Week One

I am trying out this blog. I hope it works. :)

I am emailing from the "faster" Internet in Mombasa, Kenya. It takes at least 40 minutes to get to town from where I am living, including walking to the ferry, riding the ferry across into town, and then walking here to the Internet cafe. There is also another Internet cafe that is only a 20 minute walk from where I am living, but it is a lot slower. I think I will try and blog from this computer in town.

The ferry, while I am talking about it, is an experience in and of itself. Cars, bikes, people, etc. all ride on this ferry taking people back and forth from the island of Mombasa. I am located in Likoni, a suburb on the mainland. The city of Mombasa is actually a small island. The ferry packs people in, and there is no concept of personal space or safety. People just get on and off, and it is a part of life. You really have to watch out and be aware - there are no signs or traffic lights or anything. You see people carrying things on their heads (HUGE things, I might add. I am so impressed, and I even tried carrying something small, with the help of one of my friends here. ha) Anyway, I'm sure I will get used to it, but for now, I am still marvelling and the "cattle drive," as I like to refer to it in my head.

Back at the base, we have been adjusting to life here. Let me introduce you to the team and the people here. By the way, some of you have asked if this is like an army base. It is just like a small campus, with 3 dorms, and some other buildings. It is where we sleep, eat, work, etc. We have an overlook to the ocean, creating a nice breeze, but it is not a beach like what the pictures look like.
Okay, back to the team:
Our leaders are: Hillard, who has this deep laugh and a great sense of humor,
Jeremy, who has a lot of wisdom to share with us,
Fridah, who is the main leader and has a beautiful heart when she shares,
and Janelle, who is the only Canadian on the team (the rest of the leaders are Kenyans). Janelle has been a great help for us too.

On the team:
Lillian - who has an amazing life story, and an awesome joyful spirit. I am so inspired by her and how God has moved in her life to where she is now. Ask me about her if you get a chance. She is amazingly strong.
Catherine- the other Kenyan girl on our team. She is a lot more quiet than Lillian, but she's coming out of her shell a little each day.
Lisa - my fellow American. She is from Ohio and we celebrated her 21st birthday the day we got here. She has been a joy to have on our team - her love of people and of God have been great, and it has been good to get to know her.
Martin and Judy: They are a couple from England and have such a neat story of how God brought them to Kenya. They will be staying for 2 years, beyond our program. They are really a delight to have on the team.
Paul, John, Philip, and Duncan- the young Kenyan guys. They are such a crack up and make us laugh so much. Paul has been helpful with my Swahili and all of their playfulness has really been a lot of fun.
Tiberius and Richard - they are a few years older than the younger 4 guys, and a lot more serious. But they have a lot of wisdom that I think will be good for our ministries. The hard part for me is that it is pretty difficult for me to understand them when they speak. Richard, especially. I don't think I've been able to understand very much from him, and I don't think he's getting very much from me either.

Also on the base are some other people:
Christine and Grace lead the orphanage ministry called New Hope. They are great.
Elizabeth, Bob, and Erick lead the Kings Kids ministry. Erick and Christine have this contagious smile that you just can't help being happy around. We had the Kings Kids come this morning, and the first one I met today was a kid named Joe. :) He is not too much older than my fourth graders at home too.

It has been an adjustment being here. The people are beautiful, and I have enjoyed hanging out and listening to their stories. It has been a challenge, though, adjusting to a more laid back lifestyle, and finding out information at the seemingly last minute. Yesterday was probably the hardest day - finding out a lot of what we would be doing this weekend and next week without knowing beforehand. There is not a lot of planning ahead, so I am getting used to it. Martin and Lisa were helpful in talking some things out with me yesterday, so that was good. We are learning a lot about culture and things that I had taken for granted within myself. The biggest learnings have been about being flexible and humble. My theme for my time here is actually one of humility.

Let's see, what else can I tell you. It's pretty hot here. My ankles swelled up and so I have been trying to keep my feet cool (obviously with not a lot of success, since they are still kind of swollen). There are a lot of things that are broken - shower, toilet, etc. But we are making due with what we have. The cold showers are actually refreshing after the heat and humidity of the day - it's just weird having to bend down with the faucet because the shower head does not work. I am getting used to sleeping in the mosquito net, and to all the bites. ;) We have seen some pretty big lizards and bats at night, and every morning we hear the call from the mosque nearby and the birds walking on the roof. The first couple of nights we were here, we got these huge, red poisonous centipedes in our dorm, but had a couple of people to kill them for us. Fridah's words to us were "if it bites you, it will sting for a couple of days, but it won't kill you." Thank you. :)

I am learning a lot of swahili and loving the food. Praise God that my stomach has been pretty good. Kenyans eat a LOT of starches - so a lot of rice and potatoes. But it is good. They have a corn maize thing called ugali, which is pretty good too. Lillian says that she is used to eating ugali every day, but we have so far only had it once. I get a lot of laughs as I try out the swahili, but I'm learning a lot of words every day. Yes, Hakuna matata does mean "no worries," and "Rafiki" means friend. But the words I use almost every day are "jambo" (hi) and "mzuri sana" which means "very good." The funniest story I have about my Swahili is that one day we were outside and one of the ladies was carving out a coconut. I got to try it (it's really an interesting tool, you have to sit on it and then this one part grinds out the center). I asked what it was called, and they said the literal translation was "goat." So later I was trying to explain to someone that I got to use the "goat," and they CRACKED up. Apparently, this Swahili word is used to mean both a goat and a coconut grinder. It depends on context. It was pretty funny.

I think that is all for now. I am learning a lot and next week we are heading to another village. I am sure I will have lots to tell about that when I get there.

Until then, I miss you all so much. I think that's an understatement. But God has a purpose for me here, and so I'm making the most of it - I just think of you very often.
Keep in touch. I love to hear what is happening at home.