"Let the Children Come"

Mark 19:4 “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.””

Today, I attended what an African church service with Karen (A friend and coworker at icipe). My mentor thought it would be a good service for me! It involved singing, dancing, clapping, and a rather loud sermon. But it was fun. J It was about a 3 hour service, but I was able to understand most of it. I sat next to a man who translated the Swahili parts for me so I would understand.

As a visitor, I was given a rose. It was a pretty red rose that had barely started to uncurl! Isn’t it ironic that only last week, I was saying I wish I had flowers, and here I am with my rose!

During the service, the visitors were escorted to a separate prayer area. We said our name, filled out a card, and had some tea and pastries. Afterwards, I walked outside to stand in front of the church to wait for Karen to come out. I was talking to a lady who had greeted me, when I felt tugging on my hair. I turned and saw about 5 kids all touching my hair. I turned around and talked to them, introducing myself and whatnot. More people from the church would come to greet me, and when I would look down, my group of children had grown! So I told them a little about me, my home, and their names. After a while, we were shown into their main Sunday School room because the group had grown so large. I was blessed to talk with a group of kids for about half an hour to an hour. They asked so many questions! I was asked if I knew Obama, Hannah Montana, and also about my dogs and sister when they came up. I was even asked to sing a song. I decided to do a song I learned back from church camp, and they seemed to really enjoy it! The group continued to grow until the room was full, and it was probably the biggest group of people I had ever spoken in front of independently and without any preparation. They all sang a beautiful song about the amount of God’s Love. How deep, how high, how long, and how wide. They sang it with such joy, and of all the moments to experience in a lifetime, to see the amount of love a child has for the Lord is amazing. It helps me remember the basics of my faith. The building blocks if you will.

Afterwards, they all hugged me, high fived me, and pet my hair before leaving.

Karen and I left, then met some of her friends at the mall food court. We hung out there for quite a while, then went to an arcade! It was actually a lot of fun, and we all felt a bit younger today.J I think today was truly a blessing for me. Every hug I received today has seemed to leave a print on my heart. I know that may sound a bit cheesy, but I really believe it. I don’t think you can go to a developing country, and not have something touch your heart. I learned more about myself today, and I was able to praise God by doing something I love; Teaching children. As I think back on today, I can’t help but have tears in my eyes.

Deuteronomy 3:24 ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?’

Fourteen Falls and Destiny Junior

I have been here for 5 weeks now. I can’t believe I only have 3 weeks left here, and I am really wishing I could add a few more days onto my time here. My next few weeks will be crazy busy, that is for sure.

On Friday, I went to Fourteen Falls in Thika. Thika is about 25 kilometers (a little over 15 miles) away from Nairobi, but I really couldn’t see a definite difference in the towns. There were scattered buildings the whole way there, and I would not be surprised at all if Thika and Nairobi were one in ten or twenty years. We drove by some pineapple farms on the way to the Falls. They seemed to be about the size of cornfields, and were all at different stages of growth. There was something a bit funny that I noticed though. Now, some farmers that plant corn back home will plant some male corn around the field as a “protection”.  At least that is true in the fields I detassle during the summers. Well, they plant some corn around the pineapples too! In a way, it reminded me of home. J

Once we got to the falls, I had to pay a small price for admission. While doing that, I met a teacher. She offered to let me join her school while they toured. I agreed, and I was introduced to 55 students between the ages of 6 and 10 from a school called Destiny Junior, who promised to all be my friends for the day! We scrambled down some rocks to a back to watch the waterfalls. It is really an amazing sight. During the drought season, which is what I am in now, you can count the 14 waterfalls. During the rainy season though, it is one united waterfall. I think I was able to experience more while with the school. We watched some boys jump of the falls (which was neat and scary all rolled into one).

Then we climbed into some boats and we across the river to a bank where we could see more of the falls. This bank was all rocks though. And while the children seemed fearless to jump from rock to rock, I was a bit more wary. I am scared of heights. This includes stairs and falling on rocks. So one of the guides helped me across all the rocks, and I was incredibly thankful. And he didn’t complain once if I held his hand too tight. We all chilled out on the rocks a bit. And it was really a nice place to just relax.

I think the kids really enjoyed being with me, and they were always trying to catch my eye and smile at me. I think I was watched pretty well. I was the strange American who was their friend for a day. They caught me doing some pretty silly things too… For instance, I have songs going through my head often. And without thinking, I sometimes kind of just, dance in place. Subtly of course! Well they thought this was great!

I had a lot of the school kids and staff ask me to come back to their school and visit sometime. They said I am always welcome, and if I ever want to brings friends from the States with me when I come again, they will let them come too! Hopefully I will be able to visit them before I head home. I would love to play at recess with some of my new friends.

I went home back to icipe, while the school continued on the excursions for the day. I will always be thankful to this school for letting me, a stranger, become “one of them” for the day, and I hope to remain contact with this school even after I return home. ♥

Baby Elephants, Kissing Giraffes, and Cuddling with Crocodiles!

