Short Trips, etc.

Sorry the delay again. I meant to post on Tuesday, but power was out in all of Ngong. Yesterday, I was sick and in bed the whole day. I'm not great today, but at least I'm functioning somewhat. Anyway, I'm now a vegetarian for as long as I'm in Africa.

Last Sunday, Rachel and I went to visit one of Lucy's son's family in Limuru - about 2 hours away. We hung out at his house with his wife and kids (and I once again had the opportunity to use a squat toilet) before going to visit...Lucy's mom!! She lives in a shack up in the hills (beautiful countryside!) and doesn't know English. She was so happy we came to visit. It was really cute!

We wanted to get home by dark, but that definitely didn't happen. Rachel and I quickly walked from one side of Nairobi to the other (we had to switch from a matatu to a bus). We made it fine, but then our bus got a flat tire on the way home! We had to stand along the side of the road, but, luckily, we were able to squeeze into a matatu fairly quickly.

On Tuesday, Rachel and I went to visit another volunteer, Austin, who is doing the Maasailand project. He is working with this woman from Iowa, Linda, who has been coming to Kenya for 11 yrs. She is involved in some really amazing projects. For example, she helps rescue young Maasai girls (11-12 yrs old, usually) whose fathers are forcing them to get married to collect the dowries. If they get a certain score on a test, she sponsors them to go to school. She also does some food relief projects, school projects, etc. The land in the valley is VERY dry, and many people are going hungry. It was really interesting to talk to her. Unfortunately, I spent the night in Austin's homestay being sick, but I won't go into that part :)

Sidai STILL has no power. We need to get a letter from the landlord showing that Sidai is the proper occupant. Hopefully, this will get taken care of soon!

I had to purchase materials for Lucy's son to build a desk for Jacob and Joseph today. Otherwise, they were going to get kicked out of public school. Many school require a "donation" of a desk for new kids to be enrolled. Yes, public schools. Oh well, as long as they stay in school!

Rachel and I are taking a trip with another of Lucy's sons this weekend. We are going to Lake Magadi and camping in the hot springs. The next day, we spend the night with a Maasai family. It should be interesting... I'll post about it early next week.

Once again, sorry for the delay! I'll try to add another short post tomorrow.

Miss you all!