Habari gani? / Habari yako? - How goes it?

I guess it's been awhile since I've written anythin... Today marks T-minus 50 days to the wedding!! (RVA staff is praying for us!) Hopefully, there will be little hints of Africa in the ceremony and reception. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing!

"Farewell" paperwork is coming in rapidly. I have to fill out the termination of employment for our houseworker, electiricity reading form for maintenance, evalutation of national staff, flight information, exit interview scheduling, appointment with finance director, etc etc etc... which makes it difficult to keep one's mind on "OK, what are we doing in concert band today?" Speaking of which, concert band (the junior high band) has come LIGHTYEARS from where they were at the beginning of the term! They really want to do well, which makes it a lot of fun to work with them. Friday we're going to try a wordless rehearsal... should be interesting.

October 31 was Carnival (decidedly NOT Halloween!). It's hosted by the student council, and everyone gets to dress up in costume. There were several Jokers from the new Batman movie... also making appearances were the Flintstones, Tweety, Robin Hood -- accompanied by Little John, the Friar, Maiden Marian, and the Prince (King Richard? who is it?) -- a band of ninjas, and a whole (female) rugby team. There are lots of games, candy, prizes... and jail. The senior boys are in charge of jail... or maybe just the ones on SCA. Anyway, they can decide to put anyone in "jail" and hold him/her/them for a few minutes. It got a little bit rough a couple of times, but evidently it's all in good fun. Some of the staff dressed up (myself included), but I really wasn't that into it... It was alright, though. We didn't stay long.

On a more positive note, my housemate, Ashley -- Ms. Paulson, beloved chemistry teacher -- ended up in the dunk tank. SOOO funny!

This past Friday night, I ended up playing badminton in the raquetball court with Anita. We had a lovely conversation about teaching and the students and God and our families and... it was great! It was just another reminder, though, of how difficult it's going to be to leave. I miss my Mom and Dad, my brother and sister-in-law, my family (my cousin got married and I couldn't be there!), Sam, Jess, Rach, Mere, Ventia, my music family n' professors... and Charles... soooooo much. But I've met such wonderful people here! Relationships build up really quickly when you're around the same people ALL the time!

Saturday night, we had our caring community over for a sleepover.... eventually we were down to seven 13-year-old girls sleeping in one room. We made brownies, we had ice cream... we skipped the s'mores, but that's ok. They were bouncing off the walls anyway! We talked and giggled (LOTS!)... and we watched Emma. They were SO funny! Every time anything happened, there were all aghast -- "he's gonna break her heart!" and "No!!!!! She's not listening!!!" and "OH! I don't like HER!" We had so much fun with them! They ended up staying up giggling till 1am. Ashley and I didn't... and we thought they were asleep. In fact, I had to go in once and "do the Mom thing" and ask them to quiet down and go to sleep so that they wouldn't be bears in church in the morning. In the middle of my speech, Esther pipes up and asks, "Ms. Amber, do you ever giggle?" hahahaha! So I looked at her and said, "No, Esther... after you turn 18, you really don't do much giggling anymore. So enjoy it while you can." There was a pause, and they looked at me, TERRIFIED, and exclaimed, "OH NO!... really?! How sad!!" HAHAHAHA! Ashley, across the hall, was about to die! They were SO funny! I told them I was kidding, and they were relieved. hahahaha! Anyway... we had a great time with them.

That's about all the news I have. Our concerts are coming up soon... Nov 22, 23, 25. And the flute choir is playing in church on the 16th. I invited them to our house this Friday for cookies and ice cream. Rare treats out here... should be exciting. Keep praying for us out here. We're under water restrictions (though not as urgent as they were before -- we briefly were not allowed to shower) and still SO short-staffed! And I think everyone's just getting a bit stressed and weary as we near the end of the term. God has been faithful to take care of us, though.

Kumbe – *gasp!* Really?!