Today it seemed like I was on full tourist mode! It was so much fun J

First, Ada and I went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. This foundation is run solely on donations and “adopting”. They save baby elephants whose parents have been killed from poaching or have otherwise disappeared. Between the hours of 11 to 12 noon, they bring out 24 baby elephants to be fed. They bottle feed all of the elephants and the elephants are then able to play around a little bit. First we say the youngest elephants, then after they left we saw the older elephants (about toddler age). They played in the dirt and water and would throw mud on each other. I was able to pet one and they are very very rough. And hairy! Some of the younger ones were clumsy and wobbly, and some of the older ones already had tusks. They were all adorable though.

After the elephants, we went to a giraffe manor. We were able to pet giraffes and feed them. There was only one giraffe at the deck though, and a lot of people, so it was difficult to get many good photos. I was able to kiss the giraffe a few times though. You put a pellet of food between your lips, and the giraffe “kisses” is out. It is a bit slobbery, but it is all part of the experience right! Their fur is nice and soft though, and they are very graceful creatures.

After kissing the giraffes, we went to Mamba Village. It has crocodiles, tortoises and ostriches. Ada and I got our own personal guide. Crocodiles are really very interesting creatures. They can live till they are 100 years old! Think of their behaviors as you would think of a human. They are all crabby when hungry and tired. The female moms are irritated when prodded often. The males fathers don’t let others touch their food, and will fight for what they believe is theirs. Teenagers are the most aggressive and irritated easily and quickly and will go from 0 to 60 in seconds. If you mess with one, you mess with all. And the babies are the calmest. They do bite though. I was able to hold a baby crocodile too! (Don’t worry, all fingers are still intact.)

Next we saw some tortoises. I held a really big one that was 50 years old I believe, and she was heavy! Then I held a younger one which was much easier. Then we visited the ostriches and I was allowed to feed a male ostrich through the fence.

So that is the basic gist of my day! 

Church and My Momma

Yesterday, I made sure to take some pictures of the church I have been attending here in Nairobi since I arrived 4 weeks ago. I am so happy I am able to go to church regularly here. The style of the service is a little different, but it is still good. It starts with about a little over half an hour of singing various songs. Most of these seem more contemporary, and I recognize a few from back when I went to church camp. But there are also slower songs that seem older. Then we do what I consider sharing of the peace, and we high five each other or shake hands. Then we have a short prayer, and let any first time visitors introduce themselves. Then we have about an hour long sermon. Then after, we have a few quick prayers and we are done. It is a pretty simple service.

 This is from standing right in front of the church.

 Inside the church.

 This is David. He works at icipe and we go to church together every Sunday.

 This, is a high-over. It is a walking bridge to cross the traffic. Now, I am terrified of heights. You can see how high this is, and even when walking across, I breathe faster and my heart pounds. Even going up the stairs is a challenge sometimes. I hate being so high.

 From the top of the highover. 

And my church from a distance. It is rather large.

Now that you have seen my church I have been attending, I would like to tell you how I feel I have changed since I have arrived. And the shortest way possible to tell you is this; I feel like my mom. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my momma dearly; I just didn’t think I would ever be sooo similar to her.  (Love you momma!)  For instance, I now wake up at 5:30 in the morning (sure it is mostly to text, but none the less, it is and inhuman hour to be awake) look forward to soap operas and I find myself just tidying my room because I think it should look nice. I go to be pretty early at night, and I have the same breakfast every morning.  I find myself saying things she says, and I even laugh like my mom! So, I just thought I would let you all know, that my mom and I are very similar at this point in time right now. I am sure once school starts again, I will not be waking up so early, but hey! We never know what life is going to bring us. Maybe mom and I will both be up extremely early in the morning! But truthfully, it is not so terrible to turn out like your mom… at least I know I am on the right track! So to all the moms, thank you for teaching us how to grow up. And to kids who turn out like their parents, it isn’t always too terrible. 

This picture is right before boarding the plane. And being away from home for so long, you start to really understand the importance of family in your life. I wouldn't have become the person I am today without them. :)

Museums, Markets, and Monkeys!!

I have so much to tell all of you! Today was a very exciting day, and I also want to update you on my schedules so you know what is going on.

So, today I met Ada at the Guest house at 10:00 today for us to go out to town. Kiatoko (my mentor) and Kioko (the manager of the guest house) were visiting with me and telling me all about Kenya. They were even giving me suggestions for when I get married and have a honeymoon! They were telling me about all the towns and the wildlife and attractions. I will definitely have to start saving to come back here someday. It is absolutely beautiful.

James met Ada and I to give us a ride to where we wanted to go. It was very nice of him, and we were both very thankful. It saved us a lot of time. Ada and I first went to the Nairobi National Museum. It was actually very entertaining. It had African animals on display, a human skull exhibit, a room full of birds, art, and Kenya history. It was really neat to be able to get so close to a giraffe (that was once alive at least) and see how tall they are.

 These are all gourds. They were all decorated and very neat. 

 I will always think of Pumba from the Lion King.

 lovebirds do exist!!

