I’ve added a PayPal button to the right column. If you would like to help me pay off the remaining $700 of immunization debt, I would greatly appreciate it. They accept credit cards, it is completely secure, and it is easy (only takes a few clicks), so if you feel so inclined please help me pay off my debt. For more information click here.

I’ve also changed my comments to a program called Disqus. I like it, but let me know if you have any questions.
RTQ

We returned to Nairobi from Mombasa this past Monday and our time in Mombasa was excellent. Here are some highlights from the rest of our Mombasa trip.

One of the people who came to lead a session with the Foxfires was a local Mombasa pastor whose church has a retreat every year that the Foxfires attend. We went over to his house one night for dinner. It started out with all the Foxies and I sitting there in silence as one of our leaders and the pastor talked, but as the night went on the conversation livened up. We talked about the States a lot and some issues that I am passionate about so I was very talkative. The pastor’s wife is amazing and kept laughing with me and nicknamed me “to be continued” because of my height. Yep. On Sunday, we went to the pastor’s church for 3 good ole Pentecostal services. The last one lasted 3 hours or so. The pastor and a AEE leader who preached kept mentioning me in their sermon, “don’t worry Robert, I’m wrapping it up,” “Robert, you look tired,” and “it doesn’t matter where you’re from, Kenyan or OklaHOMEa.” There were around 250 people there. Afterwards I told them I wasn’t tired and I was sorry if I looked like I was. They said the reason they kept mentioning me was because when you look out into the audience from the stage you see a sea of black and then this white man sticking out with his head a foot above everybody else. So, I need to keep this in mind when in other churches as well.

Fort Jesus – We went to Fort Jesus which was a Portuguese fort and is in the shape of person lying down. I got a bit frustrated because it cost the Kenyans 100 Shillings to get in and it cost me 800 Shillings because I am a “foreigner.” I have my Visa for a year so it is supposed to cost less, but they weren’t fond of that idea. I was quite mad for a few minutes afterwards because I am overcharged quite often and it gets under my skin. One of the Foxies finally said, “come on, you didn’t pay for it, enjoy yourself” which was good advice and brought me back to reality. Fort Jesus was used to keep slaves during the slave trade and other not so good things throughout history so I was a bit concerned about the name Fort Jesus. The guide said it is named Fort Jesus because the Portuguese were Roman Catholic, I suggested they think of a new name…

Ferry – On our way to Fort Jesus we had to cross from the island to the mainland on the ferry. However, when we attempted to start the van to drive off the ferry…it didn’t start because the battery was dead. What happened next was not expected. Right after the van made the dead battery noise, we were surrounded by 20 or so Kenyans who ride the ferry back and forth all day waiting for cars to die so that they can help push them off the ferry and receive some amount of money. They approached and were all talking in Swahili and I could catch some of it (numbers, yes, no, please), but the girl Foxies all looked scared to death which I found entertaining. We told them we didn’t need any help and Cosmos and I got out and pushed the van off the ferry. People were staring at me (more than usual), Cosmos said that it was unusual for a white person to be seen pushing a car, sweating, and getting dirty. We got the car off the ferry, but then there was a hill…so we had to have the girls get out…which wasn’t enough so we had to hire some of our Kenyan friends. Once parked safely we sat under the jumbo-tron I spoke of in my last post and watched Punk’d for an hour or so…or I did at least…the girl Foxies still all looked scared. Then we found someone to jump the van and spent the rest of the day traveling around without turning the van off. I must thank my beautiful car, Cecile, who has taught me many different times that things will be okay when a vehicle decides to “fail to proceed” as Cecile enjoys to do often to keep me on my toes.

Livin on Kenyan Time - My job Monday morning was to get everybody up and attempt to leave at 6 AM. Kenyans are on Kenyan time which means late. Some of them realize that they’re late and care, some realize they’re late and don’t care, and others don’t even realize they’re late. Reasons for this: there is a lot more emphasis on relationships here. People will have an important question or issue to talk with you about, so they’ll come over at noon and not get to the point until night time because it is important to spend time together first. Another relationship emphasis, when I get to the office I must go around to each person and say hello or I am being rude (I was being rude for a month without knowing it). Any who, so some of the time issue is cultural. Another element is transportation. Most people don’t have a car so use public transportation and those who do have a car could be stuck in a jam for quite some time. So, some of the time issue is transportation. In conclusion, Kenyans are late. Back to getting everybody up. I told them all I was going to wake them up and we were going to leave at 6 and they laughed at me. My favorite reaction was one of the AEE staff who looked at me and said “what about morning tea?” It reminded me of a scene in Lord of the Rings when Pippin or Merry ask Strider when they were going to stop for "second breakfast" as they are being chased. How could I consider leaving without first having tea? Silly me. So, I woke them all up very early and we left at…6:30. It was very unusual because they were proud of being late, “we’re Kenyan” they said. Or I guess they were proud of their culture and being Kenyan which I can understand. There was no reason to leave late this morning, no matatu rides, jams, or meeting new people, but part of being a Kenyan is a different understanding of time and that is what I am trying to figure out. However, when we leave on trips, I still arrive at the time that we are told we are leaving (nobody else is usually there) so I put my stuff in the van and tell somebody to call me once it looks like we are heading in the “leaving direction.” This has given me 1-2.5 hours of time to get things done which is helpful, but I must continue to attempt to adapt.

