So, I recorded a video of me singing a song that my good friend John Williams wrote and was going to post it on this blog on his birthday (March 6), but Kenya internet said no.  Welp, finally I was able to get it on YouTube this past weekend during a freak fast internet moment.  So, happy belated birthday John...

RTQ - Eyes of True Believers (John Williams cover)


When I entered college I couldn't do a very good bar chord on guitar and left college a much better guitarist.  It's me therapy and has been a big help in Kenya.  When I play guitar I feel like my fingers are dancing and my fingers like to dance.

This song was written by John at Dwight Mission (one of the nearest and dearest places in my heart) and the last verse is about Dwight and a boy named Nighthawk McLemore who is buried in the cemetery there.  The lyrics are some of my favorite to sing and think about so enjoy and let me know what you think.

Lyrics:

Furthermore, I don’t believe you when you say you’re doing well
The way is sometimes lit by fire other times it’s hard to tell
Sometimes God is in the details.  Sometimes God is in the yard
Sometimes flying seems so easy; then just getting up is hard

    Don’t believe the ones who’ll tell you
    Everything is black and white
    For the eyes of true believers
    See colors in between the day and night

Out beyond the most familiar where the highway meets the sky
Somewhere in between the desert and the world behind your eyes
There are questions in the answers.  There is light between the stars.
There are stories long remembered; brand new songs on old guitars

    Don’t believe the ones who’ll tell you
    Everything is black and white
    For the eyes of true believers
    See colors in between the day and night

In the hills of Oklahoma; on the banks of Salty Creek
A bunch of Christians built a mission and a school for Cherokee
In the graveyard by the mission; among the soldiers from the war
There lies the body of a young boy whose name was Nighthawk McLemore

    Don’t believe the ones who’ll tell you
    Everything is black and white
    For the eyes of true believers
    See colors in between the day and night

Here is a very short video from the revival in Mombasa to give you a feel of what it was like:


Here is a very short video of the beach on the Indian Ocean in Mombasa:

There's a fence that I climb usually at least once a week to get out of AEE.  There is one entrance that is always open and another entrance that is always closed.  If you go through the open entrance rather than the closed entrance when you are heading a certain direction you have to walk an extra mile or so.  Therefore, I climb the fence when I am heading that certain direction.  Well, today as I was climbing the fence for probably the 50th-ish time I lost my balance and came down with my face catching my fall. 

I was STANDING here (where I'm pointing on top of this 6'6 stone doo daddy)


and started losing my balance thought I had regained it and then came tumbling down.  I know what it takes to break something and I definitely should have broken something this go around.  I briefly dislocated my left knee and wrist, my jaw is bothering me, and my face is cut up a bit.  This is another instance where if I had a tail I would have been fine, but nope.  So, my face, jaw, wrist, and knee hurt, but I am still able to get around and spent the next hour after the fall saying, "Thank you Jesus" out loud which is not a usual occurence for me.  Here, I have been really good about thinking before I do things that might injure me, but would do in the States without thinking twice about it.  I'm adding this to the list.

Here's the thing.  I was on my way to meet up with people at Carnivore, which is this BBQ place with all you can eat crazy meat.  Furthermore, the people who invited me had offered to pay.  So, I fell and thought I should probably go lie down for a while because I'm in a lot of pain... which is what I would have done on any other day, but the Carnivore was all I had on my mind still.  So, I limped back to my room, washed the mud off my face, put Neosporin on my cuts, and limped off to the matatu stop because I wanted some free Carnivore.  It was delicious, but everybody on the matatu and at the restaurant thought I had just been beaten up because my face looked like I had been.

Thank you Jesus I am not in the hospital! and that I shaved this morning because I'm not going to be able to for a week or two.

My face:

Saturday, the YAVs traveled across town to a part of Nairobi called Dandora for our cross-cultural experience with all seven YAVs.  We went to a Saturday program that is run at a church for the children in Dandora.  Dandora is home to Nairobi's enormous trash dump which is where some of the children live.  We had reading time, porridge time, movie time (Moses part II), lunchtime, and game time.  The day began with reading time where the seven of us split up and helped kiddos read.  My friend, George, could read better than I could in first grade, but didn't know what some of the words meant so we mainly worked on definitions.  It was during reading time that I met my friend for the day, Nevada.  Nevada is one and a half-ish years old and walked up to me while I was helping George and started playing with my watch and arm hair.  Then the rest of the day wherever I went Nevada was right beside me.  He was the coolest kid ever.  It was amazing to watch him during porridge time and lunch being self-sufficient at his age.  He got in line carried his porridge over to where they sit and sat down and drank it all.  Then he got up and brought his empty cup over to the sink to be washed.  Later in the day, when we had lunch he once again impressed me by getting his food walking over and sitting down and then this was really cool.  This one and a half year old-ish kid saw my empty plate sitting next to me and picked it up and took it with him to the sink to be washed.

