Ketchup

Wow, Christmas has come and gone.  This past week has been full of activity for us, so I’ll catch you all up a little. 

Dec. 22-I stayed up until 11:30 at night (I usually go to bed around 10-10:30 here) popping 3.5kg worth of popcorn kernels.  It took 2 hours.  For goodness sake that was a lot of popcorn.  And the lid didn’t fit on the pot, so I had to hold it the whole time.  And the handle was loose.  But, it was fun because they had Christmas carols playing in the next room, where the rest of the team was putting the popcorn into 100 bags for the children at Mercy Home.

Dec. 23- I went to the Street Children’s outreach at Faith Community Church again.  I’m not sure if I’ve written about it, but I’ve been once before (In Oct.) It was their special Christmas party.  The street kids are one of my favourite parts about Kitale, so it’s awesome to hang out with them all at once.  This time, I was on baby-washing duty.  Only one of them cried because she was being washed by a ‘mzungu.’

            - Then I took a matatu out to Mercy Home where the rest of the team was, to join in the Christmas/Birthday party that was happening there.  Most of the kids don’t know their actual date of birth, so they just have one day of the year to celebrate.  There was a talent show, special lunch, and organized games.  I got recruited into the 100m race, which really shouldn’t have been a problem for me...I was wearing a skirt, so the girls got me a pair of shorts to change into.  I am ashamed to say (but will tell you anyway because it’s funny) that I did a face plant in the first 20m.  And pretty much EVERYBODY was watching.  Good one.  A little bit embarrassing, but mostly just hilarious.  I have never had so many people come up to me and say “Sorry” in my life.  I was telling my family on the phone that I feel like I’m about 6 years old, because my knees are totally gross and scabbed over. 

Dec. 24- David and Trudy slept over at Mercy Home, Stellah left to go and visit her Grandma, and Geoffrey has been sick for the past week or so, so it was a fairly subdued Christmas eve.  Nancy and I decided to go outside and stand by the “bonfire” which was actually a pile of burning garbage in the corner of the yard.  It was very enjoyable, we sang silent night and took some pictures.

-          We all sang Christmas carols and read the Christmas story together in the evening.

-          Nancy and I hung out in her room and made “sausage rolls” (because we missed the traditional appetizers of home) This might sound impressive, but, in reality, it was crackers, with tiny bits of leftover sausage extracted from the stew in the freezer.  We never actually ate them, but we convinced Dane that they were good, so he ate them. 

Dec. 25- CHRISTMAS!  I woke up around 7am.  It felt so strange, because I was super excited even though everything was so different than Christmas morning usually is.  Helen had prepared a nice breakfast for us, so I waited until Dane and Nancy got up, so that I could eat with them.  Then I called my family.  It was sad to be away from them at such a special time, but it was great to talk to them.  And also, now I know that next year I’ll be able to appreciate everything that Christmas at home is even more! 

            -After nearly 2 hours of being awake, (this is proof that I am growing in maturity over here in Kenya) I took about an hour and a half to open up all the letters and gifts that had been sent to me in various packages from friends and family.  (THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY!)  Even though Christmas is so much more than gifts and cards, I’m not going to lie, it made it extremely exciting. 

            - Then I went out to Mercy Home to hang out with the kids for the rest of the day. 

            Alright, I’m going to close this off now.  There is a lot more to tell, but I can only type for so long.  All in all, I had a wonderful Christmas season, though very strange and different from what I am used to. 

Playground

KRISMASI NJEMA! (Merry Christmas in Swahili)

Most days of the week, our team starts off by having a meeting together. We usually take about half an hour, talking about the previous day, planning the upcoming one, and then spending time in prayer. Some days though, they tend to drag on because we get a side tracked. Today was one of those days. We were talking in Dane and Trudy’s room for about an hour and a half.
The conversation was extremely varied. Aside from planning the Christmas party that is going to take place tomorrow, we covered many other subjects, such as, the promise of hamburgers coming to Kitale, the lack of lettuce here, cow impersonations, inflatable bicycles, and the possibility of getting a playground built at Mercy Home.
Hamburgers are exciting. The lack of lettuce is distressing. Cow impersonations are fun. Inflatable bicycles would be a genius way to avoid swimming for those who struggle with floatation. And a playground at Mercy Home is a perfectly legit thing to discuss at a team meeting.
Dane has done some work to find out the cost of such a project, and we have found that it would cost approximately $750 (Canadian). Our team feels that it would be a wonderful thing to have built before we leave, because the kids don’t really have anything recreational to play with. The five of us are willing to pool our resources and come up with the money to do this, however, I know that many of you have been wondering if there is any way that you can help. This would be the perfect way to assist the work being done here in Kenya, without having to physically be here. Please don’t feel ANY pressure to donate, and if you do want to give, don’t feel you have to go overboard. Something like $5-10 would be totally sufficient. The team will cover all the extra costs, so the playground will be built regardless!

Since my Gramma is coming to Kenya in 3 weeks (!!!) money can be sent to my parents by mail in the form of a cheque, or given to them in person, and then they can forward it to her.

