this one's just for you Liana :)

Today quite a few of my friends left for safari, but I opted not to go (at least not yet). I was a little nervous to go to my school on my own because so far I've always had another mzungu with me, and i almost went just to say i felt sick so i could go back to the volunteer house, but I didn't. I figured, if I came to Kenya on my own, surely I can survive a day on my own with my class three kids. So I went on my 30 minute walk through Kibera, past all the shop owners, past all the children shouting "how are you?", past all the matatus and stray dogs and piles of burning garbage. I walked straight to my school on my own so I could do the work I came here to do. When I arrived I was greeted warmly by the entire school because they were still in morning assembly. My class all smiled their biggest smiles because even after just one week, our love for each other is huge. I sat in for the end few minutes of assembly and then teacher Violet told me all the teachers have to finish grading exams so I have the class to myself today and can do whatever I wish with them. Ahh! 36 kids on my own?! I decided to give them all paper, colored pencils and crayons since I figured they never have art time (or art supplies for that matter) and to make it a little more educational I had them write stories about their drawings on the back of theur papers. I have 36 little angels who I'm in love with. Quite a few decided to include how much they love me and how beautiful they think I am in their stories :)

I also love being able to walk anywhere and buy a mango on the side of the road for only 20ksh! Just sayin, I've never liked mangoes before but here, they're fantastic.

They beat each other. The kids, they're all bullies. And who can blame them? They're being beaten every day of their life by their parents and then when they get to school, they're caned by the teachers. It's the only kind of discipline they have. So they quickly learn that beating their friends and classmates is totally acceptable. Teacher Violet has 36 kids in her class. 36 kids that she alone is in charge of. When the kids go outside to play, they have no supervision. They don't have a playground, just an empty field. There's 1 soccer ball for the whole school to share, so most of the time the older kids have it and my kids have nothing. So they run. A lot. Relay races, tag, the game I like to call "run around the field 3 times and I'll time you." I taught them Miss Mary Mack and Father Abraham. They've taught me a few games where you have to sing in Kiswahili. We make do. Teachers disappear for hours at a time every day so I'm left in charge of my kids a lot. But things are really different here. It's not expected that you'll always be watching everyone. The kids are self-sufficient here. The classrooms are about 12' x 12'. The walls are plywood and the roofs are tin. There are no lights so the doors and windows are always open so there can be natural light. There is no budget for posters or papers so mostly the walls are bare. There are no books in my classroom and I'm pretty sure it's the same in every classroom. Teacher Violet makes the best of the situation and genuinely loves her kids, so she's possibly the best teacher our school has. But really, how are kids supposed to learn when there are almost no pencils, erasers, paper, books, very little food during the day and absolutely no structure?

On another note, I went to dinner the other night at this place called Carnivore. So expensive but oh so worth it. It's buffet style for all of the meats they have, so I got to try ostrich, crocodile, and bull testicles :) lucky me haha

I'm constantly covered in dirt and my lungs feel like I've just run a marathon every second of the day because they're filled with dirt and dust, and my throat kills because of the dirt, but otherwise, physically, I feel great. And I get so much kid love every day that my spirit feels great too.

7 hours and 2500ksh later, I am braided!! My hair looks awesome and I feel so great. And the hairdresser told me my scalp is now protected from the sun so really I just did myself a huge favor. Tomorrow I'm doing an outreach project where we go for a 14km bike ride to pride rock (lion king anyone?) and then we visit a garbage slum to feed the children. I'm such a lucky lady :)

After two painfully long flights and 9 hours trying desperately not to fall asleep in the middle of the Istanbul airport I finally made it to Nairobi! As soon as I arrived I had my first "African time" experience- I waited in line for a visa for about 45 minutes without moving, my baggage took so long to come out, and people just in general move extremely slow. But it's wonderful in every single way.

Nairobi is filled with the most beautiful people I've ever seen. They're filled with love and passion and so much kindness. Last night Atazia and I wanted to go out to see where some loud music was coming from but the woman who runs our house, Winnie, said it wasn't safe because it was after dark. Then since it's our first time here she offered to take us to church today and then show us around a bit. Church was incredible. The service was about 4 hours long but it was so worth it and I want to go back to her church every weekend because I'm completely in love with everyone there. There are churches all over Nairobi because everyone goes, but the one we went to was in the middle of the slum that Winnie lives in. The roads we walked were made of a mix of dirt and garbage, and there were starving stray dogs every few feet. Goats wandered around the streets, but those aren't stray, people keep them for...well, I don't actually know why. All of the walls surrounding homes are topped with either barbed wire or broken glass to deter theft, and the air was thick with the smell of feces in many places. The church was small, the roof made of tin, and the chairs were the plastic kind you might use on a patio. But it was beautiful because the people are beautiful. They welcomed us with everything they had and genuinely want to see us again (every weekend). The children loved us (because we're white) and the whole congregation came up to us afterwards to meet us and at least shake hands, if not tell us how welcome we are in all of Kenya.

I have to go because I want to hang out with these guys we just met and my roommate but life is good and I am so happy here. I'll update again as soon as I can.

Ladies and gentlemen, in just a few short hours I will board the plane that will take me not only thousands of miles away physically, but will take me to new extremes spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Am I scared? Hell yeah. But I'm more excited than anything else and I know this trip will be worth it.

I got an email with my placement the other day so now I know more specifically what I'll be doing and where I'll be- I'll be living with 2 wonderful Kenyan ladies, Milka and Wambui, in a volunteer house in Nairobi, and I'll be teaching science, math and writing at a co-ed high school that's in walking distance from my home. It sounds perfect for me :)

I have no idea how much internet I'll have but as soon as I can I'll get online just to let everyone know I'm safe. Love you all and thanks for the immense support.

Tutaonana Mungu akipenda