Something to ponder.

"Is life so wretched? Isn't it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddied? You are the one who must grow up."

—Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

Now we're really shopping.

Last night the rain poured. Not the best preparation for my time at the market today. The stalls were not completely filled as they probably are normally. Surely the rains were the factor. But there were the dedicated ones or those that just really needed the income they will earn today.

Some even sleep while waiting for a sale.

It was quite a happy day for at least three vendors at the market. Susie, Stephanie, and I came loaded with shillings as the result of a

sale the Ladies Fellowship had on Wednesday this week. The money was raised in order to buy baby clothes for new babies in our midst

and for the ones yet to arrive! Now we were going to

make the shillings stretch as far as they would go, hence our

trip to the market.

We bought around 150 items of clothing if not more and spent around Ksh4,000 or a little over US$50.

You can see our two baskets full of clothes.

These items were in excellent shape—no stains, tears, or much wear. But we had to sift through many piles and look in many stalls.

Care to shop?

Habari! That's the common anytime greeting here. Basically it just
means, "Hello" or "How are you?" There are many other Swahili words
one can attach to habari to make it more specific such as "Habari
gani?" (What's the news?) or "Habari za kazi?" (How's work?) If you
reply, "Vizuri" (fine) to any of those you have passed the test. Funny
thing about the word "vizuri," my language books have "nzuri"as the
proper reply. Yet vizuri is exactly what I am being told by Kenyans to
say. Eunice, my language coach and laundry helper :) spelled it out
for me and she wrote "vizuri".

As promised, I have a list of some basics and their cost. Though I pay
for everything in Kenyan shillings, I have converted all the prices
into US $. If there is a brand name most are familiar with I included
that brand name. The exchange rate when I bought these items was
around US$1=Ksh74. The really high prices are correct.

Here's the list:

flour (white) 4 lb — $1.43
flour (brown) 4 lb—$1.47
sugar 2 lb — $1.49
butter 1 lb — $5.41
rice (brown) 4 lb — $2.32
rice (white) 4 lb — $2.09
honey 1 lb — $2.55
yogurt (plain) 500 ml (16 oz) — $5.13
gelatine not Jello (small package) $.59
chicken breasts 1 lb — $16.00 (yes, your read right)
beef mince (hamburger) 1 lb —$3.18
cheese (cheddar) 400 gm — $4.80
Heinz ketchup 855gm — $3.85
green beans fresh 1 lb — $1.07
carrots 2lb — $2.72
peanut butter 400 gm —$1.42
fruit juice 32 oz — $1.89
spaghetti noodles 250 gm — $1.14
eggs — 6 for $.96
milk 64 oz container — $3.28
Kleenex tissues 140 count — $3.51
Listerine 250 ml — $4.31
brown bread $.68

Let me know if I don't list an item you are interested in. I wanted to
put more photos in this time but on my side it doesn't look like the
last ones I put in of our house and some friends were added
to the blog. Can you see them? Let me know if you can't. I really want
to put photos and video on here if possible. I'm learning how to do that.

Kwaheri!

A bit of this and that.

October 17, 2009

Internet access is difficult. Hence, not as much blogging as I had hoped. I'd like to mention a few things in this blog about settling into a house and I'd like to include a few photos. The house that we are occupying now is a duplex. It was built by some Germans in the 70's, I think, for African faculty at NEGST. Because of that the house does not have a hook-up for a washer &/or dryer. Many Africans wash by hand but most Westerners do not. It is time consuming (for most Westerners time is money) plus you really need to have strong hands for that task! Try doing an hour's worth of hand washing and see how your hands feel. I'm not talking about swishing out some underwear either. Try sheets, blankets, towels, blue jeans and the like.

All of our stuff that had been in storage and transported from Zambia is musky, moldy, and grimy. All that stuff is being washed without a washing machine! It has been a chore. I actually hired a young lady to help me but she can't do it all or the wash would never get done. Add to that two other problems: The rainy season is beginning and the fact that everything hung on the line to dry must also be ironed. Why? Because of what we called the "putse fly" in Zambia. Well, Kenya has that fly too. It lays microscopic eggs on the damp clothes. Those eggs adhere nicely to your skin when you put on your clean clothes. Your skin then becomes fertile growing material for the larvae. Those grow into maggots before they come out of your skin. A very painful process. It is so painful it makes grown men cry (or want to cry). Just thought you'd be interested :) As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I want to make this an informative blog. Please feel free to comment or to ask me questions. Maybe you want me to take certain photos. Let me know.

Above is a photo of our side of the duplex. Our neighbors on the other side of the duplex are Dr. & Mrs. Nyende. The bigger duplex across the bush fence (you can see in the photo of laundry in the back yard) is home to Dr. & Mrs. Habtu and to Mrs. Mutua and her husband. All are lecturers at NEGST. We've met all our neighbors and even dined at the Habtus. Once we are completely unpacked we will also invite our neighbors over for a meal.

This week we had the pleasure of a meal in the apartment of a NEGST student and his family, who happens to be a TCCA graduate. The Mwaangas have been helping us deal with our culture shock. Believe it or not, we are experiencing culture shock coming as if we are going from Zambia to Kenya and not from USA to Kenya. That means John, Daniel, and I are finding that we are actually making adjustments from being in Zambia to being in Kenya. So the Mwaangas have been helpful. They have been here for over a year now and have already gone through what we are going through. We are also anticipating another TCCA graduate and his family coming to NEGST as soon as scholarship money is available. It is so nice to have a bit of Zambia around. That eases our transition. It was so hard to leave Zambia, as if you didn't already know that!