Thank You!

"Kipsongo City"

December is the Kenyan equivalent of summer holidays, so the kids are off of school for a whole month. The past week was “home-visit” week for the kids at Mercy Home, so they went home to visit whatever relatives they have. It was a really neat week actually, because it meant that our schedule was a little more relaxed than usual, and we were able to go and see the kids where they originally come from. Most of them are from the Kipsongo slum (which is the place that I talked about in my entry about the Truman show.) Over the course of the week, I have been to Kipsongo three times to visit kids there, and to get shown around. One of the days it started raining, and the place just turned into a big mudfest. The dirt here is different than the dirt back at home, and when it turns to mud, it is incredibly slippery. I came mighty close to bailing hard on multiple occasions that day.
Some of the houses are made from packed mud, with thatched roofs, but others are like patchwork-plastic igloos. They are dome shaped dwellings made of discarded plastic bags and torn rags. It’s amazing to think that people actually live in them. As it turns out, most of the street kids (who I love!) come from Kip, and they just make the 1km ‘commute’ into Kitale every day to see what they can scrounge up, because there isn't much to live off of in Kipsongo.

We have had two of the kids from Mercy Home (Alphine, 16 and Joshua, 15) stay at our house over the course of the week. It has been super fun to have them here! It’s been neat to get to know them. Alphine has been my roommate, and part time Swahili teacher. They are going back to Mercy Home today, which is a little sad.

It is Nancy Miller’s birthday on the 23rd, so if you know her, be sure to send her an email or comment on her blog or something!

Pictures

Joshua, Lydia and me on the shore of Lake Victoria!

Most of our team (Nancy isn't pictured) after we received a chicken from a lady we met at church.

Receiving a chicken is apparently an honour. We got him about a month ago, and still haven't eaten him. I have grown rather fond of him.  His name is Fred. This picture makes me laugh whenever I look at it, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

I Love Peas

We had been counting down the days here until we were allowed to start singing Christmas carols at evening devotions, and December has come!  For some reason I am hugely into them this year. 

            One of my very favourite moments in Africa happened the other day.  I came home from Mercy Home, and could hear Christmas carols as soon as I stepped through the door.  The sound led me to the kitchen, where I found Helen and both of  the Davids opening pea pods and singing in the semi-darkness.  (The power was out again.)  Opening pea pods happens to be one of my favourite things to do, as of quite recently, so I sat down on the floor and joined right in.  It was just so peaceful.  The power came back on, but we turned the lights off again because it was so much cozier without them.  I think we sang every carol I know, and then some.  It was so simple, but it gave me so much joy.

            I spent the night at Mercy Home on the 2^nd.  This was my second time, but the first time I didn’t enjoy myself nearly as much .  I was in a way better state of mind this time, and was actually excited to do it.  I had so much fun with the girls, playing cards and just chatting.  I actually had a really good sleep too.  I remembered my trusty earplugs, (If earplugs were animate I think that I would marry them.) and got to sleep on the top bunk, which was nice.  I ended up staying there for the whole day yesterday, and didn’t feel like I needed to get home to rest.  (The first time I did it, I couldn’t wait to get back to our house!)  Benta, the social worker, who works there, braided my hair...which took over 4 hours.  I think that there are 62 of them.  Oh my goodness it hurt.  I don’t have a very sensitive scalp, and I thought I had a fairly high pain tolerance...but it hurt SO bad.  Boys, you will never understand.  (Unless you grow your hair out and get it braided I suppose.  Which I don’t advise.)  So you will have to take my word for it. 

            I have had a really great week.  It took was some hardcore homesickness, but I have begun to realize just how necessary God is in my life.  He will remain the same, and He will bring me comfort no matter how far away my family and friends are.  It has been incredible to notice how much better my days are when I start them off by giving them to God!

Pictures

I ended up meeting David in town eventually, so there are pictures today after all!  The picture of the two boys by the water was taken at Lake Victoria, during our trip to Kampala, Uganda.  The next picture of the river, happens to be the NILE RIVER!!  Cool?!  And the monkey took that banana out of my very own hand!  (She was outside of the church that we go to early on Sundays, before the church service at Mercy Home.)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. I have BIG news.

I just found out...

That my Gramma is coming to Kenya for 5 weeks!!!
She is arriving in Nairobi on the 13th of January, so she will be here for my birthday! I am so ridiculously excited. This news came at perfect timing, because I was really starting to feel homesick...just thinking of Christmas and all. I was trying to imagine how I was ever going to get through another 3 1/2 months, and then there you go. My Gramma is coming.

And thank-you so much to everyone who contributed to the Christmas package that my family sent! I am being very well disciplined and self-controlled and I am going to wait to open the letters and pressies until Christmas day. But anyway, thank-you so much, it made my day x a billion.

And sorry that I haven't been able to get pictures up lately. I had extremely good intentions today...but David took the picture converter devise thingy to Mercy Home with him...therefore leaving me powerless to upload. They will come soon!