1. I have fixed the header (the pics row of pics at the top which says Robert's Kenya experience) to where if you click on it you will be brought back to the homepage.  So, if you click on a post and want to return to the homepage just click anywhere on the header.
2. I'm added a Twitter sidebar on the far right a little ways down.  Twitter is a way to keep people up to date with what you're doing.  "Going to bed..." and so on.
3. Comments 101: Someone asked me to teach them how to comment, so here we go.
1. To comment on a particular post, click the "comment" button at the bottom right of that post. If comments have already been made it will say "# comments," click on that. The example below shows the button and says "2 comments."
   

2. A window should pop up as such.
    
3. Type a loving comment in the white box below where it says "Leave your comment."
4. Scroll down and click "Publish Your Comment."
5. If asked to enter a security word, enter it in the line provided and click "Publish Your Comment."
   
6. Your comment will publish after a few minutes.

In closing, Macs are the most amazing machines in the world.
RTQ

Hello friends,
          I have added some new people to my e-mail list, so welcome to my blog about my experiences in Kenya as a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) with the PC(USA).

This past weekend the Foxfires and I journeyed to Maasai land with Project Esther of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. The Maasai tribe is one of the most popular tribes in Africa today because they rejected Westernization when Africa was colonized and still today avoid much of the Western influence.  Therefore, they have really cool clothes, bling, and houses.

Project Esther provides feminine products to girls so that they don't have to miss school for days every month.  They actually just bring a few products for each girl, teach them how they work, and hope that with the knowledge that such a thing exist they will purchase more.  They also do counseling with the girls and give them an open form to discuss issues they would normally not be allowed to discuss because of the Maasai/African tradition.  Now it's story time:

(Begin writing in 3rd person)
So, in order for Robert to fit in a bus, with his amazingly long legs, he likes to sit in the very back middle seat so his legs can stretch out into the walkway.  In this instance, it was a very bad idea, why you ask?  First, the road to where he was going had A LOT of holes (construction work) and therefore, his head hit the ceiling on occasion.  Note: The bus was tall enough for Robert to almost stand up straight in, that's a long way up.  Second, the back seat is also logically where you put all of the things you are bringing with you on a trip, in this case hundreds of feminine products.  Thus, Robert's ride to Maasai land consisted of him flying through the air A LOT immediately followed by feminine products raining down on his head like manna from heaven.  On the ride home, he decided to sit in the front of the bus sideways so his ride home went much more smoothly.
(Cease writing in 3rd person)

From Maasai

When we journey away from the city, as I have said before, the mzungu (white person) population drops substantially/completely.  Also, in Maasai land most people don't have power and thus television, so they are not use to my US accent like everyone in Nairobi who watch Everwood, Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy, and a lot of other US programs.  Thus, they don't understand me although we both speak English.  Story time round two:

Cosmos and I had finished our counseling session and were sitting watching a soccer game.  All of the sudden, Cosmos decides that he is sleepy and goes to take a nap and I am left sitting by my-Mzungu-self.  Ten minutes or so pass and I begin to hear whispers and footsteps behind me...five more minutes and I hear more and more.  I finally turn around and their is a substantial crowd of girls (60-70) staring at the back of my neck.  I decide to get up and go inside and work on my Swahili flash cards that I had brought with me.  They followed me peering throught the window at first, but eventually they had me surrounded and were helping me with my Swahili, rubbing the hair on my arms and head to make sure it was attached, and rubbing my skin to make sure it wasn't just paint.  I took a very short video of them rubbing my hair.

Very Short Video of kids feeling my "soft hair" in Maasai Land:


After the group got back together from all of the different schools to which we dispersed, we sat in lawn chairs and watched the sunset. I felt like I was back in Oklahoma or Texas sitting in the backyard at a BBQ. It was very nice, perfect almost, but lacked BBQ.