Monday here was Multi-Cultural Day. It was such an amazing sight to see! The students all dressed up in the colors and/or flags of their home countries, and there were so many different colors! During the “program,” the French classes did a song and a fashion show, the Spanish class did a song, there was a Korean fan dance, a Korean song, an American march, and some multi-cultural music from the Titchies. The students were all so supportive of each other! The kindergarteners and first graders got a standing ovation after they sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” (The theme for this year’s MC Day was “precious in His sight,” and so the teams for the game portion of the day were red, yellow, black, and white. It was very clever.) The Korean fan dance was amazing! And the students were all cheering on their friends and classmates the whole time! There were a couple of non-Korean girls who participated, and they were soooooo excited about it!

The end of the MC Day “program” was the flag ceremony. During the flag ceremony, the student who is a citizen of a different country who has been at RVA the longest gets the honor of carrying his/her country’s flag. The student carries the flag up onto the stage in the chapel and greets the school in his country’s language. I don’t know how many countries are represented at RVA, but the entire stage was filled!!! It was emotional, too… the kids all went nuts for their home country! And since Kenya is the “host” country, its flag came last, and the student body absolutely erupted. It was an incredible sight to see. You could barely hear the band playing the Kenyan national anthem, the roar was so deafening! I’ll never forget it.

The games were a lot of fun, too. I was running the “puzzle challenge,” for which I had to MAKE two puzzles. I spent soooo many hours on those silly puzzles! Each puzzle had a word on it that meant “love,” but was not in English. So they worked as teams – dressed up in their team colors – to put the puzzle together and then to build the word with their bodies. I told them that if they used every member of their team to make the word, they’d get bonus points. This really excited them, and they worked so hard together! I had 5 rotations of 2 teams each, and it was fascinating to see the strategies! Some teams laid down on the ground to make the words, some stood, some used the stairs of the bleachers…. It was really interesting! And some teams were really competitive, of course, and some were laughing about having lost every game so far… I had such a great time! And since I was a game leader, I wore red, yellow, black, AND white, which was ridiculous but fun. :)

This week at school we had playing tests. One of my favorite flute girls was crying after hers, and I gave her a hug and told her she was a fantastic flutist, at which she just shook her head. Poor thing… she’s SUCH a hard worker… and she really is a good flutist. It broke my heart to see her so upset.

Saturday was Pinewood Derby. It’s SUCH a big deal here! The track goes almost all the way across the gym, and they have instant replay and digital scoring and… senior store was selling burgers and ice cream and chicken sandwiches and salads (a rare delicacy!). I had two sodas! Sodas are rare here, too… I actually was a judge for the derby, so I had gotten to see the cars ahead of time. There were such unique ideas! One car was a foot, one car was a replica of Titchie playground, one was a scale model of a NASA re-entry pod, some looked like race cars, VW bugs, etc… and there were even two monster trucks (GraveDigger and Scorpion) – which I was mocked viciously for recognizing.

After pinewood derby, I went for a walk on the guards’ trail. It goes all the way around the outside of campus, and most of the time you walk right up against the fence. But at one point, when the trees and bushes cleared, you could see clearly for miles. I stopped and just looked… I could see the valley and the mountains beyond; I could see the sunlight streaming down into the valley; and it was gorgeous. On clear nights, you can see the fires down in the villages in the valley from our house on campus. And as I was just looking out at it all, pictures started to run through my mind of the people I had met here… people who welcomed me, befriended me, gave me tips on bargaining with the Maasai… people who helped me find my way around, who drove me places, who taught me to sort maize meal and grate carrots (hehee), and who had had so much patience with me. I thought of the men pulling carts through downtown Mombasa and women in Kijabe who smile -- such big, beautiful smiles -- and wave at me just because I wave at them or say "hello"…. I thought of Nathan and Mary at the Supa Duka and Miss Mary at the hospital kitchen and of Thenya, who was so excited to help me get my wedding shoes…. I thought of so many people who shared with me what little they had.... And then I thought of my lil’ kindergarteners who are always so happy to see me for no reason at all and yell out, “Hi, Mrs. Lyons!!!” And I thought of my first graders (I teach their Sunday School), who stand at a dangerous height but always RUN up and nearly tackle me with love when they see me… and I thought of my junior high students who are so totally on your side if you just take half a minute and give them a complement or a lil encouragement... and I thought of my flute girls and how excited they are to hear my flute tone and how badly they want to play well and how hard they work… and it hurt me that anyone could call this the “dark continent.”

