And now we will learn about the WNS test boycotts :)

     Sometimes, at night, I sit back and wonder, "Did my students really learn any of the stuff I taught them today?" Well, last week, I found out that not only have my students been paying attention, but they are able to apply their newly acquired knowledge to more than just the test itself. Every teacher's dream right?  My students decided that they would boycott their test last week on civil rights. I had to smile and be just a little bit proud of them for grasping what it was that we had been talking about for 2 weeks. While I humored them for a little while, I finally gave them an ultimatum. No test, no recess. They quickly sat down and removed their pencils from their supplies cases. This whole unit was an eye opener to me. I almost cried with joy a few times when I realized that these students are the products of a battle that so many people fought just a few decades ago. When students say things like "What do you mean I couldn't be in school with her because she is white and I am black?" it makes you realize that this generation of students doesn't see color of skin as any different than the color of the persons shirt. It just makes them who they are. Last week we also read a story about a young Korean girl who had to hide her gender because her mom wanted her to be educated. The story was written about a time in Korea when women were treated as less than men. We related the story to what we had been reading about in social studies. The students were fired up about both discrimination based on race and discrimination based on gender. I asked if they could think of anything that still encourages discrimination of gender today and when no one could think of anything, I asked them about colors of toys and clothing. They began to note that toys and clothing for girls are mostly pink, purple, pastels, etc; and clothing and toys for boys are blue and red and green. On student noted "People wearing clothes specific to gender is like racism against clothing." My goal with all of this is to get the kids thinking about how different things are for them and what issues they still face. It is interesting to me to see how they respond to what is going on around them.
     Tuesday this past week was Fasnacht Day, as most of you in Lancaster know :) For those of you who have never heard of Fasnacht Day, you are missing out! It is my favorite holiday based solely on the reason that it is the only holiday in which people celebrate a baked good. Now, I know that the point is not to celebrate the baked good itself, but it still makes me smile! Fasnacht Day is know by most of the rest of the world as "Fat Tuesday." It is the day before the first day of Lent in which all of your sugar and fats are supposed to be used up. Fasnachts are similar to donuts, however, they are traditionally made with potatoes. Luckily for me, all of the ingredients are readily accessible in Kenya, so I decided to make some! I found a recipe that said it made about 20. Now, I don't know about you, but whenever I read a recipe for a baked good and it says that it makes about 20, it really means 10-15 because they want you to make the size about half of what you really will make it. Well, evidently that is not the case for fasnachts. I ended up with almost 50 fasnachts! I just kept cutting them out and there was still more dough left. Needless to say, we had fasnachts for almost a whole week with 5 people in our house. We of course coated them with powdered sugar for extra flavor :)
     Over the weekend, my roommate, Kristin, and I went shopping for some things we needed. I bought a new pair of running sneakers that are so bright that I think that they might glow in the dark. For those of you who know me well, you will know that I am not really a runner. I try to get into it, but with my knee problems, I have just never enjoyed running and then being in pain the next day. However, I have decided to try jogging and walking with Kristin and Jenn every day after school. Even though we only started to jog today, I have to say, I kind of enjoyed it! I think it helps to have a jogging partner, which is something I have never had before.
     Kristin and I also bought a bunch of new and used books for our classrooms during our excursion this weekend. We found a really awesome books store in a mall about 20 minutes away that has hundreds of used books! We were so excited! I got 6 new books for my classroom and Kristin got a few for her's as well. The kids are so eager to get their hands on them! I love seeing kids eager to read :) This weekend I also started, and finished, The Hunger Games  book series. I loved reading them! If you have time to read, I highly recommend them!
     This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week at our school. We are setting aside extra time to have chapel every day and to pray for certain things each day. Yesterday the students prayed for other students at the school who may not be Christians. Today we prayed for families that are struggling, and for family members who aren't Christians. I love hearing my students pray, and I love that they WANT to pray! They are always asking for us to pray for them for all kinds of different things. This Friday we will also be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday. We will be reading many of his books and having a party with all of the elementary school students! It should be a lot of fun!
     Finally, I just wanted to share that one of my students brought in a chameleon today as a class pet. He found it at his house and put it in a soda bottle with holes in it, added some leaves and brought it in. It was really cool, so I thought I would share. I love being able to see this kind of thing on a daily basis here! PS, it was smaller than my pinky finger!

