Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011

MOVING DAY - THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY!

Friday morning, I finally moved into my new house.  At around 9:30, Mandy, Christy, Vicki, Jay, and I  loaded up the car with all my paraphernalia and headed for my new home.  We took a quick tour then headed for Nakamatt to get all the things I'd need to set up house.  Vicki and Jay were leaving for the airport at noon, so we didn't have a lot of time.  It's not very far from Louis' to my new house, but with the road conditions, it takes about 30 mins. one way.  We headed off in different directions and got my groceries and household items.  Mandy and Christy also got their groceries.  They dropped me off at my house with my goodies around 11:15.  I haven't heard if Vicki and Jay got home before their taxi or not.  I hope so!  I was very grateful for all the help!

Samuel, the gardener/night guard, and his wife, Grace, helped me go through everything in the whole house to see what was working, how to use certain things, and what wasn't working.  We spent most of the afternoon!  Kenneth came over after work around 7:00, and we went back to Nakamatt to buy a water cooler for me and a few other things I didn't get earlier.  By the time we got home, I warmed up a calzone from dinner the night before, put a few more things away, and dropped into bed around 11:00 quite exhausted.

So, here's the bottom line on the house...  Really lousy lighting in most of the house, but great lighting in the kitchen.  NO hot water!  (Of course, I didn't discover that until Saturday morning when I tried to shower in the two 1/2" streams of water that came out of the shower head.)  It took us about 45 mins. to try to get the stove/oven working.  First, the switch on the wall wouldn't stay on.  Once we got it on (it's still very undependable), the 2 electric burners worked, but the 4 gas burners didn't.  We finally realized that the propane gas was turned off (DUH!).  We still haven't figured out how to make the oven work, although the owner, who is presently in Germany, said she doesn't know if it ever worked.  She only comes here occasionally and doesn't usually cook much while she's here.  She's never tried to use the oven.  With no oven and no microwave, I may have to get VERY creative on my cooking.  Maybe I'll just eat "Raw" and call it good  (smile).

There's no stopper in the kitchen sink, so I think I'll try to buy one or a dishpan to wash my dishes in.   As I was attempting to make some sort of dinner after church today, I thought, "This reminds me of Girls' Camp - no hot water, nothing to wash dishes in, showering in a trickle of cool tap water, picking ants out of my cereal bowl, and swishing flies away when I took the lid off my frying pan."  Oh yes, and stepping on a cockroach while preparing dinner.  It was quickly hauled off by an army of tiny little ants - actually quite interesting to watch how they worked together to figure out which way to go and how many it would take to lift it all the way to the back door and under the door to the outside.

The first night, I couldn't get the locks off the back door to put my garbage outside so insects wouldn't invade my kitchen (any more than they already do).  The guard had to come and unlock the locks on the front door grate and take it out for me.  This place truly is like a fortress - that's the good news AND the bad news.  There's a lock on the big gate to let cars in, a lock on the little door in the front gate to let people in.  All three exterior doors have metal grates with 2 huge padlocks each, a key lock on the handle of the door, and then 2 or 3 metal bars that go across the inside of the doors!  Saturday morning, I couldn't unlock any of the padlocks, so Samuel came over and "rescued" me from my house.  I said that if there was a fire, I'd be toast before I could ever get out of the house!  We moved some of the locks around and practiced unlocking all the doors.  I'm getting better at it, and it now only takes me about 5 mins. to get out of a locked door.

It's really a nice house by Kenyan standards, I think.  I even have a mosquito net over my bed - yeah!  (Of course I couldn't figure out how to get out of it in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom - another learning curve thing - smile.  The brain doesn't think real clearly when you're half asleep, in the dark, and in a new environment.)  I took pictures of the inside on Saturday, but I couldn't open the door to get pictures of the outside.  I'll post some later.  Here is what it looks like.  I think you'll agree it's very nice.

 Living Room

 Look closely, and you'll see the metal bars

 My bedroom

 Dining room

 Maasai running from leopard - living room mural

 Guest bedroom

Patio door grate

Living room

It has a third bedroom that's locked for the owner when she comes back from Germany where she lives most of the time.  I think I forgot to take a picture of the kitchen and the bathroom.  Anyway, it's a good size.  I wish the lighting was better in the living room.  I can only be in there until about 5:30, then it gets too dark to see anything even with the light on.  Tonight, in fact, the electricity went out just after dusk for about 1 1/2 hrs.  Luckily, I bought a tiny little solar flashlight that I was able to use.  Flashlight and batteries for a small lantern that's here are now on my shopping list for this week.  Samuel brought me 2 small candles over, but by the time he got here from the store, the lights were back on.   I'm sure they will get used, however.  The electricity has gone out probably 5 times since I've been in Kenya, but this is the first time after dark.