So I thanked God for my walk, and I knew that He was reminding me that He has sent me here. It’s been so, SOO tough to be here this week, but I know that it’s where God has me, and I know He’s at work.

Si Taki - I don't want it

I just got back from the beautiful Mombasa.

The trip out was sooo interesting! It was an adventure, to say the least. Friday, the last day of classes, was a half day. But instead of just having half the periods, we had 22 minutes of all seven periods. Mr. Taylor was driving a bus to the airport, so I covered a few of his geography classes… and Abigail was busy trying to arrange her midterm classes, so I covered her class as well. So, first period, I was in geography, then my study hall – luckily, they ALL asked to go to the computer lab! – third period I covered another geography class, fourth period I covered a general music class, fifth period I had free and used it to plan for my sixth period, which didn’t show up!! And seventh period I was free. It went so fast! Then we had a flag raising service and got out of school at 10:45, I think.

We left RVA in two groups: Ashley, Ru, and Erica left with one family at 11:30; and Jessica, Anita, and I left with the Cooks at 1:30. In Nairobi, we figured out a place where we could leave our luggage since our bus didn’t leave till 10pm. (We had to go into town early, though, because everyone tries to get back to Kijabe before dark for safety reasons). So we hung out in Nairobi for the afternoon/evening… we had ice cream, caught a movie, had dinner, walked around…. Chinese food is a rare delicacy, and was a very special treat! Anyway, at about 9pm, we gathered our luggage and caught a taxi to the bus station. A friend of ours who has lived in Africa all his life called a friend of his that he trusted to drive us into downtown.

I didn’t realize that the bus station was in DOWNTOWN Nairobi—in “a dodgy part of town,” as Aaron told us. As soon as our driver, Paul, pulled up to the station (at 10pm, you’ll remember!!!), I said, “Ru, I’m SO glad you’re here.” If it had been just the five of us girls, I don’t think I would’ve gotten out of the car. There were people everywhere… just EVERYWHERE! And it was dirty and dark and… I don’t know how to explain what it felt like… I just felt very unsafe. And it’s hard being white here. Regardless of what you say, everyone assumes you’re rich – and by their standards, almost all of us are. So pick-pocketing is a danger, and… anyway, we went right in and went up to the waiting area and we were fine. They even had a TV on! So we caught some Kenyan news. The bathrooms were something special… what a smell! And the “toilet” is something not-so-affectionately known as a “long drop.” That’s all I’ll say about that. I couldn’t do it.

The bus was wonderful. Most of us had swollen ankles when we arrived from being seated for 8 hours, but other than that, it was really nice. It wasn’t air conditioned, of course… and I think the two men seated in front of Jess n’ I were cold-natured. It was HOT! And we kept opening the window, and they kept shutting it. Personally, I was more concerned about the lack of bathroom on the bus… but we stopped I think 4 times. And we had been warned that the ride was really bumpy, but it wasn’t bad at all. I took some Dramamine and slept pretty well. When we got there, we got a taxi that we crammed into (Ru was actually in the trunk) and got on the ferry and got to the coast.

Mombasa is SOOO beautiful! We got to our hotel at about 5:30 or 6am, and they served us breakfast and even got our rooms ready early. The only problem with the rooms was that you couldn’t leave the air conditioner on unless you had the key in it… which means if you’re not in the room, the AC is not on. But Ryan bent a coat hanger a bit and made it work… because we’d come back to the room and it would be oppressively hot in there.

The mosquito net on the big bed made it look kinda princessy. I was in a triple room with Ashley and Jess; Anita and Erica were in another room; and Ryan and Ru were in a third room. The rooms were quite nice.

In Mombasa, buildings aren’t actually closed in with four walls…. And windows don’t generally have glass. Buildings all have a roof, but are as open as possible, and walls are up where necessary. It keeps things cooler. Air conditioning is not normal in Kenya. And even were refrigeration exists (and where it does, it’s advertised!), sometimes things aren’t cold. Anyway, the dining room was beautiful, with a perfect view of the ocean!

