evicted/not evicted and hanging with street boys

i started typing this yesterday, and then we had a sudden blackout and the computers all turned off.  so we'll try this again:
the past day and a half seems almost so ridiculous that i don't think it really happened, and i feel kind of silly telling the story.  but it went something like this:
 yesterday was a great morning for me.  alex and i went to the juvenile on sunday morning for devotion time with the kids.  i talked with them about how we are one family in christ and that it's our responsibility to look after each other and care about each other.  alex expanded on this by saying that no matter what tribe we're from or what city, we're all united in christ.  we sang songs afterwards and i thought we were about finished since we'd been there for 1 1/2 hours.  then a bunch of kids came in, and alex said, ok it's time for session 2.  he looked at me and said, are you ready to speak?  i just gave him this blank expression wondering what in the world he was talking about.  and he says, "you didn't prepare something for session 2?"  um, no...you didn't say anything about 2 sessions.  no worries though.  tia, you just make it up as you go.  this type of miscommunication happens a lot with everyone and after a while it's really exhausting.  it helps though to have ashley and rachel to talk about it with.  i know that there is no way i can ever come here by myself again.  it's too difficult.  you must have another westerner to relate to.  anyway, juvenile was good and then we went and got tea and prolonged going to church, which was fine b/c this service is at least 5 hours long....yes, for real.  we got there around 12 i think and it ended at 3.  i think it started at 9 or 10.  but it was one of the best services i've been to.  the pastor was funny and told lots of stories and we were dancing around and jumping up and down so much during worship that i was sweating.  ashley said we should have worn workout clothes instead of skirts.

the drama started when we got home.  we've been having more small problems with the land lady and alex mistakenly thought that we could use our deposit money to pay for this last month of rent.  mixed in with this is that we were trying to figure out a place where some of these street boys could live and start going back to school.  we were thinking of trying to rent a place and have julius and alex stay there with them and that we would stay there until we left.  so alex decided (sort of without telling us) that we were moving.  he told the landlady as much and we started looking for other places.  we found a sweet apartment and things seemed good to go.  we packed up everything.  and alex nicely asked the landlady for our money back.  i think twice she promised it the next day.  so sunday afternoon we sat around forever waiting for her husband to bring us our deposit and check us out.  he never came and never came.  we had the entire apartment packed up (which wasn't much stuff really).  he finally came at 9:30, and it was this huge altercation with alex about all sorts of things that we'd have to pay for.  apparently no matter what you always have to have the apartment repainted when you leave.  and he was making up charges for all sorts of things.  he wanted to keep all our deposit and told us we owed more as well.  the whole thing was pretty ridiculous.  ash and rach finally went to look at the lease papers, which alex did not have, to make sure everything was true, and it was very brief and open for interpretation, so pretty much whatever the landlord says goes.  we went to bed not really sure what to do.  in the morning when we looked at the lease for the other apartment there were a lot of red flags to me.  like you have to repaint and varnish the floors before leaving and you can't put any nails in the walls and there are no set charges for damages.  so we collectively decided we shouldn't move.  it became clear to us girls that none of these guys have ever signed this type of lease before and have no idea of what is involved in renting apartment.  and ashley correctly said we can't blame them b/c they've grown up in kibera and have never had this experience.  so we went and nicely talked to the landlady, and she was happy to let us stay as long as we paid our rent for this month (but i'm sure we're going to lose our whole deposit b/c of repainting charges, etc).  we then had to unpack everything again, and now all my clothes and stuff are just wadded up in my suitcase, which by the way has mold growing on it b/c it is sitting in that damp room that never dries.  we're chalking this all up to a good learning experience for everyone.  we've been extra nice to the landlady, and we're trying to show her love despite some of our falling outs.  we also decided that we won't be renting a house to put these boys...there are too many what ifs involved for us to think about that right now.  perhaps we can look around and find other alternatives homes to place them in, although alex has many doubts that that could work due to trying this before without much success.

on a positive note, some good things happened yesterday.  we went to see the street women and arrived very late b/c we were unpacking the house.  the pastor that helps with this ministry was there wrapping up his talk with them.  i looked around (everyone was sitting in plastic chairs on this cement patioish thing) and almost everyone was sniffing drugs.  i think the pastor is either naive or too nice, b/c he seemed unbothered by it.  he told us he was leaving to get food for the women.  then he said, "and this lady over there prayed and accepted christ today."  rachel and i asked for clarification on which woman, and it was a new lady who was sitting sniffing drugs.  we just looked at the pastor like, "seriously, you have to be kidding me.  the lady is totally high right now."  i know you're wondering about the good part...here's where it gets funny.  i became super frustrated b/c we've clearly told the women that they can't do drugs there.  i don't think it's too much to ask people to not sniff for 2 hours in exchange for us feeding them (and talking to them).  they were all crowding around alex asking for things, complaining, etc, and i couldn't take it.  and so i just started yelling, without even telling alex i had something to say, i started yelling, and he started translating.  i said that we cared about them a lot but that they were treating this time together like a joke.  they weren't respecting the rules, and it was a complete slap in the face to us.  we're here to help and love them and they can't even leave the drugs for a short time.  as alex is translating, they start yelling and blaming each other.  agnus, one woman, is sort of the ringleader and she's always super doped up.  she started to interrupt, and i looked at her and pointed with my finger "skiza", meaning, "listen!"  and she did.  and everyone got really quiet.  i think it really surprised them to see the nice white girl yelling.  and then everyone started apologizing and agnus took out her drugs and poured them all out on the pavement (alex says she poured out a lot and that it cost a lot of money).  it was a small victory, but it was great.  i think tough love is really important, and we've been more than nice and loving and perhaps too soft at times.  alex also had me talk to this pregnant lady that we've talked to multiple times.  he had me tell her what the drugs are doing to her unborn baby.  i really think that this baby is going to have massive birth defects and learning problems but i pray that i'm wrong.  it is unfortunate that sin does not just affect us but others as well.
also during this time, a young girl came with the street women.  she was only 13.  alex, rachel, and i sat down with her b/c alex said she left the streets 6 months ago and was now back.  we found out that she no longer had school fees and so she left home to look for money and hadn't slept for days b/c she was worried about being raped or hurt on the streets.  we had a long talk with her about going back to school and how dangerous it was living on the streets.  we made cards with her and some street boys who joined us later.  and then we walked her all the way across town (probably 2 miles) to get on a matatu to go home.  we gave her matatu fare, and alex's number.  she's supposed to call him so that we can talk to her mom and arrange for paying for her to continue school when the new term starts in september.  the fees are less than $50, so the cost is not a problem, but she will have to find somewhere new to go.  she hasn't called yet, which makes me a little nervous.  she made cards for rachel and i though saying how much she appreciated us talking to her and encouraging her.

after taking her back to the matatu we walked (many more miles) to a park to meet some of the street boys.  we had fun playing frisbee with them while alex went to get them some food.  but then while we were eating, the conversation became so disheartening.   first francis, my fave kid, was back and had been doing drugs today.  he has been clean every other time i've seen him.  he first lied to me saying that the drugs on the sleeve of his shirt were not his b/c it was someone else's shirt.  but it turned out later that he told alex he did the drugs today b/c someone stole his pants and he had to wear dirty muddy ones and he was embarrassed.  then all the kids started talking about how they got tested for HIV yesterday b/c some organization was giving away free food if you got tested.  b/c they found out they were negative, the went and did who knows what that night.  they really have no clear understanding of AIDS i don't think, and when we talked to them they were just laughing.  alex said that even though they're only 13, they are already sleeping around on the streets.  rachel and i just looked at him with huge eyes, like oh my gosh these kids are so little, please tell me i miss heard you.  so we talked to them the best we  could even though they didn't seem to care much.  please pray for these boys, for their safety, for their futures, for their relationship with Christ.  it is so heart breaking seeing  the ways that they struggle and i pray that we would be able to find somewhere for them to live and go to school and that they would be willing.  remember too that alex used to be a street boy for several years in kisumu, and he is such an awesome testimony of how God broke those chains.

today was our break day.  ash and i got up early and ran to nakumatt to get food to make biscuits and gravy.  while i know i'm out of shape, i was particulary having trouble breathing while i ran and i wonder if that's partly the altitude.  we made it back though and made delicious biscuits and gravy.  ash decided it should be a birthday celebration for peter today b/c he doesn't know when his birthday is.  so we sang to him and gave him a candle to blow out, and she gave him an activity book with a map and stickers of animals that live around the world.  also some letter flash cards and some deodorant spray (the other day he sprayed ashley's dry shampoo all over him b/c he thought it was deodorant).  we then went to the giraffe center and kazuri bead factory in karen.  these were fun things, but it was a long day b/c there were 10 of us walking around together (and also we were surrounded by mzungu tourists all afternoon, which is just wierd here).  i find myself growing very impatient with having so many people and things taking forever and waiting around and people not communicating well.  i got really upset b/c we went down this trail at the giraffe park, and alex had us go up this steep hill.  i kept saying, peter should not climb up there and they said they would carry him, and then they let him walk up there anyway.  i think this is where the mom in me comes out.  what the kenyans don't understand is that we paid a lot of money and that his leg is really serious.  i don't think peter understands either.  we're taking him back to the doctor tomorrow, so pray that that goes well.  also pray that i would learn to hold my tongue more and think before speaking.  and that despite not knowing what is going on half the time that i would have a positive attitude.