I've been sleeping with a fan blowing right over my head the past two nights, and this morning I woke up with pink eye (I think).  I had to teach Relief Society this morning, so I had to go to church, but if it looks like this tomorrow, I won't go to school.  If it is pink eye, it's extremely contagious.  I wouldn't want to give this to any of the kids.  All the windows have screens on them, which is a real boon since we had to close all the windows at dusk at Louis' home so all the mosquitos, etc., wouldn't come in.  Now, I can leave all my windows open all day and night.  Hopefully, it will be cool enough to sleep without the fan on.  The weather is starting to warm up more, so I don't know how long that will work.

Yesterday, Samuel and I walked down to Ukunda, and he showed me all the little outdoor vendors, a Maasai wood carving factory, and other things.  He gave me pointers along the way of where to catch a matatu, get a motorcycle ride, how to stay safe, etc.  We were gone for nearly 2 hours.  It was really fun to see everything up closely.  I've only driven by before.  I didn't know we were going clear down there, so I didn't take any money with me.  I'll go back another day and do some shopping.  I really enjoyed the walk.

I've got more news, but I think this is enough for you to digest in one sitting.

Until next time,
Kadi

(P.S.  In case you haven't noticed, I messed up on Sept. 13th's entry.  I said it was Thursday, but it was only Tuesday.   I have NO CLUE what day or date it is anymore!)

Thursday, September 13, 2011

Since today's been pretty normal, I thought I wouldn't have as much to say and could take some time to send a few pictures.  I put labels with the ones I sent yesterday, but I guess I did something wrong because they didn't show up with the pictures.  I'm going to try a new approach today.

First, however, I wanted to tell you about last Friday at school.  Every Friday, they have an assembly and flag ceremony outside in the morning with all the students.  That's when they give general announcements to everyone.  They also introduced me to all the students as a new member of the staff  and asked me to tell the kids a little about myself.

                                             Students from Word of Life Christian Academy

Next, the kids from Standards 1, 2, and 3 went back to their classrooms while the older students walked across the street to the Word of Life church where they had a thing called "P.P.I." - I don't remember what that stands for, but it's basically a worship service and short bible study.  They had several students get up in front and sing a song, all the students then sang a few songs, there were a few speakers and then the main speaker spoke to the students about planning for success.  It was sort of a pep talk especially for the 8th Standard because they will be taking their most important exams in November.  That is the end of their primary school years, and it is apparently extremely important for them to do well.  All the students will be taking exams then, as well, so it was also for them.

I didn't catch his name, but the speaker made some very good points:  God is a planner, he is not a God of disorder.  He mentioned a saying I've heard many times - "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  He said there are four things you need to do to plan for success:  1.  Do you have a plan?  What are your goals?  2.  Do some research and evaluation.  Know your strengths and weaknesses.  3.  Seek help.  4.  Involve God.   Ask God to guide you and enlighten your mind.  If you plan, you have a relaxed life (not always tense) and an enjoyable life.  Even though I'm not a member of their faith, I was very uplifted by the service.  I quite enjoyed it.  It went from about 8:30 to 10:00, but it seemed to go by rather quickly.

                                                            Word of Life Church

Salim, my tuktuk driver, showed up at school at 12:30 in a different tuktuk and with another driver.  His tuktuk was broken down (no surprise!), so he had the other guy pick me up.  What a difference in the ride!  It still hurt my back over the bumps, but it was much smoother AND actually had a short door on both sides so I wouldn't fall out.  Too bad HE isn't my driver on a regular basis.  I figure I've only got a couple more days to live with the one I've been getting, but I noticed the other guy's number in the window, so I wrote it down for future reference.

                                Tuktuk in Mombasa from last summer (much nicer than mine now)

After school this afternoon, I walked along the beach and discovered the camel's tracks I've been hoping for since last summer.  I haven't been sure where to find it, but wanted to go for a ride.  I just knew he was somewhere along the beach.   Tomorrow, I'm meeting the man at 3:00 to have my camel ride.  I haven't seen the camel or what the seat looks like, so this is sight unseen.  I'm so EXCITED!