Prayer Requests:
- Finances for myself and my coworkers as we prepare for traveling this summer.
- For Spiritual Emphasis Week at our school to help students grow in their knowledge of Christ.
- For the safe travel of the parents of the students in my class. Maybe are missionaries as well, and they travel much of the year.

Verse of Encouragement:
    "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." James 1:19-21

Posting again already?! No way!

Hi everyone! I know, pigs must be flying because I am posting again in less than 10 days! I know many of you would like to have more updates, so I am going to try to post about every 10 days or so. Maybe my posts will be shorter then :) So here it goes...

Last week we had a Valentine's Day party in my classroom. It was a blast! The students all got to make bags to put their candy in as well as make cards with hand prints formed into a heart. The picture you see is one from Pintrest, but ours looked similar. We had cookies and soda, and more cookies and candy, and more sugar and then I sent them all home to their parents :)

Last week, my students read a story about baseball and I may or may not have brainwashed them to believe that the Phillies are the best baseball team on the planet. They learned quickly, from the White Sox loving 3rd grade teacher, that I may have been slightly biased. :) The week pretty much continued normally. I slowly regained back my strength from being sick and was able to get a lot of sleep to recover. On Friday night, two of my roommates and I babysat for the principal's three adorable children. I have never babysat with so many other adults! It was a fun time though. We watched Power Rangers with the kids, and it took me back to the good old days when I wanted to be the pink ranger :) After the kids went to bed, my roommates and I watched the first Lord of the Rings movie. I think we still have about 100 movies left on the list of movies I need to see. I was evidently sheltered growing up!

On Saturday, all four of my roommates and I went with a few of the other teachers to Crescent Island again. We got to walk with the animals like Doctor Dolittle (although I am still working on that talking thing :) ). Jenn got within about 10 feet of a giraffe before it noticed she was there. It was incredible! It drizzled all day, but it wasn't too bad until we were headed back to the bus. We got about 300 yards away and it started to downpour! It was the hardest rain I have ever been trapped in. I thought it was hailing because the drops hurt so badly! We finally made it back to the bus and just as we were about to leave, we saw a hippo out of the water! It was huge! We stayed clear of it though because they can get mean if they feel threatened. Finally, we headed back to school on a one hour bus ride, completely soaked. 

On Sunday, Jenn and I decided to go back to a church I had attended only once before, and she had attended twice. We really liked the service and the pastor. I think we may have finally found a church to attend regularly! Praise the Lord! After church we got the best ice cream we have had in Kenya. It almost tasted like home. We decided that we can get the ice cream whenever we want as long as we walk a 5K afterwards :)

Finally, I want to write about my finances. Some of you are supporting my monthly, and I am so grateful for that support! It helps with the day to day expenses like food, transportation, and rewards for my students. I am, however, in need of some one time donations if anyone is willing to help. The one time donations that were given at the beginning of my time here have been used for furniture, a car, and other start up costs. I would like to come home this summer, but plane ticket prices have gone up a few hundred dollars since I came home at Christmas. My goal is to raise $2000 before June in order to cover my plane ticket and have a small amount of money left over for gas and a few social outings while I am home for 7 weeks. If you are able to help with these costs, please e-mail me or message me on facebook so that I can talk to you about how to donate. You can also go to http://nics.org/Donate-start to donate anonymously. If you use the website, you can click on "single donation" and then select "missionary support" under the drop down menu for "destination." You can then type my name in the box provided. All donations done through the website are tax deductible. NICS does take out 8-10% of donations to support the home office. I am so thankful for all of you who pray for me every day and for those of you who are supporting me financially so that I am able to stay here and work with the students at WNS. I could not do this without you!

