Saying Goodbye

Nancy with the blanket I made.
Ride to Bomet
Sharon, my friend leading me into the village.
My Tenwek Friends
Well yesterday was our last day :( Logan, dad, and I went to Bomet. Which is only a couple of minutes away from Tenwek. We rode in a matau which is crazy. It is a 5 seat car and they fit about 8-10 people in it. It was a little squished. We went to some stores around there and just looked. Dad got a backpack for $8 and then Logan got a book. Then we went to their grocery store, that and the matau were my favorite part. It was fun to see all the different brands. They also have Obama gum so we got us a pack of that. I got some tea leaves to make chai. Here they have chai around 5 times a day and they drink it boiling hot. Its really good a Nancy taught me how to make it. Later that night we went down to Nancy's neighborhood (with Nancy that way she could translate) I gave the family's a blanket and we gave the kids suckers. They all loved the blankets and were so thankful. After we finished giving out the "7" blankets we had ( we had eight but didn't tell Nancy that, she is about 5 months pregnant ) we went to Nancy's house and talked for a while and surprised her with her blanket. She LOVED it! She is so sweet and I will really miss her. While leaving her house all the kids that I have been playing with the past couple of weeks were outside and we got a ton of pictures with them and they even tried taking pictures with my camera. I will really miss everybody! I can't wait to come back. Everybody here is so nice. I am very sad to be leaving, but I will be happy to be home. I am so glad I came. I have learned a lot about the people in this small village as well as alot about myself. The one thing I know for sure is I am going home a different girl, a humbled girl, with a bigger heart for the Lord. I am so glad the Lord brought this opportunity to me. I am very blessed to have such great friends and family who helped me and supported me through out the the whole process and while I was here. I love you all very much, and thank you! Now I have to go we are leaving for Nairobi thanks again, bye.

Triplets

Yesterday I went back to the nursery. I didn't get sick thank goodness. Julie and I helped a mother who has triplets. We got there early and got to hold them until the mother got there. When she got there we helped feed them. I fed one, Julie fed one, and the mother fed one. The one the mother fed had to be feed through a tube. She would pour the milk down a syringe and then it would go down to a little tube and then in to the baby. All three were preemies and there was one boy and two girls. I fed a girl and Julie fed the little boy. I did much better this time and I didn't get near as much milk on that baby as my other trips. The one thing that they both did was fall asleep while we fed them, but she still found a way to drink it with her eyes closed. They were all adorable of course! My mom would have loved it!

Later that day I took a walk around town by myself and took some pictures with a flat Stanley that one of my Aunt Tammy's students sent to us. It was really nice just to take one last walk, I went down to the waterfall , it was not as near as heavy as the first time we went there, but it also hasn't rained as much. It was still really pretty. I will really miss it here and all the friends I have made and hope to come back next year on break. Today is our last day and we will be handing out the tie blankets some moms and daughters helped make. So will take pictures for you guys to see who got your blanket. Well I better go I will blog tonight to tell you about our last day, bye.

Mosop Orphanage

Sweet Drummer Boy

This is the family we stayed with.

