Well, So far, the course part of the trip has finished - we spent four full days learning about community development and integral mission along side many people from all over the would! It was a very interesting course, and I'm eager to see how I can apply what I learned back in my home context.
The next leg of the journey is now under way. Friday we left Lukenya, a beautiful resort type place, and arrived at Heart house, which is castle like in the room size. We went to the Maasai market at village market on Friday and got a taste of bartering. It was quite overwhelming, and I probably didn't buy as much as I was hoping too just cause it was so crazy, but I did pick up a number of things there - I think I even got some pretty good deals. We spent the weekend doing touristy stuff - saw the elephants,
hugged a giraffe,
and then we went to Amani ya Juu which is a place store run by refugee women where they are taught to sew and then they get paid for what they sell in the shop there. Unfortunately cause it was Saturday we didn't get to meet any of the women, but there were certainly some beautiful items there. Sunday morning we went to a very western style church in Nairobi and then were given the afternoon to do whatever we wanted (either go to a museum, an orphanage, or just hang around the hotel and get some rest). Three of us chose to go to The Nest, an orphanage near Nairobi, specifically where Aaron and Erica adopted Ava from... it was really neat to see, and we drove through a small village to get there and it was really our first taste of poverty in Kenya, and really being immersed in the culture. Then on Monday we got up early and drove to the northeast province where we were staying in Garissa - a mostly Somali area. On the drive we stopped in a place called Mwangi (sp?) and oh it was a different world. The poverty and feel of the place was just indescribable. When we finally did arrive in Garissa, we ate lunch (at 3:00 - Kenya has some weird eating habits) we settled into the hotel then listened to a man tell his story (his life story as he began in both Christian and Islam circles but chose Christianity for a time, and has now converted to Islam - it was quite an interesting story and really gave a different perspective of Islam.). Then this morning we headed first to a TB clinic to see the work going on there, and then to a school where in groups we were to teach a 30 minute lesson.... thank goodness we had some Kenyans in our group cause our class had absolutely no English, and it would have been a very frustrating and disappointing venture if the Kenyans weren't able to translate everything for us. After that it back on the road back to Nairobi (the two cities are probably about 5 hours apart, but the roads are ridiculous and the rules of the road are even crazier. Imagine the most pot hole filled road you have ever driven on and make it worst, and you might be able to get a glimpse at how bad the roads were.... there were times when the drivers opted to drive off road, cause it was smoother than the actual road!). Tomorrow we are spending our day with the African Christian Church and Schools - which is a national church here in Kenya. It's been really good; I'm absolutely loving it here and am eager to see what the rest of the trip will bring. I'll keep you posted as I have the opportunity.
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