Prayer Requests:

- For the heath of the staff at the school. Everyone seems to be getting colds and stomach viruses like I had. Pray for healing for them please.

- For all of the teachers who are transitioning to or from Kenya this coming year. Pray for wisdom in decision making and for peace about the decisions they do make. 

Verse of Encouragement:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:10-17

Finally, I want to include a funny photo that I think many of you will enjoy :)

February

      We are 5 weeks into the new semester here at WNS. Time seems to be flying by so quickly! Students are growing both physically and spiritually. I love getting to see the gears turn and minds expand each day while I am teaching. I have 21 students this semester, and each of them is so unique. It's amazing how, at such a young age, you can see the potential in each student to become something great, even if they don't yet see it themselves. I try to remind my students every day that they have the passion, potential, and determination to do great things, but they have to choose if those great things are going to be good or bad. Each day I see them make choices and decide whether they were good or bad. 

      We started off the year talking about resolutions, and I broke the students into prayer groups. I asked them to pray for each other about a fruit of the Spirit that they thought they might need to work on this year. It was amazing how united the students became when they started praying for each other, not just as a whole class, but individually. The students have also started to do individual journaling every day. I give them a prompt that makes them think about themselves and who they are. The last two weeks in Chapel, we heard students and teachers give testimonies about what God has done in their lives. Afterwards, I asked my students to write about their stories. Their immediate reactions were to say "I don't have a story." or "God hasn't done anything big in my life." I reminded them that if they are a Christian, God has done some major things in their lives. Immediately, they went to work, and my room was silent for more than 10 minutes (which is not very common if you know how my classroom usually functions :) We like to have fun!). My goal is to help them to explore what they believe for themselves and not just follow the crowd.
     This week is Valentine's Day, and so my students and I read 1 Corinthians 13 to see what the Bible says about love. We then made a wreath to hang on our door. I had each student put their hand print on a piece of construction paper and then they wrote part of 1 Cor. 13 on the palm. As I was painting their hands to make the hand print, one very ticklish student said to me "This must be what buildings feel like....I feel really bad for buildings!" It made me laugh :)
     I have continued to do volunteer work on the weekends when I have time, and also find some time to have fun. Last weekend was Super Bowl weekend. Because we are 8 hours ahead of the East Coast, we were able to see the game at 2am. A bunch of the teachers got together at someone's house who had satellite cable, and we watched the game throughout the wee hours of the morning. It was quite the experience! Afterwards, we had a "southern breakfast." Those seem to happen a lot here with all of these southerners that I work with :) I have come to love biscuits and gravy, but I am still warming up to grits. Yesterday, I also went bowling for the first time at the one and only bowling alley (that I know of ) here in Nairobi. It was a lot of fun. The lanes are much skinnier and the pins are smaller, but it was still a blast! I also got to attend a soccer tournament that some of my students were participating in. They played so well and got 7th place out of 32 teams in their division. It really helped me to bond with some of the parents and students from my class. I think I will continue to try to go to some of their games because it was so much fun!
    This past week I was very sick with a bacterial infection in my stomach. The doctor told me it was food poisoning, but no one else at school or home was sick, and we all ate the same thing. 5 days later, I am still recovering, but I feel like I have more and more energy each day. I missed a day and a half of school due to being sick, but the one day that I was there this week, my students were so helpful and kind to me. They kept asking if I felt any better yet and telling me they were sorry that I was so sick.
     Friday night we also had our talent show at school. Although I was still not feeling great, I decided to go. I tried to keep an open mind knowing that it would not be the kind of show I have been accustomed to seeing at Hempfield. I was blown away! The students did an incredible job! They worked so hard to prepare some amazing acts! The finale to the show (not a contestant) was a group of 4 boys who did a break-dancing act that was incredible. My other favorite act was that of a student who "read" a poem that she wrote. I put read in quotes because reading doesn't always include as much passion and energy as this young woman put into her poem. She wrote a poem called "No Application Form" about disabilities. She talked about the fact that there is no application form for someone to get a disability, it is something they are given without ever asking for it. It was beautiful and she got a standing ovation from the audience.
     Overall, things are going well here. I am just taking every thing day by day and looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me at this school for the next year and possibly beyond. I thank each of you for your support as always. I miss all of you very much and can't wait to see you the next time I am home (dates to come soon :) ).