It's Mandy's birthday today, so we are all going out for a Chinese dinner to celebrate.

Until next time,
Kadi

Monday, September 12, 2011

It's been a little busy the past few days since I last wrote.  School is getting easier each day for me.  I've decided to focus only on math classes, so I'm now working with Job in the 4th Standard, Peter in the 5th, and Mwangi in 6th.  I think that will be a much better use of my time.  I rather doubt the students would learn much from me if I taught Peter's Kiswahili (smile) or his 6th Standard Social Studies class.   They were talking about Chieftains and Kingdoms - something I'm completely clueless about!  I think I'll just stick to something I know - math - for all of our sakes.  Besides, I'll have fewer breaks that way so I won't feel like I'm wasting my time sitting around the Teacher's Lounge.

I'm still in the "observation" phase, but I have started walking around helping individual students with their work.  Today, I actually had students requesting my help ("Madame", I would hear).  I think they are beginning to accept me and are starting to feel comfortable with me - at least in Peter's class.  I haven't been in the other two enough yet for that to happen.

Thursday, I got a "fun?" experience of riding a beat-up tuktuk home from school.  It's like a three-wheeled motorized jalopy with kind of open sides that seats two people.  To start it, the driver pulls a chord something like when you pull the chord on a lawn mower.  We had just started going when the driver asked me if I had 100 shillings (about $1.07) so he could put in a liter of gas.  One liter is about 113 shillings, so that's not much gas.  There are 3.8 L. in 1 gallon, for those of you who are metrically challenged.  The roads here are EXTREMELY bumpy, so riding in a tuktuk, which has absolutely NO shocks, is NOT my idea of a good time.  I feel like I have to hang onto something to keep from flying out of the side when we go over the bumps.  My chiropractor would have a fit if he saw what I'm riding in.  It KILLS my back, but it's about the only option for transportation short of paying for a taxi which is about $30 as opposed to 500 shillings ($5.38).  I'm guessing it's only about 10 km (6.2 miles) from school to home, but it takes nearly a half an hour over these bumpy roads.  To top off the excitement for my first day in a tuktuk, this year (I rode a significantly nicer one in Mombasa last summer), it started to rain heavily.  Unfortunately, the driver didn't think it was going to rain, so he had nothing to keep the rain from coming in onto me from both sides.  Luckily, I was on my way home and not on my way to school - I looked and felt somewhat like a drowned rat when I got out.
Today's ride was a bit better, but my back is still hurting from it.

Wednesday night, I went to dinner with a couple who is staying here for a few days.  We went to the Sands Hotel, which is right on the beach, but a little too windy to eat outside, and had a nice buffet dinner - Kenyan style.  I steered clear of a few things, but I tried most of the items.  I had red snapper for the first time.  It was delicious!  Some of their food here (even not at the hotel) is called the same thing as our food, but it definitely doesn't taste like our food.   Oh yes, we also had cats and dogs roaming freely around under our feet.  It was a very enjoyable night, all in all, however.

Thursday was about the same as Wednesday, but I started going to the other two teachers' classes.  At home, we played Nerts (a card game) until about 9:30.  We added to our mosquito bite count, but it was worth it.  I love playing games!

Friday, I finally broke down and tried using the bathroom at school again.  The first day I was there, I came out asking if there was any soap anywhere.  The "custodian" (I don't know what they call her here) said, "I will make sure there is some in there tomorrow."  Well, on Friday, there was not only soap, but also a hand towel that she had hung over the corner of the mirror.  I thought that was so thoughtful of her!

I did a little shopping after school with Vicky and Jay (the couple staying here) and Christy (who lives here with her husband).  It felt good to just go somewhere - even if it was just to the grocery store and a few other little "strip mall" type stores.  I order a skirt to be made out of a kikoi - an African fabric with a Swahili saying on it. ( I picked that up today, and it turned out well.)  The guy who sews the clothes uses a rather primitive sewing machine with a foot pedal that he pumps to make it go, but he was very fast and very good.

