We had an election part-e as the Presidential results came in last Wednesday morning (for us). It was amazin’. We woke up at 3 AM (6 PM Central) and began watching Wolf Blitzer and rest of the gang. There was a Kenyan TV station that came and filmed our reactions and interviewed some people. We were on the news that night twice, the Swahili and English broadcast. The Foxfires didn’t believe I was going to be on TV and I wasn’t sure if I would make the edit, but right when we turned on the TV that night there I was in the background. The first broadcast is in Swahili so the Foxfires had to translate it for me. However, the most unusual/funny part of it all occured about 15 minutes after Obama was announced as the next President because the President of Kenya announced that Thursday would be a national Holiday because of Obama winning. So, everybody had Thursday off because it was "Obama day."

Election Part-e

From Week 9

Most of my conversations about the election have actually been about John McCain and how professional McCain’s concession speech was and how impressive the US political system is. In church this past Sunday we were even asked to go and look up the words to his concession speech or watch it on YouTube because of how much they respected what he said and responded to defeat. I am not a Kenyan, so I do not fully understand how they feel or what the situation is, but it was interesting to encounter this response.

Friday night, we had the big annual Fundraising Dinner for AEE at a hotel downtown.

AEE Staff and Foxfires

From Week 9

The guest speaker was a Member of Parliament and it was a very nice dinner. I was in charge of running the PowerPoint which was put together by somebody else. It was a PowerPoint that had letters fall from the top to eventually form words below or every word would spin, bounce, or dance in some form or fashion. This made it much more entertaining to click the button for the next slide because nobody knew how the words would make their way to the screen. Good times. Earlier in the day I had been adding raffle items to the presentation and they told me that they had 2 “ships” for raffle. I was very confused by this because I wasn’t quite sure what someone would do with a ship in Nairobi (no large bodies of water near by) and I wondered who would donate 2 “ships” to a raffle. I have learned not to question things here sometimes so I just wrote down what they said. Later, when we were running through the slide show and the list of raffle items appeared with 2 “ships” people started laughing and I wasn’t sure why, but quite sure it was because of me. Apparently, a Kenyan saying sheep doesn’t sound like sheep, but “ship.” They got a good kick out of that one. Oh, Kenyans/Robert.

The Ship/Sheep

From Week 9

Rodgers, Wanyama, and I

From Week 9

I have started playing guitar with the Praise and Worship Band at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on Sunday mornings which is a lot of fun. Most church bands here consist of drums, a keyboard, and a bass. So, I am mixing it up a bit…I think. I am becoming good friends with the drummer and bass player. The drummer was a Foxfire last year and came to AEE one morning for our 8 AM daily devotional for which I was playing guitar. Afterwards, he knocked on the door to my room and asked me to show him some licks which I did and was then invited to come play at St. Andrews. You can’t hear me very well during the services because the drums, keyboard, and bass all have bigger and better amps than my gee-tar, but I have already learned a little on the bass and some more music theory. So, I think that this will be a good reciprocal relationship and a good community for me.

Beardvember has begun. We were told at orientation that November is a really tough month when culture shock really affects a person. Therefore, as a sign of unity between the group, the men aren’t shaving their faces and the women aren't shaving their legs. Yep.

Beardvember Week 1

From Week 9

I believe that is all for now. I have posted a 3 post since my last e-mail so check them out if you like. Have a great day!
RTQ