My host mom told me I drink too much water (she thought I was sick because I drink so much water), she said I shouldn't drink when I eat meals because I "water the food in my stomach". I wasn't really sure what she was getting at…I just told her I really liked water and I got thirsty often. I guess they are not big water drinkers here.
Until Daisy gets here, I can't really start any work. So its been a lot of just hanging around the house, reading, sleeping, blogging etc. Its kind of boring, but I can't really go out alone either. Basically, I can't wait for Daisy to get here, and to get internet!
One thing that is very different here is how they just sit and do nothing sometimes. For instance, they will just sit and drink tea, and do nothing else. Last night the dad came home from work and just sat and drank tea for over an hour. I was reading next to him, and we periodically talked, but he was perfectly content just sitting and thinking. At home I (and Americans in general) never do that. Especially at a place like MIT, if your drinking tea your usually doing it as you study or check emails. This morning after I finished eating I tried to just sit there and drink my tea. It was hard, and I ended up reading the cereal and orange juice containers over and over. I guess I need to learn how to not always be doing something.
My host dad and I talked about Christianity in Kenya last night as we were waiting for dinner. He said that they say Kenya is 80% Christian, but he really thinks it is about 20%. That statistic is so high because Christianity is engrained in the culture here from the British colonial rule. Everyone gets a "Christian" name at there baptism (aka english sounding, not african). There is so much Christian tv and radio, and Christian verses everywhere, even some on the windshield of the matatu I rode in yesterday. Its funny that this happened because of British colonial rule, where now in Britian and Europe in general I don't think there is much of a Christian culture anymore.
Islam is also popular here - I have seen a lot of woman with veils. And in my new phone, which is a regular Samsung phone, under settings there is a application for "prayer times". I'm guessing it alerts you at each of the 5 times to pray.
After hanging out around the house for a few hours, David came to pick me up. After telling me all day yesterday to be careful and never answer my phone in a busy area because people will try to steal it, he told told me someone had stolen his phone out of his backpack while he was on a matatu! I felt so bad for him…I guess he became less careful/Americanized during his time at MIT and forgot to not be sending emails on it while on the matatu. So our first stop was to go to an airtel (his phone company) shop to see if they could track it. We went to Yaya, Nakumatt/Prestige Place, took a crazy matatu to Junction Mall (they had froyo there! but I didn't get any…I know where to go if I start feeling home sick though!), and then took a bus into the city centre all in search of an airtel. It was really cool that one of David's first reactions was that we should pray, so as we walked, we prayed. We didn't end up finding it, or getting any help really. We even tried to call the police, but the 'emergency' line didn't pick up. Also, all of the security guards here are interesting. First, because they basically ignore me because I am a mzungu. Also, because they are the skinniest, tallest people I've seen…not the big football player security guards we have in America. The security guard that opens the gate of my complex just sees me and opens the gate without me saying anything.
Our next task was to get to the University of Nairobi to meet the students we were going to be working with all summer, and to Skype with them and Kevin, the leader of our whole project (we have been skyping with these students all this past semester as they have been doing the parts of our project that need to be done in Kenya). We arrived early to UoN so we explored a little. It was a pretty nice campus, and it was nice to see students again since thats all Ive been surrounded with this past year! There were 2 big skyscrapers across the stree that made it look kind of like Boston (again I don't have any pictures because I don't want my camera to get stolen). We visited "L'Alliance Francaise", a french school that David went to. He showed me around in there and since we had extra time we went into the library. We both got a French Bible and sat down and read it for a bit. I felt so comfortable in the library, seeing students study, escaping the craziness of Nairobi for a bit, and reading the Bible. I still got plenty of weird stares at me (what tourist would go sit in a school library?) but since I am a geek, I felt right at home :)
Meeting the UoN students was awesome! They were all very nice, and have that young energy that I don't get from my host mom and dad where everything is neat and proper. We talked a lot, and they said they would love to show me around Nairobi and take me to see lions, cheetahs, giraffes etc. in the park! I'm excited to be working with them this summer and to get to know them better.
David brought me back home on the bus at 5. Walking through Nairobi today and being on the bus definitely felt more comfortable today than it did yesterday. I still need to keep my guard up and be careful, but I didn't notice the stares as much today, and didn't feel like I stuck out as much (although I'm sure I still do). I did see a few white people today though so I'm not the only one haha, one girl even had blonde hair.
I called my mom for the first time today and updated her on everything. It was good to talk to her, and I'm sure it was good for her to hear my voice. As my host dad told me last night, "parents have crazy imaginations, and once they hear your voice, all their bad thoughts disappear".
Prayer requests:
-for continued healthy and safety
-I can figure out fun plans for tomorrow (or rather find God's plans for me)
-God will give me focus as we prepare for/begin work on Monday.
-peace for David about losing his phone, and that God would provide for him to get a new one.
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