A Special Treat

I was blessed last week with my first packages from friends back home, which included many special treats, including three People magazines. In four days I read all the magazines from cover to cover and was thoroughly caught up on American pop culture. So when we had a birthday party for a co-worker at my house, the first thing everyone picked up from the coffee table was my People magazines. The boys were the first to grab the magazines and enthusiastically catch up on the latest celebrity babies and the history of Palin. It was quite funny. Thank you friends for everything you sent! It was a huge blessing. I loved the pictures of the Oregon Fall leaves and the magnets I'm using to hang the pictures on my frig. It felt like Christmas, so thank you for the lovin'. My friends in Nairobi thank you too!

This is Fall?

While all my friends and previous co-workers are enjoying the crisp days of Fall, red leaves, and wearing sweaters, my experience is quite different. It is Spring in Nairobi. The temperature averages 70's and 80's each day, so it draws me outside my classroom like a mosquito to a light bulb. My Alaska roots shine through even in the Southern Hemisphere - when the sun shines, we must go outside! So this week class 5B did their social studies assignment in the elementary courtyard. Working at a school with the perfect climate is a really tough job!

DRIVER UNDER INSTRUCTION

I drove a stick-shift vehicle on the wrong side of the road today!

Although my car didn't have the common insignia seen on cars of student drivers in Nairobi, "Driver Under Instruction", it was very obvious that I was a first time driver. (For those of you who don't know, I do not know how to drive a standard transmission vehicle.) After six or seven loops around the school parking lot, practicing stopping and going and stopping and going, I ventured onto the street. I drove through a nearby neighborhood and then on to Village Market, our local "mall". Jessie, my instructor, treated me to some Italian ice-cream, and then back home we went. I stalled the car several times in the parking lot of Village trying to reverse, and the guard had to hand signal traffic around me. I thanked him for his patience and help. He was very nice and responded, "It is very normal." After dropping Jessie off at the school gate, I drove home by myself. It's still a rough ride if you jump in the car with me, but it's a start. I'm not going out to attempt crazy Nairobi traffic jams yet, but I can at least get myself to the grocery store. Today is a successful day for me in Africa.

U.S. Elections in Kenya

While family and friends back home are bombarded with political TV commercials, internet pop-ups, and campaign signs in neighbors' yards, US citizens in Kenya see only one face and hear one name: Obama. If Kenyans were voting in the US election, Barack Obama would win by a landslide. Most of this is due to the fact that his father was Luo , one of the major ethnic groups in Kenya. So when I'm shopping in the market or talking with friends, I'm often asked who I'm voting for. If I say Obama's name, I'll always get a friendly smile from Kenyan friends or a better price from the vendor. Kenyans' views don't just show themselves on the front page of the newspaper or in conversation. I've seen bumper stickers, signs, clothes, and even a secretary's book bag at school with Obama's face and name. Has all this campaigning swayed my vote? I'm not telling! :)

A Dip in the Indian Ocean

In honor of the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, we got an extra long weekend, which gave some friends and I the opportunity to hit the beach. We headed to Mombasa, the biggest sea port on the East African coast. Getting to and from Mombasa was CRAZY. A story I will save for another time. But once we got there, it was like heaven...

Our bungalow was beautiful with an open great room, swimming pool, and five minute walk to the white sand beach.

A Zanzibar bed lay on the porch for anyone who wanted to be awakened by the sunrise.

We ate a lot of seafood: white snapper, lobster, prawns, and crab. Delicious!We took a dhow out to the reef, which we walked on during low tide, and went snorkeling with our guides, Mario and Leo. (The area had a lot of Italian influence, so a lot of the Kenyans we met told us their "Italian" names. One of our best buddies on the beach was named Marco Polo. :)I saw some familiar sea creatures and some exotic animals on the reef.

A common scene during our day included many vendors who bothered us incessantly and camels walking by offering a ride.Most of my time was spent laying on the sandy beach or playing in the blue waves of the Indian Ocean. It was very difficult to leave and come back to the rain of Nairobi. (Yes! It's been raining!) It was a wonderful vacation that will need to be repeated or maybe God will send me to live there one day, open a missionary guest house, and enjoy the humidity daily. For now, it's back to reality... I've been very spoiled this month with several long weekends and national holidays. I have to remember that not every day in Africa is a holiday.