Nevada and I:


I named him Nevada because when I asked him his name in Swahili he wouldn't answer me and he was wearing a sweater that said Nevada across the front.  So, we never spoke a word the entire day except for me telling him I didn't understand him and him not understanding that, but still we hung out for four hours and I missed him when we left.  We all piled back in the van and headed back to the other side of town to create more trash for the trash dump sadly.

Porridge Time:

Saturday morning, I get a call from my parents at 9:15 AM Kenya time.  So, my first thought is, why are my parents up at 1:15 AM? I ask my dad what's up and he responds frankly, "well, Coming to America came on TV and so your mother refused to go to bed until it was over." Yes, Coming to America, the amazing movie about an African prince who comes to New York looking for true love starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall and featuring Samuel L. Jackson (the robber) and Cuba Gooding, Jr. (doesn't even speak, just sits in barber's chair).  Any who, I think it's awesome that my parents still stay up until 1 in the morning when a life-changing movie comes on, especially since my mother instigated it.

Coming to America trailer:


Today, I was working on something and I heard Scrubs come on the television in the room next to me.  Apparently it comes on every Tuesday at 1:30 now.  I ran into the common room and sit down and watch Scrubs with the Foxies.  I was laughing like crazy and the Foxies were just looking at me like I was a crazy person from the States, which I am.  Kenyan humor and States humor is very different.  Furthermore, I have learned that most people from the States are very loud compared to Kenyans, hence my incessant laughter and loudness.

The humor in Scrubs is the same kind of humor my brain operates in, but most Kenyans don't understand me when I am in Scrubs humor mode so I've learned how to tame it... most of the time.  Today's episode featured random singings of the song, All By Myself, which is one of my favorite things to do randomly.  So, I decided to end with this nice little video of our good friend Celine singing us the tune because it's the most ridiculous version I could find on YouTube.

Celine Dion 1997 Grammys:

My ring which I have been wearing on one of my hands everyday since the 8th grade has parted from me. Our last day in Mombasa, I was teaching one of the Foxies to swim in the deep end. He got scared and so I pushed him to the side and as he was frantically grabbing my hand he yanked my ring off which was not found after a few hours of searching. It was unusual because another Foxie a few minutes before said, "You should take off your ring." I told him it was on very tight. Nope. Next time I'll listen.

     You know those 'Dance 'Til You Drop' dances, where couples have to continuously dance and whoever goes the longest wins?  Well, that’s basically what the Revival I just returned from felt like to me.  The four Foxies, three old Foxies, the boss, and I all participated in the Revival from Monday night to Sunday night.  Each day included five to six sessions.  Each session began with half an hour to an hour of Praise and Worship, then we had the preacher (the shortest was 45 minutes and the longest was 3 hours) and then the session would wind down (which took anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour).  We would have a ten minute break usually, but if it was meal time we would break for 45 minutes.  Around day two I started to feel frustrated about going to the next session which made the next four days and 22 sessions even tougher.  Furthermore, I was trying to set a good example for the four Foxies so I tried to be at each session ahead of time and participate as much as possible.  I'm not the Revival kind of guy I've determined.

     There were some good sermons and some “interesting” sermons.  There were some very questionable moments, but I do not feel that I have the right to write about those here.  Reflecting on the revival, I have never been more proud to be Presbyterian Church (USA).  Furthermore, I have never been more happy that there are other denominations where people who like a different flavor of ice cream are able to get what they need spiritually.

    The double whammy was that not only was it a different culture, but also a very different denomination who put their emphasis in very different places then PC(USA) does.  So, as I listened to Swahili sermon moments I would also encounter some casting out of demons and other things I had only seen on TV previously.

