And some more...

Entry #4: Beginning week three… (8/24/08)

So, it is the beginning of the third week…Honestly it feels as though it’s been a month already! These first two weeks have moved pretty slowly…we didn’t have any classes to go to and not many people have been on campus up until now, so there has not been much to do! But, I went to class yesterday and today and there are actually people in class now! I am hoping that I can get used to having class for two/three hours at a time. I have done class that way during Bethel’s J-term, but that was only three weeks of it. As long as I can stay awake and focused and get the notes that I need, I guess I’ll do fine! Haha.

In other news…I have been able to get to know another exchange student Sarah, who is from South Korea. She is such a sweet girl and it has been fun helping her and encouraging her in her English speaking and it has been fun trying (badly) to learn some Korean! One thing Janna and I have learned is to speak a lot more slowly than we are used to. Apparently WE speak too fast, haha, I always think everyone else speaks too fast.

I have also been getting to know my roommate Grace, and that has been nice☺ She is also a very nice girl—it has been fun talking with her and chatting when we are both in the room. She told Janna and I that she would take us to The Rocks, which is apparently a place that is comprised of a bunch of rocks where people go to just hang out and relax –and she said it was a good take to take pictures, so hopefully we will do that one of these days. Other than Grace our other roommate, Janna’s roommate, is Caroline. She was gone all of last week because (no one really goes to class the first week)—so she moved her things in and then went home. She came back on Sunday, so we have seen her a few times and she seems really nice as well. One thing Janna and I are wondering is if we will get two more roommates, because we have room for two more, but so far there is no sign of anyone else coming. So, it may just be the four of us.

Well, going beyond classes and roommates, another note is the food here. So far I cannot say that I am a huge fan of Kenyan food, maybe it will change once I am more used to it though :) Although I have really only eaten what they serve us in the dinning hall, and I have been told by other students that the school food is not the best, so maybe one of these days someone will introduce me to a true Kenyan meal! The food in the DH (dinning hall) is basically rice and or oogallie (sp??), some type of stew with either meat or beans, and sometimes chapate (sp??). (Oogallie is one of the main dishes that is eaten in Africa and it basically looks like mashed potatoes, but tastes pretty plain and the texture is similar to mashed potatoes only a little thicker and harder. Chapate looks a lot like a tortilla and has a similar consistency, but has a little different taste.) And sometimes they serve a piece of fruit during lunch, which is always great!

One thing that has been a bit difficult getting use to is the different pace of life here. I think this is difficult for me because last summer when I spent my summer with Royal Servants we practiced being on time or early to everything. And since being home from that I have been trying to be a lot more conscious of trying to be on time to things. So now it is difficult to transition to another mindset, but I'm sure I'll adjust!

Some great things about being here have been meeting so many great people and just already learning so much about the Kenyan/African culture.
Over these last few weeks, although I am still working on making some good friendships, I have met a lot of great people—it has just been hard keeping up with remembering names! I am naturally terrible at remembering names, so this has been a challenge for me! I’ll either find myself asking someone their name for the 5th time or I’ll introduce myself to someone I’ve already meet! Everyone has been good about giving some grace in that area though, so I am thankful for that.

Well, I don’t know what else to say…so hopefully you are content with that! Otherwise feel free to ask questions☺

I hope everyone back home is doing well! Love you all and I’m so thankful for each of you!!
~har