Jesus in the market

This was a quote from a short message given by NICS director Joe Hale: "I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Greek... at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died for. And that is what He died about. This is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about." -George MacLeod

10 snippets of middle schoolers

Oh man i love my middle schoolers.... 1) One day my 7th graders got an ice cream party right before my class. they came in bouncing off the walls, quite literally. In an attempt to get them to calm down, I asked them if they needed to go outside to the field and run laps. In almost perfect unison, they unexpectedly exclaimed, "YES!" I was so taken aback, I let them go. They each ran about three laps and begged to keep going. The PE teacher would have been so happy. 2)This is a 6th grader's reason for visiting the Bahamas: "You should go to the Bahamas because their beaches are as clean as new bought towels." 3)In a short Bible skit, one 7th grade girl animately described a shepherd saying "and he is a flocker of sheep." I almost fell out of my chair laughing. 4)I never know what to say to this, "Are we learning today?" I always say no. 5)The 2nd question that always gets me, "Are going to have fun?" seriously? I always remind them that we never have fun. 6)I walked up behind one of my 7th grade boys and he didn't know it, and all of a sudden he stopped mid-sentence and said, "I smell Miss Jones." I wasn't sure whether that was a complement or an offense? 7)I was just walking through the middle of my boys' playing soccer, while taking pictures of them, and one kid just bursts out, "Miss Jones you're just making me laugh!" Best complement ever. 8) To a 6th grader..."Please take this note to the office." "Can I run?!" "Uh, you can run when you're not in the hall." "Yeah!!!" He was indescribably excited. Why do they love to run? 9)I made a student cry, literally wiping tears. What did I do? Apparently my rendition of Romeo and Juliet was quite moving. 10) My students had to write what they were most thankful to God for on a little bitty star for a bulletin board. My favorite response: texting. What are we going to do with this generation?!

Aunt Alanna

So....I hadn't yet told the world through my blog, but....I'm going to be an aunt. Yep, that's right. It's pretty much the coolest thing, ever. Aunt Alanna, Auntie Alanna, Aunt Lanna......tough choice. Hum... sigh....I'm an aunt....enough said.

10 mosquitos snippets

1) mosquitos here are annoying 2) they live in my bedroom 3) I don't know where they come from 4) they buzz my ears at night and wake me up 5) I spray my ears with 100% deet, they still buzz 6) I sit up in bed with the light on waiting for them to land on me hoping to squash one 7) I stand in front of the mirror at 4am hoping to see them wizz by so I know it's not all in my head 8) I sleep with the air freshener on my night stand ready to spray one thinking it's faster than my hands 9) I sleep with the sheet over my head and they still find their way in 10) I smack my own ears **lesson learned: I bought a mosquito net canopy for my bed

Lock-ins

Classroom teaching is a great way to minister to kids. I get to incorporate Jesus into eveything I do, and I love it. I like trying to teach my students about God, Godly living, and life in general. It's a challenge and a joy. However, since I came all the way to Kenya to work with these kids, I figure I should go above and beyond. So, I have been attempting to have after school activites for my middle school students as an extra time to minister to them. My first event was put on by the middle school student council. We had a game night just for middle school! It was quite successfull. We had an evening of crazy loud fun and games. I was happy. The following week the elation subsided when we started hearing rumors of a few of the students' innapropriate behavior. When we finally got to the bottom of everything, they were just talk and no real action (thankfully). However, it put the rest of our activities in jeopardy. Kids can be so disappointing sometimes. But I still love them. Just last night we had our first middle school boys' lock-in! Of course I didn't stay for it, but from what I've heard it was successful! It was focused on learning how to be a man of God and was titled "Man Up: Becoming the Leader God Made You to Be." I am planning a middle school girls' lock-in this coming Friday night! I'll be staying for this one! Please pray that I get enough volunteers! It's like pulling teeth to get people to volunteer for stuff like this! I stole the theme for this one from my amazing sister. It's called "God's Pattern For a Princess" and is focused on becoming a woman of God. It should be a lot of fun and a time of great learning! Please pray the boys' and girls' messages will sink in and they will have truly learned something! I love planning these things for the students, but it is stressfull! I've been praying hard core for them!

