For the second year, I am helping my friend Kayla coach the girls’ soccer team. She does most of the work, and I just stand around and cheer the team on. Last season we didn’t win a single game, and we didn’t even score until the very end of the season. We had our first game of the season on Thursday, and though we tied 1-1, I was thrilled that they had scored a goal in their first game!

This Saturday we played in our first tournament at a school called Brookhouse. If any of you have read the Harry Potter series or seen the movies, this school was designed after Hogwarts. Their main building is like a castle, drawbridge and all, and I felt like I should be walking around with a cape and a wand. I didn’t need any sort of magic, though, because the girls played so well. Out of 8 teams, they ended up getting second place. In the final game, the score was tied at 0 with 2 minutes left. The ref made a bad call, giving the other team a penalty kick. Our goalie blocked it, but then the ref let her shoot again since he hadn’t blown the whistle before she kicked it. The other team had kicked it too early, so for some reason, our team was penalized for it. So really, the other team won because of some crappy reffing. But the exciting thing is that our girls still got second place, worlds better than they would have done last season. Way to go West Nairobi School!

Awards ceremony - 2nd place!

See what I mean about Hogwarts?

Resting between matches

The girls resting before the semi-finals

Some of the boys came to cheer on the team.

My two favorite Australians - Anna and Kate Radkovic

Hello readers of my blog.

I understand if you have given up on me and lost all faith in this blog. I have callously neglected if as of late, and I apologize. The situation in the nation is not one where I should be staying out of touch, so let me fill you in on all the happenings in Nairobi.

Since the elections on December 27^th, the nation of Kenya has been in an uproar. Politics in Kenya are heavily based on tribes. The candidate who won (Kibaki – part of the Kikuyu tribe) has been accused of rigging the votes, and the candidate who lost (Odinga– part of the Luo tribe) has encouraged the members of his political party to protest violently. Throughout the nation of Kenya, people are being killed, raped, and driven from their homes, all because of tribal lines. Some politicians are even paying young men to continue causing violence. Since many young Kenyan men are unemployed, this is a great opportunity for them to make some money.

School was delayed opening for about a week because of alleged rallies which didn’t really end up happening. We ended up opening school on January 21^st. The first week went pretty well, though it was tiring knowing that at any moment, things might become unstable, and we might all be sent home. Things felt normal at school, but that didn’t reflect the situation in the rest of the nation.

Last week (January 28 – February 1) felt like an eternity. One of the MPs was assassinated, and we had to leave school early in order to get everyone home safely in case rallies started. Two days later another MP was shot, and I had to send my chemistry class home 5 minutes into the lab that I had spent 2 hours preparing. I think I cried. None of the students or teachers have been harmed, but the whole situation is harrowing. You never know when something will break out, and we will all be sent home. Some students have had to leave town for a while because of threats to their family or tribe. Please keep them in your prayers.

The situation in Kenya continues to be unstable. The U.S. ambassador says that American citizens have no reason to worry about being targeted in this violence, but it may be months before things go back to normal. The media makes it sound like Kenya is going through something similar to the Rwandan genocide. Please do not believe these reports. I live in a safe area, and most of the violence is happening either in the slums or in western Kenya. Please continue to pray for the people of Kenya. There are a lot of heartbreaking things going on lately, and I find myself feeling heavy and burdened.

I am still keeping busy at school with teaching science, math, and Bible. Just like last year, I am the assistant coach of the girls’ soccer team, and we have our first game on Thursday. I have also begun helping the 8^th grade class put on fund raisers for their end-of-the year rafting trip. Please pray for me as I have plenty of things on my plate and live in a country with much bigger burdens than these.

Check out my Slide Show!

Pictures will be coming soon!! For now, if you have the stamina, you can read about the trip.

Zanzibar

Day 1 – December 26
We woke up at about 5:30 in order to get to the bus station by 6:30. I was pleased to see that the ride from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) was going to be a comfortable one. The bus was similar to the motor coaches I used to ride when I gave tours in Alaska. 16 hours later I was no longer marveling at the comfort of the bus, but it was a good start to the journey. Those aboard the bus with me are as follows: Kayla (roommate and close friend), Criag (Kayla’s fiancé), Becca (art and French teacher), and Steven (math, computer, Bible teacher). It was a great group to travel with.

