Nairobi : traffc :: Kitale : one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to

Ahhh where to even begin? This past weekend was absolutely amazing - definitely some of the best days I've had in Kenya so far! 

Early on Friday morning, David and his mom picked Daisy and I up and took us to the shuttle station in the city center. We loaded onto a matatu (a 5-star one, it might actually pass inspection in the US, unlike most other matatus here) headed for Kitale. Driving there was absolutely beautiful - we saw so many mountains, farms, the rift valley, large lakes, small villages, tons of cows, donkeys, goats, and sheep, and drove over the equator! The road was a single lane (and very bumpy in some parts), so going in the other lane to pass cars happens every few minutes, often just barely avoiding oncoming cars. We drove through Eldoret, "the place where champions are made", where all the runners who win our marathons come from. One interesting thing about Kenya is that buildings or schools will often have big signs that say "this is a corruption free zone". Well on the way there, when we would have to pass through police checks, our driver would slyly slip a 50 shilling bill in his license, give it to the police man, he would slyly take it out, give the license back, and let us drive on - corruption at its finest. 

After 7 hours, we finally reached Kitale. Kitale is a pretty rural place, very close to the Ugandan border.   Since it is so far from Nairobi or any big city, there is essentially no white people there. Instead of getting the usual "how are you"s and big smiles from children, we were more like foreign specimens to be cautious of and to study. As I was standing in the center of the town, a group of kids came up and just stood in front of me and stared. I talked to them a bit, but people there don't know english well. After a few minutes, the 'field study' of the mzungu was complete, and they walked away. 

David's family owns a farm in Kitale, but they live in Nairobi. So his Aunt Rose lives on the farm and takes care of it, along with David's adopted brother Mendela, a farm worker Evans, and Rose's two children David (9 years old) and Junior (4 years old). We took a taxi to their farm, aka a car that looks like its about to fall apart but still drives at least 60 mph on a small single lane road. 

Driving through the countryside was absolutely beautiful. There was maize planted everywhere, cows grazing along the streets, and so much fresh air! David's farm had a pretty big house that we stayed in, and then smaller huts where Rose, Mendela, and Evans lived. They had 4 cows, lots of chickens running around, and a guard dog. One of their cows started showing signs of having its calf while we were there, but it waited until we left unfortunately. They grew maize and tea. When we first arrived, we explored around. We got to see Mendela milk one of the cows, had one of the cows moo right in our face, walked through the tea bushes which smelt amazing, and saw the sun start to set. We had tea and bread, and then started making dinner. 

tea!

The house had no electricity, so once it started getting dark we did everything by candle light. There was no running water either, so to wash your hands you just pour water out of a jug (from the well) onto them. We also took bucket showers with water they heated for us in the mornings. The water tasted like smoke because they boiled it using the '3 stone method', aka putting a pan on 3 stones over a fire. For dinner we made chapatti and a vegetable stew, and Rose and Mendela had cooked us chicken and ugali. It was a pretty big deal that they killed one of their chickens for us, and when they say they eat the whole thing, they are not joking. I took a chicken thigh out of the pot - but the chicken feet, neck, and head were all available for eating! After I was full to the brim, we had mangoes and oranges as usual! These mangoes were even better because they were from Uganda :)

Daisy and I making chapatti (it was actually dark in the kitchen, we were doing it by candlelight, my flash just made it really bright)

The next morning I woke up early (from the rooster) and went out to see the sunrise. It was absolutely amazing. I just sat there in awe for an hour, praising God for bringing me to Kenya, for bringing me to Kitale, and for reminding me how beautiful He is. It reminded me of the sunrise in the Dominican Republic (shout out to Mitch!)…I don't think I've been so isolated from the busyness of life and able to just appreciate God's Creation since then. Ive been trying to look for the beauty in things (thanks BT Fam), in people, in Kibera…but it didn't really click until I saw that sunrise. After seeing that, I was able to keep looking for the beauties God had placed in my life throughout the day - from the pouring rain, David's and Junior's smiles, Rose's humility and selflessness, the smell of the tea bushes, the fact that I've been surrounded by banana trees everywhere I go here, and the sweetness of a mango. Its so amazing that God created such a beautiful earth for us - we were made last, we are the crown of creation, the cherry on top, and therefore, we are even more beautiful than that sunrise.

After some chapatti, mangoes, and bread and jam, we went to church. His family was Seventh Day Adventist, a type of church I had never been to, so I was pretty excited to go. We had to wear long skirts, and David said I looked like a missionary haha. When we walked into the church, one of the sunday school teachers got so excited to see us he wanted us to say hi to all of the sunday school children. We told him we would after, and went into the service. It was completely in Swahili, so I didn't understand much, but could generally know when it was time to pray, sing, stand etc. We did a feet washing, which I guess is pretty common for them, but it was my first time getting my feet washed. It was a beautiful picture of how Jesus is willing to wash away even our dirtiest sins, especially since my feet were so dusty and dirty from walking around the farm and in the streets with sandals on. The service was very long - we stayed from 10 am to 3 pm, and it was still going on when we left! The services are so long that its understood you just come and go when you feel like it. There were many kids in the service who just sat their quietly during the whole thing - I had trouble doing that! It was on Saturday because they celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. Everyone was very welcoming, offered to translate for us, and were excited that we had come to their church. 

