A Week in Africa - Tuesday

Our morning routine is pretty similar to Monday morning. Get up, start to get ready, feed the chickens, make more Guinea hen eggs and Ugi. Eat breakfast, do our Fighter verse.

Every few days Florencia comes to do our laundry. One of the houses we stayed at during our home-stay was hers. We have developed a good relationship with her and have now hired her to help with laundry a couple times a week. She has been very helpful in helping us learn the culture and just a good friend to have. Laundry uses a lot of water so Mat has decided that it's better just to go to one of the local water taps sourced from natural springs in the mountain.

Using his bike and three water jugs, Mat has the water we'll need for laundry.

I do dishes, wipe down tables and sweep

Once Mat gets back I head out to the Bafu for my prayer time.

9:30a - We finish getting ready, the kids pick up, someone stops by and we buy more eggs from them.

9:50a - Time for school!

10:30 - Snack time. I am out of flour so I can't make anything. I decide to go the "African" route and just boil some sweet potatos - it's a common food to eat during chai time.

Snack time is a good time to sort beans for rotten ones, rocks and bugs. It gives me enough time to soak them so they will be ready for dinner.

Mat sits outside to read. Have we mentioned how amazing the weather is? In the mornings and nights it is cool around 60s and can get to the high 80s during the afternoons but there is almost always a cool breeze and the shade provides the perfect relief for a hot day!

Some neighborhood ducks rest in the shade. Animals roam pretty free here. It's amazing people know which animals are theirs! Also, note Mat's footwear, they are Maasai, made from tires - great protection from the huge thorns here!

11:15a - Peter comes for one-on-ones. Part of the TIMO curriculum is to meet with Peter our team leader for accountability, cultural processing, prayer, etc. Shortly after Peter arrives, Florencia comes to do laundry. We offer both of them chai and chat for awhile.

One of our neighbors stops by. Since Peter knows the language we were able to find out this man was here for two reasons: 1. He wanted to know what to do for his wife who was having problem with her teeth. We had bandaged a few kids with some really bad (6month old) wounds and word spread. People think we are doctors or don't understand the difference between first aid, hospital care and dental care - leads for fun(ny) visits. Reason 2. He told Peter he has some snakes if we are interested. A little back story on that, there a rumors that we are here to find the big snake in the mountains. You know the one, the big one with diamonds in its tail, that glows in the dark... Yep. Some people actually think that is why we are here!

(Left to right) A neighbor, Peter, Florencia and me

1p - Just after Peter leaves, Jared stops by to talk to Mat about going to the Bombe (water source) to help fill Gideon and Rachel's water tank. There hasn't been enough rain so far to keep our tanks full so occasionally we have to either pay someone to fill our tanks or do it ourselves.

1:45p - I reheat the cabbage from last night and cook up some fresh Ugali. Florencia finishes as we finish eating so we insist she stays to eat. While she eats I lay Nia down.

2pm - Florencia leaves and I begin a game with Thailie. She is learning about the character quality Trust this week in school. To practice this we blindfolded each other and took turns leading the other around the house and courtyard.

Thailie loved this game and did a great job trusting me.

"Ok. Now go this way." Those we're the directions Thai gave me when I couldn't see. It was pretty funny.

While we did our game, Mat was busy doing what he does best - creating some new contraption to make our life in Busi more luxurious.

Here Mat has made a fly swatter out of a coat hanger, cardboard and gorilla tape. The flies have gotten pretty bad with the start of the rainy season.

2:45p - We decide it's probably best to avoid housework and play scattegories instead.

3p - A donkey begins to buck and bray right outside our window. FYI donkeys do not say, "Hee-haw"! They are so ridiculously loud and make such an odd string of noises; I'm really not sure who decided the whole Hee-haw thing. They maybe didn't have a donkey! Due to the loud nature of the donkey outside, Nia gets woken up early from her nap.

4:15p The kids need baths which involves heating hot water in the kettle and filing a large basin with water - add some hello kitty characters and you've got bath time! They have both been needing haircuts for awhile so I decided now was as good a time as any. Thailie's hair grows at random rates so it just needed to be evened out. Her top hair is straightening with the bottom still being curly, unfortunately, this makes it look messy much of the time. Nia's hair has been growing very quickly in the back but not so much in the front, this creates a fabulous curly mullet.

