Belated Merry Christmas!!!

Well, an African Christmas seems more like fourth of July, but with out the fireworks. We had a good time. We all went to the church and ate a big African meal together. It was fun watching all the ladies cook. They were singing and dancing and have a good time together. Amma really enjoyed it.
We had a Christmas church service, I guess. George just talked about how most people celebrate Christmas in Kenya and how we are going to do it different. It seemed to drag on, I think because we was talking till the food was ready. I was starving!! It was close to two o'clock and I did not have much for breakfast. Than finally the food was ready. We ate and enjoyed each other company. Than people sang Christmas songs, danced and did a few skits. It was nothing spectacular, but we had a good time.
One thing everyone does here is the try to look their best on Christmas. They all buy new cloths and get there hair all done. So everyone looks really nice everywhere. It is probably the only time of year everyone wears new cloths at the same time. Here they normally wear them till the literally fall off. So seeing everyone in new cloths almost feels like spring time when the flowers bloom.
I have really gotten used to it here. I'm getting to know a lot of different people in town. It almost feels like i have been here my whole life. I love how friendly the people are here. The people here have shown me how unfriendly I am. I plan to change that when I get home.

Dec. 23

I started out today going to the gym. I try to go once a week. Than after that I sat around the house. I was trying to think of something to do, all Simon and Lloyd wanted to do is watch tv. After awhile I fell asleep and then got a call from George. He asked me if I was bored, I told him yes, than he told me that Fred was going to pick me up and take me where he was. Fred is one of the men in the church, he has a motorcycle. George was getting something done to the van at a garage close to where he lives.

After sitting there with George waiting for the guy to get done. George said that he was hungry and we went to a restaurant right next to the garage. I was not hungry because I at lunch a hour ago, he was not home so he missed lunch. He ordered some food and told me to try it, so i did. It was chicken and I got the juice on my figures, since there were no napkins and there was a sink in the corner I went to wash of my hands. On the way to the sink I walked by the kitchen. It only took one quick glance and I had to run to the sink so I would not throw up on the floor. Just kidding!!:):) The kitchen was the dirtiest kitchen I have ever seen. It look like they sold Cole in there and had never wiped down anything before. There was also pieces of chicken all over the floor. If they had health inspections here they would burn the place down. After I washed my hand off I looked back and say George happily finishing his chicken. The poor man had no clue. He say my face on the way back and had to wash his hand, than he say it. He started laughing and said, "so that is why you did not eat." It really was not the reason, but it would of been if I was hungry.

Than after that whole fiasco we took motorcycles into town. Mine ran out of gas on the way, so I got off and walked a little ways and got on another one to finish the ride. It was fun!! I like it when there is an adventure. George was there waiting for me and we went on our way. We did not have anything really to do in town. We were just passing the time while the van was being worked on. We just had a good time together. Than we took bikes back and that could not be normal either it started to rain, but luckily it did not rain very hard.

Well, that was my little adventure for the day. Things are really doing great here. I am very used to it here now and wander what it is going to be like readjusting. I miss you all and hope you have a merry Christmas.

Dec. 19

I took the older young people swimming. It was fun. They all do not know how to swim and most of them have not swam since Mala was here. They still had a very good time splashing each other. I was trying to teach them, but Lloyd was the only one brave enough. It is funny how fast he would sink. No matter what I tried to have him do he could not keep his head above the water. Being the person he is he kept trying. Towards the end he was able to do what I showed him, but still had the fear of the deep water.
We were there from 11am till 3pm. In the direct sun. You will not believe it, but I got sun burnt. I did not bring any sunscreen from home and do not think they even sell it here. I know I was going to pay for it, but pain is only temporary.
George finally came to get us, he was supposed to come at 2. We were all hungry. They sold food there, but I had George hold my wallet. He left and I forgot he had it till he was already gone. I had no cell phone or anyway to contact him. I just had to wait til he picked us up. When he finally came to pick us up I asked him to take us to the place to eat goat. He had a meeting, so he could only drop us off. The restaurant is out of Nakuru by 15 min. So after eating the goat and sitting around there laughing at our waiter, we had to find a ride back. We stood by the road till a matato drove by and we waved it down. (A matato is a taxi van.) So we all crammed in and road back to Nakuru. Than once we got into town we walked to George's house, it was about an hour walk. They took me by a school a few of them go to. We had a good time.
Than when we got to George's house I taught them a few ceilis. That was fun because the dancing they are used to is the complete opposite. They have been asking me to teach them, but it never seemed to work out. Everything here is always a process. They really seemed to enjoy it. I am hoping to do it again with them at Christmas, but we will see. Well, that is my adventures for today. I love and miss all of you!!