As we drove through southern Kenya, the terrain gradually changed into rolling, green hills. Women wrapped in scarves and blankets carried their babies on their backs, and soon our bus came to a stop. The driver didn’t say anything, but someone in the back of the bus, sensing our confusion said, “Border.” So we went on our wild goose chase to enter the country of Tanzania. After shoving our way through the chaotic lines, we finally got our visas to enter the country. Then we hopped back on the bus for the rest of our really long bus ride.

The rest of the ride was beautiful. We even saw the base of Kilimanjaro when we were in the town of Moshi. One day I hope to see the top of that mountain! We arrived in Dar es Salaam at about 10:00 that night. One of the families who went to our school last year now lives in Dar, so we waited for Mr. Kim to come pick us up from the bus station. Because of English-Korean language barriers, it was quite an ordeal to communicate to Mr. Kim exactly where we were. Eventually we made it to their house, slept a few hours, and then…

Day 2 – December 27
Went to the ferry terminal to get our tickets to Zanzibar. The ferry ride was about 2 hours, and then we were in Stonetown, on the island of Zanzibar. Our next task was to find a ride to Nungwi, a beach on the northern part of the island where some other friends were staying. Through a series of complicated transactions, we finally made it to the Nungwi Guest House, where we would be staying for the next 2 nights. The five of us weary travelers met our friends Brad and Grant there. And finally we were at the beach and could rest. Ah…

The beach was amazing. Bright turquoise blue as far as the eye could see with old, rugged fishing boats scattered throughout the expanse of water. There were plenty of people lying out and swimming, and this being my second trip to the Indian Ocean (I went to Mombasa in Kenya last Christmas), I knew that the water would be warm and pleasant to swim in. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I have vivid memories of dedicating my first 10 minutes of swimming to getting numb. Once that point was reached I had a great time in the water! Needless to say, the Indian Ocean is nice.

Days 3-7 (December 28 – January 1)

We spent these days in Nungwi hanging out on the beach. Here are some highlights.
*the beach (obviously)
*breakfast with mango, pineapple, banana, chapati, tea
*going for walks in the morning, discovering hermit crabs
*watching the beautiful people of Zanzibar fishing, swimming
*shade
*swimming
*dinners that lasted for hours
*moving to a new, cleaner hotel
*feeding sea turtles
*homemade mango ice cream
*walking back to our hotel along the beach by the light of the moon
*getting stung by a jelly fish
*riding on the back of my friend’s motorcycle at sunset
*practicing my Kiswahili and failing miserably
*talking to interesting people from around the world
*sunscreen applied at least thrice a day
*the slow pace of things
*sunsets
*the Tanzanian shilling to U.S. dollar exchange rate: 1,150 to 1
*Kayla, Craig, Becca, Steven, Brad, Grant
*huddling with above company inside the little, air-conditioned liquor store drinking cold Coke in a glass bottle
*ushering in the New Year on the beach

Day 7 – January 1
Things grew a little tricky once we heard about the election results in Kenya. Since Kibaki was elected, those opposing Kibaki got upset and started rioting around the country. This made it unsafe to travel to Kenya, making us refugees in Tanzania. Now, life on the beach certainly isn’t rough, but we were getting worried about when we should head back to our home in Nairobi. Today we packed up our stuff and headed to Stonetown, the place we would ride the ferry from. We took a daladala, which is like a big truck with a roof and benches in the back for people to ride on. It was a beautiful, fun ride, but my back end was definitely ready to stand up once we arrived.

By this time, Grant had already left to go back to Sudan, where he works for Samaritan’s Purse, and Brad showed us to the hostel where we would be staying. The hostel was an old Anglican church, and it was an interesting place to stay. It had a lot of character and also a lot of mosquitoes. We walked around town for a bit, looking at the shops and all the little souvenirs that strongly resembled the ones we can buy in Kenya. Stonetown has narrow roads and high buildings rising up along the sides. Walking along the roads is like walking through a maze, and it definitely has a really neat, historical feeling to it, almost like I would imagine small towns in Italy. On these narrow roads, vehicles don’t exactly watch out for you, and I had a couple close encounters.