If you remember her nickname, "Nia the Tornado" you can imagine how much fun it is to try and cut her hair!

As I mentioned yesterday, there are a few people from TIMO headquarters at Pahi. They are coming to spend the evening with us so as we wait around to leave we play UNO.

6pm We leave for Peter's to meet up with the rest of the team to have dinner.

After waiting for Peter and the Tanners to arrive from Pahi, we decide to play a card game called Scum.

Some of our team just waiting around in Peter's houses.

 

It's almost 8pm when they arrive - this is not completely unexpected here on "African Time". Very hungry, we eat beans, rice, chicken, chinese (which is a cooked green leafy vegetable) and enjoy talking with the Tanners who are veteran missionaries with years of experience to glean from.

9:45p - We head home in the team vehicle; typically we walk everywhere but when something involves being out past dark we drive.

Once we are home we all go to bed!

 

A Week in Africa - Monday

6:50a - The girls are just starting to wake up. I'm thankful they slept in a little later today. Thailie found my iPad and is playing games so I grabbed Nia, gave her Mat's iPhone and plopped her down next to Thai.

Interesting world we are living in when my kids play on apple devices under a mosquito net in Africa!

7:00a - Mat and the girls head out to feed the chickens.

Mat built our chicken coup - I'm pretty proud. He did a great job!

7:30a - We start getting ready for the day and making breakfast. We have some tomatoes that need to be eaten and tons of eggs so I decide we will have egg tacos for breakfast - which is simply, chapati/tortillas, eggs and tomato. Yum!

Mat checks the eggs with a flashlight to make sure they're not fertilized or half chickens.

Nothing is pre-made here so I make the tortillas from scratch.

8:30a - We do our morning routine of learning a new Fighter Verse and praying for the Rangi and our supporters.

9:00a - I head out to the Bafu (Shower house) to have my quiet time while Mat and the girls clean up after breakfast.

Our shower is across our courtyard - you can see the solar shower we use on the left. We put the mat and stool in there during our prayer times.

10a - We finish getting ready for the day; which today includes wearing makeup because yesterday I told Thai she could dress up for school.

Mat goes out to our garbage pit to empty our indoor toilet used for potty training and middle of the night emergencies and then burns all the garbage. While he is out, some kids bring by yet another turtle. It's so small Mat decides to keep it and Thailie names it "Tiny-Tiny" - it is pretty cute.

Our garbage pit just outside our courtyard.

Thailie with "Tiny-tiny" (the black on her eyes is her wonderful makeup job!)

Unfortunately for Nia, Tiny-tiny pees all over when she picks him up!

Then off to school. Thailie used to walk to school every day, which meant she would go out the gate, walk around the house and come in the front door to school. Well, since she hurt her foot on the bike she can't walk. The solution was that she would have to take the bus. So now everyday before school her bus driver (yep that's me) picks her up, sings a few choruses of "The Wheels on the Bus", and then drops her off at school - Nia loves to ride the bus too!

Check with your local school district to see if we have routes in your area.

10:15a - Thailie does school; working on writing letters, reading and she loves math! Usually during this time Nia is busy taking things off shelves, carrying buckets around, watching the noisey donkeys, trying to climb on tables and playing out in the courtyard.

Nia is still our little tornado!

Nia quickly got the mop to clean up the water she spilled.

11:15a - Snack time. Today we finish off a loaf of bread we bought that our teammate, Rachel, baked. Also during this time my "Potty training timer" (aka iPhone) goes off signaling that it is time to dance and then take Nia potty.

Nia doing her "potty-time" dance.

11:45a - Mat takes his bike out to a big sycamore tree for a little peace and quiet to get some reading and studying done. We head back to class.

The trees here are amazing - note how small his backpack and stool are in comparison.

12:15p - We finish up school, board the bus and head home.

I clean up a bit, do some dishes and start making lunch. We will eat the leftover beans from last night since they won't be good past today with no refrigerator. While I do this, the girls are in the courtyard apparently attempting to feed the chickens dirt...