Dec. 17

We went to Nairobi today. George has some business to do for his mom, so Abba, Amma and I came along. It was very enjoyable being in a big city because it is almost familiar. While George did his business Abba, Amma and I walk all over. We walked around for three hours. We went into all kinds of stores. We had a few things we wanted to get and we found a gift shop with some really good prices. We didn't buy anything. We are going to see if we can get a guy here can give us those prices.
Than when it was time for lunch we were going to meet George at the van, but he called and said he would come find us. We stopped and wanted for a while it was kind of fun. He was calling every few minutes. We were looking and looking for the van. We ended up standing on a curb in the middle of the road so that he would not miss us if he drove by. One problem is there are a lot of vans like the one we have. We kept thinking we say our van. After about the seventh call from George, an African man came up and was helping us explain to George where we were. Abba ended up handing him the phone and after a few second of him speaking swahili he told us to follow him. One thing about the people here they are really friendly and helpful. There was George standing there. We suddenly realized he did not have the van. We were looking for the van the whole time. No wonder we never found him. He could of walked by and we would have never seen him. After we finally found a place to eat and finished eating. George still had a few things to do, so Abba, Amma and I went to central park. We were kind of done walking around so we found some shade and a bench. I ended up falling asleep on a bench. It was nice to get out and we had a good time.

Dec. 14

Another day in Africa. We did not do very much today. We just went into town in the morning and were at the house the rest of the day. I have been trying to learn the guitar and played it till my finger were numb. I'm trying to learn a song on the guitar, so that i can sing something for Christmas. I have never played the guitar before. It has been coming slow, but i have had more time than i am used to. Abba has been teaching me and it is starting to be really fun to play.
Today I felt like I just wanted to go home. I miss all my friends, I miss my bed, I miss things that are familiar. So today I'm glad that I had something to keep me occupied. One thing I wish I had more than anything is a friend here with me. Although George is starting to became a very good friend. We have been telling each other our life stories. We have a lot of fun. His laugh is like something I have never heard. When ever he laughs I can't help but to laugh.
It is awesome how God always is there for every need, if you just sit still enough to accepted it. When I need a friend George is there. If I need a mothers help Amma is there. If I need a fathers advice Abba is there. What I'm trying to say is you have to open your eyes to see. It is funny how much I struggle, than I realize the answer is so simple. That is something that I have been learning lately.
I was just thinking I do not now how many people read this blog. I hope I am doing an ok job. I also hope my grammar is not so bad, that you have to read it with one eye closed and you tonge sticking out just so it makes sense. I forget that I'm not writing to a few people, but to a lot of people. I wish I was a better writer and that I had more to write about.
Well, that is what happened today and some random thoughts of mine. I hope all is well.

A day in town

This whole week we have not anything to do during the day. So the last few days have been very uneventful. Today I was determined to do something. I started the day by going to the gym. Than when I got back I was thinking about going to town. I was trying to decide if I was brave enough to go alone. I made up my mind that I was going to go by myself. I was waiting for the phone battery to charge and Lloyd walked in. It was a good think he did because we had a lot of fun.
First we took a motor bike ride into town, that was fun. I was wanting to get some sunglasses. We walked on almost every road in the whole city. We started look for sunglasses, but I liked a pair that I say the first place we went. I wanted to have some reason to keep walking around, so I told Lloyd I wanted to keep looking. We looked in every place we thought might sell them. We looked in this one building that was nine stores high. It is kind of like a mall. it had lots of stores in it. Lloyd and I ran all the way to the top floor. After like the six floor they were still doing a little bit of work, like painting and finishing work. I'm not sure if we were aloud up there. The people working just looked at us like we were not, but never said anything. We ran to the top and took some pictures of the town from out the window.After we walked every where, we walked all the way to the other side of town. That is where I found the sunglasses I liked. After I bought the sunglasses I took Lloyd to the only cafe I knew of that sells coffee and bought him a latte. Before than he never even heard the name latte before. We sat there at the cafe for a while and had a good time. Than we had a boda boda take us home, a person who taxis people around you ride on a seat in the back. Lloyd and I got on two different bikes and the two drivers I think were racing. It all started when the bike Lloyd was on passed mine. Then The rest of the ride was a little scary. They do not have speed limits here, so they put speed bumps everywhere you would need to slow down. My driver decided not to slow down over one of the bumps because Lloyd was getting ahead. I almost bounced off the seat. It was fun though a little scary, but that is what made it fun. We made it home without a scratch.