The Foxfires graduated on Wednesday. It was a very nice ceremony. Most of them are moving out tomorrow. Cosmos and I are heading to his home for 2 weeks which will be fun (he is from an island in Lake Victoria). He has been teaching me how to whistle like people from his island do. So far, I have “I’m excited,” “I’m surprised,” and “I just don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” I can only whistle sucking in so he is working on teaching me how to whistle while blowing out. That’s my next 2 weeks assignment.

My family is coming to visit me in December which will be very nice and I am excited to see them. Then in January I am going to meet up with a class from seminary which is traveling around Egypt and Israel to explore “Places of the Bible.” I am very excited about this because it is the main class I wanted to take at Austin Seminary. I thought I would not be able to go on it, but everything lined up so I am signed up and ready to go …yea! Well, that’s it for now. Not sure how often I’ll be able to update in the next few weeks, but I’ll update when I can. Have a great day!

Sincerely,
RTQ

I was sitting outside reading while the female Foxfires were doing their wash and a song came on the radio. It begins with a clip from an Obama speech talking about why he decided to run for President and he kept talking about “our nation” which was unusual because he is the US President-elect, not Kenya's. I am still baffled by how much I hear about the US in Kenya. This lead me to think about why Obama was plastered on every matatu, t-shirt, and hat in Kenya. He is black and his father was an Kenyan is the answer. As I have felt proud of the changes that have occurred to where our President-elect is black, I have also felt a deep sense of shame and discouragement with the human race. Obama’s victory is such an amazing accomplishment because of the hundreds of years of racism and hate. I’m proud that we have begun to move in the right direction, but I believe it is imperative that we reflect on why this is a big deal and learn from our past. Let us rejoice in our movement in the right direction to make all people equal, but let us also further break the chains of oppression and inequality. The notion of mutual indebtedness, if my neighbor is not okay then I am not okay. Well, actions speak louder than words, so I am off to act out what I believe. Have a great day!

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

Bathing when I am in a new place has always been “an experience.”  In France, I did not fit in the shower because it was too short, in the States when traveling I have not been able to figure out how to even turn the shower on (Giffords). Thus, it is no surprise that Kenya has also given me “an experience.”  I moved into AEE 4 weeks ago and the shower heater was not working then. Cosmos was just using a basin that he would heat water in every morning.  I inquired if the shower was supposed to be heated and they said yes so the electrician came out and fixed it.  This led to me waking up every morning to hear Cosmos in the shower (we don’t have ceilings) saying “oh, it’s so hot!” (in a very high pitch Kenyan voice) and other high pitch remarks.  The first time this occurred I was excited to get in the shower and try out the new hotness, but when I got in, it was the same cold water.  The next few mornings I heard Cosmos saying the same remarks and thought he was just joking.  I finally asked him what his definition of "hot water" was.  We have learned we are better at showing each other what we mean than trying to explain it.  So he showed me "the way."  The trick is that you can't turn the shower on too much, you can only turn it until the light above your head dims because the water heater is sucking the power.  Then you know the heater is working.  This lead to hot water and me saying in the shower in a deep voice, "oh, it's so hot!"

Shower problem number 2.
Every time you touch the knob at the end of the shower it electricutes you...for fun. I had thought of some clever ways to avoid this, but they weren't always fool proof.  So, once again I asked Cosmos, "uh...does the shower electricute you when you touch the knob?"  (Confused look, which I take as no)  Once again back to the shower for example of how a Kenyan showers.  Turns out, the trick is that when you are done showering you must reach out the door and turn off the water heater and light and then it is usually safe to touch the knob.  So, to recap.

1. Turn light and water heater on.
2. Turn water knob until the light above your head dims. Make sure you choose the right temp. or you're going to get electricuted when you touch the knob again.
3. Shower with exclamations of "oh, it's so hot!"
   
4. Turn off water heater and light.
5. Carefully turn off shower.

From Maasai

Last Tuesday, I was told we were going on a trip to see a bore hole on which AEE was working.  So, we hopped in the van and were off to Suswa (the knowledge of the name of the place we were going did not provide me much help because it wasn't on my map, but I thought that would just add to the adventure). I learned Suswa is in Maasai land and about 3 hours outside Nairobi.  When we got there we didn't arrive at the bore hole, but at the enormous tank in which the water is stored.  It has 4 compartments that all work independent from each other, so if 1 breaks they can use the other 3 and work on the broken 1. The water is piped in from 2 bore holes which were quite a distance away in opposite directions.

The Tank

From Maasai

Foxfires, William (my boss), and I on top of the Tank

From Maasai

We had to visit with the chief of the region to discuss the pipes we were putting down, but his dad was sick and so he had gone to town to slaughter a goat, then when we got to town he had gone back home so the bore hole leader left the foxfires and I in Suswa and we had some down time which was nice. We just sat in Suswa for a while.

Children in town who kept following me

From Maasai

The chief was found and discussed so we headed home.

On our way home, we stopped at another bore hole project which had been completed. I made a video of it for your viewing pleasure.

There was a very small child who was following us and finally asked one of the foxfires to meet me. I leaned down and asked "what's your name?" to which he responded "give me a pen!" I told him I didn't have a pen and he left, but in the video he makes a cameo for fun.



 That's all for now.  Have a great day!
RTQ