Wedding, Valentine's Day and Matatus

WEDDING: I went to the neighbors' wedding on Saturday. It was supposed to start at 10, but the person who was hired to decorate the church showed up late. The priest then moved it to 11. I went over to see people sing to the bride as she was leaving her house around 10:30 - the songs were amazing. We then went to the church. I went inside the church around 11:30, but the ceremony didn't end up starting until 12. It then lasted over 2 hours - in Swahili! Luckily, the music was beautiful. We then went to the reception, where we had traditional Kenyan food and cake. The cake was made 4 weeks ago! I'm not kidding. Rachel and I thought it was dry and not very sweet, but, then again, we eat a lot more sugar than people do here. Our "brother" (host mom's son), who is 19, drove us home afterwards. Let's just say it was an adventure. People had to push the van we were in several times, and we came very close to hitting a few people, but we're alive!

VALENTINE'S DAY: After the wedding, we went to the orphanage to see the kids. We brought games and candy, so they were excited. I have so much fun with them! I think they had too much sugar though :) Lucy sent two of the kids I really like away for "bad behavior." Mary is 13 and I think Moses is 12 or 13. Lucy said they run away and encourage the other kids to run away as well. Apparently, they were sent back to their grandma. However, I know they originally came to Sidai b/c their grandma is too old to work and can't afford to take care of them. Lucy got mad at me for asking about them, but that's fairly normal at this point. Otherwise, things at the orphanage are great. We took 5 more kids to get HIV tests today - all negative!!!

MATATUS: Some people have asked how I get around. Going back and forth b/tw Ngong and Nairobi, I generally take buses. On shorter trips, however, you have to take matatus. Matatus follow routes like buses, but are 14 passenger vans that drive very fast. Well, they are supposed to sit 14. In reality, they force as many people in there as possible. The guidebooks recommend against taking them, but, unless you want to pay a lot of money for taxis, you really have no choice. At least I haven't been in an accident yet! (Mom, don't freak out.) A view of us were talking the other day about how different our experience is here than the experiences of people who come to the country for a week or two to go on safari or sit on the beach. I doubt many of them have squeezed into the back of a matatu!