The youth have been meeting everyday to practice what they are doing for Christmas. They asked me to came and I went. On the way home it started pouring down rain. Lloyd and I ran the whole way. We were totally soaked. It was fun. I like being in the rain.

Now I'm sitting around waiting for dinner. After everything i did today I'm really hungry. It smells really good. That is all for today. Time for dinner!!!

Hair cut

Today Abba and I got our hair cut. George got a shave. I was a little nervous about having someone cut my hair who is used to cutting African hair. He did a good job. My hair is about as short as it was when I left for Africa. It look really short in the picture. They put this stuff oily stuff in my hair when they are done. First they cut the have, then they wash it, then they give you a massage. They massage your head, neck and shoulders. It felt nice.

Before

After

The adventures ever end

Wow!! Today was quite the African adventure. Today we went to go and see hot springs. It was amazing. Even before we got there. Nakuru is really green and stays at a very comfortable temperature. Where the springs are is almost like the dessert. It was close to a hundred degrees. The hottest i have been so far. On the way we almost ran into a ostrich. We quickly pulled over and ran after it so we could get a good picture. We also stopped by the Equator, took a few picture and jumped in the car before we were bombard by people trying to sell us all the stuff they had. Than after close to a two hour drive, we made it. It was a very beautiful drive. Pictures just can't captor the true beauty.
We had to pay to get in. It was almost like a safari. There was a big salt water lake, filled with flamingos. The van George has is really nice, the top comes up, so we could stand up. We took loads of pictures of all the wild life. The springs were gorgeous and very hot. They were not joking when they said hot springs. There is steam coming off of them and there were people standing in the steam. I eventually joined them. It was really neat feeling. First you would get really hot from the steam, than it will blow away from you than you would cool off. After we took pictures of the spring and stood in the steam we ate lunch. We were all really hungry. Man, the flies were all over everything it was crazy. Then we headed back home.
The adventure does not end here. When we were about thirty minutes down the road, the van broke down. It was not the best time to break down, but things always tend to happen at the worst time. We were in the bush, it was close to a hundred degrees, we had drank all our water and George did not have any tools. So George had to leave us and hitchhike to the nearest town to get a mechanic. It took him about forty five minutes to get the mechanic and come back. What was wrong with the van there was a little tiny speck in the carburetor, that blocked it enough to make the van not run. The mechanic for got his screwdriver, so he used our butter knife from lunch. To get the speck out they got a thorn from a tree. All the trees around where we were have thorns. Believe it or not they fixed the van with a butter knife and a thorn. They did use other tools to get to the carburetor, that is why George did not just do it himself. George is a mechanic. Finally after two hours in the bush, in a hundred degrees, with no water, we got on the road again. The drive home was even more beautiful. The sun was starting to set and the temperature got cooler the close we got to Nakuru. Here are all the pictures that I took.

The big bird that was in the middle of the road.

Some of the scenery on the way.

Here we are.

The most wonderful people in the world

Hot Springs

The little speck

Our empty water bottles.

The mechanics

The opposite of yesterday

Today was the opposite of yesterday. I had a lot of fun. First we had a youth meeting. Abba and I showed them the Ingathering. That made me miss you all. I'm not sure what they thought about it they did not say anything the whole time. It is hard to read them.
After I played a few games of chess with Lloyd. We went and played soccer it was fun. My team at first was not a good team. They all left me at one point in the game to get a drink and left me there with one little boy. Before they left we had the only point, but when they left the other team made five points. I about killed myself running around like that. I did not go with them to get a drink because I can not drink that water. Only bottled water and I forgot to bring some. I had Simon go buy me some water. I had no clue where I would get some.