Day 8 – January 2
Awoken at about 4:45 A.M. by the call to prayer right outside my window, I managed to fall back asleep for a couple more hours. This was our day to hang out in Stonetown. Becca and I spent the day walking around and exploring. We found an old castle that used to be a fort, and when we climbed the stairs we found an art gallery. There were men painting and men trying to sell their paintings, which were all beautifully done. After exploring there, we went to the museum and learned a little of the history of the island. In the evening vendors line the streets selling all kinds of local food, fresh seafood, and drinks. The smells are fantastic, and Becca and I enjoyed eating as we watched the sunset over the water. One more night of sleeping, then on to Dar es Salaam.

Day 9 – January 3

We woke up early to get a start on the madness of our morning, but even then travel was a bit of a scramble. Because of the turmoil in Kenya, the buses from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi were no longer running, which meant that we needed to fly. When we went to the travel agent, we found out that we could only pay in cash for our plane tickets. I mentioned the exchange rater earlier, and I’m sure you can only imagine how much money I had to carry to pay for a plane ticket that cost roughly 300,000 Tanzanian shillings, paid in 5,000 bills. It was crazy. But God is gracious, even to those who are pressed for time, and we made it to the ferry with plenty of time to hop on board.

Arriving in Dar es Salaam about 2 hours later, we once again had no idea where we were going. I knew the Safari Inn was a cheap place to stay, so I stopped in at the Chamber of Commerce to enquire about directions. I’ve found that when people in East Africa do not know where something is, instead of saying “I don’t know”, they will give you directions anyway. I could tell this lady didn’t know where the Safari Inn was, so I thanked her for the directions and followed the sign that said “Tourist Information”. The lady there drew me a map, and after navigating through the unfamiliar streets, we found the Safari Inn.

The first and last thing we did at this cheap hotel was watch the news. Things weren’t looking good, but we also knew that the media could be over-dramatizing things. We found a grocery store and stocked up on rice, beans, bread, and other essentials in case grocery stores in Kenya were still closed. We headed back to the hotel for our last sleep in Tanzania.

Day 4 – January 10

We found a couple taxi drivers to give us a ride to the airport. Everything was fine until I heard metal scraping on the road and noticed our driver pulling off to the side. Instead of telling us we had a flat tire, he got out, opened my door for me, and pointed. I squinted into the distance and realized he was pointing at the airport. I thought to myself, of course we got a flat tire! Of course we get to walk the rest of the way! It made me laugh. I should have expected something like this to happen. Fortunately, it was only about a 10 minute walk to the airport, so Felix (our driver) did get us pretty close.

The flight was nice because it got us to Nairobi in an hour instead of 16 hours. Despite the extra cost, flying instead of taking the bus was a huge blessing. After asking around at the airport, everyone said the roads were clear and we would be fine to go home. We got a ride from a taxi, and as we drove past Uhuru Park (the location of the alleged rally), we saw at least 100 police men, lying around looking bored. The rally had been cancelled, but the police were still out in full force. We got home and found everything pretty much back to normal. The roads were calm, people were walking around, and we were all glad to be home.

Hello everyone.

Thanks again for your prayers. After spending the last 10 days in Tanzania, my friends and I are finally “safe” in Nairobi. We had an amazing time in Zanzibar, an island off of Tanzania, but our last few days were a little harrowing as we watched the news and the growing tension in Kenya following the elections. It was hard for us to decide when we should go back to Nairobi, so we bought tickets to fly today, January 4^th, with the intention of spending the night in the Nairobi airport if things were too dangerous on the roads. Plus, after traveling around and staying in various hotels and hostels, a night in the Nairobi airport sounded ok because it was free of cost and mosquitoes. Upon our arrival in Nairobi this afternoon, the report was that the roads were clear and we would be safe to go home. We took a taxi and found things to be surprisingly calm. As we drove past Uhuru Park, the location of the alleged rally that has not happened yet, we saw at least 100 police men if not more. It was an eerie sight, but I was glad to see them sitting around, looking bored. I would love it if they remained bored for the next few days, but there are still threats of rallies and violence in the city.