 My grandma likes cranes, so I had to get a picture with some African cranes!

 And a flamingo because they are pink!! 

 (I am not sure why it is sideways like this... it is just a mural though)

I am not completely sure what this is. Art. Maybe just a family and the chaos about life?? I don't know.

Then, we went to a snake park. It had all the snakes of Kenya (most can be found in Kakamega apparently). It also had some turtles, tortoises, and crocodiles. The snakes were rather frightening, especially when reading the symptoms of a bite. The turtles were pretty cool though. I think turtles must be extremely patient animals. They are agonizingly slow. And as for the crocodiles, they were just lazy. Large, but lazy. After the exhibit, there were some paths around the snake park for you to follow. We found this waterfall that looked really neat, and all these hidden little paths for you to explore.

 I really like this picture. It's like they are sunbathing and saying, "Yeah, were just chillin' guys, what's up?"

 Look how big the leaves are!!

 The waterfall we found.

 Palm trees (no coconuts) 

I'm a tree-hugger :) 

After this, James picked us up again to take us to the Village Market. He took me on a bit of a detour though. We went to the Westlands (a section of Nairobi) to grab a quick bite to eat. The Westlands is an area that many Indians live. It has restaurants, stores, and clothing similar to those in India. We went to a little restaurant in one of the many malls there for some food. It was an Indian restaurant and I didn’t recognize most of the foods. I did recognize milkshake and fries!  They were both cheap so I ordered those, as did Ada and James. Oh my gosh. Let me tell you, that was the biggest plate of fries I have ever received. And they were good! I would even go to say they were some of the best fries I have had. So, if we think about it, I had the best plate of fries, in and Indian restaurant, in Kenya.  J

Then James drove us to the Village Market. We went through Rosalie heights. This is where the richest of rich live. The houses are giant, with 15 to 20 bedrooms, gates with guards out from, and some really impressive cars cruising the streets. On the corners are little flower stands for people to buy flowers that look like they are straight from a story book. They have every color of rose you could ever want, and the bouquets they create are beautiful! I would have bought a few roses, but I felt they would just be wasted. You give flowers as a gift, to have them be put in a pretty vase. And alas, I am vase-less also. But it is okay!

 Sorry about the corn in the way, but this house is huge. 

 Another big house.

An example of the flowers. This was while we were walking by a store, but it's a similar idea. Just envision more colors and roses :) 

After Rosalie, we went by the US embassy (very high security and very… American looking in a way. It kind of looked a little like some hospitals or office buildings we have. Sorry, no pictures of the Embassy. I would get in big trouble.

Then, we finally got to the Village Market. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It was like a mixture of an outdoor mall, and an indoor mall. It looked like a very upper class village if you want to connect it to the name. But it was all very expensive. It was nothing like I had expected, I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I had hoped. It was all too expensive and high class for a high school student. They had things like vases and home decoration, and very expensive clothes and jewelry. It was very, European. I guess in my opinion, when you come to Africa, who wants to buy European feeling souvenirs. I am here to buy African souvenirs!! (Below are all pictures of the village market I took from a landing on some stairs.)

Ada and I left the market, and instead decided to travel to town. On the way there, we saw the city market. We stopped there. It is a market absolutely full of produce. Any fruit, vegetable, bean, and root you could imagine! And it smelled delicious. Citrus-y at times, spicy others, and sometimes just the smell of fresh veggies. We bought some roasted peanuts and walked to a public park. And you would not believe was there!

Monkeys! Walking around! I fed the monkeys the peanuts and they loved it. I would have multiple monkeys around me at once, taking the nuts from my hands and sitting on my lap. One monkey was very smart and when another was eating from my hand, he would try to take the whole bag of peanuts! It was so neat to feed the monkeys though. Their hands are soft and they don’t bite you. They will even nibble straight from your palm. No biting whatsoever. It was one of my favorite parts of the day, and I am sure my sister will be extremely jealous. (She loves monkeys)

 They loved me right away. I had barely walked into the park and they were surrounding me!

 The monkey was trying to steal all the peanuts! I couldn't help but laugh. Silly, greedy little monkey.

 I hope you are enjoying my expressions...

Ada wasn't a fan of the monkeys. But she fed a few:)

After leaving the monkeys, we went to town to do some shopping quick, not very much, then we headed back home to icipe.

So, now that you know all about my day, I will update you on some of my plans. My trip to Kakamega was moved to Monday the 22^nd. This is fine, as it gives me a week to prepare well. I have a few little trips planned for this coming week, but I don’t want to tell you yet in case they change! I will most certainly keep you updated though. My last few  weeks here will be filled with excitement I am sure.

I am halfway through my internship, and halfway home. When I first learned I was an intern, I thought two months was so long. Now, I wish I was staying a little longer! But, at the same time, I would get so homesick! Being so far from home, has really helped me decide to stay close for college. Only 10 months left until I am graduating High School, and only a little less than a year till college! It is almost scary to admit somedays.

I hope you enjoyed my post! I will keep you all in the loop.  J