Maasai Market

So, let me tell you all about the Maasai Market. The Maasai are one of the tribes here in Kenya. They are known for their interesting culture: ornate jewelry, elongated earlobes, and unique dances including lots of jumping. Well on different days, at different locations around the city they set up huge markets selling handmade goods. You can find congas (large Kenyan fabrics), jewelry, sandals, paintings, wood carvings, clay work, basically anything African-looking. The goods are quite exquisite and always fun to view for a westener. There are no tables displaying the items, just sheets and what not on the ground. The sellers normally sit on the ground behind their goods. Everybody is just about as squished together as you could get too. Very little walking room between the rows and rows of sellers. Of course there are no price tags, it's all the bargain system. Sometimes it's even a barter system. I can, of course, only describe the scene from a blonde, young, female, very white, western point of view. As I walk through the crowds, it's always crowded, sellers constantly call out "sista, sista!" trying to get my attention. Some other phrases that bounce around are: "looking is free" "take a look at my things" "take your time" "come and see what I make" etc. If they try to make a personal connection, which they often do, I'll hear: "what is your name" "where are you from" "Canada? Britain? Australia" if I dare answer America they are bound to ask which state and say something about Obama. I have had quite a few rather long conversations with people while trying to be polite. This however does not suit me very well because I do not like to be pressured into buying something. So, after maybe my second visit, I took on the silent ignorance approach. I place a slight smile on my face and just walk and look, being sure to never linger too long on one item or in one place. They continually say the same phrases, but when I do not respond add on: "oh, not talking" like that will make me talk. The only time I open my mouth is when I want to buy something. When I start looking intently on a certain area, I immediately respond "just looking" to the inquiries until I am ready to bargain. This is quite an adventure and usually leaves the barterer exhausted. I plan my bid in my head, sometimes offering first, sometimes asking first. I, as a mzungu (white person), typically recieve a price at least double what I should pay. Often triple. So, I immediately counter-offer a fourth of that. There are typically little laughs and surprised looks from both parties. We then bid back and forth with comments in between like: seller: "oh this is good price" me:"this is no a good price, I live here" seller: "oh you live here! I give you good deal" me:"what's your good deal?" seller:" that my best price, good deal" me:"that's not a good deal" seller:"but I make with my own hands! do you see these hands? this takes long time to make" me:"yes, i see your hands, it is very nice, I want to buy but i need good price" seller:"what is your best price? oh do better than that" And then it continues on and on and on and on until I get the price I want, close to the price I want, or I just walk away. When I walk away, then of course yell after "sista! sista!" hoping still to sell. I have returned after some of these to get a better price, and sometimes I have to walk away again. I will not be taken advantage of because I'm white. I'm a tough buyer, and I've been told that! They will often tell me they'll give me a good deal becasue they like me, I'm a nice person, we're sisters, I'm a missionary and they like missionaries, I'm from Obama's country...the list is endless. But ultimately, they're getting good deals out of us. One trick I pull a lot, is getting out the amount of money I want to pay and handing it to them. Often, they will take the money. Sometimes they will ask for the set amount and coins. Or sometimes, they will ask for a pen, your necklace, or whatever other trinket you may have on you. I haven't obliged yet. So, as you can see the market is quite a tiring adventure. Definitely fun for a cultural experience, but quite annoying after a few visits. The goods that can be bought however, are often worth the fuss.