Prayer Requests:

- For continued spiritual growth in my classroom

- For my health to continue to get better

- For the 7 couples I know that got engaged in the last 3 months (seriously...there are 7 of them!). Just pray for their wedding plans to come together smoothly and for them to cherish this time together.

Verse of Encouragement:

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

A New Year

Hi everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Day with your friends and families. I wanted to do a quick (and hopefully short) update for you all, so here it goes :)
In  November, Jenn and I finished our Kenyan diet and figured out that we had only spent about $25 for both of us to eat for the entire month! It was amazing to see how little we were able to live on! On Thanksgiving day we went to a coworker's house to have Thanksgiving lunch/dinner. It tasted so good after the Kenyan diet!! We had  a pretty traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. It was even more amazing that we were able to eat on time because the power was out the entire evening and night before Thanksgiving, so no one was able to prep anything. The last week of November or first few days of December we had a high school and middle school concert for band, orchestra, and chorus. I was asked to play drum kit for the chorus show. Even though I was a little out of practice I think I did alright, and I had a lot of fun.
In December we finally moved to the new house! It is beautiful here and feels like a resort to escape to after a long day at school. The landlord ended up putting in an additional bathroom, so we ended up with 4.5 baths! A few days before school ended, the school hired a new high school science teacher and we found out that she would be living with us in the new house. It will be a full house with 5 women, but I think we will be able to handle it :) December 12th was our last day of school and we had an Elementary Christmas concert as well as a class party. I got to play snare drum for a band piece that was being played. Evidently I am the only drummer at the school or something ;) At our class party I planned some minute to win it games for my students to play. Having never saw the show before, it took them a while to learn what to do, but they eventually got it. The parents that were there to celebrate with us really enjoyed watching the games. They were quite amused! That same evening, I caught a flight back to the US to spend time with my family and friends for the holidays. I was able to surprise most of my co-workers, even though some(...cough...Paul...) guessed I was coming home. It was great to be able to see everyone again. Being home was an interesting experience. I had some funny experiences like turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal while driving (our turn signal and wind shield wipers are on opposite sides here). My mom had to keep reminding me that in the US we drive on the right. I was so happy to get to see so many people while I was home, and I hope to see the rest of you when I come home in the summer.
Since arriving back in Kenya a little over a week ago, my roommates and I have gotten a puppy. We adopted her from the KSPCA and named her Ginger Snap. She is a mix of "kenyan dog" and maybe a boxer or german shepherd. We think she will be a medium sized dog. She is very well behaved and we have been working with her daily to get her socialized. While I was home over break I bought a zebra shaped dog toy for the dog I knew we would eventually get. She has been playing with it like crazy! She also loves the puppy treats that I brought back. We were hoping to train her to be a guard dog, but she seems to already have the natural instinct of one. The second night she was here she growled at our night guard because he put his hood on his coat up. I think we will keep her :)
I am so thankful for all of you and I can't wait to see you all this summer while I am home. One thing that will be changing for me next year is that I will not be teaching 4th grade anymore, but instead I will be teaching life skills special ed. I am so excited about this opportunity, and can't wait to get started! Please be praying for that in addition to these other requests:
- For my new roommates and I to figure out the best ways to live together. We not only have to learn each other's habits, likes, and dislikes, but also learn how to spend our finances wisely.
- For my students, and for myself for patience with them.
- For my supporters. I am so thankful that people are willing to help me to be used by God.