Video of Maasai women getting food:

From Maasai

From Maasai

From Maasai
We went to one more all girls boarding school at night which was amazing to be with that many people singing Jesus' songs in minimal light.  We returned to where we were staying the night and sat around eating rice and spinach.  It was one of those magical nights where everyone is laughing so hard that they are crying.  I told my story of preaching my first Sunday and asking to use the bathroom instead of the toilet.  I told them how I laughed for 10 minutes the first time I heard the pronounce Eden because they say ed-ann.  Then I was given a Kikuyu name by the group which is Muraya (pronounced Mariah) meaning "the tall one."  So, now I have a Kikuyu name which I called constantly.  We pitched tents inside a church, which I thought was weird, for privacy for the women and men (Cosmos, Jack, and me).

From Maasai

Sunday, my friend I made on the trip, Paita (pronounced like Peter) gave me a Maasai watch band which is my new bling.

We returned home tired after a good weekend. I will be writing more about my second visit to Maasai land this week in the next few days. If you would like to subscribe to receive an e-mail every time I update my blog then please enter your e-mail address on the right above the word "Subscribe."  Thanks. Have a great day, friends!
RTQ

My grandmother died a year ago today so I wanted to share some thoughts and memories.

Some Memories:

• I remember waking up in her house with the smell of breakfast and listening to her and my mom catch up and laugh together. This happened every time we went to visit her.
• When I was in the 7th grade and 6 foot 2 (I had grown a mind-boggling amount the previous summer) I was slumping around her house and she looked at me and said, “don’t ever be ashamed of your height!” and I straightened up and have been proud to be taller than average since. I don’t think she ever knew what those few words meant coming from her.
• We would always drive by a sign that said 30 some odd miles to Nebraska and I finally got up the nerve to tell her I had never been to Nebraska and wanted to go. So, instead of turning towards town, she just kept on driving until we hit Nebraska then we turned around and drove back.
• In the early years of high school, my cousin Bryce and I got into building model rockets and shooting them off. She loved when we shot the rockets off.   She was our count down person and she would literally jump as she said, “3, 2, 1” and when the rocket flew into the sky she would cheer and laugh.

From Week 8.1

• When I stayed in Kansas for a week or two at any of the 8 homes at my disposal, I would always be woken up by her bringing in a fresh gallon of Robert’s Milk (the brand in Kansas is “Robert’s Milk) and a box of whatever my favorite cereal was at that time. 
• When in Kansas, she felt it her obligation to make sure I saw everyone.  That's a lot of seeing in our family. 
  

From Week 8.1

• As I got older and was in college and seminary we would sit around her kitchen table after supper and talk about anything and everything. The conversation would usually turn to God and our thoughts about God/church. She was the most religious person I have ever known…and the most Catholic person I have ever known, which makes me very happy.

I have my grandmother's hands, as does my mother and brother. All of our pointer fingers and middle fingers twist away from our thumb.  It's a nice permanent reminder of how we are all connected.

From Week 8.1

As my relationship with my mother has become more of a phone relationship I can hear Grandma’s voice in her voice. She also has been saying the most insightful phrases when I tell her a problem, just like Grandma. “You can never get stuck in the truth” and “there will always be somebody better than you and somebody not as good as you are.”  I can see my Grandmother living on through my mother and the rest of the Huninghake family and that gives me great peace.


I was with her when she died last year at 1:14 AM October 29th. I was honored to be there with her and two of my uncles. The most surreal part of it was then calling the person who had given birth to me to tell her that the person who had given birth to her had died.

I returned with my family to the hotel around 4:30 AM to rest a bit then we had to leave early to make the hour drive to Frankfort where the rest of the family was waiting for us. I remember as we walked out to the car that morning watching the sunrise slowly in the north Kansas sky and being reminded of Easter Sunday morning. That was the most profound and comforting sunrise I have ever seen.

From Week 8.1

First off, I have redone the site.  I put a post after this one about the changes if you would like to read on.