Then George drove up with Abba and Amma. Then I say Simon and Lloyd getting in the van and they drove off. I could not believe they left me. We did have young people from the church, but we had a lot of other kids. It is a good thing they came we would not have enough people without them. When Simon and Lloyd left we waited for a while. I did not know if they were even coming back they did not say anything to me. At this point we were all tired, so no one was playing any more. Vivian and I were kicking a ball around for a while then a few of us decided to go walk down where you go to take a safari. It was about a mile away from the field we were playng in. It is really beautiful and there was monkeys running around everywhere. I could see zebra and gazel off in the distance. On the way back we say the rest of the kids walking towards us. They got chased off the field by some guy. The field we played in is a school field. Simon and Lloyd asked if we could play on the field and they were fine with it. I guess that guy was not there. Then we walked back to George's house and met Simon and Lloyd on the way. They told me they left to help get the rice and beans.

Every month they buy rice and beans funded by the village. So we divided the 80 pound bags into something like one hundered fifty smaller bags. It took a while, but we had fun being together. There was five of us. They were trying to teach me some swahili. We had a good time. we laughed a lot. I am starting to be good friends with them. It is sad that I only have a month left, but at the same time I miss all of you. That is all for now.

rainy day

Today has been a rainy day. :( We were going to go to a water fall today, but decided not to. I guess it is a good thing because it have been raining all day. I have done everything I could keep myself occupied. I have just accepted the feeling of being bored.

I had nothing better to do, so I took a picture of the wonderful scenery i have out my window.











One of the things I did was take a picture of my multi-purpose bedroom. At night I have the whole room to myself. In the day it is were Beitris (the maid) sleeps on the bed with baby Mechelle. The bed is also used as the changing table. Now the room is used to keep all of Beitris, Mechelle and my stuff and very thing else that we can fit. It is not really as bad as it may sound. All those things are true about the room, but I'm very grateful for where I am staying. It is like a mansion compared to how everyone else lives here in Kenya. You have to take the bitter with the sweet. I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not in America anymore.
Tomorrow is going to be fun. I have been planning a soccer game with all the young people here with Simon and Lloyd. It has been quit a process. I can't wait, hopefully it will rain tomorrow and make everything a bigger adventure. Other than not doing anything today things have been going really well. Abba teaching have been really encouraging me. I hope he does them at home so that you all can benefit from them also. I miss you all.

Today I grilled the pork chops. I was in a little back ally. I smoked up the whole house. The coal got a little out of hand at first. I thought I was going to make char coal out of the pork chops. The flames went pretty high for such a little thing. I figured it out and the pork chops ended up perfect. They tasted great, like they were cooked over a fire. It reminded of camping at home. I looked up and say all the stars and the moon. I started to get homesick, but the pork chops kept me on my toes. It was a lot of fun.

still have mice in my room

Last night I had a mouse in my bed!! I got up to turn on my fan and when I pulled up my mosquito net there it was. I was horrified. I do not know how long it was in there. How the mouse got in my bed was it climbed up my mosquito net. I think it was trying to get the peanuts I had on my night stand. I have not seen a mouse in a week, so i thought they were gone. I found mouse traps at Wool Matt finally, but I did not think I was going to need it so I never bought it. I will try to remember to buy one next we go to Wool Matt.
Today we did a budget. it is really nice to have a guide line on how much to spend a week. I already had a budget I had for myself so that i could space out my money, but I could never tell how much I was going to spend on food. Because I never know when i would pay for groceries or for when we went out to eat. Abba and I would take turns paying for groceries. We were eating out way to much, so now that we have a budget of money for food in a week it will really help with our spending. We are only going to try to go out once a week now. Everything is doing really well. I feel really good at least physically and spiritually. I have never felt this close to God before in my life. It feels like something has woken up inside. Abba's teaching are really encouraging. I'm really enjoying seeing how a church is built. This whole experience have been so incredible. I really hope that God will let me come back here and let me go to other countries to help build the church. It is amazing work. Hard work, but there is nothing more worth it.
I was feeling really discouraged and depressed last week. I have been able to spend sometime with Abba just me and him, it has not been very much, but it has helped me. We did not talk about much, but just being with Abba helps me. Because he really loves God and it radiates off him. I feel like the luckiest boy in the world for getting this opportunity to come to Africa. I am very grateful. Thank you all for your prayers. I miss you all very much. Thank you for doing what you do great or small to keep the village going. It is a place I am honored to call home.

