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)
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