Next time I write I plan on giving you some prices for items we buy here and give you some exchange rate info for those who love numbers!

OK. Tutaonana! (See you later)

Photos added

Ever see a sheared sheep in a tree?

Karibuni Kenya!

Finally here after a 3 month Providential delay. Presently I'm trying to figure out how the internet thing is going to work for doing a weekly blog with photos. Don't know if video will work as the connection is quite slow. Already I had difficulty logging in to blogspot in order to post.

What I'd like to do is bring you into the world here, the REAL world. Let me give you a bit of background for that adjective in all caps. Soon upon our return to the US for home assignment back in 2000, the entire family was having medical check-ups. In my situation a nurse inquired about my work and such. When I told her I worked in Africa, specifically Zambia, and was back in the US for home assignment she remarked, "Well, welcome back to the real world." "Real world? The US is the real world?" I questioned. Anyway, you can imagine we had an interesting conversation. Back to my aim, I do hope that I can give you a glimpse into my REAL world as I experience it in Kenya.

There are a couple of photos I wanted to add to this week's blog. Unfortunately, I can't get the connection to work right, so I'll have to rely upon what words I can use to give you some kind of glimpse into the real :) world this week.

After John and I arrived at the airport after long flights enduring the cattle class seating on two of the flights and being mercifully given a little more leg room on the last flight, we felt completely exhausted physically. But the thoughts going through my head were, "Ah, finally. Africa." As we stood in line at immigration I watched the tourists all around me and didn't note anything obnoxious. I was praying that I wouldn't appear as such. The last thing I wanted was to appear as an "Ugly American." (Tourists from any country can be ugly but Americans are the ones singled out particularly. I've witnessed justification for the label and have probably contributed to it.)

John was over in another line, a very short line, for those holding work permits. He was next in line there when I got his attention and said, "Can you ask the gentleman if your wife can also come to that counter?" John was way ahead of me. The tourist visa line I stood in was much longer though we had dashed off the plane quickly. The immigration officer called me over to John's side. That was good for those in the long tourist visa line and good for us. Happily I presented my passport and paid the $25 visa fee and John and I were on our way to collect "mizigo" luggage. In Bemba, a Zambian language if you had a large load it was called a "katundu." I'm not sure how that would be said here or whether mizigo has that connotation. (At times I may refer to a Bemba word in comparison with a Swahili word, so be prepared.)

A gentleman from NEGST met us at the airport and helped us with the heavy load. We've received a very warm welcome, "karibu." Already we have dined in the home of two lecturers, a British couple and a Korean couple. We look forward to being able to reciprocate and to having staff into our home as well as students.

Speaking of students, John and I had the joy of seeing the Mwaangas. This Zambian family graduated from TCCA back in 2002, I believe. They had been serving in the pastorate when the Lord opened the way for Mweemba to study for a Master's degree here at NEGST. (He was a very hard-working student at TCCA and made good grades. He hopes to go back to Zambia and serve at TCCA. Mweemba would be an excellent lecturer.) John and I walked over to the student flats (apartments) yesterday to visit them. I saw Winnie out hanging up laundry. She was behind her clothes when I called out "Winnie?" Needless to say, it was quite a surprise for her to see her old teacher. Winnie had also been my language helper. She's from the Bemba tribe. Winnie invited us inside where we also saw Mweemba. What a joy to see them!

I think I can speak for both John and myself when I say that it feels as if we have come home though it was Zambia that had been home since January 1997. Neither one of us is feeling culture-shock. What we are feeling is the jet lag. It may be that since Kenya is similar to Zambia in many ways we will not have the kind of culture shock we did when we first went to Zambia. One thing we don't want to do however, is have a mindset that this is Zambia. No. We have much to learn in our new home, Kenya.

God's ways. A mother's thoughts.

Years ago when we began our mission work in Zambia we had to make a decision regarding schooling our little ones. At the time they were 8, 6, and 4 years old. I had had the wonderful privilege of homeschooling them up to that point but we were finding it difficult to do any "school" as living was more complicated in a good way—people and simple living.

To make a long story short, after visiting a school in Northwestern Zambia called Sakeji, all of us made the decision that the oldest two would begin attending there. At the time I can remember how hard it was for me as a mother to send my little ones off to "boarding" school. Well, the comforting thought came to me that no matter how much I may love my children (and I felt that it was gobs and gobs!) God loves them infinitely better and deeper that I do and that His plan for them that far exceeds my dreams for them.

Though our life has been far from storybook, for we are sinners, God has never failed to show His great love and care for our children as they have grown up in Africa. They have been through many difficulties but God has been there in the midst. One thing we have learned from living overseas is that life isn't like Hollywood movies make it out to be or as our American hopes figure it should be. It's much more complicated and at the same time it is much simplier. And God is much more Awesome than we can ever possibly imagine. He has shown me that in the countless ways He has loved the dear children he has given me.

This has come to me forcefully again as our youngest son was kept providentially from boarding a plane to Kenya this past week. Little did we know at the time that God was protecting his life. Two days after he was delayed in boarding his flight he ended up having an emergency appendectomy this past Friday evening. Just another story of God's sovereign loving rule over His loved ones.