I received my absentee ballot which is an empowering feeling to receive a ballot half way around the world.  It has been a very interesting political season for me because I really enjoy watching the Presidential Debates and the VP debate; however, Kenya is 8 hours ahead so in order to do so one must get up at 4 AM to watch them.  So, we did…  By “we” I am referring to the 8 other YAVs, the coordinator and her husband, and our spare, Blair, a YAV who is still here from last year.  The first debate was easy to watch because I was living in Westlands and had access to a TV with CNN.  The second debate and the VP debate proved to be more tricky however lacking CNN... but I had internet in an office that was locked up like Fort Knox at 4 AM.  So, I asked the key holder if I could borrow the keys because I wanted to wake at 4 in the morning so I could watch the Presidential debate.  I think in the States a Kenyan saying this would have received an unusual look or no, but a States person asking a Kenyan was greeted with a smile and an offer to leave some tea out for me.  So, I got up and unlocked all of the locks on the doors and set everything up for CNN.com and was ready to go.  The debate started and the same line kept repeating over and over because the internet was too slow.  So, I did the next logical thing.  I called my family on Skype, asked my dad to turn his web cam on and put his laptop in front of the TV so I could watch the TV at home.  It worked!  It was like I was sitting right there on the coach in our living room in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma!  The VP debate did not fair so well because apparently with 20 minutes or so left the Kenyan internet provider realized they hadn’t been paid yet and cut our internet off.  I decided for the last debate I would play it safe and go to Westlands where there is CNN and bread and tea from Phyllis our site coordinate at 4 in the morning.  Needless to say, when you wake up at 4 in the morning to watch all 4 debates you feel much more patriotic than when you just flip to the channel on accident at 8 PM back in the states.

I have come to AEE at a good time, but an unusual time as well.  In Kenya, the school year ends in November/December, so everyone moves up a grade at the beginning of the year literally.  The year coming to an end means that the 5 Foxfires I live with currently will be graduating and leaving at the end of Novemeber.  Furthermore, the schools which I have been going to everyday will end soon for the year as well.

The 2008 Foxfires:

From 10-22-08

Although this will be awkward in the short term, I believe it is the best possible way it could work out in the long run.  I will have been exposed to the program and understand how it is supposed to look towards the end of the year and will be able to help get the next group of Foxfires off to a good start and spend most of the year with them.  So, I am kind of in training right now and learning the ropes and then next year I’ll be ready to go.

It has been raining a lot this past week (example below: me trying to sleep at 1 in the morning).



Rain means that the power is going out a lot more than usual as well.  The power will usually go out for a short while every other day or so, but when it rains and its dark (so people are using power to light their homes) we just wait for it.  The power is out right now actually, I had forgotten because Macs are amazing and never die.

There are quite a few things I enjoy about the power going out:

1. It usually happens when I am deciding whether I should go to bed at the right time or stay up too late and read or what have you.  The power goes out, decision made.  
2. I get to use my amazing phone.  When our supervisor bought us phones she walked up to the person at the phone store and said “what’s the cheapest phone you have” and the answer was “the Nokia 1200.”  I love the Nokia 1200 with a passion.  No flare or bling, just straight up functionality and the best feature…it has a flashlight.  So, the power goes out and everyone has their fancy phones, but whose phone do they turn to?  Mine, the Nokia 1200.  
   
   
3. When it’s not sleep time and the power goes out then I play guitar in the cell phone light which is becoming one of my new favorite past/present/future times.  Usually when the power comes back on I’m a little frustrated.  In Zambia, the power would go out right after the sun had gone down and it was always so pleasant for us because we had all usually just sat down to dinner and so we would have a candle lit dinner every other night.  I understand that this is a major infrastructure issue that needs to be addressed, but I believe there is something to be said about having everything that distracts you from people taken away and just focusing on each other instead of on each thing.

