Well I have survived a little over 2 weeks in a foreign county! I wouldn't even say I have just survived, but I think I am adjusting well to the different life style! Somethings are harder than others (like eating ugali EVERYDAY) but most things are pretty interesting. I like not having a blowdryer and only washing my hair every few days. And because of this, I also like not having to look in a mirror! It's raining hard outside right now (which it usually does once a day here) so I am writing, but Femke is in the kitchen with Paulie learning how to cook a chicken. Not like we cook a chicken though. This one started out alive (about 20 min ago) then Paulie broke it's neck to kill it, plucked all the feathers out, chopped off the head, and that was when I decided to quit watching! I was scared if I saw what comes next I wouldn't want to eat tonight! You definitely see some odd things here, for example while riding on a matatu (the public transportation) Femke saw a cow scratching it's ear with one of his back legs! One of my favorite parts about the Kenyan culture is their little regard to time and schedule. It drives the Dutch girls crazy! If something is supposed to start at 9:00, you can be certain it will begin between 10:00 and 12:00, so those of you who know me well know that I am in Heaven!
For those of you wondering how the competition went...we made it to regionals in eight categories! Everyone was so excited because it is our first year participating! Today was the first out of two days at the regional level, and we had six of the categories qualify for the the next level! So if they make it past that, then they go to state! The children were so excited that they stood outside singing and dancing until the rain started! I have a video of one of the song and dances they competed with so I will post it as soon as I learn how!
The most special part about this place is the people. Today when I got to school Mr. Shane (one of the teachers) brought me into his classroom and had the students welcome me and then gave me an avacado for no reason at all. When we were at the competition in Malava the head teacher had promised to show us monkeys, but when we got to the area he thought they would be and they weren't, he continued to search so finally we got to see the monkeys, all because he refused to break his promise! There is one little girl who is seven years old, and she is absolutely beautiful and always smiling. She loves for me to play a card game that we made up together with her or help her color. She is very good in school and is one of the students who has progressed to the next round in the poem competition. I recently discovered that before she lived at Tumaini, when she was five years old a man abused her while she was walking home one day. When Rose and Violet heard about this they went to ask her family if they knew any details about it, and they family members brushed it off and said she was probabley making up stories! How cound any human being think a five year old could make up something like that?!? This absolutely broke my heart, but when you see her now and how happy and safe she is, it makes me so thankful for these children that they have a place like Tumaini to go. Not all the children here were abused that way, there are some who were abandoned at a young age, some where the parents have died and relatives won't take them in, and some where the parents couldn't afford to take care of them. I don't tell these stories to make anyone feel bad, I just want everyone to be aware of how blessed we are! These children make me realize everyday that there is always someone out there that could use a little help or encouragement. And seeing what they have lived through and how much they still enjoy life makes everyday here that much better. So please keep these children in your prayers!
Stay tuned because the Dutch girls and I went away for the weekend and I have some pretty funny stories!
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