Tuesday, July 19, 2011
a few pictures
Sunday, July 17, 2011
2 1/2 months already
We've been here in Kenya 2 1/2 months now. We are getting used to our daily routine. We crawl out from under the mosquito netting on our bed at 0630.Take a shower and hope the water heater on the shower is working. For breakfast we usually have some kind of hot or cold cereal, boxed milk(like evaporated milk) juice, toast and take our anti-malaria pill. We can't drink the water that comes straight from the tap(that's if the water is on). It has to go through a three filter system that is connected to the kitchen tap. We have a bottle of purified water handy for such things as brushing our teeth, taking medicine, and cooking with.
I try to write in my journal everyday, so I won't forget all the wonderful adventures we are having.
Monday is our "P" day(preparation day) Just like at home we clean the flat,, Errol does most of the laundry in our small washer & dryer(that's better than having two wash tubs out in the yard, one to wash and one do rinse with.. Our flat really is easy to take care of, The floors are all tiled with area rugs in the living room, office and bedroom. There are open air vents in the ceilings that I dust with a long pole with a brush on it . Usually we go to the Nakamatt (Kenya's version of Wal-Mart) It has just about everything that we will need.
Errol, being a farmer at heart has a nice little garden(or Shamba) where he has tomato's, carrots, peppers, lettuce, butternut squash, Swiss chard, and merrigolds. It's quite a challenge to keep it watered, as the ground here is like a sponge.
I am teaching a Literacy Class two day or more a week. We go out visiting the members of our Branch and still need to have a guide to help us find our way but we are getting better.
We know why Errol was sent here, because there seems to always something that needs to be fixed or adjusted
We visit an orphanage once a week to do a service project there. One of our branch members is the grounds keeper there so Errol and our four Elder's work on the grounds and I get to go to the Nursery to help feed babies. These are beautiful children, with names like Josiah, Benedict, Mary and Judy.
We do a lot of traveling to different areas, some that take us 2-4 hours to get to over roads that look like a goat trail, or have so many potholes in them we weave all over the place.
We are busy and having new experiences every day that we never expected to have, but it seems like the "Norm" Our favorite expression is, sigh "it's Africa"
I try to write in my journal everyday, so I won't forget all the wonderful adventures we are having.
Monday is our "P" day(preparation day) Just like at home we clean the flat,, Errol does most of the laundry in our small washer & dryer(that's better than having two wash tubs out in the yard, one to wash and one do rinse with.. Our flat really is easy to take care of, The floors are all tiled with area rugs in the living room, office and bedroom. There are open air vents in the ceilings that I dust with a long pole with a brush on it . Usually we go to the Nakamatt (Kenya's version of Wal-Mart) It has just about everything that we will need.
Errol, being a farmer at heart has a nice little garden(or Shamba) where he has tomato's, carrots, peppers, lettuce, butternut squash, Swiss chard, and merrigolds. It's quite a challenge to keep it watered, as the ground here is like a sponge.
I am teaching a Literacy Class two day or more a week. We go out visiting the members of our Branch and still need to have a guide to help us find our way but we are getting better.
We know why Errol was sent here, because there seems to always something that needs to be fixed or adjusted
We visit an orphanage once a week to do a service project there. One of our branch members is the grounds keeper there so Errol and our four Elder's work on the grounds and I get to go to the Nursery to help feed babies. These are beautiful children, with names like Josiah, Benedict, Mary and Judy.
We do a lot of traveling to different areas, some that take us 2-4 hours to get to over roads that look like a goat trail, or have so many potholes in them we weave all over the place.
We are busy and having new experiences every day that we never expected to have, but it seems like the "Norm" Our favorite expression is, sigh "it's Africa"
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
July 6, 2011
We had a delightful Fourth of July Celebration with the Elders. We roasted hotdogs over a charcoal fire, had potatoe salad, baked beans, Jello, soda pop and chocolate cake. The two African Elders didn't quite to know what to make of it but enjoyed themselves anyway. Elder Keno asked what potatoe salad was since he had never seen it before but had two helpings.
We did go back to Busia all by ourselves and made it there and back without a guide. We went up on Saturday to participate in their activities for that day and planned on staying over. We made reservations at the Farmview Hotel since it was recommended by Elder Fox, our predecessor. When we got there after driving down another rutted boulder strewn track that is supposed to be a road we found that they had no room. A church group had came in and they had given away every room. They offered to escort us to another hotel but we said "No thank you" and drove back to Kisumu. On the way to Busia we passed a semi truck that was lying on it's side with the drivers side of the cab mashed. Several other trucks were parked and the drivers were sitting in the shade of one of the parked trucks discussing the matter. When we came home that evening it was still there. We went back up on Sunday to participate in their meetings and the truck was still there. After the meetings wee over we drove home and it was still there. I guess no one was in a big hurry to move it. They had filled in a lot of the potholes in the road with dirt. The dirt had been forced out of them and the holes were still there with dirt all around them. The rain turns the dirt into mud and tires just squish it out of the potholes.