The first evening, as we were waiting for dinner, I felt that I needed some time by myself, so I told the group I was going for a walk. I went down to the beach and started walking. Now… during the day, the beach is kind of an obnoxious place because “hawkers” (salespeople, essentially) will bug you to no end! They’ll follow you and walk with you and just keep talking and talking to you, trying to get you to buy something or come to their shop. Well, I figured now that it was dark (the sun goes down every day about 6:45), I’d have some peace. I was wrong. I started walking, and a Kenyan man started walking with me. I was about to politely tell him I wanted to be alone – all weekend I was told I was too nice and so was continually bugged – but then I thought… maybe he’s been ignored and turned down all day, and maybe he needs someone to listen to him for a minute… so I talked to him. He wanted to know where I was from. I told him I live in Kenya – that always shocks them (and gets me a better price). Anyway, he told me all about his family: his brothers in Germany, his parents nearby, his sister-in-law… he talked about losing his travel documents and his studies in computers… and I listened and asked questions and we walked for awhile. We didn’t go far from the hotel.

After awhile, he started asking me to come to a discotech. I told him I couldn’t dance, and he said it’s ok, we’ll just talk for an hour and then I could come back. I said I wouldn’t go anywhere alone. He assured me (repeatedly) that it’s safe. I said even if it is, I’m getting married soon and I’m not going to spend time alone with another man. He asked if I didn’t trust him, if I didn’t believe him… anyway, he just kinda kept pushing it… that we’d just talk for a lil while and maybe have a drink. I told him I needed to go for dinner.

When I walked back up to the hotel, my friends were looking for me. I had worried them. Apparently, if Ashley had heard me say I was going for a walk, she would’ve stopped me. And… apparently… “Thomas” was probably a male prostitute, and I had likely just been “propositioned.” I felt so, soooo, SOOOOO violated… and eventually mad.

During my time in Mombasa, I got a lot of sun… which caused a lot of confusion as to my country of origin. I had a lot of interesting guesses. One man spoke to me in Italian for five minutes or so before I finally told him I don’t speak Italian. What a beautiful language! One of the hawkers asked me if I was “Rastafarian.” Hahahaha! He told me I was very beautiful. Someone else – I think a worker at the hotel – asked if I was Brazilian. I think that one was my favorite guess. It reminded me of Spring Break and the picture Jess took that she said made me look like a “Brazilian goddess.” Or maybe Mere said that…

I was told a lot that I was beautiful. Lots of the hotel worker men told me that. At first I thought maybe they hadn’t seen hair like mine ever… but Ashley said that they know if they can sweet talk a white woman enough, they can get her pregnant… and if they can get a mzungu (white) girl pregnant, they have everything. So… that was a big kick in my ego. One time though, when we went to get ice cream down the beach a lil ways, I saw a woman in the bathroom. She asked me my name, and I told her. Her name was Sicilia, and she told me I was very beautiful. Her saying it meant a lot more to me, though, cuz I knew she didn’t want anything.

One night at the hotel, the workers did different dances from all over East Africa. They even had the traditional clothes… and a few people playing the music. It was such complex music! I watched the dancers’ feet and listened to the different drums and tried to figure out how they were following. One of the songs was in 5/8, I finally realized. Anyway, for one song, they went into the crowd and pulled people up to dance. Erica and I got pulled… it was such fun! It was hard, though! I had to watch the feet of the woman next to me. Ashley took some pictures. Hahaha!

On the way out of Mombasa, we took a different road to get to the airport (as opposed to the bus station). We drove straight through downtown Mombasa, but it was during the late morning. Driving in Kenya is such an experience… even more so than in Nairobi, in Mombasa, the road clears just barely ahead of a car. There are men pulling hand carts full of all kinds of things, people on bikes, and people walking. SOOOO many people walking. And there are little shops all over the place… more like stands than shops, I guess. We saw fresh fish just laying out… no ice. Hahaha! Flies everywhere! That’s something else about Kenya… it smells very different. African body odor is very different from US body odor. Anyway, so driving is TERRIFYING. While waiting for the ferry, though, Erica and I got out to look around. It was so fun! We didn’t buy anything there… but it was nice to just like… shop where regular Africans shop rather than being in a shop aimed specifically at mzungus. And the salespeople were a lot less aggressive.