Monday

Well, I do not have much to really talk about. There are not as many new things now. It almost feels like I have been here all my life. It is really weird.
One thing that happened today that stuck out to me, was I always joke with George that he is my roll model. He always asks me to serve him at dinner or get him a drink of water when he is watching TV. So I pull the roll model deal. We always get into argument on who served who last. Today Amma said that we sound like brothers. I thought that was pretty neat, because I have never had a older sibling. I'm the oldest in my family. I do not know what it would be like to have a older brother. Anyway, he is I think fifteen years older than me, that would be a really old brother. I like George he is a really good friend and we get along really well. There is time when things he does starts to get under my skin, but I don't let that get in the way. Well, that is a little something for today.

Cleaning the tent

Wow!! Today was not boring. Well, I did wait all morning for Simon and Lloyd, so we could clean the tent. They decided not to and did not tell me. They said 7:30 they were going to come and I was ready, but they never showed up. It was for the better in the end. After our usual youth meeting with Abba on Saturday. We all came to George's house. Well, Simon and Lloyd disappeared right as we got there and left me with all the girl. Amma was not feeling well and she asked me to make her some popcorn. I have never made popcorn before. Amma told me how and She also said that I should make some for all the girls. So I thought I would practice on them first before I made Amma popcorn. I went to the kichen and got a pot. When I looked up all the girl were looking in the kichen at me with faces that obviously said what is he doing. I laugh to myself. So i made the first batch it was easy and it turned out fine. I was very suprized I did not burn it. You should of seen the girls faces when I brought the bowl in. I must say it did sit there for a while. I guess they were waiting to see who was the bravest, but before I was done with Amma's batch they brought in the empty bowl. Finally Simon and Lloyd showed back up and we started to clean the tent. It was a lot of fun. We had a big water fight. They all went after me at first than I showed them. It ended up being everyone against everyone. I would of taken pictures, but unfortunately I was to wet to hold anything electronic. After hours of soaking each other we finally cleaned the tent. I did not think we were ever going to get done. They were all freezing cold, it was around 70 degrees outside. We all at this time were hungry, so we ate anything we could find within reason. Simon heated up some water and everyone started making tea. There was mustard on the table and they had never had it before. I almost got a few of the girls to put it in their tea, but I could not keep a straight face. We had a lot of fun.

home sick

Today was a good day. We went to the crater. It was beautiful!!!! I love being outside!!!! It was a lot of fun Lloyd and I climbed around a little bit it was fun. Real tiring, but I loved it. There was a very nice breeze the whole time that was very refreshing.
I have been getting real home sick lately. It got worse when Abba turned on an ingathering DVD. seeing all your faces. I miss you guys. Than for dinner Amma made chicken Alfredo and today I bought a snickers candy bar. They sell them at Wool Matt. I have been buying one like every week. It is something familiar. I have two more in the fridge lets hope I can eat them before George finds them. I bough him one a few weeks ago and he loves them.
I have been here for a month now. Half way though the trip. This has been the longest I have been away from the village, since I have moved there. So the longest I have been away in eleven years.
I went to the gym today. Wow!!! From the combination of being sick and being higher above sea level than I am used to. I was weak and could not do half what I usually can do. I started doing jump rope after lifting weights and I got real light headed. So I sat down for the rest of the time. So I worked out for about fifteen minuates. Amma told me before I left if I passed out than we could not go to the Crater. So I did not push myself. We are going again on Monday.

Pictures at the Crater

All these pictures were taken by Simon and Loyd. They asked me for my camera right as we got there. I was to busy enjoying the scenery to care. I love the outdoors!!!


This is a picture of Nakuru. The less crowded area.

More crater. Isn't it beautiful!!


This weird guy that got in the way.

Simon wanting to fly. I told him I would help, but he did not want any help.

Lloyd

There is that guy in the way again.