Saturday at 7:15 AM, Churchill (the taxi driver that picked me up at the airport) picked Vicky, Jay, and me up and drove us down to Wasini Island on the highway that connects Kenya with Tanzania.  We got on a small motorized boat that took us about one and one-half hours to a different island where we snorkeled.  Prior to that, however, we got to see many dolphins very close to our boat.  They are so fun to watch.  We could see the mountains of Tanzania off in the distance.  After snorkeling, we went to Wasini Island for lunch.  I ordered the seafood lunch which was a chipoti (kind of like a flour tortilla) stuffed with seaweed - very tasty, half crab, white snapper, and coconut milk rice.  It was all really good, but I'm not real big on having a crab stare at me, nor a fish's head, while I'm eating their body.  They had a big wooden club by each of our places to smack the crab with.   It worked quite well, but I felt a bit abusive even though it was dead!

After lunch, we walked through a village and got accosted by the children.  They are extremely poor, and they've learned how to beg, harass, do whatever it takes to get something from you.  They were almost like piranhas literally grabbing things out of peoples' hands!  They wanted me to give them my hat, my shoes, anything I had in my bag.  I don't mind giving to children in need, but these children have been taught to do this, and it was rather disturbing to me.  (It was such a different experience we had the day before when we stopped at a little school on Friday to give them some pencils, paper, sharpeners, and colored pencils.  They were completely grateful and very gracious about it, and they were even poorer than the children in the village.)  There are only about 1,000 people who live on the island, and the women have been the ones to come up with ways to earn money, which is funneled into their school.
After leaving the island, the workers on the boat put up a sail, and we sailed back to the mainland.  It was a very nice day, all in all.

I went to church in Mombasa on Sunday - another 7 hour day coming and going.  They asked me to teach Relief Society next week.  They must be pretty hard up to ask someone who has only been there two times to teach their lesson, but I agreed.  I realized that if I sit up near the front in the meetings and really focus on the speakers, I'm beginning to understand what they are saying better.  Again, it will just take time to get used to their English.

I'm still working on my housing, but I think it's close to being figured out.  I'll keep you posted.

Did you learn anything new about Africa today?  I hope so.

Kadi

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I started "teaching" at Word of Life today.  The day started off with a bang - I slept in by over an hour!  I had only 25 mins. to shower and get ready before Kenneth picked me up at 7:00 to drop me and his children off at school.  The best I could do was grab a banana for breakfast before I left.  My stomach was already not feeling very well because I had taken my malarone (malaria pills) and vitamins just before I went downstairs. Not a good plan!

I was earlier than I was supposed to be there by about 30 mins.  During that time, I got my first exposure to an African bathroom (a "good" one - really?).  There was a flush "pit latrine" - hole in the floor with a porcelain bowl in the ground.  There was no soap and no hand towel.  I was told before I came that there was a "sit-down" toilet that I could use.  Apparently, they dug it out and put this one in before I got here to give me a true African experience. (LOL)

I basically followed "Mr. Peter" around all day just to observe.  We had a 5th standard math class at 8:15.  Apparently, all the teachers push to get through ALL their curriculum in the first two trimesters and spend the third trimester reviewing everything they have taught to prepare the students for their standardized exams.  It appears to me that their whole curriculum is test driven.  Doing well on the test is of utmost importance.  I wondered how they could possibly get through their whole math book in just six months.  I worked my tail off clear up until the end of the school year trying to make it through our textbook.  The difference might be that ours was about 450 pages, if I remember correctly, while theirs is about 120 pages.

Peter had a break from 8:50 until the kids' break at 10:00, then he had their break as well, until 10:45!  All the teachers go to the Teachers' Lounge and drink tea and have plain bread.  They said because they come so early to school (6:00 A.M.), this is their breakfast.

After break, Peter taught 4th grade Kswahili (their primary language).  When I first walked to the back of the room to observe, one of the boys said, "You are very beautiful!"  That made my day right there!  I didn't catch any of the words being taught because the whole class was in Swahili, but he wrote a few words on the board.  They were talking about diseases.  I thought this was really interesting because he talked about elephantitis, A.I.D.S, whooping cough, malaria, tetanus, TB, and sleeping sickness.  How many fourth graders in the US have ever even HEARD of most of those diseases?  Yet these are diseases these students may have to face in their lifetime, and they need to be educated about them.

At 11:20, we went back to Math 5 and at 11:55 to Social Studies 6.  I tried really hard to focus on every word that Peter said because he speaks very fast (or so it seems to me), and each of the classrooms are connected at the ceiling only by the thatched-roof, so the sound from other classrooms tends to drift in.  I couldn't hear most of the students' comments because they spoke rather softly, and I was sitting behind them.  I hope that improves as I get more used to hearing THEIR English.  It's very different from ours.

