I discovered yesterday, Monday, that I will not be moving to my site on Monday as planned, but will be moving there Thursday, which is not a problem. So, I will update you all on what my placement is like next week.

On Sunday, we went to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and then to one of the greatest meat places to which I have ever been thus far in my life journey. It is called Pampa Churrascaria and is in Nairobi. It was our last meal together as a group before we split up to our different sites. It is the nicest restaurant I will encounter while in Africa, I presume because I'll be paying for the rest of my meals.

Today is our 3 week point in Kenya. This coming Monday is when we all go off to our sites for the rest of the year. 2 go to a small town outside Nairobi to teach at a high school, 1 is going to the coast of Kenya on the Indian ocean to be a Biologist, and I am moving to Karen which is northwest of Nairobi. The remaining 4 are staying in Westlands very close to the Supervisor’s house. Orientation has been a great bonding experience for the 8 of us and a great introduction to Kenya. We are all excited about going to our placements, but I think once we are there we will miss each other quite a bit, especially me and the coastal person because we will have to travel to see anybody else from our group, but it will provide a good opportunity to practice Swahili!

I have been asked about Barack Obama in the past 3 weeks frequently. Barack Obama is like a hometown star because Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr., was a Kenyan who lived in Kenya all of his life except for college and graduate school in the States. However, Obama only met his father for 10 days when he was 10 years old in Hawaii and didn’t visit Kenya until his late 20s. So, Obama is a hometown star who didn’t grow up in his hometown/country at all which makes an interesting situation and Q&A sessions.  I'm sure that I will have many many more conversations about Obama in the next 11 months.

I did all of my laundry by hand for the first time this week. Apparently, in terms of clothing, I only brought 10 tops (T-shirts, long sleeve), 7 bottoms (Jeans, Khakis), a suit (2 ties), some socks and boxers, dress shoes, trail shoes, and chacos. I washed all the tops, socks, and boxers and it was an experience. I soaked, wrung everything out, and attempted to find places to hang everything to dry. My forearm muscles burned like crazy because of (attempting to) wrung everything out (reminding me of trying to beat a cake in Zambia and getting very tired before the job was done). However, I actually enjoyed washing everything by hand. The first time you do something it is usually more enjoyable than every time after that. However, I know that I will respect clean clothes more now and be proud of how clean/dirty my clothes are.

Hello friends,
I have a better internet connection now so am adding pictures from Kibera slum, the archeological site visit in the Great Rift Valley, and some bo-jazz in between. So, without further adu:



-If you would like to pause just put your mouse over the middle at the bottom of the picture.
-If you would like to see the pictures bigger, then put your mouse over the bottom left corner and click on "Pictures Week Two" when it pops up. You'll be taken to another page where you can see the pictures bigger. Word.

Let me know if you have any questions and please comment. I am quite proud of a few of the pictures. Have a great day! Kwaherini (Swahili for goodbye to a bunch of people).
Sincerely,
RTQ

Hello friends! Today (Thursday), our group is going to an archeological site! An Archeologist from the University is taking us about 2 hours outside of Nairobi to a site for the day. We are unrealistically hoping to find some dinosaurs that have never been found before in our 6-hour time slot. Any name ideas?

We are learning more about Kenya everyday. Kenya has 42 tribes and each tribe speaks its own language, but the national language is Swahili. People (usually) are very proud of the tribe from which they come. One Kenyan said that violence only last for a maximum of 3 months in Kenya because if 2 tribes are fighting the other 40 tribes want them to stop fighting so they can go on with their business. Of course, some tribes are much much bigger than others, but when you add them all up it creates a big voice. Kenya became independent from Britain in 1963 and is still a young country when compared with the rest of the world, but an average age when compared with all of the African countries getting their independence from colonization.

Swahili lessons are still going on formally and informally. It is a nice language because everything is spelt like it sounds. I came to the realization that Swahili is the first language I am learning which I actually get to use conversationally. Latin, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Greek are not commonly spoken languages…at least where I hang out. However, I get to practice Swahili everyday. When I return to the states I am not sure how helpful it will be (except for quoting the Lion King), but for now it is incredibly helpful and (intriguing) to know what everyone is saying.

