jany from New Zealand. Popo gave us a tour around Kibera and then we spent the next few hours cooking. I think maybe i would be able to cook chapati at home now. I really enjoyed talking with Jany. She is volunteering outside of nairobi at an orphanage and seems really sweet. she's not a christian, and i think it's been quite an experience for her living with a family who prays a lot and is always going to church. she will be here until february too, so i'm hoping to see more of her. i was impressed that upon jany and gabby's first visit to kibera they were willing to eat food made there. many muzungus would not do that. in the morning i went to another high school where the juvenile boys were having a competition. it was a gathering for AIDS awareness and they took the posters we made. i felt bad for them b/c first they show up, and the teacher met them there so they had to come in a matatu by themselves. all the other schools have nice uniforms and most of theirs are missing buttons, torn, etc. i was excited though to see most of them wearing the socks that i gave them. i wondered where the socks had gone, and i'm learning that sometimes when you give people stuff they save it for nice occasions. and remarkably many of them had nicer tennis shoes i had never seen before either. but all these other schools had loads of posters. we had 3. oh well. the event was supposed to start at 8:30. i got there at 8:20; no one was there. the boys came around 9. at 10:30 i had to leave and they hadn't even started. TIA (THis is africa).

yesterday was graduation for the ICY class students (the one i taught twice at). there were 5 graduates and they all wore gowns. the celebration/ceremony was held at this restaurant near the office. i think this is a big deal for the 5 of them b/c most of them don't have jobs, so this gives them a since of purpose/accomplishment. the class is aimed at helping these people to serve as christian youthworkers. jane and sally were in this class.

obama the musical

to celebrate Obama day here we did a program with the kids at juvenile about change...the obama slogan. popo talked with them about how christ can change them (romans 12:1), renew them, etc. for the art activity i gave them a pile of trash and junk and told them to change it into some sort of sculpture. this was partially successful...again the language barrier can be an issue. there were some creative ones and some blah ones, but overall they seemed interested. in the afternoon i went to the other juvenile school. i spent a long time talking with Eric. his mom lives in america, according to him. i think that's actually true too b/c he spent a long time explaining how he lived in the states for a year, offering proving details. like how he enjoyed going to old country buffet and eating macaroni and cheese. i had them paint the paper mache masks. mostly we turned a lot of the grass outside blue and yellow and mixed the paint to nasty brown colors. but again, i think they had fun. it's a huge challenge painting there b/c it's hard to find water. with another group of kids we worked on this poster for a contest on saturday. the poster was about AIDS. i had them write "face the facts about AIDs" then we glued one of the masks to the center and wrote a list of facts underneath. the mask looks a little goofy there b/c it's painted all random sorts of colors and hardly looks like a face. it's quite random but i was feeling rather brain dead.

last night i went to watch Obama the musical with popo, sam, and vincent. hilarious!!! so quirky and random. there was lots of african dancing, my favorite part. one fave line i remember was "you are the omena (fish) in my soup" which was obama's father speaking about his wife. i'm not sure this play would have flyed in america. there was one song all about how obama was not the same as osama even though some people thought that. the guy who played mccain was so funny trying to imitate his mannerisms. i was confused at who everyone was for a while b/c all the characters were black, even mccain and palin. and the mccain guy was really tall. he came marching in at the beginning with all these army troops. the whole thing really didn't talk that much about obama's life except for his kenyan roots. but i truly loved it. before it started there was a group of guys playing these jimbae (sp?) drums outside the venue. it was so awesome watching them. popo thinks they're around every week so i would love to go back. the bathrooms at this place were super sweet too with rock walls and countertops. i felt very cultured yesterday.

on sunday on my way home, the matatu driver would not give me my change of 50 shillings. this is less than a dollar, but a lot of money for people here. it really irritated me b/c people are always trying to rip off americans. i'm not sure if he really didn't know that he owed me that or if he was just trying to make some money. but when it was time to get off i debated this for a bit until i realized there was no way i was going to win. so i frustratedly said, "fine, you may be lying but God knows the truth" and i marched down the street to my house. okay, so maybe a bit preachy, but again, i get tired of being the stupid white girl walking around.

OBAMAMANIA!!!

Truly it is crazy and exciting here today after Obama's win. Yesterday CNN was aired on a local channel all day, so I caught pieces of it here and there. everyone was psyched b/c they kept showing clips of people in kenya from obama's grandmother's village. there's even a huge billboard in kisumu with his picture on it. and they had a mock vote in kisumu where people filled out obama's name on slips of paper and put them into a cardboard box. i bought a newspaper yesterday...there was a 16 page pullout insert in the middle all covering obama. crazy! Milham was glued to the screen last night. he kept standing right next to the t.v. peter had to ask him twice to please come sit on the couch. i went to bed feeling pretty confident that Obama was going to win. At 7 a.m. Popo calls and wakes me up saying, "hey are you watching the news." to which i replied, no i'm sleeping. and he says, "go turn on the news right now." 15 minutes later i woke up and had a text from Julius, one of the cool teachers at the blue house. it said "congratulations on your new president. god bless america." when i went downstairs everyone was up...peter, milham, victor, leon...all watching the news. i heard most of the acceptance speech in the midst of brushing my teeth. walking to the matatu this morning everyone kept saying things about obama "let's give a wave for obama" etc. people were all wearing their t-shirts. oh, and tomorrow has been declared a public holiday b/c of obama. i had a long conversation with a pastor i randomly met on the way. he was super excited and wants me to come speak to the youth at church (doesn't everyone...comes with being white). the acceptance speech was played over again on the radio on the matatu ride to town. there's a guy talking about it on his cell phone right now. if i didn't know better i'd think i was in america right now. the kids at blue house started clapping and cheering when i talked about obama. with one class, i decided the reading lesson would be using 2 obama newspaper articles...i knew that would interest them. so yes, people are quite excited here.

