Hot, Cold, Sunny, Cloudy? Make up your mind please:)

Entry: #8

So I don't know if anyone is interested in the weather here, but I'll share anyways ;)

I think when most people think of Africa they think: HOT. Naturally that is what I was thinking. Now I know Kenya has its 'cold' season (which cold here means fall in the midwest), but that is usually in June and July and a little of August (so basically when we have summer, they have their 'winter'). So, I was assuming that most of our time here would be spent under the heat of the sun...but, we have actually been spending most of our days under the shade of the clouds. Granted we have had probably combined a week or two of sunshine (and boy does it get hot!), but the majority of our time here we have been experiencing cloudy weather. Which personally I don't mind! I mean I know it will start getting hot more frequently as the months go by, but I am very content to stay under the clouds for a while longer:) My reasons you may ask? Well A. Since we are by the equator the sun is Super hot when it is out (there really is no mild heat here) B. When it is cool out I don't have to do as much laundry (because they don't get all sweaty!) and C. It reminds me of fall, and since I will be missing that season (one of my favorites) I am thankful to experience it a little bit here :)

Well, there is not much else to say...I mean it rains sometimes (actually only about 2 or 3 times so far) and it cools down quite a bit at night so I usually am wearing a jacket in the evenings. It seems if it was a really hot day out the evening will be very cool.

Yeah, so that is the weather I have experienced thus far. Sorry this post is not super thrilling!

Hope all is well state-side! Enjoy Fall for me!!

<3 har

Masai Mara!

Entry #7: 9/17/10

So this past weekend I went on a Safari (Masai Mara)!! It was SOO fun!! I have always wanted to go on a safari and it was great!
We traveled from Nairobi to the south of Kenya (close to the Tanzanian border if you look on a map)...our drive took about 6 hours. It was 6 hours of driving along some paved roads, but the majority of the trip was over dirt roads that had many, many rocks and potholes in them. So our driver was constantly swerving along the road trying to stay on the parts that were packed down from previous drivers. There were many occasions when I thought our van (9 passenger) was going to tip over, because he would go all the way to the edge of the road and then over it, so we were half on the road and half in the ditch driving! Haha, I am SO thankful that I do not get car sick--otherwise that would have been a terrible drive! Yeah, so I am sure that if the roads were paved it probably would have only taken 2 or 3 hours to get there, haha, TIA though (that is Africa).

Yeah, so that was our adventure getting there. Once we (there were 7 of us, the lady in charge of exchange students-Sylvia and Janna, Nick(who is from Bethel), and the three Korean exchange students here) arrived we ate a quick lunch (which was great food compared to the dinning hall food here at Daystar!) then we went out on our first mini safari. We road around in one of those safari vans were the top pops up and we drove around the grassland looking for animals! We did that for about an hour or two then headed back because it was getting dark. On that outing we saw wilder-beasts, lions, and some zebra and gazelles. It was great. That night we ate a great dinner and then went to bed!


On Saturday we woke up early for breakfast...then left for our daylong safari at 8AM. We were out on the grassland from about 8-4 or 5. It was SOO Great! The scenery is all pretty much the same, but I still thought it was so beautiful and the animals were so great! We saw almost every kind of animal we wanted to see: Lions, giraffes, cheetah, elephant, zebra, wilder-beasts, antelope (the smallest there is and the largest there is), and more that I can't think of right now. We also saw a wilder-beast migration..., which was crazy! There were so many of them all moving in a huge line! And then around lunchtime we had a picnic lunch, which was good:)

Then that evening we just hung out at the hotel...it was nice and relaxing. I hung out by the pool for a little bit and read. While we were there some monkeys were hanging around the pool too. Sylvia gave one of them an orange peel and it took it and ran off with its prize. Then she gave another one an apple core and it gabbed it and ran off to eat it. After that more monkeys came wanting things. So she gave them a juice box and a fanta bottle. They were all wanting to get a hold of something and they would just come right up to you! I even saw a momma monkey with her baby hanging onto her stomach, ah they were so cute:) (There are more pictures on my facebook page...)

Then Sunday we made the 6 hour drive back and we stopped at a look out point to see the Rift Valley, which is just a really huge valley (I'm sure you could google it if you are curious), but I think it is well known. At the look out point there were a few touristy stands set up and the owners came up to us and were trying to sell us anything they could. At one point, Nick was looking to buy one of those wool hats (like those Russian wool hats) and so after he bought one, the owner came up to me and kept trying to get me to try on the hat. They are very fond of letting you know that looking is free… haha. He didn’t get the hat on me, but he did get it in my hands and wouldn’t take it back from me. So after telling him no-I am not interested, several times I just handed the hat to someone else standing nearby and went to our van. Haha, they can be quite persistent!

