*I will be in Nairobi until August 23rd. This was
a change I learned about after I arrived and I got my schedule, but I was so
thankful! The coast speaks pretty much only Swahili so a good couple weeks of
working on it will be very nice!
*I have a language tutor starting Tuesday August 6th
at 9:30am to the compound and will come every day, Mon-Fri until the day I
leave. She will work with me during the morning time and then I will have another 5-6 hours of individual study in the afternoon/evening. This also
involves going out and talking with people to work on my Swahili.
Orientation: this has been happening bit by bit over the
last few days and as much as I was able to take in on a jet lagged brain, I
have.
Monday night I
arrived pretty late, paying for my visa took a bit but getting my luggage and
“going through customs” was very quick overall. Customs meant walking by a
conveyer built, I was asked if this was my first time here, “yes”, and I was
waived on. Praise Jesus because I was so tired! On the car ride home I was
given my phone to use here, my schedule for the next month, and a wonderful
post letter from one of my kiddos back home! That was a wonderful surprise and
as I laid my head down on a flat bed that night, I re-read that letter and was
reminded that Jesus knows exactly what I need when I need it.
Tuesday morning I
woke up pretty early but didn’t have anything scheduled til 2pm. I reorganized
all my bags, at some cinnamon sugar toast and realized I was pooped! Back to
bed I went… for 2 hours until my alarm went off for my meeting. Afterwards I
went and played volleyball, ate some pizza, and got to worship Jesus through
songs & prayer. It was a great first day.
Wednesday was the
busy morning. I had 4 back-to-back meetings at the office and by the time the
last one was almost over, I had to tell the person sitting across from me, “My
brain is on overload, what do you need from me?” My escort and I walked down
the street and got my phone fixed and then we, and one lady from the office,
meant us at a Kenyan restaurant for lunch.
So this amazing food arrived on the table, I had chai tea in from of me and I was thrilled! It looked delicious, nothing too scary and I was ready to dig in… but with what? As I was looking around for the silverware the lady across from me smiled and said “we don’t use silverware here, we use our hands! Every kids dream!
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| Kuku (chicken) coleslaw & vegetables eaten all by hand. |
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| Greens... I think it was Kale but it had a texture similar to spinach whatever it was, I was not a fan, but at least I tried. |
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| Chapati! It was a bit more thick than what it was like at Flavors of East Africa. |
There’s a reason why they call this a “culture lunch” on my
schedule J
Afterwards I came home and just relaxed on my bed. I forced myself to stay
awake, hoping to convince my body it was not sleeping time yet. I Skyped with a
few people and was asleep pretty early that night.
Thursday started
at 7:30am with a walk to the office for prayer, (which happened Wednesday &
Friday too). This day I only had 3 meetings! My first was with our language
coordinator. Afterwards I walked with our health coordinator down to Yaya (the
shopping mall) where she showed me good brands of food products at the grocery,
where to buy fruits & vegetables, and where to get pharmacy type stuff at
our local chemist. After I went with my language coordinator to a street market
to meet her friend Carolyn who makes homemade peanut butter and sells it at
this street market. She is someone I can go to and practice my Swahili with.
I walked home from the market by myself because she wanted
to stay a bit longer and I had a meeting back at the compound. It was fun to be
out by myself, trusting my instincts to keep me safe and my since of direction
to get my home. Next meeting, good old safety! I did learn that safety here in
Nairobi and where I’ll be in the village are very different! Here, we have
walls, gates, and guards. Where I’m going, we have a steel door and I have a
key to my room. I’m so glad I get to go where I’m going!
TGIF… Thank God it’s Friday!
After prayer I went and laminated a whole bunch of pictures I had cut out the
day before for language learning. It felt like being back at work; I was
sitting cross-legged on the floor while doing it and was told that is how they
sit on the coast… perfect! I then met with our director and got a good overview
of SIM Kenya as well as the purpose for why we are here. I’m so excited to be
apart of such a great team who truly are after God’s desires and not our own
goals.
After that I got a city tour! Here are some of the pictures
to tell the way instead of me just rambling.
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| Entering the Kibera slum, the largest slum in Kenya. |
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| A shop where a family sold things in order to earn a living. Along the main street, the shops were built out of tin and such. Behind the shops were where people lived. |
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| Within a 15 minute drive from Kibera we entered the city centre where high rise buildings are what you see! |
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| Here's a good view of the city from a look out that we stopped at. Directly below is where people come to hear the president make any announcements. |
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| Traffic on the freeway after leaving the city centre. I thought it was because it was Friday. I quickly learned that there was a small fender bender and the two cars remained in the middle of the road to talk it out and other cars had to go around them, therefore the reason for the traffic. |
I was led to sit down at a table with the driver behind me and my escort off to get something at another store. Before I even sat down, about 10-15 guys swarmed my table sticking their menu’s in front of me! I have never felt so overwhelmed before! I keep looking behind me asking my driver, where’s Daniel?! When he finally arrived and we ordered and all the men left, I said to him, “you could have warned me!” he said, “it’s part of the experience”… oh boy!
I ended up with curry chicken and some chapati… very
delicious but I was too nervous there to take my phone out and take pictures…
sorry!
As I arrived home I realized we were completely out of
toilet paper… I mean completely! A nap was originally on my to-do list but
suddenly a 15min walk to Yaya replaced that. Off I went, bought toilet paper
and few other things for the week, and made the trek back home in just over an
hour. I watched Shrek and took a nap! So lovely!
Which brings us to today, Saturday! Since my craving for cake was so strong, my roommate and
I walked to Yaya so she could pick up a few things and I could get what I
needed to back. Came home, baked, and have been eating/relaxing all day. Days
like this are so needed, especially with a cup a chai tea in hand.
I’m looking forward to Church tomorrow for the first time in
Kenya!
Sorry this post is kinda long, from now on you’ll get more
eventful updates but I felt this one could be summarized better in a day-by-day
overview. I have woken up each morning and laid my head down each night so
thankful to Jesus that I get to serve him in this way. I know in many ways it
is a sacrifice, but I honestly feel so blessed to get to be here.
As I finish up the week, here are a few things
you can pray for:
*language acquisition! You can pray specifically for my
brain to start thinking in Swahili and that I would be focused and patient with
myself during the process.
*quality time with people. While I get to be here in
Nairobi, there are lots more opportunities to hang out with fellow
cross-cultural workers. You can pray specifically that those relationships will
have a strong foundation so that when I leave and come back, they will be able
to pick up where they left off.
*quantity time with Jesus. As much free time as I have, I
can easily get distracted with the to-do list. Pray that I will respect the
time I have set aside to read and pray and that it will be a sweet time each
day.
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