Verse of Encouragement:
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

November :)

November 12^th

I apologize for the extended time between posts! The time is going so quickly here that, before I know it, a month has passed and I haven’t posted! Things are going very well here. I really love living here and have met so many wonderful people. Although my job can be very tiring, I love my students and have gotten to know them well. I am getting used to the power outages, lack of internet, and bargaining system. In fact, I am writing this during one of our day-long power outages. I have learned to take nothing for granted!

            For the month of November, my room mate, Jenn, and I are trying to spend only the amount of money that an average Kenyan would be able to spend by eating a “Kenyan Diet.” Now, some of you (especially those of you who were here in Kenya with me last year) probably think I am crazy. You are probably thinking, she is going to eat ugali and sukumawiki for 30 days!? Others of you may not even know what those two things are, so here is an explaination:

            Ugali- Better know as “African cornbread.” It is a sticky bread-like food made with corn flour. It looks like mashed potatoes, but don’t be fooled by its looks, because it doesn’t taste anything like potatoes! It has a very bland taste and is usually used as the utensil in the meal. You take a piece and flatten it out in your hand and then scoop other food up with it to eat. It actually works quite well!

            Sukumawiki- Similar to collard greens. It’s a mix of kale and spinach cooked with some onions and tomatoes. The word sukumawiki means “push through the week.”  A small amount makes a lot of food and it helps to fill the stomach so you don’t get as hungry.

We have also been eating some eggs, rice, beans, cooked cabbage, eggplant, and other vegetables that are very inexpensive here. Avocados are also very cheap here, so we have also made some guacamole. Fresh fruit is also very inexpensive, so we have been able to eat a lot of that. Vegetarians and Vegans would probably enjoy this diet very much! Unfortunately, being a white person here means that you usually get charged more for everything, including food. Our good friend Anne has been helping us out by buying our fruits and vegetables for us at the Kenyan price. The other day she bought us 4 quart sized bags of sukumawiki, some tomatoes, onions, and green peppers for only the equivalent of $1.30!  About 3 days into this diet we were ready to quit. It is so hard to have to think about whether the food is within our price range. I think the food that we both miss eating the most is cheese. Kenyans don’t eat a lot of cheese because it is too expensive. It has been an eye-opening experience to have to eat only on a few dollars a week. In the first week we ate all of our meals for only about $5. The only time we eat food other than Kenyan food is during lunch at school. The school gives the teachers free lunch, so we have been eating that to continue to save money. Most of the time the school lunch is Kenyan anyway J We are also making an exception for Thanksgiving dinner. In turn we are going to eat Kenyan food on December 1^st to make up for the one day of turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Through living here in Kenya, I have learned to cook so many more things. I have grown to love making everything from scratch and experimenting with new recipes.

            In other exciting news, I am moving to a new house in December. Myself and three other teachers wanted to live closer to the school, and so last month we began to look for a new place to live and found a beautiful house only about a half mile from the school. It used to be an orphanage, so it is very large. We are so excited to move into this house that has a yard and is further away from the hustle and bustle of the city! The house has 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 balconies, and a fireplace! There is a garden that has already been started, a few banana trees, a few avocado trees and the day guard even keeps some chickens! We are looking forward to moving in there in mid-December and having some peace and quiet. The landlord has really been helpful to us and worked with us on price and deposits and everything.

            Today I got to go to the home of our house help for her daughter and niece’s 2^nd birthdays. It was so interesting to go to a Kenyan’s home near the slums and see how they live. The house was divided with curtains, not walls, and most of the food was cooked out on the front porch over hot coals. They were so hospitable and were so happy to have us there. She calls us her girls and tells us that she loves us all the time. She is so sweet and we love having her here to help us around the house. I think we are going to have her start cooking us some Kenyan food during November because the food that I ate at her house today was delicious!