But, yeah so the weekend was a long one and I was quite tired when we got back, but it was such a fun weekend!

Long Bumpy Rides

Entry #6: 9/5/10
It’s been a week…not much went on during the week, just classes and soccer practice…oh and went to a Bible study on Monday night to see if I would be interested in going regularly, but I think I will pass on that. It is hard at times saying no to people when they ask you to be involved in something, but since I am only here for a few months I am trying to not commit myself to too many things! Otherwise I would not have any time to go on my excursions or be free to visit places on weekends!

Anyways...Fridays I don’t have class, so I took time to do my laundry, which I have learned that I need to do my laundry on a regular basis so that I do not have to wash ALL of my clothes on one day—the one time I did that it took a few hours and I was soar by the end! Haha. In the evening that night there was a boys soccer game that I attended. Now I have not been to many soccer games back home, but this one I’m sure is a very different atmosphere than what I would experience in the states, I’m sure. It was a very dramatic game…meaning the fans are very dramatic! It was quite entertaining and a fun experience, because each time something would happen on the field the crowd would defiantly have a reaction. And anytime the team scored the fans would run onto the field cheering (be aware that we [the fans] were basically on the field anyways, because we watch the game standing right on the field line)… It was fun to see everyone get so excited—they defiantly support their team! After the game I had dinner and then joined some ladies in Dupa for dance lessons again. This time it was a bit more casual…we mainly went over the steps that we learned last week and I was a little tired by that time, so I was a little loopy..! Anyone who knows me when I am tired knows what I am talking about! Haha, the ladies there got a good laugh out of my ‘interpretive dancing’. On Saturday I did some homework, went to a soccer game again (a bit less dramatic this time), did a bit more homework, and then watched some TV episodes on my computer with some girls.

Today (Sunday) Nick, Janna, Daniel, Troy, Sarah, and I went into Nairobi for church.

Sylvia (who is in charge of us exchange students) invited us to her church, Nairobi Pentecostal Church. It is a large church of about 4,000 people and they have 3 services, which we went to the third service. It was pretty good…although for those who know Pentecostal churches, it was a bit more expressive than what I am used to. Following the service we were invited for tea and a snack since we were first time visitors. So we went to a back room with some other visitors and had some chi with a pastry and meet one of the pastors. After a short time of prayer, the six of us loaded back into the van we used for the day and were driven to the Bomas of Kenya, where we had lunch. The Bomas of Kenya is a place where they have traditional tribe homes set up for people to view and they also have a show where you can see traditional tribal African dances.
So first we ate lunch and then we watched the first half of the traditional dances (which was great! Very interesting to see) and then we walked around the different villages they had set up. I loved viewing the huts and seeing what a traditional village would look like.
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Once we left the Bomas of Kenya, we went to a supermarket so that we could purchase some things and then we headed back to campus.

Now this entry is titled, “Long Bumpy Rides”, because there are many roads you drive on here that are not paved, but you just speed right down them anyways. The main road from Daystar to Nairobi, Mombasa Road, is thankfully paved, but the road from Mombasa road to Daystar (which is about 4.5 kilometers) is unpaved. Now for the most part I do not mind the bumpy drive on the unpaved roads we come across…in fact most of the time when we are driving down these roads I find myself laughing! I can’t help it most of the time. One reason I find it entertaining is because when you drive down these roads you hear the car rattling so much that it seems as though it may just fall apart the next time you hit a bump. Another reason is because it almost feels like all the bumps push the laughter up and out of me.

I don’t mind these bus rides because as I see the landscape of Kenya rush by I love to reflect on my day and the time I’ve spent here so far. So, tonight as the van was sailing down the unpaved road and the dusty wind blew in from the window—I caught myself smiling and thinking about life here so far. I was realizing that I have been here a month and although it took some time getting used to life here, I think I am finally getting used to it. I was also thinking that yes I may miss things about life in the U.S. at times, but really I should be and I am content wherever the Lord has me, because I know that He has lead me here and He is in control. It was just a good feeling to know that I am content with where I am right now. So I think that tonight not only was the crazy driving making me smile, but knowing that I am content with where I’m at also helped.

So bring on the Long bumpy roads!