I have been very careful to use the word different when describing how certain things are here compared with the States. For instance, they drive on the different side of the road, not wrong. My favorite “difference” currently is their definition of cold. It is what I consider very nice weather here; however, when it drops below 75 the Kenyans bundle up. A few nights ago when I came home, it was around 70 and our gatekeeper was bundled up like an Eskimo (beanie, scarf, and heavy coat). I walked by him in my T-shirt feeling like it was a nice fall day. It would have been a good picture. This was also evident when I was with my host family last week and had sinus problems, every time I would cough they would make me put on a jacket (or another jacket) because I was “cold.” They did this until I started sweating and explained to them that this cold weather for them was actually quite nice for me.

Finally, I will end with my funny church story of the week. We went to a Lutheran church Sunday morning which was very structured and only an hour or so long which was nice. However, during communion I got a shock when I unintelligently assumed the liquid in the cup was Welch’s grape juice (like it is usually in the Presbyterian Church in the States) rather than wine. Luckily, I did heed to my body’s impulse to spew, but returned to my seat and coughed for the next several minutes. This could have just as easily occurred in the states at a Lutheran church, but something makes it more special in Africa.

Well, I hope all is well back in the States! I miss all of you and really enjoy hearing from you so thank you for your comments and e-mails. Have a great day! I’ll blog you next week sometime.
RTQ
PS I will post pictures when I have a faster connection.

Hello friends! Here are the pictures that I could not post earlier.



I post my pictures usually in a slideshow. If you are like my beloved mother and slightly technologically troubled here is how it works.

• The slide show will start automatically when you visit the blog.
  


• Once it shows all the photos it freezes on the last picture. Click on the box in the center (with a play button) to start the slide show over from the beginning.


• If you want to scroll through the pictures use the back and forward arrows at the bottom of the picture in the middle.

Hello friends! I am safe and sound in Nairobi. All of the flights went well to Nairobi. The world definitely appears smaller when you travel half way around it in 17 hours. On my flight from Chicago to London, I sat next to a man from London who works for Harley Davidson. We discussed the pound-dollar rate, accents, and words that differ between the States and the UK. I had an emergency row exit seat so life and my legs were good. Our second flight from London to Nairobi also went well. I again had an emergency row exit seat and therefore got to talk with the flight attendant. I asked her 20 questions and figured out how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit…roughly. We got off the plane and in conversation with my fellow YAVs I determined that my lack of sleep had my brain functioning at about 35%. I could literally feel my vocabulary shrinking. We got our bags and were off. It was around 10 PM when we arrived at our site coordinator’s home to have a snack. There Henry and I learned that we would not be staying with the rest of the group (because there are not enough beds) and were picked up by a taxi and taken to a Monastery. We had to ring the bell at 11:30ish and a German Nun answered the door not so pleased about being awakened. We went to bed and I slept for a few hours. I awoke at 3 AM and remained awake to hear the morning prayers at the Mosque nearby at 4 and 5 AM. I got up at 6 and watched the sunrise while reading. I then had a very nice quiet breakfast. This was a very romantic morning to begin my time in Kenya.

Our group of eight then embarked on becoming accustomed to Kenya: time, food, currency, and everything else. We had a professor speak to us about the Sudan and everything that is going on there currently since it is a bordering country. Then we went to arguably the biggest slum in Africa, Kibera, and learned about an amazing program which has started in micro-financing. I could spend the entire blog post on that visit.

