New Pictures!!

We have uploaded some new pictures this morning such as this one.  I am not sure if you can see very well, but this giant ball of straw in the background is actually a man on a bicycle, hauling more hay than you can imagine.  When we passed him on the road, you could not even see the biker.  The hay was all around him and packed up to about 10 feet high.  I have put a link on the photo so you can hopefully zoom in.  It was quite a sight to see.  Nicole and I laughed out loud for about 10 minutes.  The Kenyans are very versatile with their bikes.  One of our friends actually carried a couch (yes, I know it is hard to believe, but I am actually talking about a regular size couch that fits 3 people comfortably) on his bike about 10 kilometers on a horribly bumpy dirt road to his home from our church.  Regrettably, Nicole and I were not able to get a picture of it.  If you want to see our other new pictures, you can check out our link on the right of this page. ~Jeremy

Kenyans and Tacos

Apparently, the youth here in Ngata have never eaten tacos before.  Nicole and I had the older youth (anywhere from 18 to 26 years old)over to our apartment on Sunday after church.  We were expecting around 5 or 6, but we discovered that whenever you mention food, the Kenyan youth are listening.  “If you feed them, they will come.”  And they did, about 20 of them.  Though we were excited to have that many, we were completely out of food by the end of the day.  We served them tacos and pizza, but the youth were a little confused.  Even after I demonstrated, they still did not understand.  One was even trying to wrap his piece of pizza inside his soft taco shell (chepati). ~ Jeremy

Lost in Nakuru

So Nicole and I made the major mistake of thinking we could find our way at night to a church in Nakuru called Lakeview from the directions of one of our Kenyan friends.  We took his word that it would be easy, and we would have “no problem.”  So we dropped him off in town on his way home, and he told us to just go straight on the road that we were on.  We would not go very far and then we would see a “center” and turn light (right, his r’s sound like l’s).  We would then turn left on the second road.  Little did we know that “not very far” to Kenyans can mean 500 meters or 50 kilometers.  It did not take us long to realize that we had know idea how far we were supposed to go and that we had know idea what was meant by a “center.”  So we decided to call Pastor Habib.  He told us just to pull over, and we told him what building we were by.  He then told us, “I am coming.”  It did not take us long to realize that he had no idea where we were.  So we called him several more times describing where we were, with each conversation ending with “I am coming.”  Eventually we called him back and told him that we would drive to where he was.  We ended up driving back to downtown Nakuru to meet him at a local grocery store.  After another hour or so of observing the night life in downtown Nakuru, Habib finally found us.  We were only about two hours late for dinner at the home next to the church!  We learned an important lesson that if we need directions, we ask one of the missionaries. ~Jeremy

Sorry It’s Been So Long!

Wow, we haven’t blogged in a long time. Things have been crazy busy here and then every time I go to blog I don’t do it because I don’t even know where to start. It seems like we have a million new experiences daily and so much is always happening. We have both been busy with our jobs. We try really hard to keep Monday as our one day off, but sometimes it doesn’t happen. I think part of it is that we live and work at the same place so sometimes there seems to be no escape, but at the same time it’s great not having to commute and we love living with the kids and babies! I have had many sick kids lately, but everyone seems to be recovering. Once one kid catches something it spreads like wildfire. Priscila, the Kenyan nurse that I work with here is gone for training this week, so it will definitely be an extra busy week for me. Healthcare here is enough to make any American crazy, but I’m adjusting!! We have had 3 kids leave in the past week. One was adopted, one went to a foster home, and another to a home in Nairobi that is better equipped to handle children with disabilities (she had cerebral palsy). Which means we have openings for more kids! On Monday we got a new little boy here, we guess him to be 4 months old, but it can be so difficult to tell. He was abandoned recently in a nearby village. Overall he seems to be healthy which is amazing considering the circumstances he is coming from.
We are also driving now! It’s nice to have a little bit of freedom. We share vehicles with other missionaries here. The driving is so hard to get used to. Opposite side of the road and car and there are absolutely no rules at all. Pretty much, the most aggressive driver is the one who gets through. Jeremy loves it because that is about how he drives in the U.S. He was driving in downtown Nairobi last week and did great, he fits right in. As far as Swahili goes, we are getting there. We can now at least communicate with the kids.
Since Jeremy works at the church as well as the baby center we get invited to homes for dinners or lunches A LOT! It’s been a great cultural learning experience and has been very entertaining as well. Sometimes it is a 4 or 5 hour ordeal, patience has been something we have really had to learn since being here. A couple weeks ago Priscila and I sat in a hospital waiting room for 9 hours in Nairobi with 4 kids, two of which could not walk. So we are definitely having to learn to slow our pace sometimes!
We will try to blog much more frequently! We have moments of   getting pretty homesick, but overall we love it here. I tell you what, first thing I’m doing when I get off the plane in the U.S. is getting a giant fountain diet coke!! Oh my gosh, I can’t wait! ~Nicole