Update...again.

Saturday:
I woke up early to take the Moto into town. After updating my BLOG I went to a photo store and printed out some pictures of the kids here who I have bonded with. I’m going to write a little message on the back of each picture and give them the pictures on Tuesday before I leave. I asked Mama Jon what the kids would want as a treat on the night before I leave. I expected her to say chocolate or a Lolly Pop but she said “Bread and Juice!” hah. So I’m going with her on Monday to pick it up from the store. Today I found out that I’ve been calling a girl (whom I bonded with a lot in July and this week) the wrong name. And she NEVER corrected me. I thought her name was Jean and I even said stuff like “I had a Grandma Jean! She made the best Gravy!!” Then today she took me to her class and we were looking at names on the wall and I said “I don’t see your name anywhere” and she said “Yeah, look right here!” and I was like “JANE?!” haha. And tonight I must have killed 15 Mosquitoes in my room. The problem is on two opposite walls there are missing windows. And the wind blows really hard here. Its like a wind tunnel through my room in the middle of the night. And I realized today that if a mosquito was just cruzin my by room it would get sucked in. And that’s why I’ve been waking up with tons of bites. Hah WOW God is funny. My 50 cent mosquito candle that I bought in town just burned out. Turns out the wick only goes about halfway down the wax. SWEEET. Better get under my net. GNIGHT

Sunday:
Wow. Don’t ever complain about a hour and a half church service. Try 4 HOURS!!! And halfway through they decided to switch buildings. It was good though. I got to teach the kids a chorus and they sung with me. I love little kids voices. So after church it was dinner time. Just kidding. We had some rise mixture for a late lunch that was great (after the chili sauce). Then I walked with Patrick down to a little store. Patrick is the guy who cooks and he is 27 and pretty much the coolest guy I’ve met. After the walk I played a little football (soccer) and danced for the kids. For some reason they wanted me to dance. And for some reason they thought it was hilarious. Then before dinner during fellowship two of the children shared their testimony. WOW. Sometimes you forget that these kids have been through so much. One girl who is 16 said that she was kicked out of her home after her father died when she was 9 years old. So she went on the streets and from the help of a older lady got hired as a maid in a mans house. After being abused many times she ran away from this house. Then when back to the streets and was going to try to go back home but didn’t know the way. So she met another young girl who said “I’ll show you the way in the morning you can stay with me tonight” Then later that night she said she was walking with the girl and the girl went into a bar and brought out two older men with her…. She couldn’t finish the story. She started crying and covered her face. She is 16! I really need to pray hard tonight. One more day here then back to Tumaini. I’m gonna miss these kids so much. I don’t want to say goodbye. :-(

Monday:
I went to town today to get bread and juice for the kids. So since I was in town I decided to find a good place to get some food. The first place I went looked good. I went inside and ordered a Coke (in the glass bottle…only way to drink Coke) and when the server brought it I said “do you have samosas?” and he said “no… just meat” and I said “OK… So do you have Chicken?” and he said “…JUST MEAT” to which I replied “Do you have a menu?” and he walked away. I assumed to get the menu. 15 minutes later I saw him chatting with some local. So then I went to another place and before ordering a drink said “Do you have a menu?” and they did. And it looked good. So when he came to take my order I saw a sign on the wall that said “Fresh Passion Juice.” So I asked for some but he said they didn’t have any today. Water it is. Then for food I pointed to Samosa” on the menu and said “I’ll take two” “ohhhh sorry no Samosa’s today” Then I said “Ok… what is on the ‘Kebab’” and he said “ahhh no Kebab’s today either…But we do have chicen” SCORE. Chicken it is. The price said “170 sh.” But he said “also the price is different today… 200 sh” I said “Is that because its Monday or because I’m a Mazungu?” but he ignored my question. Anyways after lunch I bought the 35 loafs of bread and 5 liters of juice concentrate. Then my motorcycle driver shows up with 3 bags of produce for himself. I thought there was no way to get all of this and both of us on this motorcycle, but we did. We must have looked so funny. Then we came to the hard part in the journey home. The part that where I always pray for safe passage. The running water with no bridge…on a motorcycle. Two grown men, 3 giant bags of bread, 1 (5 Liter) juice container, and 3 bags of produce are about to cross a river. We had crossed before but not with so much stuff. As we reached the middle of the river we hit a hole and tipped. All of it… right in the water. Hah. PSYCH!!! No tipping. We made it across. Thank God! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION it POURED rain today! And God even kept it off until I got back from town. Although it only lasted about an hour (a hour?). I felt all the crops and trees taking in the food. The kids LOVED their bread. Some of the younger children had never eaten bread before. They don’t have a bread oven and can’t afford buying it. What an amazing day. The kids know I’m leaving tomorrow and some of them wont look at me in the eyes. :-( NOT looking forward to tomorrow.