So we got on the ferry and then to the airport. We took a very small plane from Mombasa to Nairobi, waited in Nairobi for a few hours, and caught the school bus back to Kijabe. So here I am! And I didn’t get nearly as much reading done as I had planned.

Ndio / Hapana -- Yes / No

I've had such diverse weekends lately!

Two weekends ago, I got up early Saturday morning, got dressed, and headed down to the Kijabe hospital. I had to wear a (long) skirt because it's still unusual to see women in pants. A group of six of us -- myself and five students -- found the kitchen and met Miss Mary. She instructed the two boys to go over and help the men-folk cut up meat, and the girls headed out back. There we sorted maize meal. We had to pull out the stings, bits of leaves, etc. as well as the shriveled pieces of meal. It took quite a long time. We were seated on wooden benches and had to keep our feet up (we soon learned) on the bar below the seat because the men-folk would, at un-forseeable intervals, pour out great vats of water that was once soapy, then dirty, then with bits of animal parts in it.

Before long we finished with the maize... the women there probably could've done it three times as fast as we did, but they appreciated our help. We found out Ethel had been working there for over fifty years! She didn't look a day over 40! Anyway, We then moved on to carrots. Mary handed me a tray piled high with carrots and a grater. "We call dis glay-tah," she said. I almost laughed, but caught myself and nodded instead. She demonstrated how to use it, shaving down a carrot in like... three seconds! I got to work. The other girls were handed trays piled high with carrots and a big knife each. A couple of the knives didn't have handles, so they had to be really careful.

When I was finished grating carrots, I was brought more carrots and handed a knife. A lady named Gladys demonstrated. She made it look so easy! She wanted me to cut each one twice long ways, making a t shape from the top... then cut it into lil slices. Anyway... it was tough! And no cutting board or anything. Anyway, after carrots was potatoes... GOBS and GOBS of potatoes! I'd never seen so many in all my life. Our job was to cut off the bad spots, cut them into chunks, and toss them into the water. At some point, they brought us chai -- the BEST chai I've had! It was delicious. Apparently, it should be cooked over an open fire. They also brought us lunch, but I wish they hadn't. I think they think white people eat a lot. Our plates were piled HIGH! It was all starchy things -- things to fill up your stomach. None of us could eat it all. Anyway, when all was said and done, we had worked sitting on those wooden benches for over four hours... in the sun... at 7200 ft. elevation. I was quite sunburnt. It didn't even occur to me till I got home and saw my tan lines. I had started the day in long sleeves and then pushed them up. So from my hands to my elbows, I was dark DARK brown... and then it stopped. Hahaha! It's faded now, but... anyway. :) Oh well!

Last Saturday I spent in Nairobi, which is probably the most diverse place I've ever been. In the course of an hour, you can, without effort, see someone dressed in a full burka and then someone wearing almost nothing at all. There are Somalis there, Indians, Europeans (all KINDS of Europeans!), Americans on holiday, etc. It's fascinating to people-watch. I saw one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen in my life... she was an African with a long, slender neck and a gorgeous profile! She was having lunch with a middle-aged (or later), heavy-set white man.

I also got a pedicure in Nairobi. All the dust in Kijabe had made my feet rather yucky. I hated the pedicure, though. I kept thinking about the water restrictions we'd been under and what a waste it was to use good, clean water for my feet. I was so glad when it was over... my toes are beuatiful now, but when I got home I couldn't help thinking that my feet looked like they hadnt' been in Africa at all. I suppose that's what I wanted... I don't think I'll do it again.

Now it's mid-term break for RVA, and I'm on the way to Mombasa. I leave in twenty minutes. We'll get to Nairobi and hang out there till 10pm! I dunno what we'll do... people watch, grab dinner... maybe see a movie? I think they have bowling... I guess we'll see. Then we'll catch the night bus and get to Mombasa at 6am tomorrow. There are seven of us going: five girls and two guys. It should be a great time. I hear the beach is BEAUTIFUL and non-crowded. I hope to do a lot of reading.