Their lunch is from 12:30 - 2:00, so I was planning on going home for the rest of the day.  I've decided I really don't want to eat from their kitchen!  The students take their lunches back to their classrooms to eat, unsupervised (unheard of in the US), and then go outside to play.  They have the same lunch every week on the same day (i.e. every Wednesday they will have ugali - a white pasty dish made mostly of a kind of white corn meal and water, and a shredded cooked cabbage dish - that's it! ).   Even the teachers ate it all with their fingers!  They said, "That's the African way."

After seeing how they ate at break time and lunch time with their hands, seeing what the bathroom is  like, and having everyone want to shake my hand, I was SO READY to go home and wash my hands before I touched another thing!  Tonight, I made myself a little "sanitation kit" to take with me tomorrow.  I put toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, hand soap, hand sanitizer, and Wet Wipes into a ziplock bag that will follow me wherever I go!  There were no hand towels (paper or otherwise) or soap anywhere, and I had to really look for a wastebasket.  I don't think I saw one in any of the classrooms, either.

I had a problem getting a ride home, so I didn't arrive home until about 2:30.  I'd eaten only a banana and an orange all day.  I was ready for a nice bathroom, clean hands, and some lunch!

Well, that about sums it up for my first day at school.  I learned quite a lot about the African way of life and how they teach today.  I hope I've shared something that you, too, found of interest.

Take care and appreciate cleanliness in your life - I do!
Kadi

Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

I finally know where I'll be teaching for sure!  I first went to Word of Life Christian Academy this morning.  As I had suspected, no one knew I was coming.  Apparently, the Head Mistress, Esther, who is now in India for health reasons, didn't let anyone know about me.  Munga, the Assistant Head Master, met with me first.  I met him last year, and he remembered me.  I was grateful for that.  I went at about 8:30, but the students were all in class for their first day back to school, and I knew that would not be a good time to meet with the teacher.  I went back to Word of Life during their lunchtime and met with "Mr. Peter", the fifth standard (grade) math teacher.  We had a good chat, and I feel good about working with him.  He's taught for three years and has a 2 1/2 month old baby.  I liked him.

After leaving Word of Life this morning, I went to St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School to see if teaching there would be a possibility.  The Head Teacher said about the only thing they will be doing for the next 3 months is reviewing for the standardized tests all the students are required to take.  So bottom line, that one didn't work out after all.  It would have been more convenient to get there from the house I'm going to move into, but I think I liked Word of Life's "feel" better today than last time anyway.  Now, I just have to figure out how to get there every day.  That's the next hurdle.

Between last year's visit and today, I've learned a few things about the school so far.  The students actually start classes at 7:00 AM (except kindergartners come at 8:00).  Rather than having the students move from class to class like we did in fifth and sixth grade at my school and 7th and 8th grades all do, the teachers move from class to class.  They have four classes from 7:00 until 10:00.  They have a break at 10:00-10:45 (like a recess) while the teachers prepare for the next part of the day.  Apparently, they go to the Teachers' Lounge and have tea.  The students are left on their own for 45 minutes (from what I can tell so far).  At 10:45-12:30, they have three more classes, then lunch from 12:30-2:00.  (Wouldn't I have LOVED that lunch break!  I might have actually had time to chew my food AND socialize a bit.)  They have two more classes until 3:10.   At 3:10-3:30, the students have "Preps".  I'm not exactly sure yet what that is.  From 3:30-3:45, they "Sweep" - meaning they clean up the classrooms and get them ready for the next day.  From 3:45-4:30, they have "Games".  I'm not sure what that is, either.

The kindergartners leave at 3:30, 4th and 5th at 4:30, and 6th-8th at 6:30.  The sun rises at about 6:00 AM and sets around 6:00 PM; so basically, they are at school most or all of the daylight hours.  So, if a student has to walk to school, which many do, they have to leave their homes around 6:00 AM.  Then, they have another hour's walk back home.  After they get home, about the only thing they have time for is to eat and do homework before going to bed.  My students, how would you like that schedule - no after school snacks, computer games, piano lessons, la crosse games, ballet, cheer practices, etc.?

