I am loving the kids more and more everyday… my love for them keeps growing and I think I could stay here forever with them. I want to bring them home with me!! It amazes me how even though it may be a “simpler” life here, I find so much more joy here. I would give up everything at home any day to be here and have this kind of happiness.
On Monday morning I spent time with Jacob and Joy. Jacob would cry whenever I left. They love to be spun around in circles and Joy drank her bottle on my lap and almost fell asleep. Sara, Carly, and I hung out a lot that day and practiced our Swahili on Rosetta Stone. We were able to move into a bedroom upstairs so that we can sleep better since our room downstairs was by all of the toddlers. Some helpful words I have been using a lot are katika: dance, lucia: throw, and mpira: ball (I have no idea how to spell lucia). I also read to Sharon that afternoon and would point to pictures and she would repeat what I said. It was fun when I knew the words in Swahili, like cat is paka.
They have had a really difficult time trying to potty train Sharon though, she refuses to go on the toilet so she will just wet her pants and not tell anyone. She told me she had to go potty several times that day and we would go to the bathroom and she wouldn’t do anything. So I’m getting used to changing her underwear or diaper multiple times a day. Unfortunately, I always discover she has wet her pants when she’s sitting on my lap haha.
One of the highlights of my day was really simple but so fun. I ran around with Faith on my back and Solomon was chasing us and they were laughing so hard and screaming. The power went out that night for a while (the second time so far), and all of the kids were screaming and running around. It was very dark and Sharon sat on my lap singing songs about Jesus and it was adorable. That night was really funny... I decided to try to help the older kids with their math homework. BAD idea! They didn’t have calculators or notes or a textbook so we had no help when we tried to do the problems and lots of them were conversions that I didn’t remember. The kids had no idea how to do any of the homework either. Three other girls (Carly and two of the other volunteers) came out to try to help and none of us could figure out half of the problems… it took us HOURS... and we are all in college!!
Yesterday (Tuesday), we spent the day at the Masaii Market and it was so fun! We left the orphanage at 9am and didn’t get there until 1pm though because traffic in Nairobi was CRAZY and we had to make a detour to pay for our safari at the travel agency. When we finally got there at 1pm we ate lunch at pizza inn which is popular here and I was able to have a coke and coke has never tasted better!
The market was hilarious. The vendors kept asking if we came with Biden (he arrived in Kenya yesterday) and they would all ask where I’m from. None of them could believe I was in college since I look so young. They loved to hear what I am studying. They always offered me a “student” and “missionary” discount. My favorite was when they would describe the “big belly papa” tourist and say how much they charge him (always a ridiculous price) and then they would say how they would be fair and give me a lower one since I am a student (still too high). Some of the vendors were too forceful for me – they would grab onto my arm or force the items into my bag so I would buy them or they would follow me around to other booths and bring things from their booth to me. Or they would just stand and wait forever by me when I was at other booths. I was able to give out hair ties to lower the prices of the things I bought which was nice. I love everything I got: a painted map of Africa on cloth, elephants with a sunrise painted on cloth, a bag, rings, bookmarks, and fabric to make one shirt and two dresses. When bargaining, they would give a “hallelujah” price (they considered it to be the best offer) which always made me laugh because it was still too high and a “kill” price was when I went too low with them. Sara was my mediator so I wouldn’t get too ripped off and she helped me bargain with them on paper – they were more scared of her. We would go off in our own corner and pick a maximum price for me before we negotiated with them. Bargaining took a long time and it was SO hot out. I accidentally spent WAY too much on a bag I got but oh well I love it and the other booths didn't have it (they started out with the price at 2800 and I got it down to 1650 but apparently you can get bags for 500 at other booths). By the end of the day the vendors all knew Sara's name and were shouting it and it was really funny.
All of us girls woke up with sore throats yesterday and Sara is pretty sick so please be praying for our health. It feels like the left side of my throat is swollen and it hurts to swallow. We are having a difficult time sleeping because we are sick and the beds are rock solid and the dogs and birds are very loud all night.