    

The Revival Group:

I've been in Mombasa all week at a revival which is like nothing I have ever experience before.  I am currently sitting at an internet cafe a quarter mile from the church which I've hardly left in the past 5 days.  My days include 6 sermons a day which all last over an hour.  There have been good sermons and interesting sermons.  One of the most entertaining moments for me so far was when one preacher said , "The reason people have pimples is because they're not saved."  Hallelujah.  I will write more later, but just wanted to drop a note while in Mombasa.

Early Friday morning we traveled to Naivasha, which is a city located at the base of the Great Rift Valley northwest of Nairobi.  As usual, the details of what we were doing in Naivasha unfolded as we did them, which is something I have grown to enjoy.  It turns out we were helping lead a youth retreat for a Pentecostal Church from Eastlands.  In Kenya, you are a youth until you're 35 or married.

The morning began with us going to Eastlands to pick everyone up.  I have missed traveling around with Foxies and having new experiences out of my routine.  I hadn't had a good mzungu outing recently so this was my return to the children following me around asking, "How are you?" in high pitched voices.  For some of the children this is the only English phrase they know so when you answer they just giggle and run away, while others respond.  The best part was that the new Foxies got to see what it is like for me to travel around Kenya.  Since we were in a new place, we stuck together which meant they got to see a little bit of my Kenyan life through my eyes which is great.  If we could all walk in each others' shoes more often there would be much more peace and understanding.

The "How are you?" crew:


We arrived at the Kenya National Park Hippo camp site just outside of Naivasha and set up seven Colemen tents.  It was a very nice camp site that was surrounded by green barked trees (well the bark was gone so it was green tree).  This was my first time to camp out in Kenya (besides sleeping inside tents inside a church in Maasai Land).  It was just like camping in the States except you're in Africa and the weather was perfect.  My favorite part of camping is always the ambiance of the night.  For dinner, they cooked goat Nyoma Choma (BBQ) which was the best Nyoma Choma I've had in Kenya (that wasn't from a restaurant).  So, we sat around the fire eating and talking for hours.

Nyoma Choma (BBQ):


Youth Retreat Group with Foxies:


I woke up Saturday morning, walked out of my tent, and met Rodgers who said, "Hey, a giraffe just walked right through camp."  So, I was off on a giraffe siting expedition.  I found her just on the edge of camp, but she walked away when she realized I was checking her out (typical).  Rodgers had walked with me and started talking with the guard of the park who invited us to go see "The Giraffes."  So, we walked straight into the forest down thin dirt paths about a quarter of a mile where we ran into around 20 giraffe, 60 zebra, and an assortment of other animals with whom I'm not used to camping.  This was definitely one of my most amazing experiences with the wild life of Africa even after eight safari outings.  On safari, we are always in vehicles for our protection (lame).  However, this morning we just walked right between 20 giraffe and 60 zebra.  I really enjoy walking among the animals rather than driving to the animals.  So, if you're ever in Kenya and are looking for a cheaper animal experience I highly suggest paying the two dollar camping fee and spending the morning hanging with giraffe and zebra outside Naivasha.

Sitting Masai Giraffe:


Mama and Baby Masai Giraffe (I thought I was taller than the baby, but it turned out the baby was like nine feet tall...giraffes):


Me and the Dominant Masai Male Giraffe of the Herd (If you can see, he is much darker than all the other giraffe.  He was the only giraffe that didn't really care at all that we were there.  He just kept on eating.  I think he was just playing it cool):


The Panorama:

A few more words on the Easter Vigil from A Triduum Sourcebook, Gabe Huck, Mary Ann Simcoe, eds., Liturgy Training Publications, 1983.

To those who are not of the household of faith, what we are about to do must look very peculiar.  We are about to stand in the dark, carry candles about, sing lengthy and sublime religious tests, read stories from the Bible.  What does this all mean?  What is going on here in this community?

I think that I first came to understand what this was all about and why I came to think that this was the most important thing in my life when I read The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.  In their wandering and meandering, two of the main characters, called hobbits, meet a talking tree, called an Ent, and they introduce themselves and the conversation proceeds:

          "I'm a Brandybuck, Meriadoc Brandybuck, though most people call me just Merry."

          "And I'm a Took, Peregin Took, but I'm generally called Pippin, or even Pip."