Mr. Peter (they call all the teachers by their first names because their last names are so hard to pronounce) teaches math at all different times during the week, so my schedule looks like it will change each day.  Tomorrow, he teaches math at 8:15-8:50, so I'm going to go around 8:00 and observe him in math and the other classes he teaches until lunchtime.  He also teaches 7th and 8th grade social studies and Swahili to 4th grade.  That's crazy!  I'm anxious to see a whole day's schedule.  I'll go another day after lunch and stay to the end of the day to observe, at this point, but maybe help teach some of his other classes.  I don't know yet...

So, I guess I'm official.  We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Until then, be happy.
Kadi

September 3, 2011

Today, this blog is especially for my students and their parents (and anyone else who cares to read it - smile). 

I'm sorry this has been so long in coming - I hope you hadn't totally given up on me.  I'm just a bit slow in the technology department (as you all know), plus getting ready to go took a lot more of my time than I thought it would.  I hope you are all enjoying 7th grade.  I'd love to see all of you again and see how much you have grown.  I hope you are doing well in school and working hard, especially in math!

I've been thinking a lot about all of you the past few days and wanted to give you a little food for thought...  I can't remember if I told you this from my last trip or not, but there are millions of bugs here.  In fact, in my first evening here, I got over 90 mosquito bites JUST on one leg below my knee.  Last night, I counted 120 plus in the same place!  (Luckily, I got vaccinated last year for yellow fever, and I'm taking medication daily for malaria.)   There are cockroaches, tiny little ants, all kinds of flying things.  Last time I came, I put some goodies I'd gotten en route to here into my dresser drawer and had some candy in my purse.  The first morning I went to open my dresser drawer, a cockroach scurried away, and my purse was FILLED with ants.  Two days later, the cockroach decided to join me for my shower.  Needless to say, I jumped out very quickly!  (I have to say, I'm a little smarter this year.  I put everything into ziplock bags, and I haven't put anything into my dresser.  So far, I haven't seen a single cockroach or ant in my bedroom, at least.)

I'm telling you all of this for a reason.  I want you to be VERY THANKFUL that you live in a clean home where you don't have insects crawling around everywhere on your food, dishes, floors, etc.  Be thankful for clean running water.  Last trip, we were without water for 3 whole days.  Already, we've had one day without any water.  I had to take a bucket of water from the swimming pool up to my bathroom to flush the toilet.  That's another thing - flush toilets.  Not everyone here has a flush toilet.  That is a real luxury!  Most people use what they call pit latrines - basically a hole in the ground that they stand over.  Not my idea of a good time.  Electricity is something we all take for granted in the USA.  If there's a power shortage for even a few hours, we hardly know how to handle it.  Last summer, when we didn't have any water, we also didn't have any electricity for three days... and I'm staying in a home that is like a 5-star resort!  We are very blessed indeed!

I've been thinking a lot about gratitude and abundance the past couple of days.  In spite of all the things that have gone seemingly wrong, there have been many blessings all along the way.  If you've read any of my earlier blogs, you'll know what I'm talking about.  At any rate, there were people who went out of their way time and again to help me with packing, getting to the airport, finding me a dentist who was willing to literally walk my tooth impression to the lab, people to drive me back and forth 3 hrs. at a time to get to the dentist, people getting me into many shows for free, driving me to and picking me up at airports, taking time out of their lives to take me sightseeing, running me to stores for things I forgot to pack in my haste, and helping me with my very heavy luggage (that was a major concern of mine before I left, especially with my bad back and neck and four heavy bags to lug around), .  One guy put my carry-on up on the shelf in the airplane and said, "What have you got in there, rocks?!?  I had this laptop, all my electronic devices, and tons of batteries I knew I couldn't get here, among other things.

I could have been stuck in the JFK New York City Airport or Rome for a day when my flights were cancelled because of Hurricane Irene; but instead, I got to spend one more day with Emily's family and had a nice comfortable bed to sleep in rather than a hard airport chair.  Because my flights were changed so many times, I could have ended up without a taxi driver to take me home in the middle of the night, but someone here was willing and able to contact the driver ahead of time to notify him of the changes. 

I could have come here without any idea where I would even lay my head the first night or several days. I'm grateful to Louis for opening up his home to me.  I'm grateful to Kenneth for being willing to leave his job early to take me around to check on housing, banking, and to see the Head Mistress of the school.  His reassuring words that "Everything will work out, do not worry, I will make sure of that!" have really helped to calm my anxiety about everything that has seemed to go differently here than planned.