I live in an apartment complex that is tucked way back in the city. It is quite a distance from Kibera, the slum where a lot of violence is taking place, and I know that my roommates and I will be safe here. As with most people in Nairobi, we live behind a gate, and we have guards during all hours of the day. You can thank the Lord that my friends and I arrived here safely. He has provided safety in all our travels, and that is quite a miracle when you are white people traveling around Africa. Please continue to pray for the situation in Kenya. The violence continues in many areas, and we are all just holding our breath until both sides are willing to meet peacefully and find some sort of compromise. School is supposed to start on January 15^th, and we are all hoping things will have calmed down by then. Thank you so much for all your encouraging words and prayers. It means so much to me knowing that you are praying for this situation.

Hello everyone.

Many of you may have been following the news and hearing about all the violence following the presidential elections in Kenya. I just wanted to let you all know that up until this point I have been safe. I have been in Zanzibar, which is an island off the coast of Tanzania. It is beautiful and amazing here, but now my friends and I are wondering when we should go back to Nairobi, our home. We picked a perfect time to leave the country, and now we are wondering what the perfect time would be to go back. As of today, we are thinking of leaving on Jan. 4th. We are taking a bus from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, which is about a 14 hour trip. Please continue to pray for us as we travel and especially for the nation of Kenya and its people. Politics are very tribal in Kenya. The presidential candidate who was re-elected, Kibaki, is a Kikuyu, and the candidate who was defeated, Odinga, is Luo (I'm not sure how to spell it). I won't go into all the details, but BBC is a good source for news. Please continue to pray. I will let you know when I get back to Nairobi, that is, if the internet is working there!

thanks to mr. craig gilley, i now have a camera again! hooray! here are some random pictures...

we went for a walk at the arboretum. here is craig (kayla's boyfriend), me, steve, and momo (weekend friends...not teachers).

notice anything weird about this monkey? sorry if i've offended anyone, but i couldn't resist.

loretta weeks teaches first grade at the school. all of us younger lady teachers call her mama, and every once in a while, if i'm really lucky, she tells me i am her favorite daughter. that changes from day to day. loretta and her husband are leaving after this semester to move to uganda. i'm really going to miss her, and so is the school!

our little christmas tree

when kay and i are coming home from school, the boys in our neighborhood often ask for a ride down the long, winding hill that is our driveway. i think we piled 10 of them into our little car once. it's always a noisy ride!

Since I have lost my camera, I thought I would put some pictures of past adventures on my blog. Some other teacher friends and I went to a place called Paradise lost over a month ago. With a name like "Paradise Lost", I was expecting a lot out of this place. Let's just say that I was underwhelmed. It took us about an hour to get there, and there are basically five things to do. Here are the pictures.

Activity 1: ride a camel

Activity 2: feed an ostrich

Activity 3: explore a well-lit cave

Activity 4: walk behind a waterfall

Activity 5: go for a boat ride

Conclusion: Paradise Lost is a fun place with random things to do. I think the paradise is still lost, though. Let me know if any of you know where it went.

When I asked Bill and Jan Bevins if they would be interested in hiking Mt. Suswa, they jumped at the possibility. So did I! Jan and Bill were two of the people I climbed Mt. Kenya with in April, and I knew they would be up for an outdoor adventure. I was feeling like I had been in the city too long, and being an Alaskan and all, the need to be in the outdoors practically runs in my blood. The hike was mentioned to a few other people at school, and before we knew it, 2 more families were coming as well as some more friends. The number of people in our caravan totaled more than 20, and since there were children ages 10 and under, I figured (and was hoping) we would not all be hiking together.

We left Nairobi at about 8:30, headed in the right direction but all-together uncertain of where exactly we were going. Mt. Suswa is not a national park, and according to the Lonely Planet guide, it isn’t so easy to access. So we drove in what turned out to be the right direction after all. The road started to get a bit rough, so those people in station wagons decided to park their cars and hop on board the two Land Cruisers. 8 passengers inside and 4 on top of each. I am still sore from that ride on top. Add to the equation a few Masai men and women who needed rides up the mountain, and you’ve got yourself some full Land Cruisers. I don’t think that even the soccer moms carry this many people in one vehicle. This is what SUV’s are made for, right?