Mzungu Mukubwa - Big White Guy

It's been a long time since I've blogged! I've actually had a lot of trouble loading this website... it's gonna be tough adjusting back to US Internet! But Mzungu mukubwa is quite frequently how American men appear to the nationals here. I was talking about it with Tim, one of our science teachers. He's been called that, and he's really not what I would consider big.

Ashley and I are finally out of the dorm. No more dorm-mom-ing. I miss it already! We're back in the Fasses' house, which is real quiet, down by the lower gate... Luckily, tonight was the first Caring Community, which means there were 8 thirteen-year-old girls in our house. They were a lot of fun! I made... soppapias? I'm not sure how to spell it. Anyway. they were quite tasty! The girls were really excited, too... I think probably more about the ice cream. We played signs... they were so funny! They were giggling at everything! They've informed us that we're going to have to do a sleep-over. Hahaha!

We also now have a house worker. Her name is Dorcas, and she is wonderful! She made us the most DELICIOUS jepatis (juh-PAH-tees) and stew! Anyway, most everyone here has a house and yard worker to help them keep up with everything. Life is busy... and everything takes a bit longer than it does in the US. I was uncomfortable at first with the idea, but it really was awful trying to teach and be involved in all the activities and students' lives and cook and clean and dorm-mom. AND! It gives more job opportunities to Kenyans.

One of the nationals who works on campus is named Zeb, and he makes the most beautiful pottery! I went into his pottery studio to see his work, and I was completely blown away! And he's only been doing it for a couple of years. The art teacher here trained him. So now he makes dishes and things for anyone around campus who wants one. There are lots of students around who use mugs that he's made for chai time.

My private lesson "studio" has finally stopped growing. I think I'm pretty full... I even let a couple of students talk me into giving them lessons first period... which is kinda rough. And I'm getting used to giving private lessons... although the saxophone and clarinet lessons REALLY scared me at first. I still am not very much help with clarinet fingerings. But I'm able to play along with my sax student now (I think I only have one sax student...). The only problem is sometimes I'm not sure how to say what I want to say. But I'm enjoying it a lot because it gives me so much opportunity to get to know students.

The students here are amazing. They can be trusted, they stay on task (85% of the time), they WANT to learn, they are kind to younger students... in fact, the administration gives all the high school students a "little brother" or "little sister," and then they go on coke dates together or to the "drive-in movie" together or hang out... and the titchies LOVE it and get sooooOOOO excited, and the high school students love doing special things for their lil brother/sister. It's really sweet to see! And I think that one of my flutie girls, Jennie, has sort of adopted me as a big sister... she's SO sweet! But she asked me to come to her basketball game today, and I couldn't go cuz of the move! I was really bummed... but I told her to be sure to tell me when the next one is, and I'd be there.

Anyway, I think that's about all the news I have. Life is pretty good here... but it still gets overwhelming and quite difficult sometimes. Every once in awhile, I just really want to be around something that's familiar to me. And sometimes I get really weird cravings -- like today, I really wanted to go to Lowe's. But, my friends and my students and my fellow staff members are all wonderful and supportive, and I know I have a lot of people at home praying for me.

Tugende - Let's go!

The school year is going nearly full speed now, and life is getting a lil hectic. This past Friday was dorm night, Saturday was health fair and ice cream social, Sunday was AIC, and Monday night we had “the singles” over for a pot-luck dinner. We’ve had so many people in and out of our partment! I can’t even tell you how many dishes we’ve washed!!! It’s been worth it, though. :)

On dorm night, the ladies of Suswa were exceptionally good sports! We needed to provide treats for them… I tried to make up a way to make chocolate popcorn, which turned out pretty OK. They thought it was fantastic! We also made taco popcorn… but we ran out of popcorn! We had enough for maybe 6 or 8 girls – and there were 18 at dorm night!!! So we ran out to borrow popcorn and kept working… the girls wanted to make cookies, but no one had a recipe! So KoKo said she’d make them – but we only had one egg and couldn’t find any baking soda! She didn’t put enough flour in them, either, so they were kinda funny looking till I turned down the oven. They were good, though! We didn’t have chocolate chips, either, so the girls had to chop up chocolate bars. We were also planning on watching a movie, but we have no TV and no projector. I went out twice – into the COLD, windy, dark night – to find Courtney to borrow her projector, but no dice. She was at a different dorm night! Anyway… the girls graciously agreed to watch Lil Mermaid on a laptop, with fancy speakers. They had a good time. :) They have great attitudes!!!