All eight of us have been placed with a host family with whom we are currently spending out time. We had a big dinner Friday night where we met our families and then afterward went home with them to live until Wednesday. My (host) father and mother are extremely hospitable and generous. In the culture here I am not allowed to call them by their first names, but call them mom and dad. They worked as teachers and father eventually taught at university for ten years. They decided to build a new home for their family, but realized there weren’t any schools around. So, rather than living in it they transformed it into a primary (and boarding) school called ByGrace. That was in 1994 and since then they have opened up another school which is a few miles away. They have also planted 7 churches. So, they have done quite a bit for their community! My mother and father take very good care of me and make me sleep under a mosquito net at night. They both have an amazing laugh and a great sense of humor. My sinuses have acted up so I am coughing and my nose is running like a faucet. Therefore, they made me drink this soup that was just garlic, ginger, and carrots. They sat and watched me drink all of it and laughed as I did because of the faces I made. When I was finished they all cheered for me and it did help my sinuses, so that’s my host family in a paragraph.

A few fun stories/notes:

I am eating better here than I did in the States, although, I would pay a large amount of money right now for a personal pan pizza from pizza hut.

On Saturday, mom took me to both schools and introduced me to the students. We went by each classroom, kindergaten-8, at each school. First they would giggle when I walked in because I have to duck to enter the room because the door is only 2 meters or 6 foot 4. Then they would laugh when I started talking because I sounded funny apparently. One of them said that I sounded like the TV because most of their TV shows are from the States. Needless to say, I provided some good entertainment. This next year I will be working at ByGrace school at least once a week, so I am very excited about that because I did want to do some teaching.

Sunday morning I went to church with my family. They are Pentecostal. At the first service, they asked me to introduce myself and preach. So, I introduced myself and preached. It was funny because I had like 5 different sermons in my head so I had to just choose one and run with it. (Update: I have now prepared 3 post-it note sermon outlines which I have placed in my wallet in case I am called on again to preach spontaneously, “decently and in order”) At the second service, I tried to explain my Presbyterian tradition and told them that we are lovingly called the Frozen Chosen. I said, “how much does something that is frozen move?” I stood very stiff and got a good laugh. The second service lasted for 2 and a half hours which is normal here. I told them that if we went for more than an hour people start glaring and get up and walk out. This confused them.

After the first service, the following conversation occurred:
Me: “Is there a bathroom that I can use?”
Pastor: “yes, follow me” (We get outside and he looks at me and says) “you need a bathroom?”
Me: “Yes, I need to go to the bathroom.”
Pastor: He looks at me puzzled because I have a suit on and we have a short time between services. “You would like to bathe now?”
Me: “No, oh no, I need to use the toilet.
Pastor: “Oh! Sorry.” Smiling and laughter followed.

I am slowly learning some Swahili. We start Swahili classes on Friday. It is difficult for me to understand Kenyan’s English which means that it is definitely difficult for them to understand me. I am getting used to people driving on the other side of the road. I still get into the wrong side of the car. I am getting quicker at converting kilometers to miles, Celsius to Fahrenheit, and shillings into dollars. I have yet to figure out liters into gallons. Well, I believe that is plenty for now. The group will reunite on Wednesday for orientation for the rest of September and then we will all move on to our placements. I hope you all are well.
RTQ
PS I can't post pictures right now, so I will update this Thursday or Friday with pictures.

Hello friends! Welcome to my blog about my upcoming year in Kenya as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV). I am getting on a plane today heading for Kenya! If you are not sure what I'm talking about or will be doing for the next year I will answer some of the questions I have most often received in the past 6 months.

• What are you doing? I will be serving in the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program through the Presbyterian Church (USA). This program sends young adults (19-30) to serve nationally and internationally for a year. There are five international sites: Guatemala, Peru, Northern Ireland, India, and Kenya. I am going to Kenya.
• Am I going alone? No, there are 8 of us heading over to Kenya total and there is a site coordinator who lives in Kenya permanently. So, we already have connections and will be met at the airport.
• Why now? The main reason is I will still have my final year of seminary to reflect theologically and spiritually on my experience in Kenya rather than attempting to deal with that at my first ordained position. Graduating from seminary and then doing this didn't make much sense. Furthermore, the timing just worked out best.
• What will I be doing? I'll be building relationships with people. People from another culture who have different understandings of time, relationships, food, and pretty much everything. This excites me and reminds me that I am going to be challenged constantly during the next year. My job placement is working with a non-profit organization called the Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar (AEAM).
• Where's Kenya?