The ride on top was beautiful. As we drove further up the mountain to get to the trail head, it became apparent that we were inside a huge crater. The giant rock walls rising up beside us provided a nice shelter from the wind. When we arrived at the trailhead, we were all kicking ourselves (not literally) for not bringing tents and sleeping bags. It would be the perfect place to camp. Oh, I forgot some crucial plot exposition for this story. As we were driving up the mountains, some Masai men started chasing after us with what looked like a receipt book. The Masai woman who was with us in the car, told us to ignore him, so we just kept on driving.

When we finally made it to the trailhead, those of us who were more serious about hiking separated from the families. As we began to hike, it became apparent that there was no definite trail. Some Masai boys showed us to a nice view off the side of a cliff. We looked for a trail but found none. Instead of giving up, we decided to descend down this cliff and climb back up the other side. 4 days later, my quads still regret that decision. The challenge was great, the adventure was great, but as the sun got hotter and the amount of water in my bag got smaller, my mood began to swing. As we climbed back up the cliff, we knew the general direction we needed to go in, but for a while we walked in circles. After whacking through bushes, growing weary from the early stages of dehydration, bleeding from all the thorns we walked through, we finally spotted the cars.

We hopped in the Land Cruiser, and began driving down the mountain to meet the other families who had left 30 minutes earlier. As we drove, we got a phone call saying some of the Masai people had barricaded the road so that we couldn’t get back to the road. When we met up with the rest of the group, some of the men who knew Swahili were talking to these men who blocked the road. Now if you recall back in the third paragraph I wrote about a man chasing us with a receipt book. Apparently we were supposed to stop and pay this man, and since we didn’t they decided to block the road. They were demanding a ridiculous amount of money, but it was going to be dark soon. As much as I would love to bring justice to Kenya, I knew I wasn’t the person to bring about that kind of change in this circumstance. I was all for paying and getting out of there! Eventually, that is what we had to do. After we paid, the men “kindly” moved all the rocks so we could get through.

I left town on Saturday ready for an adventure, and that’s what I got. I was expecting one kind of adventure and got a completely unexpected one. I still haven’t climbed Suswa, though! And after all that, my camera is now lost…

Nothing is perfect. I began this school year intimidated, nervous, and unsure of myself. I think there are many teachers who begin the school year this way, and I was always told to fake it until you feel it. If you act confident, your students have no idea that you are terrified, and let’s just say I’ve become a pretty good actor. It didn’t take me long to “ease” into the comfort of the routine and realize that teaching middle school math, science, and Bible was something I could do. As with most situations, I sought out the comfortable place. This meant I would do everything in my power to work quickly, efficiently (this one doesn’t always go so well for a forgetful person like me), and to do the amount of work necessary but nothing beyond that. The problem with being so comfortable in my teaching is that I was no longer using my gifts of creativity to make my lessons unique and meaningful. My job became a job, and I don’t want it to be that way. My prayer is that God would help me find creative ideas to use in the classroom. He cares about what goes on, and I don’t think He wants me to be happy with teaching at a level of mediocrity.

In high school I was generally a straight-A student. In fact, the only class I got a B in was chemistry. It seems a bit ironic that I am now the middle school chemistry teacher (see paragraph above about being intimidated). I have often felt inadequate in this role, and oftentimes I spend a better part of my day trying to understand the concepts before I teach them. (I do need to give a little shout out to Eric Gibson, the high school science teacher who provides all the tutorials I need before I teach.) I like learning, and I love exploring the intelligent world that God has created. But there are some days when I wish I was teaching something I knew about and felt confident in. I’ve been reading a book called “An Arrow Pointing to Heaven”, which is Rich Mullins biography. Rich Mullins believed that life is a struggle, that there is no way to avoid difficult times. I am realizing that this applies to teaching as well. Teaching is not an easy job, and it is not about finding a comfortable way to do things. Sometimes God asks you to do things that stretch you, and I think this is one of those times. Rich Mullings says, “Don’t resist the work of God by asking for an easy life.” If I were not able to teach chemistry, God would not have put me in the position. Please pray for me as I continue to learn and teach in an area that is not my forte.