I hope everyone is well.  Have a great day!
Sincerely,
RTQ

So, Monday was Kenyatta day (Kenyatta was the first President of Kenya in 1963) which is a Holiday so everyone had the day off.  My computer nerdiness had not had a good outlet in quite some time, so you are now perusing the result, rtqblog 2point0h. 
Your reaction should look like this:

What’s changed?  Well, not much in terms of the literal blog (other than it's wider), but changed the template, added a multi-picture header, and I’ve added a lot widgets to the right side with which to play.  A Fundraising Update with the YAV icon below which you can click on to watch the fundraising update video I made.  A Google Search Bar which you can use just like google.com to google anything and if you do it helps me out.  Some Google Ads which help me as well.  Click here to read about the Google Adsense program.  Feedburner/Subscribe Via E-mail is a place to enter your e-mail address to receive updates every time I add a blog post, I believe I am going to start posting more than once a week, but still only send out the e-mail reminders once a week, so if you want to be up to date please enter your e-mail address.  There is also a FeedBurner counter on the bottom which tells you how many people are subscribed to my blog via Feedburner.  Live Traffic is a service that tells everyone who has visited the site and displays a flag of the country in which they are.  Ads by Amazon also helps me out.  I have added Quotes, www..., I'm Currently Reading, and some other bo-jazz.  Please peruse and let me know if you have any questions or anything doesn't work via e-mail by clicking here.  Thanks.
RTQ

Hello friends,

First off, I am humbled and happy to announce that with the help of many loved ones, I have raised the $10,000 needed for my year of service in Kenya. So, a great big thank you to all of you who donated for: flying me over here (and back), paying for my food, lodging, monthly stipend, and everything else for a year. You all have taught me a great deal about giving and I hope that through this blog I am able to show you some of what your donation is doing. Also, if you have not donated and would still like to then please click here (click the word “here” literally, it's blue). Now onto blogging...

In the words of Tom Petty, "You don't know how it feels to be me." Example below, yes, they're serious..."mind your head."



I am moved into my placement at African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE) and am really enjoying myself thus far. AEE serves in many different areas in many ways, but I will mainly be working with the Foxfires. The Foxfires are a group of high school graduates who are sent by their churches to live on the AEE compound for a year and go to different high schools everyday for counseling. They talk with the students about sex, drugs, self-esteem, time management, and a lot of other teen issues. I have already sat in on some very interesting discussions in my one-week. The name, Foxfires, comes from Judges 15: 4, which is part of the story of Samson, it says, “So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails…” Therefore, the Foxfires are setting youth ablaze for Christ. I will let you know more about what I’m doing at AEE as I learn more about what I’m doing at AEE. The Foxfires must have an out of country experience before they graduate (Nov. 26th) so I will be joining them on that in the next week or two. The original plan was to go to the Congo, but it looks like that may not work out so we are working on a back up plan.

I will also be teaching English and Music every Tuesday at a boarding school called ByGrace. Last week, I was invited to the board meeting for ByGrace and it was very interesting to learn all about everything that goes into running a boarding school. The most interesting part of the day for everyone was when my host mother told me that I was driving the bus from AEE to ByGrace which is about a 45 minute drive. It was unusual to drive on the left side of the road and also to shift with my left hand, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. There are a lot more potholes and unmarked speed bumps here so that added to the fun and meant that every now and then I would yell “Yeehaw!” or “Yippee!” which made everybody laugh. It was fun and educational for everyone.

My new culture adjustment is the subtle way that people communicate differently. My boss, William, will raise his eyebrows as I talk to him after each sentence which means “yes, I understand, go on.” A lot of the Foxfires use their lips to point to things rather than their finger, which still makes me giggle. And finally, they use a lot more grunts or noises when they are talking to one another. The grunt or noise is to let them know “I understand what you’re saying, go on.” So, I have been talking to someone and they will stop talking and look at me and then I will finally realize I haven’t grunted so I’ll grunt, “oh” and then they’ll continue talking. Good times.

I have created a video tour of my room and around where I live for your viewing pleasure. I had to shrink it so it would only take a few hours to upload instead of days so sorry for the poor quality.