yesterday someone stopped me in kibera and asked why i wasn't voting, to which i explained i already had. popo tells me on election day here everything is closed. and that policemen and military people can't vote here. interesting.

on my ride into town yesterday, a red VW golf car flags down our matatu driver with a walkie talkie and makes us pull over. must have been an undercover policemen. he pulls our driver out of the car, and yanks him back towards his car. seriously, 2 guys were forcing him to come. i thought for sure that they were going to arrest him. but he showed his ID and it must have been the wrong guy they were looking for. so shortly afterwards we left. only to soon have another traffic cop hitting our driver and the conductor with their stupid little batons. this would definitely be harrassment in the u.s.

speaking of hitting, caning is a very common thing in schools here...as in spanking kids, but with a stick. and we're talking all age of kids. now i was spanked as a kid, and i think i turned out okay, but i think spanking older kids is ineffective. especially b/c it gets to be effective. and kids only seem to respect teachers b/c they're afraid of being caned. oscar (the spanish guy at the juvenile) witnessed someone being caned for the first time and was understandably very upset about it. we had a long chat about whether or not we should say something to the principal. it's hard b/c you can't go in demanding people change everything. but at the same time, many of these kids often get into fights and so seeing violence makes them think that it will solve problems. plus some of these kids are 17...that's pretty old to be caning kids, don't you think. oscar and i were discussing that there were lots of other more effective punishments they could do...like putting them to work around the school.

that same day i paper mached with the kids and was covered with flour when i went home. people hate being dirty here, so them seeing me was a bit of a shock i think. one kid told me i wasn't very clean. peter's sister from england has come to stay with us, and i think she thought i was crazy when i walked in the door. she said, well maybe next time you could put a wrap around you. and i replied, that i didn't really mind being dirty, i was very used to it from teaching art at home. her name is maxine and she brought her son, elisha with her. i can't exactly figure out what the story is on her. she's staying with us for at least a few months. i think she's still on maternity leave and that's why she's come back to visit. not sure if she's married or what...i'm guessing not; divorced? don't know that it would be appropriate to ask.

bathrooms in kibera

the wild things appeared yesterday at BOLM. we made paper plate wild thing masks and hung them up inside one of the buildings there. i think this was the first time some of them had ever painted and they loved it. i was so happy b/c they have lots of artwork up in their classroom from previous weeks. i feel so much more appreciated there than anywhere else. i totally want to adopt one of the little boys there. he couldn't stop laughing at Popo's jokes, and he has the most beautiful smile. sometimes i find it difficult to believe that these kids can have such smiling beautiful faces and positive spirits after everything they've been through. one of the teachers told us we could even stay there a night if we wanted. i really kind of want to. i think it would be very difficult b/c it's definitely roughing it conditions. but i'm sure it would be like a big slumber party for them. speaking of sleeping in difficult places, tara was telling me her experinence of staying in kibera. it was nearly time for her to go to sleep and she needed to use the bathroom. the girl she was staying with told her that all the bathrooms were locked and that she would have to just use the street! so the girl kept watch and tara tried to use the street. but she said, i just couldn't do it. and so she waited 9 hours to use the bathroom. then in the morning she experienced using the "showers" there. it's not a shower, but just a small outhouse like room where you take the basin of water. the door didn't lock, so you can imagine how she felt. i really admire tara b/c she's planning on eventually living in kibera for a long period of time b/c she feels that's the best way to minister to people there and really understand the needs and gain their respect. i was surpised b/c tara's been here lots before and still hasn't ever used the bathroom in kibera, but i have 3 times. she told me that was impressive. i think i'm learning to ignore smells :) be thankful for the running water that you have. oh, and i took a hot shower twice this week. that's a new record!

tara and I celebrated halloween by going to Java Coffeehouse to eat last night. it's by far the best american food here. it's a chain started by someone from california. i always appreciate being able to eat salad, and this is the only safe place to do that in the city. everyone here thinks halloween is evil here, so we don't really talk about it much. except with victor and ruth who are more understanding. but, i can partly understand why they have issues with it. witchcraft is a huge thing here, and yes it really exists. peter told us this story of during the election violence how someone stole a t.v. from the supermarket, and using witchcraft someone put a spell on this person. then the t.v. was stuck to this person's body. no one could get it off of him until he took it back to the owner. everyone here can vouch that this is true. crazy right? so that's why people are very skeptical about halloween, and there's some things i'd rather not debate about. so i just don't bring them up.

apparently joy has colic, which makes since b/c i often hear her screaming at night. but mostly i just fall back asleep. i think amie is awake for most of the night though.