If you think of it, be praying also about the decision I need to make about next school year. I am on a 2-year contract at school, this being my second year. In December I have to decide whether or not I wish to renew that contract for another year. I am completely torn and would appreciate your prayers in this area. Perhaps my next blog will be dedicated to my thoughts of staying and going. I have many thoughts about it! Thanks for taking this journey with me, gentle reader.

I went on a game drive into Nairobi National Park a couple weeks ago with some friends. Here are a few pictures. I have a couple pictures of us getting stuck in the mud, but it takes about a decade to load each one, and I have grown weary. So for now you can just enjoy the cool animals.


I think this one was posing for me, displaying the freshly curled eyelashes.

Apparently this giraffe is used to seeing people. And weird vans with holes in the top.

Zebra. I don't know what else to say about them.

Mama Ostrich was not very happy with us driving so closely behind her babies. It was quite a feat trying to overtake them in our Land Cruiser without hurting them. Eventually we succeeded.

Check out my Slide Show!

To say the place was bazaar or wacky would be an understatment. When Kayla, Scarlett, Hannah, Rachel, and I decided to go to Kitengela Glass for the day, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I've seen the glassware in stores and always admired its homemade perfection. The prices of the glasses, bowls, vases, and other sorts of glassware have always been out of my price range. After visiting the factory, I can see why. After we had gawked at the wacky statues and eclectic artistry on display, we went into the room with the furnaces. The fire was blazing hot, and we watched these men put the red-hot glowing glass on the end of a pipe and blow air into it. I have never seen anyone blow glass before, and it was amazing. I now understand why Kitengela charges so much for their products. The care and craftsmanship that goes into making just one glass or bowl is amazing.

Besides the glass-blowing, the rest of the Kitengela Glass is simply wacky. I wonder if Dr. Seuss helped create the place because it resembles the worlds you would find in one of his books. There are all kinds of crazy statues and buildings made of glass, bottle lids, and other random objects. Peacocks, camels, pigs, ducks, roosters, and horses roam free throughout the place. There is a pool and a guest house. The guest house overlooks a gorge that separates Kitengela from Nairobi National Park (I think). There is a rope bridge that goes across the gorge, and we decided to be brave and go across. Anyone with a fear of heights would not have embarked on such an endeavor. It was a bit scary, but the view was amazing, and it was a lot of fun. After we had crossed the bridge, we spotted babboons on the other side headed towards Scarlett's purse. As much as I wanted to save her purse, I also didn't want to get attacked by the babboons. They can be quite viscious. Rachel and I decided to cross the bridge as fast as we could (definitely not running) and scare the babboons off. We yelled and screamed at them as we approached, and they decided that the purse wan't that interesting and went away. Phew! I really didn't want a close encounter with one of those animals.

My conclusion: Kitengela is an amazing place, but it really doesn't seem like such a place should exist in Kenya. If you come visit me, I will take you there. Otherwise, enjoy the slide show and imagine what it must be like in the land of Dr. Seuss.

Friday, October 5^th was my 25^th birthday. On Thursday, my roommates took me out to dinner, and when I got home a bunch of my friends were waiting at my apartment to throw me a surprise party. It was so fun! Some of them felt bad for not bringing a gift, so they went into my room (before I was home of course) and wrapped up some of my belongings. So for my birthday I got a pair of flannel pants, strangely similar to the ones my mother sent me last year. I also got a framed picture of my sister and me when I was 16, then another framed picture of my best friend and me in front of Mt. McKinley.

On my birthday, one of my students made me a cake, and we had a little celebration in my biology class. Everyone at school was wishing me happy birthday, and after school Heather, Kayla, and headed out to Mayers’ Ranch to hang out with friends for the weekend. My parents called me as we were driving out to the ranch, and that was when I got the best birthday gift ever. But in order to understand the true significance of this gift, you have to understand a little about my family.