"Hm, but you are hasty folk, I see," said Treebeard.  "I am honored by your confidence; but you should not be too free all at once.  There are Ents and Ents, you know; or there are Ents and things that look like Ents but ain't, as you might say.  I'll call you Merry and Pippin, if you please - nice names.  For I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rat." A queer half-knowing, half-humorous look came with a green flicker into his eyes.  "For one thing it would take a very long while: my name is growing all the time, and I've lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story.  Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language, in the Old Entish as you might say.  It is a lovely language, but it takes a very long time to say anything in it, because we do not say anything in it, unless it is worth taking along time to say, and to listen to."

To use Treebeard's mode of expression, we are not going to be hasty folk tonight, satisfied with glibly saying the name "Christian."  Tonight, you might say, is "Old Entish" night in the church.  Tonight we are going to tell our name - to ourselves, by way of reminder, to those who will become part of us this night through baptism and confirmation, and to those of the world who will listen, who will take the time to hear what our name is.

And our name is a very long one, one that has been growing since the creation of the world.  Our name is a very long story - of how we are made, of how God chose us from among all peoples, of how God liberated us from bondage, of how God planted us in the promised land, of how, in these last times, God has given a new twist, given our name meaning in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Because we have been here for so long, it takes a long time to tell who we are, to recount the story of our life as a people, and none of us would be here if we did not think that that name was worth telling and listening to.  Now the trick to this kind of name telling is to relax.  You cannot be hasty in this time ahead of us.  Haste will stop up your ears finally, and then you will not hear this lovely language and our beautiful name.

Relax and make yourself comfortable in the darkness and don't even try to "make sense" of the name.  Just hear it, let it roll over you in waves of meanings.  Tonight we are going to listen to a series of episodes, not write a theological treatise on the resurrection. A practical word about relaxing:  if you need to get up and move about, do so.  If you need a breath of fresh air, go out to get it. We'll still be telling the story when you rejoin us.  Whatever you need to do to stay comfortable, do it.  All of this will enable you to hear the lovely language in which we can really name ourselves as God himself has named us.

"Christian" is merely an inadequate abbreviation for what we are about to tell. - Brian Helge

I've been working on scholarship applications for the past two months which is difficult to do half way around the world.  Therefore, I have some people I need to say thank you to.

I want to especially thank my mom and dad, Helen and Tom, who have worked tirelessly to proof, print everything off, and mail scholarships for me.   I could not ask for better parents and am very proud to be their son knowing that they will do pretty much anything to support me.

John Williams and Neill Morgan have also worked very hard to help me with references under crazy Robert time constraints.  I keep e-mailing them and they keep responding quickly with whatever I need.  Each time I receive something from them I get a boost of energy and confidence knowing that they (two of my biggest mentors) are taking the time out of their very busy schedules to continually help me.  So, thank you John and Neill!

I must also thank those who I have bothered less, but who have still helped me tremendously!  Rachel Baumann, Mary Carter, Cat, Mary-Elizabeth, Vince, and Greg.  Thank you for your help and the help I will continually ask for.

Thank you for all you have done and all you will continue to do!  You are great support!

Cosmas Returns

Cosmas (last year roommate) returned to AEE out of the blue three weeks ago.  I had called him daily since returning from Isreal/Palestine in January but it went straight to the lady saying, "the mobile subscriber you are trying to reach is unavailable."  He called a week before he showed up at AEE on someone else's phone, when I asked him where his phone went he simply stated, "someone dropped it in the lake."  I responded, "Well, I guess when you live on an island, the chances of that happening jump considerably."  He left today back to the island, but it was great to see him and spend time together.

The most entertaining conversation with Cosmas occured during an explanation to him that it is not nice in my culture to call people fat.  He looked at me dumbfounded and said, "you mean it's not good to tell American women they are fat?"  "Nope," I said.  He replied, "OH NO!, I've told so many American women they are fat. When I meet a fat American women I usually say, "it is so nice to meet such a fat woman."  Oh no..."  It is a compliment here to say, "you haven't lost any weight" or "wow, you've put on weight!"  I would compare it to "you look nice today" in the States.  I wish you all could meet Cosmas to understand how sad he was about possibly upsetting American women and what an amazing person he is.

Cosmas' Return:


The Foxfires

The Kenya school year is set up with the calendar year and instead of a summer break (it's summer here year round) they have April, August, and December off from school.  Therefore, all of the schools that I go to are closed for April.  We are going on a short weekend trip this weekend and then to Mombasa for a week and half next week.  There are now four Foxies: Steve, Sam, Bela, and Nicholas.