I'm grateful to people back home who have helped me with my inside and outside water, sprinklers, watching over my home, allowing all my mail to be delivered to their home and contacting me on anything important, lawn mowing, etc.  They will never know just how much their efforts mean to me!

I woke up this morning to hear chirping, tropical birds outside my window, the ocean lapping at the shoreline, a crystal clear blue day (not like the rainy first day here), and a peaceful home.  I walked along the beach with some of Louis' dogs, read a book, took a nap, swam my laps and exercised in the pool. Hard day, huh?  I even had my room cleaned and my lunch and dinner prepared for my by the house staff.  There are lots and lots of good things here, too!

I guess what I want to leave with you today is to look around you and see all the GOOD things that are there.  I know I've complained a lot about everything that has seemingly gone wrong, but there are also some really amazingly great tender mercies that have been shown me all along the way, and I am very grateful to a Father in Heaven who I know is watching over me and protecting me every step of the way.  I'm here because of Him, I know it!  I hope I can do what He wants me to do while I am here.

Have a very wonderful day!!!

Love you guys,
Mrs. C

(P. S.  If any of you have an email address for Aaron T., Austin S., or Caroline H. could you please forward my email to them?  Their emails came back to me, and I know they wanted to follow my travels.  Thanks so much.)










 

September 2, 2011

Well I made it to Kenya, but not before an earthquake was felt in Columbus, OH (my step daughter felt it at work, but I didn't feel it at her house) and my flights to NYC and Rome were cancelled because of Hurricane Irene.  I ended up leaving on Monday morning at 8:15 AM rather than on Sunday.  I had to fly from Columbus to Detroit to Toronto to Amsterdam to Nairobi to Mombasa where a taxi was waiting for me to take me to Diani Beach (near Ukunda).  We arrived at the house on Wednesday morning at about 1:50 AM.  I slept until 11:00 AM that morning!

I had planned on going to get a bank account opened, look for an apartment, visit the school I'll be teaching at, and eventually look for a car.  Unfortunately, Louis, my nephew's father-in-law, ended up staying in Utah because his wife is having health issues.  He won't be here now until about Sept. 20.  I was hoping he could help me get started on those endeavors somehow.  Also, Wednesday was a Muslim holiday, the end of Ramadan, so everything was closed anyway.

Yesterday Kenneth, a Kenyan who works with Louis and lives here in the compound, took me to get my bank account set up.  We got the paperwork and were going back today, but after some discussion, I'm thinking just using an ATM might be easier.  Today, Kenneth took me to check out a few places to live.  I may have decided on one that is comparatively nice except the area scares me a little.  I will have a night guard and could hire a day guard if I choose, but the house has locks and metal bars up the ying-yang as well as alarm systems all over the house.  I know I'd be safe IN the house, it's just OUTSIDE the house that worries me a bit.  It's 50,000 Kenyan shillings - about $538 - per month which isn't that bad, but I was told I could get something nicer for around $300/mo., so that's what I had budgeted.  That was WRONG information!  There is someone moving in tomorrow for 11 days, so I will probably have to stay here until then.

I went to visit the Head Mistress of Word of Life Christian Academy where I am supposed to start teaching on Tuesday.  Apparently, she has health problems and is in India.  The teacher I was supposed to be working with quit in the middle of the school year, so I'm not sure who I'm working with or if they are even aware that I am coming.  The house I'm considering is much closer to St. Joseph's Catholic Primary School, where I had originally wanted to teach.  Maybe I'll just drop in there and see about working there instead.

The car is the next issue.  I'm completely up in the air on that one, too.  I was told last summer that I could get a decent car for around $2,000 and sell it three months later for the same.  That sounded good to me.  Unfortunately, I'm now learning that taxes, insurance, and registration (IF I can even buy a car as a non-resident) could be $1,000 and a $2,000 car would be pretty old or beat up, and then I'd have to deal with it breaking down.  That, apparently, is not a good thing.  Cars go in for repair and literally take months to get repaired and returned to the owner.  So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do for transportation yet.

This post is getting very long, so I'd better stop.  I've got more to say, but I'll save it for another day.  One thing I need to say... In spite of everything that doesn't seem to be going quite the way I thought they would, I'm still happy I'm here.  There have been good things, too, that I'll share next time.

Until then...
Kadi