When I moved to Kenya, a little over a year ago now, my parents moved from their home in Anchorage, to Bend, Oregon. My dad took a pastor job there. My mom had a temporary job with the school district in Bend, but it ended in April. She has been looking for a job ever since. She finally got hired just a couple weeks ago, but that hasn’t left my parents with a few thousand extra dollars to come visit their daughter in Kenya. When my parents called me on Friday, they told me that a man from my dad’s church gave them $3000 so that they can come visit me. Unbelievable. That knocked my socks off. And thus concludes my story of the best birthday gift ever. Ever. Ever.

On Sunday (October 7^th) my friend Astrid invited me to go on a game drive in Nairobi National Park. She borrowed a big Land Cruiser, and we left in the early morning hours to look for animals in the park. We (well, Astrid really) drove for about 20 minutes and then got stuck in the mud. She called the emergency number that one of the rangers had given us in case of such emergencies, and, in typical Kenyan fashion, no one answered. We waited for an hour, maybe longer, sipped coffee, and enjoyed each other’s company. Once we were “rescued” (see pictures below), we didn’t get stuck again. We saw giraffe, zebra, buffalo, gazelle, impala, and even a rhino. All in all, it was a great day. Had we seen a lion or a leopard, it would have been a grand slam day, but a great day was good enough.

I am trying to upload pictures for you, but the internet is too slow. This blog entry will have to suffice for now.

Here are some random pictures of random things from the past few weeks. Enjoy! I hiked Mt. Longonot with some friends, and Astrid (right) made us pancakes at the top. They were delicious!!

Casa (I don't know how to spell her name) took lots of pictures while we hiked.

This is my beautiful roommate Heather with our beautiful little neighbor, Michelle.

This shows the international flavor of our school. Joel (left), is German, Meitamei (top) is Masai (a native tribe in Kenya), Adam (middle) is British, and Illam (right) is Kenyan.

The boys soccer team warming up for their first game

Some members of our girls basketball team just before their game.

Life moves fast. That could be the theme for my past two weeks that have left me with little or no time to update this blog of mine. I apologize to the 3, maybe 4, people out there who check my blog religiously. Sometimes I just set myself up to fail. But anyway, these weeks have been full and tiring. The school year is in full swing with sports practices and games and fun get-togethers on the weekends. This last week was good in the sense that I was able to stay on top of my grading, planning, labs, and communication with parents. The week before, however, left me thinking that I needed to figure out how to organize myself in a new way. Those of you who know me well can attest to the fact that organization is not my greatest strength. I have trouble coming up with a good system for how to do things, so usually I have 3 or 4 different systems that work, and since I can't decide which one I like best, I use all 3 (or 4) at any given time. But because I also suffer from short term memory loss, I can never remember which system I chose to employ at any given time. Are you exhausted just reading this? This week, after meeting with my amazing mentor, I decided I just needed to choose one system and go for it. I even made myself a list that says something like, "Put things back right after you are done with them; graded papers go in this basket; copied papers go in these folders; papers that need to be graded go in this basket". I stuck to my list pretty well, and it's amazing how much stress was relieved because of this. One of my professors once told me that I needed to "work smarter, not harder", so I am trying to do that. So far so good.

As far as general life here in Kenya, it's always an adventure. Between dodging potholes, bicycles, and crazy matatu drivers on the roads, I am amazed we can make it to school on time. It's kind of scary how comfortable I have become on these chaotic roads. I would never drive this way in America. We have really cute little boys in our apartment complex who like to come visit us. The other day I went running, and when I came back, Jerome-Dwayne asked me where I had gone. I told him I went running, and he says, "Ah! And your face is pink!" He thinks my pasty, pale skin is fascinating, and I think his dark brown, almost black, skin is beautiful.

I have always enjoyed people-watching, and I think the best place to people watch is here in Nairobi. There is such a diverse mix of people here. Most people imagine Africa as a place with dirt roads, people living in huts, and bare-breasted women with children hanging all over them. This isn't realistic. In Nairobi there is everything from the rural, Kikuyu women with their hear wrapped in scarves and their long, bright-colored skirts. There are men in 3-piece suits riding their bicycles through the muddy streets. Then there are the more urbanized men and women. The women are wearing suits and high heals, the men are wearing neatly pressed, starch white dress shirts. And cell phones abound. There is a diverse ethnic population here. We see Indian people (people from India, not Native Americans) everywhere, along with Koreans, Americans, Europeans, and you name it, it's probably here. The same diversity is reflected at this school. And one day, when the internet connections are better, I will be able to post some pictures.