10 snippets of my crazy international school

So, working at an international school brings its challenges, but also it's rewarding moments of astonished humor. Here are some moments which bring that euphoria... 1) So, during the 2nd week of school, while walking into my classroom, a darling student stops, looks at me and asks, "Are you sick?" My smile quickly faded as I replied, "No, do I look sick?" His simple reply drained all happiness from my day, "Yes." Well thank you for being so honest. 2) One day when I actually was sick, an 8th grader just had to ask, "Do you have a cold?" "Yes, sorry I sound so nasty," I admitted. "Yah, ya do." Wow. Someone really taught them honesty. 3) Probably my most favorite question of all time is, "Are we going to do anything fun today?" Whenever I hear those words float from the innocent mouths of my pupils, my heart just leaps for joy. My favorite response, "No." 4) So, here's a joy of an international Christian school...one printer. That's right, every morning is a life and death fight over the printer rights. Teacher against teacher with an occasional office staff thrown in there, battling it out for that most imperitive document to force it's way through enemy lines. Of course when that happens, the battle turns into a war in the copier room...but that's another story. 5) Here's another joyous event that is sure to bring a smile to many faces...power outages. The power has a mind of it's own, and for some reason that mind gets sleepy right after lunch. I've long said that siesta should be implemented around the world, and the power in my building agrees. My 6th grade class witnesses power breaks, on average, twice a class period. Tops being about six in one 50 minute class. We're so used to it now, I keep on talking and no one blinks an eye. 6) I have one student, who I think has studied history more than I have...and I have a minor in it. One day he raises his hand, I walk over, and he asked which empire was bigger, the Mongol or the Persian. "I don't know 'John'." "Well it was the Mongol." He then continued on to show me maps from our textbook proving his point. -well ok then, thank you. 7) Another day, this same kid storms into the classroom "debating" with another student. They waltz straight over to me and asked, "How did Attila the Hun die?" (My usually response by now...) "I don't know 'John'." "Well it was a nose bleed!" he vehemently declares. At which the other student involved in this historical debate chimes in with "It was not a nose bleed! Can you die from a nose bleed, Miss Jones?" I then joined the debate, along with a couple other students, and discussed the possibility of dying from a nose bleed. And of course, whether Attila the Hun actually did or not. Who knew 7th graders would willingly have discussions about how Attila the Hun died, outside of class?! 8) My mom sent over lots of yummy candy, of which included one of my favorites, jelly beans. I've been eating them for a couple weeks now, savoring each one individually. My students often see them out on my desk, and I daily receive at least 5 requests for a jelly bean. Unfortunately for them, I am not a very caring teacher when it comes to my American jelly beans, and my constant reply is simply, "no." Sometimes it is sad to see their dismayed faces, so once I actually gave every student in one of my classes one jelly bean each. You'd thought I'd given them a chocolate cake. (I ate the last jelly bean today.) 9) One of my Kenyan 6th graders has, for some reason, taken it upon himself to teach me Swahili. Every Friday during our game day during study hall, he pulls me aside and says, "Miss Jones, you know it's time for your Swahili lesson." So far he has taught me the proper Kenyan greeting, and attempted to teach me to ask how much something costs. He has also given me multiple lessons on the importance of learning Swahili so that when I get in a matatu I will not be taken advantage of because I am white. He is quite afraid I will be taken to a dark place and have bad things done to me, or quite worse, be charged too much. His newest strategy for my avoiding this is teaching me to speak English with a Kenyan accent. 10) One saying that typically fits any situation I may find myself in, and which is frequently quoted is, "TIA," "This Is Africa."

Blessings from afar...

So, I've been a little behind in my blogging, however, I have one story that just can't wait any longer. I received a huge blessing last week that everyone should know about. ..... A couple weeks ago I received a rather random email from one of my middle school teachers, Mrs. Melinda Upchurch. I have not seen or talked to Mrs. Upchurch in what seems like an eternity. But that day I opened up my email and there she was! Not only did she let me know how excited she was that I was in Kenya, but that she was coming to Kenya in a few days! How bizarre can you get! It seemed so unreal to me, that I even got on facebook to verify this was who I was thinking it was. Sure enough, Mrs. Upchurch was coming to Kenya with a team from Celebration Church in my home area. I was shocked. What are the odds?! Of course, she was excited to bring me something from home so I started compiling a list. What started as "oh, maybe just some chocolate," ended up being an entire carry-on suitcase. Why? Because she met up with my mom. My mom called me randomly one day as I was trying to buy a car and wanted to know what I wanted Mrs. Upchurch to bring me. I was a little preoccupied, so I started naming very random items. Mom, meanwhile, was digging through my drawers back home trying to find the said random items. She got them to Mrs. Upchurch and Mrs. Upchurch got to Kenya. It was a little confusing trying to set up a time to meet, considering her team was not staying in Nairobi. However, after many emails and a couple confusing phone calls, she showed up at my school at the end of 7th period with 2 more familiar faces (I haven't seen since high school), and a total of 5 familiar accents. I was so shocked and blessed to see them stride into my classroom suitcase in tow! There were lots of hugs and hellos, pictures snapping like they were paparazzi, and a general air of happiness. I could not believe these people were here, with "goods" from home, and lovely comforting accents. I never thought I would enjoy hearing the East Tennesse hick accent as much as I did. It was such a comfort to see familiar faces, hear them talk, get hugs like I was their long lost friend, and just feel loved. The team unfortunately could not stay but a few minutes. They had a plane to catch. I reluctantly walked them to their bus, told the rest of the team thank you, and said goodbye. When I returned to my classroom, I excitedly opened my suitcase to find sweaters, sweatpants, jackets, my missing Nalgene water bottle, my favorite straw, some left behind tea, and a wide assortment of beautiful candy. Thank you Mom, thank you Mrs. Upchurch. When I finally stole away to the teacher's work room, I found another lovely surprise in my box. A package!!! I got a package from a wonderful supporter in my mom's Sunday school class. Man do I feel loved. I received a perfect journal in the mail with a sweet card. God is way too good to me. Could life get any better? I submit that it cannot.