Saturday Ashley were determined to be a lil more prepared… so we went down to the Dukas in the afternoon to try and get things together for ice cream social (health fair was fun, too – I got to help with titchies, and they were just all over the place!! And so excited about getting weighed and getting their eyes checked and whatever. :) ). We made chocolate syrup, cuz you can’t get it here, and someone randomly brought us Hershey’s (a RARE and valued commodity!) strawberry syrup, and we cut up some bananas and chopped some peanuts… and we crumbled some cookies and chopped up some chocolate…. Anyway, for the ice cream social, they try and mix up the kids. So we had 9 random students in our apartment! It was a lot of fun, though. :) We played mafia and zip-bong (a VERY silly game!) and signs. The kids – well, not kids… high school students… young adults – all said they had a blast. :) Ashley and I had a lot of fun, too.

I think my favorite, though, was the singles pot luck dinner. It turned out SOOO good! Erica, Courtney, and Sarah came, as well as Ryan, Aaron, John, Candace, Anita, Abigail, and Ru. We had chilli, homemade bread, salad, soup, chicken enchiladas, stir fry veggies… and then afterwards we had a “pineapple dump cake” that I had made and coffee n’ tea. Poor Ryan… he brought Pringles. Hahaha! I don’t have any idea where he got them, though….

One of the most recent additions to our singles group is an English guy named “Ru” (Rupert). He had coffee after dinner, at which I exclaimed “coffee?!” And he told me that coffee is more popular in Britain now than tea. “Sad times,” he said. He also said things like “hey, Ryan, could you shoot me my jumper?” Jumper = sweater, we found out. He also referred to “chicks” and “blokes,” and occasionally called one or another of us “mate.” :) At one point, he even said something about the “loo,” which excited me because then I found out that it’s not just an American stereotype; they really do call it that! :) (I kept my mouth shut, though, because I didn’t wanna sound like a stupid American.) We also heard some more RIDICULOUS stories from Aaron – about building 48 classrooms in Darfur, Sudan, and having 30 of them bombed… about the Sudanese airline and how, because there’s no bag/weight limit, people are stuffing their luggage into the plane… about having his passport completely filled up with places he’s been… about going to college in the US and selling a $5 spear to an American girl for $80… etc, etc. He tells stories like Charles does – like you’re waiting for him to laugh and say he’s just kidding, but he doesn’t cuz all his stories are true and at first, you’re not sure whether you believe him or not. Anyway, we had a blast together, and it was really nice to hang out with people around my age and just relax. :) It’s difficult, though, because everyone’s sooooo super-busy. We have to be intentional about keeping up with each other. We ARE discussing the possibility of going to the coast for midterm break, though… :-D

I taught a tenor sax lesson today… which was actually a lesson for me – in faking it. I’ve never played a tenor sax! But I used my knowledge of saxophone embouchure and musicality and… whatever else I could think up!... and we had a fairly successful lesson. :) I have two flute lessons tomorrow, which should be significantly easier for me. Wednesday I’ll start kindergarten music and flute choir. I’m pretty excited. :) Thursday I get to start working with the jazz band!! I’m a lil intimidated about that, but I think it’ll be fun.

