From Cairo to Kentucky

Occasionally, after Friday night vespers, we invite our faculty family over. Every family "adopts" a group of students and they become your faculty family. The kids love it! They get to crash a faculty member's house, eat their food, and just relax. We usually feed our faculty family popcorn (which Richard pops in our pressure cooker) and homemade sweet bread. I made them zucchini bread this last time and it was gone almost before it hit the table. We splurged and bought them Fanta, too! Here's one of our "kids" being a poser! Now, Richard being a goof-ball! The kids love him! Some of the students from other faculty families came to our house after they left their "home-away-from-the-dorm". We must of had twenty kids over! I ended up showing these girls my wedding pictures. That made for a lot of "Ahhhhhs!" We really have a great faculty family. They even cleaned the kitchen for me last time!

Some of the girls in my Geometry class stopped by our house the night before their big Geometry test. We started out studying, and then things got a little silly. Maybe I shouldn't have brought out the Cadbury chocolate bar!

I can't believe it's already the sixth week of school! We've been working hard and having some fun, too. I haven't posted many pictures, so here are a few. I teach English to all the grades (six out of eight right now), and the kids are working on writing a personal narrative. My youngest students are so proud of their stories. I am, too! The last pic is of my older girls and Ngina, my student missionary. (She's great!) While we're doing English, they're doing Math. Lot's going on--all the time!

To continue my previous post, the rest of the email: "Oh...and then, when we got back to school, Richard went to play volleyball with his team. It was for the championship game. So, they win the first game, and at the start of the second, he trips over a student and hurts his ankle. I find out, because some of the younger kids came looking for me saying that Richard is hurt and he wants me. Thank God again because his foot isn't broken. We don't know, however, if he's torn a ligament or just sprained his ankle. It's swelling up nicely, but without changing colors or bruising. He may go to see the local Adventist orthopedic doctor. Turns out it's the same guy who fixed his broken arm when he was here as a Freshman." Thankfully, after getting an X-ray in Rongai to confirm, (which some people would debate is questionable), no bones are broken. Just a "soft tissue injury" as the X-ray tech called it. And, that was how we ended a "not-so-normal...

Every Wednesday afternoon is our town day. We usually drive into Nairobi to a Nakumat (either Junction or Karen), and buy groceries. Usually that's it, unless we're riding with another family and they have errands to run, or we're going searching for things, like a couple of weeks ago when Richard needed soccer boots--cleats--and a hair cut. It's nice to get off campus, and being Wednesday afternoon, it's just what I need to get me over through the rest of the week. However, this week, our town day got off to a bad start and just seemed to keep getting worse. Here's a copy of the email I sent my mother in the evening: "Hi, Mami. It's late, so I'll have to make this short. We went to town this afternoon and because Richard talked on the cellphone for a split second before we were to turn into the shopping center, we almost got arrested. The police pulled us over, then got into our car. They wanted to take us to the station and charge us 7,000 Ksh (a...

Saturday night, we ventured into Nairobi once more to celebrate birthdays--mine and Phillip's. Phillip is Richard's assistant boy's dean, and ironically, we share the same birthday! On the way, we saw fireworks. Of course, we went back to Habesha's for some good Ethiopian food. We invited other faculty and staff to join us. For some, it was their first time eating Ethiopian. Most everyone liked it, and we just had a fun time visiting with each other. We documented the occasion with a signature self-portrait. Happy 27th to me! (By the way, we're drinking Malta, in case you're wondering.)

Richard took a small group of us hiking on Sabbath afternoon. We walked along the main road and then hiked up a side road toward the Ngong Hills. We passed several shops and homes along the way. It was the first time I'd walked through a residential area. We hiked out (and mostly up) for about an hour until we reached a water tank. We all climbed up and enjoyed this view. What a great way to spend a Sabbath afternoon!

Our first long weekend... just in time for my birthday! School let out on Thursday, and I spent all afternoon planning for next week so that I could enjoy myself during the weekend! Most of the kids went camping to the Maasai Mara, but I'm happy we could stay back and relax. Richard has only two boys in the dorm! On Friday, Richard drove a van full of kids to Nakumat Junction. While they shopped for three hours, we walked around, leisurely enjoying the shops we don't usually have time to enjoy on our town day (when we're too busy buying the things we need and trying to get back before dark). At Junction, they have a bookstore called the Media Store which made me think of being in a Barnes and Noble. After much looking, I bought a book titled "Teach Yourself Urdu in Two Months." I really want to learn another language, and we now have friends on campus that are from Pakistan and speak Urdu. Kalsoom, my friend, can teach me Urdu and I'll trade her for ...

We usually do all of our shopping in Nairobi, but occasionally we'll run into Rongai, just down the road from Maxwell, and shop for things at the local supermarket, Tuskys. Outside of Tuskys is an open air market where Richard and I like to buy some fruits and vegetables. We usually get avocados from this stall for about 20 Ksh a piece, or about $0.30 each. Along the roadside are all sorts of shops. We haven't ventured into any of them...yet.

I'm enjoying two springs this year--one in Chicago and one here. When we first arrived to Maxwell, winter was just ending. Now, everything is budding and blooming. I can't wait for my flower pots to arrive, so that I can go buy plants for the inside of my house. In the meantime, I'll enjoy all the flowers we have outside.

Richard took me out to eat at an Indian restaurant that he frequented as a student--Ashiana's. We tried their sampler dish. We're still not sure what was in our favorite side, although we know it was all vegetarian. The food was good, but just a little too spicy for my taste. I was happy for the sweet lassie to help cool my mouth off.

A favorite Saturday night activity sponsored by the ASB, or student government, is "Junk Night." In case you're wondering, "Junk Night" is a competition for the classes. Each class collects as much "junk" as possible from the dorms and hauls it down to the gym. There, the goal is to be the first class to run to the center of the gym with the item of "junk" that is being called for. Each item is worth one point, while other class activities, such as making a pyramid and falling flat on the floor for an air raid, are worth five points. My favorite piece of junk was Maxwell Gold, i.e. toilet paper. This is a picture of the "junk" collected mostly by the Junior class girls. Here are two very spirited Juniors. And, finally, the entire Junior class. Richard and I have the pleasure of not only teaching Junior classes (U.S. History and Geometry), but also being Junior class sponsors. They voted for us, so they obviouly just can...

One of the best things about Sabbaths here are the music performances. My elementary students look and sound so angelic when they sing! And, even though enrollment is low and a few of the girls had to be coaxed to sing tenor because of it, the high school chorale was impressive, too! The kids love to sing here (or so it would seem). For vespers, Richard played guitar while the officers of the Boy's Club led out in song service.