10 Kenyan Snippets

1) You never have to worry about speeding here. The policemen don't have cars. 2) The craziest birds that I've ever heard live here. You can hear owls hooting in the middle of the day, screeches from these huge crow-like birds, and mysterious alarm clock sounding birds. 3) The common mode of public transportation is the infamous matatu. These vehicles are like large minivans, with about four rows of seats that fit about 20. I haven't ridden one yet, since it's really easy to have every single one of your wordly possessions stolen in route. 4) Nothing says "for sale" or "for rent," instead all the signs say "for let." 5) Everyone lives within a walled, guarded compound. For a while we all thought the guards were pointless because they let us in without any questions. Finally we learned the guard motto which lets us in so easily- "white's alright." 6) Kenyans have a strong Kenyan/British accent which is very hard to understand. I often find myself thinking, "I know you're speaking English, but I don't know what you're saying." 7) Time is not of the essence here. When planning a time for an event, you have to specify whether you mean Kenyan time or American time. The difference can be hours. 8) There are hardly any road names here. Directions often include phrases like "turn right at the flower vendor," "take the second left after the blue billboard," or "turn after the fifth pothole." 9)We really need to sift through our sugar to get all the pieces of wood, grass, and rock out. 10) Kenyans have a tea break twice a day. Very British.

First First Day

Today was my first, first day of school! I'm a real teacher now! I will never have a first day of teaching again! Synopsis of the day - good. It was a success! Yah it was a little crazy, but overall I think it went well! I got an early morning call from the guidance couselor, warning me that two of my classes were overbooked. She didn't want me to be alarmed; she would work on the scheduling. I only have desks for 26 students, which is our limit, but I had about 35 kids in study hall today. It was pretty funny. But, we sent some of them to health so now I only have 26 kids to keep quiet the last period of every day! I don't have a first period class, so with getting to school one hour early this morning, I had nothing to do during our first period time. I just stood at my door, told the 8th graders they could pick a locker, and enjoyed the general wonder of a first day of school. It seems like such a long time ago since I had a first day! hehe Today was just a half-day, which I was very thankful for. So 25 minutes after the day began, I got my first set of kids and my first set of confusions. Apparently scheduling never runs very smooth here, so my class rosters were a little crazy. I was marking kids off, switching sibling names, writing in first names instead of middle, switching first and last names...you get the idea. To make matters worse, I could only pronounce about 10 of 65 names before they told me. So as each student walked in, I asked their name and repeated it about five times until I said it correctly. One poor boy will probably hate me all year, because after about 20 attempts I still could not say his name to his satisfaction. He finally gave up on me. SO...at the beginning of each of my five classes today, I repeated the same roster scramble. It was funny though! Thankfully the kids are used to new teachers who can't pronounce their names and crazy schedules. This year, 6th grade is a new addition to middle school, as opposed to just 7th and 8th. With this switch, we had two new grades added to middle school today! 2/3 of middle school is trying to figure out how to open their locker, switch classes, even whether or not to take their books out of class. The 7th graders were obviously excited to finally graduate up because they were hyper and bouncing off the walls! The poor, tiny 6th graders however, looked like a bunch of deer in headlights. I think they were scared to death, bless their hearts. They were tiny too! The kids here are a lot smaller than in th US, I've decided. I think I could break most of them in half! Regardless, we all made it through the day unscathed! I didn't stress out my first first day and my students don't think I'm mean or dumb yet....so, success!

School School School

So let me tell you a little bit about my fantastic new workplace, West Nairobi School! As you can tell from the pictures, it's a beautiful place! It is situated in the quiet suburb of Karen, adjacent to the Ngong Forest. Gorgeous! Lush greenery, stone buildings, lined walkways...it's lovely! I feel blessed to work in such an ideal setting. WNS has pre-K through 12th grade. The high school has it's own side of campus, and middle school (my arena) has it's own building. I have a great classroom, quite spacy, with lots of light pouring through my many windows. Yesterday, I was finally able to start really working in my room! Last week, I cleaned it out and got it prepped, now I can start working! I put up a bulletin board and decorated a magnet board. I also started putting stuff away in my desk! Oh, and we finally got our laminator working, so I lamenated everything! Praise the Lord for that! It feels good to have accomplished something! Today, Thursday, we are staying home due to the referendum here, so I have lots of time for lesson planning! I brought home all my curriculum so I can hit it hard! All the ladies and gentlemen I work with have been wonderful so far! I think we will all have a successfull school year together! I love my school!