12:45p - Lunch

1:00p - The Islamic call to prayer sounds in the distance. Rest time begins. I lay Nia down, Thailie looks at books and I read books from our TIMO curriculum - currently Hunger for God by John Piper. Normally I would be doing housework like sweeping or something but I have been battling Mono for a few weeks now so by the afternoon I am wiped out.

2:45p - Rest time is over. Mat is back. Hungry, I make some Ugi (porridge) for Nia and myself. After using the choo I realize it could use a cleaning. This consists of sweeping with a straw broom-like thing, splashing water all over, scrubbing the porcelain with a toilet brush, splashing a little more water everywhere and viola, it's done! (Funny thing is that translated literally, choo means "wet")

Ah, nothing like a fresh clean bathroom...

Tiny-tiny made it's way into the house, Nia picked it up. You can see Thailie is concerned that it will pee all over again.

Thai was right - Tiny-tiny peed all over. Nia to the rescue!

3:15p - I try to work on organizing language stuff so I can have my neighbor help me this week. As I begin to get very overwhelmed I remember we have nothing for dinner and I have to go to the market.

3:45p - Mat is reading, the girls want to come with me to the market and Nia has been crying pretty much since she woke up so I decide to just take them. I grab some money and tie it into the corner of my kanga, wrap my kanga around my waist, my scarf around my head, throw Nia on my back and we are set!

We greet a few neighbors as we head to the road. Despite my discouragement with language I realized I was able to understand and respond to our neighbor in Kilangi. The following conversation went like this:

(in Kilangi)

Me: greeting of respect

Her: acceptance of respect, how are you?

Me: We are well

Her: How are the children?

Me: They are well

Her: How do you find the weather

Me: It is how you see it (that's just the way you respond to that one)

Her: Where are you going?

Me: To the market

Her: What are you getting? Tomatoes? Potatos? Onion?

Me: Yes, tomatoes, not potatoes, no onions I have onion.

Her: Ok, see you later

Me: later!

It felt very encouraging to communicate and not stumble or be confused in a simple conversation.

I decided to take the road instead of the back way. There are some great women along the back way that i love to stop and chat with but today I just didn't have the time or the energy. It turned out to be a good thing because just across the road was a little stand with everything I needed, plus some guru (that sugary stuff we eat with peanuts). Turned out to be a quick trip!

4:30p - One of our teammates, Rachel from the DRC stops by to pray. I had totally forgot that we were planning to meet! Whoops. While she is coming in, some kids stop by to sell us eggs but we have to send them away because we have no change.

Rachel and I sit in the courtyard on Rangi stools.

It was very refreshing to have a prayer time with a prayer partner. There were some things that have been on my heart and mind lately and it was such a relief to be encouraged through prayer. As we met I have to admit I was given a heavy dose of perspective. One of Rachel's prayer requests was for her family still living in Goma, Congo as the M23 rebels have taken over the city demanding negotiations with the government. Rachel has seen what it is like when the rebels invade. She was there when they took over once before, so she knows what her family could be going through and it is very troubling.

Since we are the only place that we know of in Busi to get Internet, we googled the latest news on the rebel attacks so that Rachel could be updated.

While Rachel and I are praying Mat buys 33 eggs!

This is how we get Internet! We only get reception if we put our phone out on our water tank then turn it into a hotspot.

Rachel finds out the rebels have tentatively left Goma but are awaiting negotiations.

5:45p - FedEx delivers! Just a few minutes after Rachel leaves, Jared comes by with our package. Back in October, our family and friends had compiled many special things to send us while we were in Nairobi, but Kenya didn't accept liquids so this package had to be sent separately. We had it shipped to the TIMO headquarters 6 hours away and now the people who picked it up for us were in Pahi setting up an internet tower for the Tanner's Girls School - Jared welcomed them as they passed through Busi so they handed the package off to him.

Jared with our package strapped to his bike. Their house is a 35ish minute walk from ours.

I'm so excited the last of three packages has finally arrived!

The girls' favorite part was the bubble wrap. They unrolled it on the floor and ran up and down the hall popping bubbles the whole way.

While here Jared made use of our quaint internet cafe to check his email and I begin to prepare dinner - Cabbage and Ugali. Just about any vegetable you prepare here you make the same: fry onion, add garlic (if you have any since its not local) add tomato then finally whatever vegetable - cook until flavors are blended and vegetables are tender.

Jared downloads email to his iPod.

Would you buy cabbage that looked like this from the store? Eh, it's perfectly fine.

Delicious end result!

6:45p - We eat (should have taken a picture as Ugali is typically eaten with your hands). Thai and Nia clear the table. I chase Nia around and get her ready for bed.

7:45pm - I put Nia down to bed while Mat and Thai play their nightly UNO game - Thai beats daddy again. She announces her victory, "I just went, 'Uno!' BAM! 'Uno' BAM!" Each time she says bam she motions slapping down her last card to take the win - this girl likes to win! I think she's got a bit of her Papa Jon in her.

Late night UNO

8:45p - With both kids sleeping, Mat and I start our study.

10p - Time for bed. We pull our back door shut for the night, climb under the mosquito net and fall asleep with the cool night air blowing in through the window.

 

A Week in Africa - Sunday

Although no two days are alike here, there are some general commonalities. In an effort to paint a better picture of what goes on in the day-to-day, I am going to document our lives through pictures and words each day this week. So let's begin!

Sunday:

The girls wake up very early and play a little - Mat and I struggle to open our eyes. Finally I shoot out of bed from the sound of Nia crying after crashing on the cement floor. A little blood on her lip but she's going to be just fine.

We have church today so our pace is a bit more focused as we get dressed and make breakfast. Did you know Guinea hen eggs taste just like chickens eggs?! The eggs are smaller, the yolks are bigger, and the shell can be near impossible to crack!

After eating, we each recite the fighter verse for this week. Romans 14:7-8 (this was a long one so we just went for 7-8 although technically verse 9 was included).

Thailie clears the table, we take vitamins, brush teeth, wash the dishes and start packing up what we need for church.

Each week we rotate where church will be held between our teams' homes, the small Busi Methodist church, and the church in Pahi that was started from the original Rangi TIMO team back in 1998. This week was at Pahi. Any time we go somewhere outside of Busi, it is best to plan we will be gone all day! So we pack diapers, blankets, the girls' quiet Busy Bible, a fresh baked loaf of bread, some peanuts and sukali guru (sugary stuff made locally that goes great with peanuts - think peanuts and candy pumpkins... Well, kinda.) and the all important roll of toilet paper!

And we're off! We take a very rocky 45 min drive to reach the church in Pahi. It is a small church on the property of the Tanner Girls school- a school started by the original TIMO team. One of our team members, Jared Hood preaches while our team leader Peter translates into Swahili. Like any Swahili service we have been to, it is at least 2.5 hours long filled with songs, greetings, prayers, preaching and a very unique dismissal; there is an ending song that everyone sings as you line up single file to exit the building. As you exit you shake the hand of each person who has gone before you and then join the end of the line to shake those hands that are still coming out. Africans are big on greeting, shaking hands and community.

Jared preaches while Peter translates

The girls making good use of their Busy Bible

At the end of the greeting line

Another thing East Africans are big on is eating together, so because we drove from Busi to be with them, we all ate together - rice, beans, goat and soda. A very standard, yet honoring meal. You serve goat and soda for special occasions.

We then headed back to Busi. Both girls fell asleep in the car. How they manage this while being held on our laps, sloshed around in the seat is a mystery to me!

We spend the rest of our Sunday mostly as a lazy day to rest and relax. The girls play, we talk to some of the neighbor boys (a few older ones know a little English so that is fun.)

Nia stacking shapes

Thailie playing babies in the pantry while I make dinner

Mat has decided that the grass in our courtyard is not sufficient to feed the three turtles we have roaming around so he decides we need to let Lucy, the biggest one, go. About a month ago someone brought us a turtle because they think white people eat turtle. We thought it would be an awesome pet to roam our courtyard so we bought it for the equivalent of less than $4. This led to multiple people bringing us turtles everyday; they find them in their gardens and then try to sell them to us! It is so crazy. No matter how many times we tell them we don't want any more and that we don't eat them, more and more turtles come.

Thai leads the way with her headlamp while Mat releases Lucy

While the turtle is being released, I find this guy in our Choo (bathroom) - it's a scorpion!