After that we went to the market, and then it started pouring. So we took a taxi back to the farm, and then had lunch which Evans and Mendela had prepared for us. We had native vegetables (spider plants or something), leftover chicken, and ugali for lunch at 5pm. David, Daisy, little David, Junior, and I then went for a walk, exploring around the farm. We then walked to David and Juniors school, where many of the classrooms were just mud buildings with holes in the walls. David told me later that when I walked by people on the streets, some of them were commenting in swahili how confused they were because my hair was almost white (so they thought I was an old person), but I looked so young.

A note on David and Junior…when we first got there, they were terrified of us. I don't think they had ever seen a white person, or at least not in person. Since they don't have a tv, and they rarely leave the farm, they would never have a chance to see a white person. They cautiously shook our hands, but didn't talk to us at all (they didn't really know english anyways). After being there for 24 hours, they still were so uncomfortable around us. I honestly thought they were the quietest, most miserable kids I had ever met. I bought them candy at the market, and they still didn't even smile! Finallly, on Saturday afternoon when we went for a walk, they started to warm up to us. We started running through the tea fields and they joined in. We finally got to see their smiles and laughs! We then took a lot of fun pictures with them, played tag, and joked around. They were astounded by the digital camera - without a mirror, I don't know if they had really even seen what they looked like. They loved seeing the pictures after we took them, and taking pictures themselves. It was wierd to not look at a mirror for three days - I can't imagine not even knowing what I looked like! 

David

Junior

David's classroom

While we were making dinner - fried potatoes, vegetable stew, and some roasted ground nuts (peanuts), I played a game with David and Junior. They were laughing and smiling so much, and it made all of us laugh. Rose was so happy to see her kids having so much fun. It was truly a blessing to get beyond racial and language barriers and just have fun with them. David then started singing "I have decided to follow Jesus" so I was able to sing along with him, and I even tried to learn the swahili version of it from him. 

After dinner, David's mom taught us how to make mandazis - basically fried dough. They were delicious, although I ate way too much. The next day my stomach hurt all day…my tolerance for sweets/ice cream is ridiculously high, but when it comes to fried food, my stomach just gives up. I probably won't be eating mandazi and fried potatoes for a while now.

After saying goodbye to Rose, David, Junior, Mendela, and David, we headed back to Nairobi. On our matatu there was a young women with a wailingggggg baby. The baby was tiny - she almost looked emaciated, because her eyes were huge compared to her head and body. She had a cleft lip, so she couldn't even drink from a bottle. I felt so bad for this woman, and kept praying for her throughout our ride. She was headed to a hospital near Nairobi so her baby could get an operation, but she had never been outside of Kitale before. All of the moms on the bus told the bus driver to stop at the hospital to drop her off; we didn't care that it was out of our way. He was too stubborn though, and dropped her off 20 kms from the hospital. David's mom gave her her shall to keep the baby warm, and a lot of us gave her money. She had to take a taxi to where she could get a matatu to get to the hospital. It really hit me how blessed I am - especially for health. My sore stomach was nothing compared to this poor woman and her baby. Please join me in praying for her! 

Oh and on our way back we saw zebras just grazing near the side of the road. Just another beauty from God to help me get through the 8 hour ride :)

By Sunday night we were back home, and it was good to see our host family, and to have water, electricity, mirrors, and internet again! Although I still miss the beauty and simple life of the farm…I would love to go back and visit! 

On Monday Daisy and I were back to work in Nairobi, and had a pretty successful day! Also, when we were walking down the street to buy a mango, a swarm of children came around us. We realized we were right next to a school, and the teacher asked us to come in and visit. We came in, and the children sang us songs. That morning I had an email from my Auntie Renee (I think you will always be Auntie, it feels too weird to say Aunt haha) asking for artwork from African children for her art classroom. I had been thinking all day how I could get this, or if it would be okay to just walk in to a school one day. God had it all under control though - and had me just be welcomed into a school. It didn't look like they had any art supplies, so I will buy some, and then ask them for their artwork. The teacher was very nice, and told us to come back any time.

I can't thank God enough for this past weekend - I realized how much I am a city-kid, and how amazing a nice break from my life to go live on a farm is. I hope you all can look for the beauties God places in your life everyday - they are there, we just miss them way too often. I believe thats how God gets our attention.

"The beauty of the world is almost the only way by which we can allow God to penetrate us…Beauty captivates the senses in order to obtain permission to pass straight through to the soul…The soul's inclination to love beauty is the trap God most frequently uses in order to win it." -Simone Weil