The 2009 Foxies:


Usually there is an excess of girls, but this year there are none to be found and a plethora of boys.  It is interesting sleeping in a third of a Quonset Hut with five people without individual ceilings and one big round ceiling.  On account of the round ceiling, when someone uses the sink or toilet, on the other side of the Hut, it sounds like the sink or toilet is in your ear.  I use to be a light sleeper, but I think Kenya has fixed that right up.

They are all very cool guys and I get along well with them.  They are also 19 years old which makes for an interesting time.  I am like the Foxfire RA.  We had a heart-to-heart this week about cleaning up after yourself and times when it is alright to be loud and when we should be quiet.  Two days later, we're doing well.

Entertaining Conversation

I finally got to sit down with the very busy head of the Foxfire program to discuss how things are going and upcoming events.  Here is the conversation we had:

Him: "I hear the Foxfires aren't getting up at 6:30 to pray."
Me: "They're supposed to get up at 6:30 and pray?  Nobody told me."
Him: "(laugh) Yes, sorry we need to talk more often.  They should get up at 6:30, pray together, excersise together, clean their rooms and themselves, and have breakfast before 8 AM devotion.
Me: "Interesting.  You want me to head this up?"
Him: "Yes."

So, this morning at...7 AM...I got all the Foxies up, we went in the common room and prayed, then we stretched and jogged a mile (I'm terribly out of shape), and then came back lie down because we couldn't breathe until 8 AM devotion.  We leave tomorrow morning at 7 AM on our trips so we won't have 7 AM work outs for two weeks, but when we get back...watch out for a really out of shape mzungu!

The Awkwardness of Newly Arrived Goods and Rachel

Rachel came bearing gifts (thanks Rachel) which I told her we do not have in Kenya.  However, when we went to the store while she was here this was not the case.  The first day, she found off brand Mac & Cheese and Shells called MagicTime from Florida (the Mac & Cheese is good, the Shells cheese is NOT Velveeta).  I looked at her and said, "that's new."  Later in the week, she found Skippy Peanut Butter from the States and once again I looked at her and said, "that's new."  This is when she started rolling her eyes at me.  Then as we were walking out, I decided to check the cereal aisle for Honey Bunches of Oats (HBO) because Rachel (other YAV) has been searching for them since we came to Kenya.  I have looked for HBO at every store I have gone to in the past seven months to no avail, but this day was different.  I went down the cereal aisle and there it was, two rows of HBO 15 boxes deep.  I got really excited and started calling the Gatundu girls to tell them I had found treasure.  They didn't answer, so I checked my wallet and bought as many boxes of HBO as my wallet would allow.  Therefore, with Rachel comes food treasures...and doubt about what Kenya does and does not have.  I went to the store this week and the HBO is down to one row with five boxes.  My speculation is that a magical barge came full of goodies from the States recent, but now our treasures are selling out.

The First YAV Man Night

Friday night was Man Night.  It was glorious.  Shelvis, Henry, and I watched Obama on Leno, Michael Jackson music videos, and then Usher music videos, very manly!  We ordered lots of pizza and ate like Kings.

Michael Jackson can dance:


Kenya Pizza:


Splash and YAV Dinner

Saturday morning, we went out to a big manly breakfast and then to the Nairobi water park (with some women), Splash.  They have two pretty good winding slides, the white slide and the black slide, and apparently no rules.  We were going down six people at a time which was a lot of fun.  I ended up climbing the stairs and going down the slide 12 times and after that was spent.  Shelvis and Henry went down 35 times!

That night the seven YAVs got together at Leslie's for the first time in a month.  It was really nice for all of us to be together again and catch up.  The night ended in the way every YAV night ends with games: Concentration, Categories, and Big Booty.

Big Booty:


Andy's Pizza Party

Sunday, I went to church and felt my 12 slide trips.  I went home after church and took a nap.  That afternoon we went to a play about a Kenyan person with physical disabilities and what her life is like in Kenya.  It was very interesting to experience a play here and also to see how they presented people with physical disabilities.

Sunday night we went to Andy's apartment for pizza.  Andy is a Lutheran missionary who works in Madagascar, but has had to leave since the problems there.  The conversation and Andy's children, who are three and nine, was very entertaining.  Most of the night was spent getting shot with Spiderman's web and sticking to the wall.  Yeah, it was as amazing as it sounds.

The Seven YAV's: