Koome! And kwaheri...

Koome visit = INCREDIBLE. It's one thing to be excited to send support over, but it's another totally different thing to see just how that support is improving Koome's life and the lives of the members of his family.

The journey was only 4 -5 hours (not the 8 hours I thought it would be!). We left Nairobi at 7 and got to the Kibuurine Compassion Center after noon. Koome was there waiting, along with several staff members. We all had lunch together and they told me a lot about the work they do specifically in their center, and the cool ways that they not only minister to the children but also teach them practical skills.

After lunch, we stopped by Koome's school, where he is in Standard 3 (= third grade). I met his teacher and hung out in his classrom a little bit. Since it was Friday, all the students were there. Except Koome got to skip school...lucky dog. :)

We left the school and drove to his family's shamba (land plot). His extended family also lives there, so I met several aunts, along with his mother, father, and younger sister. His mother came down the path when we arrived and gave me a HUGE hug, which was incredibly special because hugs aren't common in Kenyan culture, especially between opposite genders. It was a huge sign of her appreciation. They were all fairly quiet, but the Compassion guy who traveled with me said that's usually the case becuase they're just so overwhelmed to see that the support their child receives is actually coming from a real person.

AEX had sent part of our ECL money as a Christmas gift to Koome and his family this past December, and I got to see firsthand how his family had used it. They had purchased a milk goat (which was already pregnant!), some clothes for Koome, and they used the bulk of the money to install piping to bring water to their house. Now they don't have to walk a half an hour to the river to get their water! They can also plant banana trees and other plants that require a lot of water that would have been impossible to grow before. They were so appreciative to have had the burden of carrying water taken away!

They sent me home with a few gifts - the biggest gourd I have ever seen, black beans, fruit, and some eggs. It's a Kenyan custom that the visitor brings some gifts for the host (we brought a lot flour, rice, sugar, tea, etc), and that the host then sends the visitor back with some gifts. It was really special to see the sacrifice that they made in even sending me back with a half a dozen eggs, that would have fed their family for a meal.

Definitely one of the most memorable experiences from Kenya.

I'll put up a few pictures here (sorry AEX, they're the same as in my e-mail). I have a ton more though, so when I'm home I'd love to share them with you.

L-R: Koome's aunt, younger sister, father, mother, his Compassion Center's director, me, and Koome

Koome's Family: L-R Mother, Sister, Koome, Me, and Father. Note Koome's sweet new shirt.

Koome and I with the orange tree we planted to remember our visit.

A wonderful end note for my Kenyan summer.

I fly out tomorrow night at around midnight. By Thursday night, I will have completed my Nairobi-London-Newark-Detroit-Erie journey and will be back at home. It's so bizarre to think about being at home so soon. I know it's cliche, but I really don't know where the summer has gone. I'm excited to see family, and to start senior year, but it really feels like home here. It's weird to think about leaving. I don't think it's fully hit me yet.

This is my last day at the office, which means this is most likely my last post from Africa. Thank you all so, so much for reading this, for keeping in touch, and for your prayers. It's been a truly memorable experience, and I can't wait to share it with you all.

Habari Nairobi? Unbelievable.

la semana final

Seven days left in Kenya.

It was a good weekend! I went into the Nairobi Game Park early Saturday morning for my final safari. Saw the usual giraffes, zebras, gazelles, impalas, ostriches, etc., but we also caught a hyena (well, not literally caught) and saw a group of five lions. Here are a couple pictures:

Saturday afternoon I traveled with the Roberts and Brandon up the Ngong Hills. Ngong means "knuckles"...because the hills kind of look like knuckles. Anyway, it was an incredible view of the Nairobi area on the one side and then the Rift Valley on the other. Incredible. The view kind of looked like it was straight out of the African Sound of Music...

Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Masai Market. I finished up my souvie/gift shopping in the first few hours (after lunch at Java House…mmm turkey bacon chedder sandwich…), and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out inside the Yaya Centre.

Yesterday began my last week of work at the hangar. The network was down yesterday (both the internet and the internal network), so it was a slow and fairly boring day, since most of our work is on the HR network drive.

Last night we hit up another Mzuri Monday Madness movie (my last!) and saw the Dark Knight. I don’t get high expectations about superhero movies, but it was actually pretty incredible. And again, for under $5 with a hot dog, popcorn, and coke, you can't pass it up.

The internet is back up at the hangar today, so I can get to my e-mail and all that, but the network drives are still down so it’s another slow day at the office. I’m kind of reaching the end of my workload, so I’m anticipating that the next few days will be pretty low-key before I leave.

Tonight we have dessert and a rousing game of Phase 10 scheduled. Nothing like the simple pleasures!

Friday/Saturday I’m journeying to Kibuurine to visit Koome, our AEX compassion child. I think I’ve mentioned this before. Your prayers would be really appreciated for this trip…it’s a long journey (300-ish miles away?). It will be sweet, but I’m a little nervous about it.

But for now, it’s time to get a 30-shilling lunch from the bucket lady. Ah, the things I will miss of Kenya :)

que mundo pequeño!

Happy Friday!

Today is the 25th, which means that it's payday here at the hangar. So, about an hour ago, I'm downstairs putting payslips into mailboxes. The door opens at the other end of the hall and a big group starts coming through. No big deal, every once in a while a group comes through to tour the AIM hangar. So I go back to stuffing mailboxes with monetary joy. I hear someone call my name, and I turn around, and there's this girl coming down the hall towards me. It's Ashley Zaepfel! (for those of you not from GCC...she's a friend from GCC.)

Holy small world. I knew she'd be in Kenya, but didn't realistically think that we'd actually see each other.

Well, that was enough to make my day! And so my day is made.

Man, I can't believe it's Friday already. I'm coming upon my next to last weekend in Kenya. Tonight we have a fellowship time (it was the night of the last fellowship time that we were robbed, so I hope this one is less eventful!). Tomorrow I'll hopefully head into the game park to be able to take some pictures that I can call my own, and have my last safari.

And finally, to make my joy complete, I'm making ranch dressing tonight. Man, I've been craving ranch.

Life is good in Nairobi :)

another weekend in review

Time is flying. And I will be, too, before I know it.

We house-sat for a missionary family this weekend, which basically means we fed their dogs and enjoyed having a TV for a few days.

Friday night we went to an Italian restaurant at Junction called the Mediterraneo. The pizza I ordered was the best pizza I've had here yet. It was a really nice restaurant, too - kind of reminded me of the Kenyan version of the Olive Garden.

Saturday we took a bit of a road trip...it was up at 4am for a bright-and-early (I guess not so bright at that hour) start to Mt. Kenya. It's about a 2-hr drive straight north from Nairobi. We spent a few hours in Sweetwater, a game park.

We didn't see any elephants, but we caught just about everything else - zebras, giraffes, a lion (just a glimspe), jackals, gazelles, warthogs, rhinos, hippos, and other things. I also got to pet a rhino. No, seriously. :)

We drove up to the gate at Mt. Kenya, but it was pretty cloudy so we just enjoyed it from the bottom and then headed out. On our way back home, we stopped at this restaurant called the Trout Tree. It's a restaurant built in a big tree, and below the restaurant they have big pools where they raise the fish that they serve. It was pretty incredible. Monkeys climb around in the tree and watch you eat (and steal bread).

There are more pictures here.

We also drove over the equator on our way there and back, so we got a nice touristy picture with the equator sign (I'll try to post it later).

Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures myself (okay, I didn't get any). The camera I had borrowed was dead on arrival, and I didn't find the extra batteries in the case until I was unpacking when we got back. Yeah, I was a little angry.

Actually, the most frustrating thing about having our stuff stolen has been that I lost all of my pictures and my ability to take anymore (at least without borrowing stuff). I have these next few weeks to make up for it...but I can't exactly go back to the coast or to Musoma. Ugh.

But, for everything a reason...whatever that may be.

Yesterday afternoon after church we went back to the Masai Market at Yaya Centre, and I accomplished most of my souvie shopping. We also had lunch at Java House (Nairobi's Starbucks)...which was incredible. Eating out seemed to be the theme of the weekend - Thursday night we went back to Diamond Plaza, Friday night was the Mediterraneo, Saturday at the Trout Tree, and then yesterday at Java House. As far as I know, we're sticking home tonight. :)

We also had a Chuck marathon yesterday and finished the whole first season. I had seen a couple episodes before, but I hadn't watched it religiously or anything. Not bad!

This is my last full week at the hangar. Friday is payday, so we're preparing for that, plus trying to issue Cost of Living Adjustments (since inflation is pretty high here), getting new contracts signed, issuing a new policy, and a host of other things. And sneaking in a blog update as we wrap up for the day. Busy is nice :)

Next week I'm at the hangar Monday through Thursday, Friday I leave for Meru to visit Koome, and I get back Saturday. That next Monday is my last full day at the hangar, then Tuesday is departure day (and wow-how-did-I-fit-this-all-in-one-suitcase day).

Didn't I just get here? I'm excited to get back to see family and friends and Erie before moving back to the Grove, and for OB and then starting my last year. But I don't want to be looking ahead too much and lose my focus on my last weeks here.

I'll leave you with the view out my office window:

Cold and rainy?

Hmm...the typical stereotype that Africa is hot and dry is being shattered in Nairobi. It's about 60 degrees and drizzling right now.

The past week has been crazy - I'll attempt to summarize the biggest events for you.

Friday I finally went on my first safari! There is a park here in Nairobi that is right down the road from the airport where I work, so some of us took Friday off and spent it there. You just pay to enter and then drive your own vehicle around the park at your leisure. It was awesome - herds of zebras, many giraffes, gazelles, impalas, ostriches, secretary birds, buffalo...it was great. We also had the unfortunate but hilarious-after-the-fact experience of being attacked by baboons at one point.

Unfortunately on Friday we also had some things stolen, and I lost my laptop with all of my pictures from my time here (even from the safari that day). I'm pretty disappointed about that. So enjoy the pictures that are posted here on the blog, because that's about all I have right now! :)

Sunday we went to the Masai Market for the first time. The vendors take over a section of the parking lot at a shopping center in Nairobi and you can find basically any souvinier you can imagine. It's definitely an experience, but you can get some pretty cool stuff.

Work is still going well, and keeping me busy. Right now I'm still working to distribute contacts to all the Kenyan employees, and working on some orientation materials.

I leave three weeks from today - that's insane. Where did this summer (or winter, here) go?