Our apologies for the lateness of this – our accommodations have had poor internet connection. But here you are!
Todays blog post comes from the melodic voices of Ms. Maddie Henderson and Ms. Laura Leach. Do your best to read these words in our voices as we think that really makes this post special. In order to help you do so we decided the best way to start this post would be with a favorite joke: Why was the baby strawberry sad? Because his parents were in a jam!
Sorry, that’s not stellar, Elizabeth is better at jokes…
Breakfast at the Jumuia Limuru started our day off on the right foot, as every breakfast cereal commercial from the 90’s will assure you. Many of the youth were pleased to find omelets on the menu, as well as more traditional Kenyan options. We are lucky to have fresh fruit at every meal, and watermelon has become a staple. After breakfast Aly, Claire, and Christian explored the campus and took selfies in the soccer field. It was shortly thereafter that Aly lost her camera, only to find it exactly where she left it. So do we really call that lost? Fear not mama Arnold, all is well and picture documentation is coming.
After breakfast we headed into town on our hip and trendy bright yellow bus, affectionally called banana bus, for morning church service at All Saints Anglican Church in central Nairobi. For many people this was our first chance to see Kenya in daylight. We drove through many neighborhoods of varying wealth and population, from busy streets filled with people and animals to subdivisions that were nearly empty. We even pasted the construction site of a mall easily twice the size of Yorkdale. Colin was especially interested in the different construction techniques we saw, including scaffolding.
All Saints was huge. Getting into the parking lot alone was an endeavor, and we didn’t even worship in the central church, Instead we attended the “Youth” service for 20-30 year olds that was in a separate building on the property. The service featured high energy musical worship, celebration of June birthdays in the congregation, prayers, and a message given on the subject of growing right relationships. We were welcomed many times over and after the service we were greeted by many people in the church community including our beyond fabulous host for the trip Cynthia. Cynthia works for National Council of Churches Kenya and is staying with us for the duration of our time in Kenya, and helping to run all that we are involved in. She’s kind of like a superhero, without the cape. Or a leotard. Eden adds: or a mask.
We ate lunch at a cafe on the church grounds, and Christian was the first brave solider to indulge in the Kenya specialty Ugali. Though his original reviews was that the flavors were lacking, Cynthia informed us later of the proper way to mix Ugali with veggies and meat for a better taste. For the rest of us, lunch included hamburgers, sandwiches, hot dogs and milkshakes. We aim to become adventurous eaters in days to come. Our transition into Kenya cuisine will be slow and graceful like a swan swimming on the tranquil waters of lake Ontario.
Banana bus arrived after lunch to pick us of from All Saints, and brought with it a handful of members from the Nzumari group that we are thrilled to be spending time with this week! Nzumari (pronounced ZOO-MAR-EE) is a group of young people from the rougher areas of Nairobi that are employed by NCCK to do programs that reduce stigma around HIV/AIDS by visiting schools and preforming in the slums. Somehow we all fit back into Banana Bus and traversed back to Jumuia Limuru. Though we enjoyed short conversation with our new friends, many of us fell asleep on the ride as the time change and travel exhaustion hit us like a truck. P.S. we were not actually hit by trucks. Please don’t worry.
Back at Jumuia Limuru we played a bunch of group games with Nzumari, and even taught them how to play Squirt and Ninja. Interspersed with games Nzumari preformed totally rad dance moves that made us all realize how tragically untalented we are. Nonetheless they pulled us all from our chairs to dance, in awkward circles and we laughed at our inability to keep a beat. Seriously though, we tried to play Concentration and it was a big struggle. Though we looked a fool, it was an absolute blast!
Side-note: Is it hot in Toronto? That’s jokes because here it is so much colder than anticipated. Today the temperature hovered around 14C. In Kenya.
After many games, hilarious dances, and the opportunity to a few learn names, we all shared a meal together on the patio. No Ugali this time, but a few Kenyan treats like Chipati graced our plates (see look at us getting adventurous). Claire, Aly, and Elizabeth taught counting in french to a few of our guests. Nzumari headed out after the meal and we gathered around a roaring fire to reflect on the day.
Tomorrow we have an early day, so theoretically we are turning in soon. Or maybe that afternoon nap on the banana bus has shifted our sleeping habits yet again…
Either way, goodnight!
P.S. The wifi here is spotty so this will likely be posted in the morning. We will be doing our best to update everyone with the blog, though it might be a little less regular than we had originally planned.
runnymedekenya2015 