Today is also my 25th birthday. Quarter century! There are 3 birthdays in our group in a 9 day span, so we went out Friday night and had a birthday dinner at a very nice sea food restaurant. I had more Lobster than any human should.



Then Saturday we had a tea party with cake. I have never been to a real tea party, just fake ones, so that was a first and very nice.

In Kenya they have a tradition of “washing” people on their birthdays. This is where they store up a bucket of grossness and then dump it on your head. Therefore, I have been in “stealth mode” all day today with my running shoes on. I will let you know what happens. It reminds me of my time at Austin College where the tradition is to throw people in the fountain on their birthday. On my 20th birthday I wore my swimming trunks all day with the arm floaties little kids wear just in case. Nothing happened. Then that following weekend a hoard of my best friends came and picked me up over their heads and carried me to the fountain and tossed me in. It was funnier because as they carried me I was reaching in my pockets and throwing my wallet, cell phone, and other things randomly as they carried me. Therefore, I expect the same might occur this time around. Wait until I am least expecting it. The Kenyans keep telling me that they are fast, but I respond, “you’ve never seen an Oklahoman run have you?” This either scares them or bewilders them so much that they stop bothering me.

Welp, until next week! Jesus loves you and I do too!

Sincerely,

RTQ

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

We had today off because it was Ramadan, so Leslie, Blair, and I went to the Arboretum Park, which is a gigantic park in the middle of the city. We had a picnic and then started to play Frisbee. It was great to get some physical exercise besides walking, push-ups, and sit-ups. There was a young boy who kept riding his bicycle through the middle of our throwing triangle and he would go off to the side and watch us for a few minutes. I would look at him and ask, “do you wanna play?” and then he would vigorously shake his head “no” and ride off on his bike as quickly as possible. Rinse, lather, repeat and 3 times later I “incidentally” threw the Frisbee over right by him. “Can you get that for me,” I asked. Finally he picked it up and launched it in an unpredictable direction which lead to me playing Frisbee with him for half an hour as well as his younger brother and cousin. His mom looked at me and said, “If he starts throwing plates at home, I’m sending you the bill.” I laughed and went over and attempted to explain to all 3 of them that we were throwing a Frisbee, not a plate.

As we strolled out of the park, the boys road their bikes around us and I thought back on my childhood. I could remember those days when I had to ride my bike. No particular place I was going, but for some reason there was some sort of drive in me to ride my bike and play. My favorite memory during my trip down memory lane was when I use to come home completely exhausted but knowing that my mom would make me Spaghettios with sliced franks (which they don’t have here apparently) with a big glass of milk! That was my job as a kid and it was glorious. I have often thought back on my childhood and teenage years since going to college and beyond. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma is an amazing place to grow up is what I have come to realize and continue to realize in all of my travels. My 2 best friends lived walking/biking distance from my house and if we worked it right we could get 2 dinners usually, 3 if we got lucky.

My thoughts then ran back to my time in El Salvador when our group of 8 was working with a group of same aged Salvadorians. The groups were split up and asked to act things out and the differences became clear quickly. I distinctly remember the command to act out “your childhood.” I posed into a video game playing mode with my tongue sticking out which there are a few infamous pictures of me doing as a child. The States people all posed playing games or doing happy things, but the Salvadorians either hid by curling up in a bawl or rubbed their stomach for food. “Wow,” I remember thinking to myself on my first out of country experience, “I’ve had a very privileged and happy life.” See what happens when you start playing Frisbee…

Friday, October 3, 2008

I moved into my placement in Karen at the African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE) Thursday. Yippee! It is an amazing place and I will give you a tour of my room and the campus during my update next week.