            Next week will be an exciting week at our school. LaCrae, a famous Christian rap artist, will be coming to Nairobi to do a concert on Friday, and the chaplain at our school has arranged to have him come speak at our school and do a small concert for our students! We are very excited to have him come and minister to our students. Some of the teachers, including myself, have also purchased VIP passes to go see his concert that night and sit in the front row. I can’t wait to post more about how it all goes!

            Not much else is new here. Every day is an adventure as always. We still have not found a home church. There are just so many options, and none have seemed to fit yet. We are going to a Methodist church this weekend to see how we like it. I think one other interesting thing that I have experienced here is the idea of having free-time and down-time. This is new for me, as many of you know. I am usually running from one place to another and never taking time to rest. Now I have all the time in the world and don’t know what to do with my time! Jenn and I play cards, watch movies, and do puzzles when we aren’t doing school work. It is nice to just sit and talk and relax every once in a while J I guess that is all for now. I will post next weekend about how the LaCrae concert went!

Prayer Requests:

-          For us to find a home church and be able to get plugged in.

-          For the soldiers fighting on the border of Kenya and Somalia, and for the war between the two countries to be over soon.

-          For everything to go smoothly with the LaCrae concert, and that many students lives would be changed by his testimony.

-          For the rest of this month to go well for Jenn and I on our Kenyan diet.

Verse of Encouragement:

This one is for my students. We have been practicing it every day J

“Do all things without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God.” Philippians 2:14

We often times take for granted everything that we have been given. There are times when we are frustrated, but I hope that we always remember how blessed we are and that complaining will never solve a problem.

These are a few of my favorite things...