10 Snippets of Life in Nairobi

After a week of new teacher orientation, I have successfully and completely learned how to live in Kenya. Ok, so maybe not completely, but I have learned a lot! I feel like I have been here for a month! We have accomplished quite a bit in a week and two days. Of course, we have had some pretty good teachers! Everyone has taken extra good care of us, for which I am greatly blessed. I have no idea how I would learn how to live here without help! It would take me months to figure out everything I've been taught this week. Here's a little bit of what I've been up to in my traditional 10 Snippets fashion...

1) On my first full day we went to the toi (open) market to look for house supplies: sheets, towels, curtains, etc. Well, since I love to decorate and am a bit OCD about such things, I didn't get much. I'm not a germaphobe, but buying such things at the equivalent of a giant, dirty yard sale did not quite meet my fancy. I did end up getting some towels and sheets (that don't match), but I bought my quilt in a store. I still haven't bought curtains because I can't find any that match. I figure that if I have to live with it for at least two years, I should like it. I absolutely loved the experience though....I LOVE open markets.

2) I got to drive!! Yah, that's right, I drove on the wrong side of the road, sitting in the wrong side of the car. I didn't do bad though! Turned the windshield wipers on a few times while trying to turn on my turn signal. I've driven a few times since and I love it! You have to be very alert because the roads are horrible, and you're always dodging everything under the sun: people, animals, carts, cars, etc. It's all good though. Oh, and I got pulled over the first time I drove. Yep, that's right. It was no big deal though, we had a tail light out, and he was super nice.

3) I absolutely love my house! It's a huge apartment that is gorgeous. I'm sharing it with three other girls. Amanda and Kelly are sharing the massive master bedroom, and Kaitlyn and I have our own bedrooms and bathrooms. We do have a helper's bedroom and bath, but it's kinda seperate so nobody wanted to sleep there. And the shower didn't have hot water.

4) We've been shopping for about an eternity. Shopping is way exhausting, especially when you don't know what you're looking at and you have to use a calculator just to figure out the price in US dollars.

5) It is way fun however, that my new money is called shillings! Or, of course, you could just call it "bob." I do love it.

6) Everything is crazy expensive which I don't like. And I don't like forking out money for stuff I have back home, but that's the nature of the beast.

7) I had a full Kenyan meal, and it was pretty good! I don't know the swahili names for everything, but here's what we had.... a thick maize mash which is the stable, you eat that with the equivalent of collard greens, a type of tortilla thing which is extra good, triangles of meat pies, a type of salad, a beaf and vegetable stew, and I think that's it. Some of it I didn't like, but some was great!

8) We only have a washing machine, so drying clothes take forever on our lines. We're gonna have to work on that one.

9) It's really cold here, that's way stuff doesn't dry. I've been wearing lots of layers everyday. If the sun doesn't come out, it's freezing. When the sun is out, it's like a perfect fall day! There's no humidity either, which is super nice.

10) I love it here! I really do! I am very content and comfortable. I'm still excited to be here, but really feel at peace about making this my home.

KENYA

So...I'm in Nairobi now. I've been here a day and a half, already seen a lot, done a lot, met some people, had a fabulous time, got my luggage almost two days late....I'm loving Kenya!!!! No time now, running like crazy, more to come!

one week

Well, this is the beginning of a new adventure. I have one week until I leave Tennessee for Kenya. I'm trying to soak up as much of home as I can. Believe it or not, I'm actually a bit of a "homebody." I'm not excited at all about leaving my home, my family; but I'm terrible excited about this journey in Africa. I know this is what I'm supposed to do, and I'm so eager to do it! Packing is a bit of a struggle...I'm pretty far from a "light packer." Stuffing my whole life into three bags is tough. But, I'm getting it done! I had a fantastic training from NICS! I spent two weeks outside of Memphis in South Haven, MS, where the NICS headquarters is, at a Pre-Field Orientation. We were trained in everything! It was so thorough and so fun! I was able to meet some of my future colleagues and my future roommates! I was definitely blessed by my time there! I'm so ready to move into my new apartment, drive on the "wrong" side of the road, decorate my classroom, and write my first lesson plans. I can't wait to meet my students and get to know all about them! I have lots of stuff left to do in my last week stateside, but I'm thrilled to get goin!