Today today today

Today was a normal day filled with the usual. Going to town, sitting in the van forever waiting for George to finish talking to someone. I'm starting to not like going to town because it usually mean I am going to be stuck in the van for at least an hour sitting and waiting for George. George usually tells us, "Two minutes." and it takes him at least fifteen. Then when we are at home after i check my emails and write a blog. I will try to watch tv. The funny things is the only thing that is always in english is cartoons. So I always ends up watching these really stupid cartoons. I think all the shows that do not make it in America end up here. I am so glad that we do not watch TV at home. It is such a waste of time. I really wish there was something better to do here. I have run out of ideas of things to do. I do not know maybe I could make faces at myself in the mirror. Or I could look out my window in my room and try to imagine the concrete wall is a tropical rain forest. We do thinks everyday there is always something we do. There is just that time in the middle where there is nothing. I'm still waiting for Simon and Lloyd to get out of school. I think they do this week. I really hope so I am about to go crazy. If you can't tell I'm feeling much better. I was so sick a week ago all I did was sleep. Now I feel totally normal and full of energy. Well, at least at this moment I have lot of energy.
I got to do something different than watching cartoons. George forgot to turn the lights out on the van, so we had to push start it. The thing that made it hard was that he had the van park in the courtyard. Abba came and helped me push. We only had about thirty feet to push the van. So we pushed it back and forth till we got it started. It was actually fun pushing the van back and forth. That is all for today.

Another day in Africa

George took Abba to play pool today. It was pretty fun to watch. George beat Abba three of the four time they played. The table and balls we been playing with is a little smaller than we, Abba and I, are used to. So George had us there. It was funny watching Abba get beat, he did not like it. He could not take it and throughout the day he would bring up how he should of hit this one ball softer. It was funny.

Other than that we visited three people. It was the usual ask questions and write is down. The people are really sweet. Now we are all on our computers typing away on emails and blogs.

I wish that I had more to tell you about, but I don't. I hope everyone at home is doing well. Not freezing to death or anything. The weather here is beautiful!!

fun

I went and shot pool with George today. It was a lot of fun!! All the young people came along. The place was kind of like a bar, I guess. There was a birthday party and they were doing a bunch of dancing games with the kids. It was really cute. All the young people went and watched that when George and I shot pool. George is pretty good. He beat me 5 out of 8 times. It is crazy how cheap things are around here. I payed for all the games we played and bought everyone a soda. It only cost around $10. We plan on going back and we are going to bring Abba. I can not wait for that. It will be really fun to see Abba get competitive with George.
I am feeling a lot better. The drugs I'm taking make me really drowsy. Not thinking I took them before the gathering. It was really hard not to fall asleep. It was a really tough to focused. I hope I can quit taking them soon. I do not like being sick or taking all these drugs and herbs. I'm determined to get better.
I have really had to ask God for strength because I have had to rest a lot and it really started to get on my nerves. I know it is the only way I can get better. Sometime I felt so sick I wanted to rest. I had a lot of talks with God asking why he let me get sick. I know he just wants me to trust that he will take care of me. So eventually I found peace inside.
Amma has taken very good care of me. I'm so so grateful she is here. I'm very lucky. I am getting to know Abba and Amma a lot better. I miss you all!!

Jailbird George

Today we had quite the adventure. George got arrested!!! He is out already. He dropped Abba, Amma and Simon at a grocery store after a youth meeting. We were all in the van. Yes, all the young people. We were packed in. George could not find a place to park so he double parked. A female police officer got into the passengers side and started yelling at him. Then George told Lloyd, Vivian and myself to get out and wait for Abba to get out of the store. I did not understand why till Vivian told me he has to go to the police station. So we went and found Abba and told him and helped carry everything. We stood outside the store for a while, thinking he would be right back. It was really busy where we were standing, so we went across the street. After waiting a while there we called George and he told us that they are arresting him and he needed Abba to come get him out. All six of us packed into a three wheeled taxi thing, we barely fit, to the police office first and drop Abba and Simon off. The rest of the kids in the van where sitting there on the other side of the fence waving at us. I did not want to leave them, but there was not even close to enough room. So we left them there and came home. Those three wheeled thing are fun to ride in a little bumpy, but it was still fun. That is the adventure for today.