Dads Tire Swing
Playing Hot Wheels

The past couple of days I have been at an orphanage call Mosop. It is a boarding school for missionary kids and orphans. Monday when we got there I got to play with all the little kids (3rd grade and under) while my dad and the girls I was staying with went and had a "talk" with the boys and girls in the upper classes (they were separated). Dad talked about respecting women (something that is not done here in Africa) the older girls talked about purity, and protecting your bodies and that you have the right to say "no". I played red-light green-light with the little kids and they loved it, when I would say it really fast they would just laugh. After the talks they have a church service on Mondays and we got to go to that. It was really neat and in the first picture that is the boy who played the drums during the service. He did a great job and it sounded really cool. Now they have some praise and worship music, I loved it:) After that we went back to the house we were staying and had dinner. For dinner we had the same thing we had at Nancy's but also had potatoes.
On Tuesday we went back to the school and in the morning we all went to the preschoolers class we played at recess with them and then would help them in the class room. The class I helped in was learning how to write their abc's. So we went around and helped them do that. When we were done with that dad and I went and played P.E. with the older kids. I played volleyball and tried to play soccer but I fell a couple of times because my shoes were slick and my dress a bit long, so I ended up just taking my shoes off to play. Then we went back to the house for lunch. After lunch we took the toys we brought and the bracelets me and my friends made, down to the school. I gave the bracelets to the older kids and the toys to the younger kids. They all loved every thing! We played for long time with all the toys and had tons of fun! After awhile I heard someone playing the drums. It was the same boy again, and then more kids started coming and before I knew it they were having a little praise and worship going on. It was so fun, and they were all adorable. It was so neat and they did it without any teachers or anybody telling them to do it. After that we went back to the house and had dinner. We had the same thing for lunch and dinner, but I didn't mind it was all good to me. Later that night the little kids that stay at the house came back and me and one of the older girls I was staying with went and sang songs and danced with the little girls while the little boys stood outside the door and watched and laughed. It was a great day and tons of fun.
Wednesday(the day we left) there was some news that one of the teachers family had been in a crash on their way out to his graduation. His mom, dad, and one of his uncles died, one was in the hospital, but in bad shape. So in the morning all the teachers came to the office and we had a mini church service for him and his family. It was neat to see how caring these people were. They care more about one person than I have ever seen. They give so much more respect to others. After that dad and I went back to the preschoolers class and helped out some more. They also had a swing set frame but no swings. They did have some tires that the little boys would push around, so dad tied on two of those to the swing set and they loved that and played on those forever. Then it was time for lunch and we went back to the house and had lunch and said our good byes and headed back to Tenwek. It was a lot of fun and wished I could have stayed longer I will miss them all very much and will definitely be back next year on spring break

Traditional Kenyan Meal

Last night we went to Nancy's house and ate with her and her husband Alfred. She made us a traditional Kenyan meal. We had goat meat, ugali (made from corn), sukuma wiki (kind of like collard greens) and to drink we had chai. She also cut up some pineapple for us too. Then we had cake that Julie had left over from Liam's birthday party. I felt like I was going to explode because I ate so much. We ate with are hands too so I was pretty messy afterwards. They talked about how they get married, they have to get permission from the parents and they also have to give them some cattle and a certain amount of money, and the women aren't allowed to know what he payed for her. It's all men who discuss the payment. Julie also had some pictures of snow for them to see because they had never seen it before. They don't eat until late like around 9:30-10:00, and right after they go to bed. They showed us their wedding pictures. It was a lot of fun and the food was good. It was really neat to see how they lived in just one room.

Today we are going to the orphanage and I believe we are staying there for two nights or more it depends. It will be a lot of fun! I might not be able to blog for a few days because I don't know if we will have a good signal but, I will see. If not I will just tell you all about it when I get back. I better go pack and its almost time for lunch so talk to you as so as I can, bye.

Safari

Since Friday we have been at Masai Mara and we just got back today. The day we got there we went on a night safari. We saw a lot of animals like rhinos, giraffes(my favorite), lions, cheetahs, zebras and many more. We didn't see them all in one night but through out the course of the weekend. The second day we went to see the Masai tribe. They wear bright red to scare away the dangerous animals. When we got there the chief showed us around and right as soon as we walked through there gate they had a song and dance for us. The women sang and behind them were some younger men (I think either in there late teens and twenty's) that would jump. They jump amazingly high. It turns out whoever jumps the highest gets the prettiest girlfriends. The men have more than one wife and the wife has to build the house ( which is made of mud and poo, gross). At the end of the dance the guys started coming toward us. One guy came and got me and then another one came and got Julie. We ended up dancing the very end of the song with them. It was so fun! We took a lot of pictures and a video of of us with them, they were super nice. After that the chief showed us one of the houses. It is a one roomed house with two beds on each side and a place where they made food. They add cows blood to their milk. We didn't try it and I am kinda glad but it would have been interesting. After that we went to their stores and each family has one and we got souvenirs. A lot of their things are made of beads and brightly colored ones too. That was the best day and I wish I could do it again. Today we went on a morning safari. We were mainly looking for a leopard, It was the one out of the top five we couldn't find. The top five were rhino, elephant, lions, leopard, and cape buffalo. This weekend was really fun and relaxing. In a little while we are going to Nancy's (she helps Julie around the house) and she is making a traditional Kenyan meal for us.So I will blog some more tomorrow, bye.