            Again, where did the time go? We have been here over two months now, and I have to say that we are settling in very well. Just after my last blog post, we had a staff retreat out in the Rift Valley. It was really a blessing to get out of the city for a few days and not have to worry about school work. In fact, the only rule for the retreat was that we could not bring any school work with us! The music teachers from the school found out that I played the drums and so I got to be the drummer for the whole weekend for worship. All they had was a small hand drum, and let me tell you, your hands start to get very tired and sore after 3 days of drumming if you haven't played in a while! It was a great time though. We had fun just sitting around playing cards and going on walks to see some wildlife. We saw a lot of giraffe and zebra out in the rift valley as we were walking.
            Three weekends ago, Jenn, Rachel, and I went back to Dagoretti Children's Center to hold and feed some of the babies. They were so adorable! We got there just at feeding time when all 20 babies were screaming for food! We quickly went to work feeding them, and soon the room was quiet and peaceful again. We only stayed for a short while and then left to meet up with some of the other girls to go downtown for lunch and shopping. I got some fabric to have a traditional dress made. It is always crazy to try and buy things here. You have to know how to bargain and try to get the price down. As soon as they see a Mzungu (white person) they automatically jack the price up because they think that we are rich. The one lady even said to me, "You know the American dollar is doing very well right now." To which I responded "I'm sure it is, but I live here, and I get paid in shillings!" Her face was priceless and she was at a loss of words. Later on we went to get some lunch before heading over to the Maasi market to look at handmade goods. We were mostly looking to see how much the people would try to charge us for certain things, but it didn't stop vendors from trying to persuade us to come to their stand to buy things. I had another interesting experience when a lady said to me "Please come and look at my things." I told her we were just looking and not buying anything today. In a very harsh voice she said to me "WHY NOT?!" I have learned that the only way to reply is to say "Because I live here and I don't really need any of this!" They seem to back away very quickly. After we had all made our purchases, we got back on the very shady looking bus to ride home.
          Two weeks ago was Spiritual Emphasis week at our school. We had chapel every day and we did some special things in our classroom. I did some worship and devotions for the students each morning, and they really enjoyed it! I also had them write a letter to God about whatever they wanted and some of my kids are still coming up to me this week asking if they can write more letters. I love that I have the opportunity to share God with these kids. The students loved worship so much that I have decided to do it once a week and add a special devotional once a week for them to read. My kids have so many great questions about God and how to follow Him! Jenn and I were also invited over to the home of one of my students a few weeks ago. Her mother is my room mom and helps me to organize parent help as well as other activities. She made us an amazing meal and gave us some tips about where to buy certain foods. The family has lived in Nairobi for 8 years working for a missions organization. Many students from our school are the children of people from this organization. They fly planes to remote areas and do food drops along with many other things. We got to meet some of the other people from this organization the other night when the same family invited all of the singles from their ministry and our school for dinner at their house. They are a very generous family and a great support to the teachers!
           Last weekend we went hiking in the Ngong Hills (which are more like mountains!). The top peak that we went to was 2100 ft above sea level. It gets very difficult to breathe at that elevation, so in addition to the intense grade of the mountain, we had hardly any oxygen. Even though that was all interesting, the craziest part of the hike had to be the fact that we had to hire 2 guards armed with AK47's to protect us from animals and thieves. That never happens in PA! On Sunday, we all got invited to go out to eat to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant called Fogo Gaucho's. The NICS organization paid for the meal for our entire staff including all of our bus drivers, grounds keepers, cleaning ladies, and teachers! It was awesome to have a time to get to know each other more and enjoy a very nice meal. The idea of the restaurant is that waiters bring around all different kinds of meat on skewers and carve you off some food. We had many different kinds of beef, a couple kinds of pork, chicken, sausage, and crocodile! Crocodile is kind of oily an chewy. It didn't taste bad, but the beef was definitely my favorite :)
       This past week was spirit week and although it was hecktic, it was also a blast! Monday was crazy hat/hair day, Tuesday was New You/Careen day (I dressed as a Phillies baseball player), Wednesday was Decade Day (I did the 70's), Thursday was Dynamic Duo day (Jenn and I were Mario and Luigi...complete with suspenders and mustaches drawn with mascara!), and Friday was Dress Like Your Class Movie Day (Our class had the movie "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs;" I was Sam the weather girl). My kids did a great job with participating and on Tuesday our entire class dressed up! It was so awesome! I also started teaching karate lessons last week to the elementary school students at an after school program. I think it will be fun to teach them and it will take me back to my first years of karate classes.
      I am continuing to find more and more things about Nairobi that I like (hence the title of this post). I think my favorite part about being here is that there is always an opportunity to serve and volunteer to help. Anyone who knows me will tell you that volunteering is probably my favorite thing in the world (and sometimes I do it too much :) ). Your prayers and financial support have really helped me to be able to do these volunteer projects and give them my full focus. I thank you so much for that!

Prayer Requests:
- Parent teacher conferences are this week. Please pray for good conversation and planning for the future of these kids!
- I have been having migraine headaches for a couple weeks. Please pray that they would not hinder my teaching or focus during school.
- For the families and friends of a high school classmate of mine who passed away last week, and two others who are in the hospital.

Verse of Encouragement:
" So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  
1 Corinthians 10:31
         
       

Gettin' off my substructure :)