Sunday was AIC Sunday, which meant we went to the local African church – all of RVA! I was walking with Mrs. Cook on Saturday afternoon, and she mentioned something about needing to come up with something for special music. I told her if she was really desperate and needed something last minute, I could play. She took me up on it! I didn’t really have any music with me, so we played around with “Amazing Grace,” which is simple enough… but… the exciting part is that I IMPROVISED in front of 800 people!!!! It was so much fun!!! But when I sat back down… well, first of all, I started shaking like crazy! My flute case almost fell off my lap! But also, I was sitting where most of the African children were… so when I sat back down, I had close to 30 pairs of little African eyes just staring at me! :) They were so cute! Mrs. Cook said, “I believe you have a new fan club!” And Mr. Taylor told me later that they had never seen a flute before. It was a pretty special experience. I’ll never forget it, for sure! One of my dorm girls told me later, “You were so awesome! You didn’t squeak ONCE!!!” :)

In other news, I’m becoming quite the accomplished fire builder! Even though it gets really cold here at night and in the mornings, there are no heaters. I think it’s because things that make heat require so much electricity, and electricity here is currently three times what it costs in the US – and it’s continually going up. Anyway, out of necessity, I’ve learned to build a fire. I’m kind of excited about my newfound skill, except that I have a few burns on my fingers. I’m also learning more and more how to improvise in the kitchen. What the dukas – and even Nakumatt – will have is unpredictable, so you learn to do without, borrow, or just make something up. The other night when I was having dinner at the Morrisons, Mr. Morrison asked what we were having, and Mrs. Morrison said, “I don’t know. It happened in the kitchen.” It was delicious, though! :-) The situation lends itself well to having a great attitude about things, though… Kind of like, “if you don’t have it… oh well. We’ll make do.” :-)

Poli Sana - So Sorry

Psalm 121
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

2 Chron. 20:12 “….For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

If TFC were giving out a prize for most unique student teaching experience, I think I would be in the running! I have been in Africa just over a week now, and already things have changed so drastically…. I was planning on student teaching with Mr. Taylor and working with the band at Rift Valley Academy. That much is still true, at least. However, RVA has a lot of holes this year because of how much transition is going on here – new titchie principal, new high school principal, LOTS of new staff, etc etc. (Titchie Swot – pronounced "tih-chee swa" – is an old British term for “little learner.” It’s the elementary school here.) One of the holes is titchie music teacher. For obvious reasons, they asked me if I would be interested. I thought about it and got soooo excited! I even started dreaming about titchie music and all the kids singing and clapping in my class. Luckily, another woman and I are going to share it. She’s gonna take care of titchie choir, which is grades 4-6, and I’ll have K-3.

ALSO! My housemate, Ashley – who I’ve known now for all of 4 days – graduated from RVA and was asked to be a temporary dorm mom because the regular dorm parents for Suswa dorm had to extend their furlough. She agreed to do it on the condition that I could come with her and help. She knows how things work here, but she’s relying on my cooking skills. So I am now co-dorm-mom of Suswa, which houses 15 eleventh-grade girls.

I think the hardest thing, though, is the feeling of not being settled. I think I was beginning to feel a little bit settled before we moved into the dorm, but that’s all gone now. Haha! But everything here is new. Even doing familiar things – like eating, having coffee, talking – are different here. There are different rules and different smells. They don’t tell you this, but fire smells different in Africa. It’s just 100% new, all the time, and it can be exhausting. I’ve been praying a lot for peace, and God is faithful. The people here are kind and wonderful, it’s just that I can’t make myself feel settled. But I have never been so needy. I have never relied so heavily on God. I have never sung so honestly or worshipped so truly in church. So it’s good. I’m feeling quite stretched, and sometimes overwhelmed, but it’s good. :)

I’m also seeing how some of the skills God has taught me through different people are vitally important to me here. Sam, for example, taught me that it’s ok to grieve. I’ve lost comfort, familiarity, the nearness of everyone I know and love, and it’s ok to grieve those things. Rach, Sam, Mere, n’ Jess all taught me that if I need people around me I should go find them. I’ve been knocking on all kinds of doors here! In fact, that’s how I met Erica, the Thomases, and John Hayes (the titchie principal) – I knocked on the wrong doors! Haha! :) And, of course, my parents, from whom I learned to love people and be aware of what I need so that I can take care of myself. :) But anyway, God has been with me through all of it -- good, bad, overwhelming, smelly, beautiful, breath-taking, and even some sickness -- and I’m seeing how He’s prepared me for this time of stretching and growing in Him.