Part of getting Thailie ready for bed for almost the past month has includes cleaning and bandaging her foot. She was riding on the back of Mat's bike when her foot twisted and got caught in the spokes. It was a pretty gruesome accident but it is healing exceptionally well.

Note Thailie's concern with her clenched fists. She has been quite dramatic about the whole ordeal!

Making the Evening News

Curious eyes were aimed at me as I took a seat in the students' lounge to watch the news - in Swahili.

It has been less than a week since we arrived here at Scott Christian College in Machakos, Kenya. During the three weeks we will be here we will participate in African Based Orientation (ABO). This time is to help orient us to the worldview, culture and ways of living we will encounter while ministering in Africa. With a half-week's worth of material completed we have already learned so much and our eyes have been opened to how much we don't understand those we are wanting to minister to and how much we are going to need God's grace to wade through murky cultural waters clouded by our own western worldview.

On Sunday we were all assigned a church in the area to attend. Our family got lucky because we were assigned the closest one - the Scott College campus church. Well, it just so happens that this weekend Scott is celebrating it's 50th anniversary so there are some big celebrations planned. Along with all of the fancy ceremonies and special services, was the news that the Vice President of Kenya was going to be speaking at the campus church!

Sure enough, they had the whole church set up and ready to welcome their special guest. At least halfway through the service the Vice President arrived; there were some respectful introductions and the most gracious greetings until the Vice President, a fellow believer from what we can tell, addressed the congregation and gave much congratulations on their 50 years.

(Below the Vice President addresses the congregation.)

While that was all fun and exciting, the best part was the walk home. We waited for the press to conclude an interview with him outside the church and then we headed back to our dorms. However, along the way we found a helicopter in the middle of a field, surrounded by many Africans signing and shouting. It was their cultural way to honor the VP and send him off well. We got to stand right there next to the field and watch him get in the helicopter, waving to his people and take off, flying right over our heads!

(Below Nia and I walking past some of the "Security" for the VP. You can see the one soldiers gun behind Nia - serious stuff!)

Of course, as I sat on the tattered green couch, I had no idea what the women on the television was saying, but it was kind of fun to see the Vice President and the event we were apart of, on the Kenyan news today!

 

Thailie Turns Four

Well, my baby turned four today! Although she already seems like she has been four for a year, it is crazy to think that it was four years ago that I had her!

We celebrated by having the girls on the team over for a tea party. We had African chai and a chocolate cake that Mat and I baked over the fire. I really don't think we could have made a better cake in the States!

Of course, Thailie and Nia dressed up for the occasion. Kim and Dawn got her a little flower picture holder, some stickers and two erasers. Jared and Megan made her a card and put some stickers inside. Thailie was really excited and loved everything she got. It was cute.

Kim asked me if I was patting myself on the back because I had successfully pulled off a birthday party in Africa. I had to admit that I was trying to think of what we did have for her birthday because the things that usually defined a great party for me weren't available today; things like family, lots of friends, games and decorations. It was fine but I really didn't feel satisfied that she had a great birthday party.

For the rest of the day we hung out and I painted the girls' toenails. Then we had our one-on-one meetings with Peter. We borrowed Jared and Megan's phone and texted our families in hopes they could call to wish Thailie Happy Birthday.

Just before dinner Mat said His parents were trying to call. It never worked and the signal kept fading. Finally Mat decided to just call them. When we called we found out that Mat's whole family was together! It was quite a sight because we were all gathered around our water tank trying to get the best signal.

Later we were eating dinner and the phone rang! We jumped up and answered it to find it was my family! My Dad, Mom, Grammy, the Lillemos, even Brit on FaceTime! Kristin had brought over party hats for everyone to celebrate! It was so awesome to hear everyone. Thailie was so excited to talk to them and hear from them. It really made her birthday feel complete for me that she got to hear from all of her relatives back in America!
(Below you can't see the phone but it is sitting on the shelf to get signal!)

Mat and I just laughed as we sat down to finish dinner; we were in Africa eating beans and ugali with our hands when we got a phone call from our family in America! It's so crazy!

We finished the night by having a special movie night! It was a fun treat for Thailie even though we all were too tired to finish it at 9:30pm!