"Get off your substructure and feed yourself a steak!" ~ Bryce Taylor

     How did another three weeks fly by so quickly?! Some days it feels like things are finally settling down, and others days it feels like things are speeding past faster than a freight train! I am reminded of the quote, shown above, every time I feel a little tired or don't feel like doing anything that day. It gives me the little push that I need to keep going.
     Today was a strange day. In the US it is Labor Day. Today I would typically be at a summer party at my aunt and uncle's house celebrating and have a great time. Instead, I didn't even remember it was a holiday until lunch time! It was a weird experience to be somewhere that is not celebrating a holiday that you would typically have off of work for. It's these small day to day experiences that remind me that I am living in Africa. Believe it or not, I often forget I am on another continent until I use the wrong word for something or I need to figure out something I haven't had to do yet, like pay an internet bill with a cell phone. It's fairly easy to get by when everyone speaks English (even though it's British English, and many things have a different name). Some days it feels like we have been here for months and others it feels like we just arrived yesterday. Little by little we are getting adjusted.
     In the past few weeks I have mostly just been going to work every day and relaxing in the evening with coworkers. We had a day off school last week for the end of Ramadan and a couple teachers got together for brunch. If you are wondering why a Christian school would have off for a Muslim holiday, it's because it is a national holiday here. We have had a few other girls nights where we watched movies and ate a ton of food :) My roommate, Jenn, and I love to cook. There is always something baking in the oven or cooking on the stove in our kitchen! The other girls often laugh when they come over and see what we are making. It is a relaxing activity for us.
    In addition to having fun and relaxing the last few weeks, we also got to work some more with the people of Kenya doing outreach. There are 3 children at our school from a local orphanage that is run by Feed the Children. One of these students is in my class and so a group of us decided to go visit the orphanage and learn more about the kids in our classrooms. It was an amazing experience! Every Saturday a few of the students go to an art therapy class. The class is held at an old art museum called Ramoma. Two men run an art therapy program for children who are orphaned, and also children who are in the hospital. We got to go with the children from the orphanage to make masks and just have a great laughing and doing art. They loved every moment of it (And so did we :) ) After we left the museum, we went back to the orphanage and took a tour. We found out that there are about 90 children at the orphanage, 20 of which are infants under 10 months old. Many of the children are there because they have some sort of disability and their family cannot care for them. Others are there because they have no parents at all and the closest family member can't take them. It is sad to see so many kids without homes. Many of these kids will not be adopted because there are not many people who agree to adopt a child with a disability, no matter how minor it may be. If a couple is looking to adopt a child and they check the box that says they will not accept a child with a disability, all children with the most minor injuries or even children who were born with disfigurements that have since been taken care of, are taken off the list for that couple. Unfortunately, that means that almost 100% of the time, only healthy infants are adopted. The Feed the Children orphanage that we went to was called Dagoretti Children's Center. They also have a feeding program that they run through the center that feeds 270,000 children a day in the slums! I thought that was amazing! The center has asked us to come back at least once a month to feed and hold the infants because they just can't give them all the attention they need to thrive. This week, two of the children from Dagoretti showed up at our school with brand new Tom's shoes on. Tom's slogan is One for One. It means that for every pair of shoes purchased, they will donate one pair to a child who goes without shoes every day. We thought it was awesome to see this program in action!
     I am continuing to look for a home church here. I have found many options, but none felt quite right. The church I attended this weekend was my favorite so far, and I am going to go back next weekend to see if I would like to continue going there. Please pray that I find somewhere soon so that I can feel more settled.
     I currently have 21 students in my classroom. 21 very chatty students may I add :) They are a handful, but I love working with them. Two weeks ago we were reading a story in class and it mentioned something about biscuits. In Kenya, a biscuit is either a cookie or a cracker, so I had to explain to the students that I was talking about a roll. When they still didn't understand it, I decided that I would go home and bake them some American style biscuits. The surprised looks on their faces were awesome when I walked into school the next day with a big container of homemade biscuits just for them :) Like I said before...there is always something baking in our kitchen!
     Although things are becoming more stable, there is still never a dull moment here, and I am always learning something. I had my first driving experience last week. It can't even describe how nerve racking it can be, but we made it to and from school safely. I pray that I continue to stay off my substructure and keep on moving and learning, because what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't continue to be a life-long learner :) Thank you all for your prayers and support! Love you all!

Prayer Requests-
- We have a staff retreat this weekend. Please pray that we can relax and build relationships this weekend while we worship God.
- Continue to pray for the financial situation here and that we would be able to budget properly.
- That I would find a home church soon so that I can get plugged in.
- That I would manage my time wisely so that I give God all the time He needs to work in my life and help me work in the lives of others.

Verse of Encouragement-
^"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:9-13