My first day on the job, I woke up and was told that we are going to a graduation. I thought, “great, that will be fun and relaxing.” It was for 40 graduates from a 2-month class on how to care for people with HIV/AIDS in the Nairobi slums. With this being my first day, I assumed I would not be doing anything. Nope. I was called on stage before diplomas were handed out and was the first hand graduates shook coming across the stage (the other hand shakers were the Presidents/Leaders of their organizations). Then I was asked to do the closing prayer for the graduates...which I did. Interesting day…

Saturday and Sunday, October 4, 2008

On Saturday, we traveled to Konguviri Girls School in Nyeri which is about 3 hours outside Nairobi right next to Mt. Kenya. I, of course, was unaware of where we were going or what we were doing until we got there. I have found Kenyans flow from English to Swahili without even noticing so I will be listening to a conversation the group is having and all of the sudden Swahili, everybody laughs, and I cry. So I was expecting a small church in the middle of nowhere. Nope. It was an 800 plus all girls boarding high school. We arrived and the team walked on stage and I felt 800 plus eyes on me. In Nairobi, I see other white people quite often in the wealthier parts of town. However, when you move outside of the major cities it is much less common to see other white people. So, a muzungu (white person) arriving at their school invoked 800 plus giggles and eyes to be glued on me. Interesting feeling. I introduced myself and said I would be staying for a year and the crowd went crazy. I wasn’t done talking, but I decided to end it there. As the weekend continued the eyes slowly left me and paid attention to what they were supposed to be paying attention to. It was a really amazing weekend. I played guitar and sang a few songs with the help of my other AEE members and afterwards was asked by about 10 girls what the best way was for them to get a scholarship to major in music in the States. I wish I knew more about music universities, but I gave them the best advice I could. Whenever the guitar comes out, Robert being a music teacher ensues. I should have taken better notes in my music theory classes…Any who, to share this experience with you, I uploaded a video of the girls singing. Somebody stole the transformer for the town and so they were without power all weekend which I thought really added to the night worship service, but wasn’t so good otherwise.

If you are in your office reading this and about to click play make sure your speakers are turned down. This is in the dark because of no power, but it gave me God bumps (goose bumps from God).

This song is in Kiswahili and the girl on stage is asking the question and the congregation is responding. This proves my claim of 800 plus girls.
Question: Who is exalted today?
Answer: Jesus Christ is exalted, there is none like him.

Monday October 6, 2008

We woke up early early to attend a borehole dedication in Nakuru which is about 3 hours outside Nairobi in the Great Rift Valley. The borehole was just beyond where we went for our archeological sites visit a few weeks ago. AEE performed a dance during the dedication. There were 2 Parliamentarians there which was a big deal apparently. So, it decided to rain heavily on them as they spoke, which apparently in Kenya is a sign that whatever is being dedicated or done will be blessed. Sounds like a good way to make light of a difficult situation.

A few schools were there who were going to be using the water from the borehole, so once again, it was whispers and giggles of muzungu, I waved. I had just learned I was going to this celebration the night before, but I was still recognized and called forward to be given a fly wisk (a Kenyan fly/mosquito swatter)

and then was asked to plant tree #11, so I did.


I greatly appreciated their hospitality and they said it was to welcome me to Kenya.

This song was for the Parliamentarians. The leader asks the question and the group responds.
Question: Who shall we send forth to visit the guest of honor?
Answer: We shall send __________.


Sorry for such a long post, but a lot has happened and I didn’t want to leave any of it out. I turn 25 this coming Monday, October 13, so that will be old…er. Also, I have a physical address now. My parents are sending a test letter to make sure it works. My physical address is:

Robert Thomas Quiring
c/o African Evangelistic Enterprise (K)
P.O. Box 24974-00502
Karen, Nairobi, Kenya

If you would like to send me goodies (Reeses, Spaghettios, Velveeta Shells and Cheese, the basic necessities of life) I think it would be a good idea to get a group together in Broken Arrow, Austin, Sherman, Dallas/Allen and wherever else and just send one big package rather than lots of small ones because it cost more money. If you would like to know what I need/want then please click here and ask me. Have a great day and let me know how you all are.
Sincerely,
RTQ (Relaxin' under the tree)