Tuesday:
I woke up early today so I could see the kids before school. David was picking me up at 9AM so I knew I wouldn’t be around for their 10AM break. Compared to past experience this goodbye wasn’t that hard. The kids are very disciplined so as soon as the bell rang they started walking to their class’. Last night I wrote on the pictures that I had gotten developed. I gave a picture (with a personal message on the back) to Amina, Jane, Ndanu, Moses, Jackson, Leaky, Brian, Ann, and Patrick. A few of them gave me hugs before going to class. Since the generator was still broken the water truck came to deliver 5000 Liters of water, which costs 2500 Shillings. I gave them 5000 Shillings to stay there for the week and Mama Jon said that would all go towards water. That was cool to find out. So since the road was bad I caught a ride with the water truck back to town to meet David. But just before we left I though “man I have to say bye one more time” So I ran to each class and stuck my head in to say bye. And I’m sooo glad I did. three of the children gave me letters! Jane, Ndanu and Amina. I’m going to wait to get home to read them. Man I already miss those kids so much. One thing that made the day a little better was the girl who has been scared of me this whole time. Right before going to class I saw her from about 15 feet away and said “Sa Sa?! (How are you)” and she VERY quietly said “Poa (Good).” It was amazing. I’ve been trying and week and she usually just cries. So David picked me up and we went to through Nairobi for pizza. I was waiting line and I hear “Cory Way?!” It was Abby. I met her in Uganda but she lives In Nairobi. It was funny and random to see someone I knew. Now I’m back at Tumaini with electricity so I can charge my computer and phone. What a great week. Only a couple more then back to Swaziland. GNight everybody.

Wednesday:
I just realized how much I’m writing… Sorrrrry. But I hope you don’t get bored. Anyways today at Tumaini was great. When I was going to Merciful Redeemer I prayed “ok God I’m here for another few weeks so I mine as well stop counting days and enjoy it.” I think that prayer played a part in my wonderful time at M.R. and I think it is carrying over to Tumaini as well. It was soo good to see all the kids again and laugh and play. And guitar lessons were a lot better too. I told the kids “ok well really I’m not that good at Guitar…I just know the basics very well…that’s all. So at this point I’ve taught you all I can and our practice will consist of jamming and practicing…Deal?” They agreed and practice turned into a funny worship session with random sounds coming from all directions. But it was the best lesson yet. Also I have a new roommate. George who used to help out Merciful Redeemer is staying at Tumaini and he plays guitar so we are having fun sharing songs w/ eachother. Well I’ll keep it Short and Sweet. See you tomorrow.

Thursday:
It was good to be back in the kitchen today. Baking bread and cutting cabbages and peeling potatoes. Also one of the computers crashed so I spend some time trying to fix it. So as of now instead of 4 computers for 32 kids they have 3. It rained sooo hard today! I love the rain and especially when it rains hard. I told my roommate George that I was hoping to go to the Kenyan Coast sometime this year but it didn’t look like it was going to happen. But he told me that he’s been there a few times and its very cheap to take public transportation. He also told me he would accompany me to Mombasa if I would like to go there on my last weekend here. So I’m gonna check some prices online on Saturday and see if its reasonable. Although I think when he says “accompany” he means to have me pay for him. At first I thought NO WAY! But he is going through some hard times and I feel like it would be a good gift for him. And don’t worry I wouldn’t spend my Missions Money. I’d use my savings. And thats IF it works out. I’ll keep you up to date. Although if I end up going my next BLOG post will be the day I’m going. For lunch today we had Rice and for dinner we had Githedi, which are my two favorites. So I am going to sleep VERY full tonight. Till Next Time…

Friday:
Today I went to the Shamba. It’s been raining like crazy here so the ground was super muddy. I got back to Tumaini at about 3 to do some more guitar lessons but the guitars got locked in Davids office. Bummer. Other than that it was a pretty good day. It was good getting to work on the Shamba again. The older ladies I work with (who work way harder than me) are always fun to laugh with. I’ll post tomorrow.