This past weekend we had our West Nairobi School Staff Retreat at a place called Lukenya. It's kind of like a resort, outside of Nairobi and away from all the fumes which I despise. Last year we chased giraffes at this retreat, but we had no such luck this year. We looked for them, but it was to no avail. I did enjoy haning out with some of the new staff members as well as some of the old ones. I really am blessed to work with so many wonderful people. We had worship and communion on top of a mountain. After we caught raindrops in our communion cups, we decided maybe we should get off the mountain. Kayla, Heather, and I hopped in the back of our friend Mark's truck. As soon as we got in, it started to hail on us. Here we are, laughing our way down the bumpy road.

Amanda (left) teachers social studies, and Jen (right) teachers 3rd grade. Jen was one of my housemates last year.

my feet

Becca, Kayla, Jen, and Olivia (my principal's daughter). We were looking for giraffes here, but we never found them.

I am giving these pictures a second attempt. About two weekends ago, Heather, Kayla, and I joined a bunch of friends at Heather's brother, Bryan's house. He lives and works at a place called Mayers Ranch. It is a beautiful place, as close to paradise as I have ever been, perhaps!

Kayla and me beneath the acacia trees

The pond. They bottle water at the ranch.

me, Kelly, Kayla, Heather, and Hannah

Bryan, Hannah, Chris, me, and Heather about to have lunch

Kayla and me in the ginormous fig tree

My roommies (Kayla and Heather) and me in the fig tree

Heather beneath the fig tree. Told you it was ginormous!

TIA... I just spent an hour putting pictures on my blog and writing about all my wonderful adventures this weekend, and now I have lost it all. Bah! So while I figure out what to do about my predicament, check out Kayla's blog. The link is on the right side of this page.

I have no pictures and no exciting adventures to report. Wow, that is a horrible way to begin a blog. Why would anyone keep reading after I wrote that? Maybe if I set your expectations low, then you will be thrilled to find out that life in Kenya is not as drab as it could be. I am almost finished with my third week teaching. Teaching middle school is different than elementary, and though I miss having my own classroom, it is nice to have frequent breaks throughout the day that are longer than 30 minutes. I find I don't have to bring work home all the time like I did last year. I can even read books in the evening if I want to! Imagine what a world this is opening up for me. Oh goodness it's exciting.

I have really been enjoying my students lately. The school has such a rich international flavor, and I enjoy seeing so many different colors represented in my classroom. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to post of them, but I will try to do that soon. They're beautiful, trust me. The other day in Bible class I was writing prayer requests on the board, and I wrote down one of my own. I asked them to pray that my mom would be able to find a job soon. One of my studens raised her hand and said, "Why does you mom need a job? Shouldn't your mom be retired or something?" I lauged really hard and then responded with, "How old do you think I am?" Then we got into the discussion of how old I am, and to my surprise, most of them thought I was older than I am. That rarely happens to me since I look young.

At school I do most of my teaching in the science classroom, which I share with the high school science teacher. I have a very small office, which doubles as the high school book room. It smells like old books in there, but I don't mind. I have a desk,, some shelves, and a white board. It's been so nice to have my own little space. Plus, who doesn't like to say things like, "It's in my office," or, "If you need me, I'll be in my office." Or maybe I'm the only one who thinks that's cool...

This weekend I am going out of town with my roommates Heather and Kayla. Heather's brother works at a ranch that's about a 45 minute drive from Nairobi. We are all looking forward to getting out of the fume-infested city. Then next week we have our West Nairobi School staff retreat. This means I will be getting out of Nairobi two weekends in a row. And it is in times like these that life simply can't get any better. I will post pictures when I get back. My giraffe-chasing pictures from last year were taken at the staff retreat, so I'm sure I will have some good ones after that is over.