Today a medical team is arriving and they will be here for the next two days helping out with the people from the village so that will be interesting to see what it is like. I am going to go help out at the nursery now! Friday we are going to another market and Saturday morning we leave for the safari.
On Monday morning I spent time with Jacob and Joy. Jacob would cry whenever I left. They love to be spun around in circles and Joy drank her bottle on my lap and almost fell asleep. Sara, Carly, and I hung out a lot that day and practiced our Swahili on Rosetta Stone. We were able to move into a bedroom upstairs so that we can sleep better since our room downstairs was by all of the toddlers. Some helpful words I have been using a lot are katika: dance, lucia: throw, and mpira: ball (I have no idea how to spell lucia). I also read to Sharon that afternoon and would point to pictures and she would repeat what I said. It was fun when I knew the words in Swahili, like cat is paka.
They have had a really difficult time trying to potty train Sharon though, she refuses to go on the toilet so she will just wet her pants and not tell anyone. She told me she had to go potty several times that day and we would go to the bathroom and she wouldn’t do anything. So I’m getting used to changing her underwear or diaper multiple times a day. Unfortunately, I always discover she has wet her pants when she’s sitting on my lap haha.
One of the highlights of my day was really simple but so fun. I ran around with Faith on my back and Solomon was chasing us and they were laughing so hard and screaming. The power went out that night for a while (the second time so far), and all of the kids were screaming and running around. It was very dark and Sharon sat on my lap singing songs about Jesus and it was adorable. That night was really funny... I decided to try to help the older kids with their math homework. BAD idea! They didn’t have calculators or notes or a textbook so we had no help when we tried to do the problems and lots of them were conversions that I didn’t remember. The kids had no idea how to do any of the homework either. Three other girls (Carly and two of the other volunteers) came out to try to help and none of us could figure out half of the problems… it took us HOURS... and we are all in college!!
Yesterday (Tuesday), we spent the day at the Masaii Market and it was so fun! We left the orphanage at 9am and didn’t get there until 1pm though because traffic in Nairobi was CRAZY and we had to make a detour to pay for our safari at the travel agency. When we finally got there at 1pm we ate lunch at pizza inn which is popular here and I was able to have a coke and coke has never tasted better!
The market was hilarious. The vendors kept asking if we came with Biden (he arrived in Kenya yesterday) and they would all ask where I’m from. None of them could believe I was in college since I look so young. They loved to hear what I am studying. They always offered me a “student” and “missionary” discount. My favorite was when they would describe the “big belly papa” tourist and say how much they charge him (always a ridiculous price) and then they would say how they would be fair and give me a lower one since I am a student (still too high). Some of the vendors were too forceful for me – they would grab onto my arm or force the items into my bag so I would buy them or they would follow me around to other booths and bring things from their booth to me. Or they would just stand and wait forever by me when I was at other booths. I was able to give out hair ties to lower the prices of the things I bought which was nice. I love everything I got: a painted map of Africa on cloth, elephants with a sunrise painted on cloth, a bag, rings, bookmarks, and fabric to make one shirt and two dresses. When bargaining, they would give a “hallelujah” price (they considered it to be the best offer) which always made me laugh because it was still too high and a “kill” price was when I went too low with them. Sara was my mediator so I wouldn’t get too ripped off and she helped me bargain with them on paper – they were more scared of her. We would go off in our own corner and pick a maximum price for me before we negotiated with them. Bargaining took a long time and it was SO hot out. I accidentally spent WAY too much on a bag I got but oh well I love it and the other booths didn't have it (they started out with the price at 2800 and I got it down to 1650 but apparently you can get bags for 500 at other booths). By the end of the day the vendors all knew Sara's name and were shouting it and it was really funny.
All of us girls woke up with sore throats yesterday and Sara is pretty sick so please be praying for our health. It feels like the left side of my throat is swollen and it hurts to swallow. We are having a difficult time sleeping because we are sick and the beds are rock solid and the dogs and birds are very loud all night.
Today a medical team is arriving and they will be here for the next two days helping out with the people from the village so that will be interesting to see what it is like. I am going to go help out at the nursery now! Friday we are going to another market and Saturday morning we leave for the safari.