10 days! That is all the time I have left here in Kenya before I head back to the US. Even though each day is exhausting because students are getting excited for the break, I still cherish each moment with the children in my class. Here are some of the things I learned from my students this year:
1. It is possible to be joyful all the time!
2. How to laugh at myself.
3. That perseverance pays off.
4. That God has a plan for all of us, even if it looks very different from that of most of the rest of the world.
5. That most people have way more insight than we often give them credit for.
6. God has given each of us gifts. Sometimes our gifts don't fit into the boxes we set/others set for us.
7. Even small successes should be celebrated extravagantly!
8. Manners go a long way.
9. True friendships stand the test of trials.
10. LOVE LOVE LOVE- I have given and gotten more love this year than I could have ever imagined.
My students have been my rock this year. They have been the ones keeping me going even when I didn't think I could push any more. They have kept me laughing, comforted me when I was having a bad day, and always reminded me that God was more important than anything else. They have prayed for me, for others, for each other, and for this school. Each one of them is so unique, but together they are a strong group of students. They have overcome more challenges in their 13-17 years of life than I probably will ever have to, but yet they still see life as good. They know God has a plan for them and they aren't afraid to tell others about it. They live out 1 Timothy 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in faith, in love, and in purity." I am so proud of this group of students because I know they are going to do great things!
As promised, here is also my list of things I will not miss in Kenya:
- potholes and speed-bumps
- taking twice as long to do everything.
- things never going the way you plan them
- showers that only have two settings- ice and scalding
- power outages and internet problems
- Nakumatt lines.
- Having no street lights at night and people putting on their brights
- Really expensive imported products.
- African illnesses like Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and Typhoid (and the ones you never find out what they are)
- not having hot water for the sinks and washer
- not being able to hang things on the walls because they are concrete so you have to use blue-tak
- not being able to just run to the store for whatever you need. You have to go to a number of different stores to find the right item...if you ever find it.
- insects- mosquitoes, termites, spiders, Nairobi eye's, millipedes, you name it.
- A4 sized paper
- dust and dirt. It never goes away.
- un-reliable doctors
- having to carry so many keys and open so many doors and gates just to get from my house to my classroom (1 key for house, two for the car, two for the first gate, guards open second and third gate, and two keys to get into my classroom.)
- baking that never turns out how you expect it to.
- Celcius, meters, kilos, and all the things we don't study very much in the US.
- time differences between here and the East coast.
- "Seestah!"
- taking a risk every time you eat or drink anything because it could be contaminated
- being charged Mzungu (white people) pricing because it is assumed that I am rich.
- lack of good ice cream (with the exception of Rolo pops and Mint Crisp pops and raspberry sorbet)
- having to remember the "tricks" for everything because it doesn't necessarily work how it is supposed to.
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