We drove up to visit the Saints in Nyabondo. When we turned off on the dirt road it was being worked on. They had dirt piles all along one side where the dump-trucks had deposited it. The road is narrow anyway and this made it really narrow. I said "I sure hope we don't meet a truck coming down". We did, three of them. I was forced to pull over between the dirt piles to make room for the downhill traffic. We had a very delightful day as usual and as usual they insisted on feeding us. On the way back down the dirt road I had to pull over several times to let traffic pass. At one point there were a couple of women herding two donkeys laden with something. As I pulled in the space between the dirt piles I heard the women yelling at me. The Elders said that the women were telling me not to hit the donkeys. I figured that donkeys are smart enough to get out of the way and I wasn't going fast enough to hurt them if they didn't. I sure hope that they fix that road before we go back again.
Fifteen things to Love About Kisumu and Western Kenya
1. Romantic Candlelight Dinners
Power is off again
2.Refreshing showers in the morning
waterheater is still broken
3.Doing laundry
I am sure the water will be back on in a day or two, are you sure you can't wear your underwear a day or two longer?
4.Exotic nightlife
Look at the size of that cockroach, Don't step on the Gecko
5. 6:30 a.m. serenade of the birds.
GRAAAAAK, TOO-TOO TOO-TOO-TOO
6.What is the new perfume you are wearing?
Deep Woods Off!
7.Scenic drives
Watch out for that Pothole!
Watch out for that Truck, bus, matatu, bicycle!
8.Speed bumps
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9.Smooth roads
Fasten your seat belt and you WON'T hit your head on the roof!.
Yes, I am sure mufflers aren't an essential part of the truck.
I am sure that if we put it in fourwheel drive we can make it through.
It LOOKED like a shallow puddle!
10. Helpful store clerks
What is Jello?, sour cream?
11. Good directions
Ten kilometer down....THAT'S A ROAD??????????
You go straight that way to.........
Turn left just past the rock crusher
You with the hammer, where is the rock crusher? What, that is you???
12. Street addresses
1/2 kilometer past the UN compound on Nehru Road, turn left
13 Modern toilets
That hole in the floor IS IT??????????????
ACK, GAG, CHOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
14. Rain storms
Where'd the road go?
I don't remember a river being here!
15. Internet connections
Hurry and check your email while the internet is on....Too Late
We did go back to Busia all by ourselves and made it there and back without a guide. We went up on Saturday to participate in their activities for that day and planned on staying over. We made reservations at the Farmview Hotel since it was recommended by Elder Fox, our predecessor. When we got there after driving down another rutted boulder strewn track that is supposed to be a road we found that they had no room. A church group had came in and they had given away every room. They offered to escort us to another hotel but we said "No thank you" and drove back to Kisumu. On the way to Busia we passed a semi truck that was lying on it's side with the drivers side of the cab mashed. Several other trucks were parked and the drivers were sitting in the shade of one of the parked trucks discussing the matter. When we came home that evening it was still there. We went back up on Sunday to participate in their meetings and the truck was still there. After the meetings wee over we drove home and it was still there. I guess no one was in a big hurry to move it. They had filled in a lot of the potholes in the road with dirt. The dirt had been forced out of them and the holes were still there with dirt all around them. The rain turns the dirt into mud and tires just squish it out of the potholes.
We drove up to visit the Saints in Nyabondo. When we turned off on the dirt road it was being worked on. They had dirt piles all along one side where the dump-trucks had deposited it. The road is narrow anyway and this made it really narrow. I said "I sure hope we don't meet a truck coming down". We did, three of them. I was forced to pull over between the dirt piles to make room for the downhill traffic. We had a very delightful day as usual and as usual they insisted on feeding us. On the way back down the dirt road I had to pull over several times to let traffic pass. At one point there were a couple of women herding two donkeys laden with something. As I pulled in the space between the dirt piles I heard the women yelling at me. The Elders said that the women were telling me not to hit the donkeys. I figured that donkeys are smart enough to get out of the way and I wasn't going fast enough to hurt them if they didn't. I sure hope that they fix that road before we go back again.
Fifteen things to Love About Kisumu and Western Kenya
1. Romantic Candlelight Dinners
Power is off again
2.Refreshing showers in the morning
waterheater is still broken
3.Doing laundry
I am sure the water will be back on in a day or two, are you sure you can't wear your underwear a day or two longer?
4.Exotic nightlife
Look at the size of that cockroach, Don't step on the Gecko
5. 6:30 a.m. serenade of the birds.
GRAAAAAK, TOO-TOO TOO-TOO-TOO
6.What is the new perfume you are wearing?
Deep Woods Off!
7.Scenic drives
Watch out for that Pothole!
Watch out for that Truck, bus, matatu, bicycle!
8.Speed bumps
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9.Smooth roads
Fasten your seat belt and you WON'T hit your head on the roof!.
Yes, I am sure mufflers aren't an essential part of the truck.
I am sure that if we put it in fourwheel drive we can make it through.
It LOOKED like a shallow puddle!
10. Helpful store clerks
What is Jello?, sour cream?
11. Good directions
Ten kilometer down....THAT'S A ROAD??????????
You go straight that way to.........
Turn left just past the rock crusher
You with the hammer, where is the rock crusher? What, that is you???
12. Street addresses
1/2 kilometer past the UN compound on Nehru Road, turn left
13 Modern toilets
That hole in the floor IS IT??????????????
ACK, GAG, CHOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
14. Rain storms
Where'd the road go?
I don't remember a river being here!
15. Internet connections
Hurry and check your email while the internet is on....Too Late
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