Driving Through Town

Just your average Kenyan home. Right by the main road.


Makes me laugh every time. The smaller print says "The Finest in Accommodations"


Good thing the brakes work well.


View through my side window driving through town.


Yes, that sign DOES say Mambuleo Hair Saloon

No Other Option

2 prongs

3 holes


safety lock doesn't allow for a 2 prong plug in a 3 prong hole.

But, how will we cook this way?


DON'T TELL MY MOM!But there's no other way and Baby must eat!

Lucky for us the electricity turns off at the switch.

Mexican Africa

A girl's gotta eat, right?

I found this recipe online. I'd never thought about making tortillas myself. I had a bit of trepidation at the thought. The first time not so great, although Ruth, Rachel and Renee ate them and SAID they were great. This is the third time I've made them, and I can say, they are getting better. I have found the trick is to not knead it too much. The more elastic it is, the more pliable they are after cooking.


Nice, huh? (And Ruth has a normal size head) But this avocado was REALLY pricey - 25 shillings... yeah, 35 cents. And, I guess it goes without saying, but all fruits, vegetables and meats are organic over here. No option...

Flour Tortillas


3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup shortening
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups warm water

Mix first four ingredients with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs (that's what they always say). Add the water until it is well blended (a cup tends to be the right amount), and then knead - generally about 4 minutes, but it depends on if you've had a rough day or not. You do NOT want it to be too firm, - unless you want very firm, unbending tortillas - then pound away until it's like a rock. What I have found is that how the dough is BEFORE you cook them determines how they will be when they are finished.

Pinch off a piece and roll out until it's really really thin. 1/8 inch. Put into pan - 1 minute on each side. I set the timer so that I can roll others out or chop tomatoes for the pico de gallo etc.

This recipe generally makes about 12 medium sized tortillas.

A hint about onions: Here they put them in water and salt once they're chopped and let them sit for about an hour to make them less strong.

A word about our vegetables and meats, etc. They are all organic - it's all they have... not a bad deal.

Slumber Party

School is out for the month of April, so we had the three oldest girls at the Village come and spend two nights at our house.

It was the first time they had used a shower, a shower with hot water, and a western toilet. They liked all three.


We did manicures and pedicures.


Mercy, 12, Ruth, 10 and Winnie, 13


Made bead bracelets. (photo by Mercy)


They LOVE my camera (speaking of Mercy).


Home Depot ain't got nothin' we need over here...


I wouldn't have thought to take a picture of this, frankly...


They were so helpful. We would wake up and go down for coffee at 7am, and they were already washing the dishes... seriously.


They loved dressing Diana up and playing with her toys.


I wanted to see where they were in the math and English departments, so I created some addition, subtraction and multiplication worksheets. Each has 100 problems. They loved them. They kept saying, "Please Aunty, assist me with another exam." They need some help, and I would've loved to teach them, but there just wasn't time. (If you are interested in copies of these for your kids, I can email you them - just let me know).


I also found a website that is for ESL - it has TONS of free download-able crosswords and word searches, etc. I think it's great for any English speaking child. The website is english-4kids.com

I wish I were clever enough to know how to make this website a link, like all the REST of my blogging friends, but I am not. Like people who say, 'If you are interested in such and such go here' and then it's linked to that website or post, etc. Do I sound bitter? I just may be...

At the River

The other day, we went out to the Village because school was out for the day. We took them sunglasses that someone had brought over with them to give to them. They liked them so well they wore them through lunch... inside...


(You see Victor? Second on the left? Yes, his are on upside down...)


and put them on their stuffed animals. From the left they are Praise (9), Collins (10) and Abel (12-14?). I LOVE how sweet they are. If you've never had a stuffed animal in your LIFE or ANY toy for that matter), and you don't watch TV, you fortunately don't know whether it's cool or NOT to care for a gift.

We were going to go to the Waterfall I thought, but we ended up at the River (yes, the water fall is part of this river, but different area).


The boys wanted me to see the "fish" - these fish were ALMOST the size of my pinky... But they were SO EXCITED about them.


Aren't they being good about rolling up their pants?




Sweet little Gloria. She's 3, and had the Chicken Pox directly followed by the Measles. She was getting over the measles at this point...


And they take care of each other like this. All the time.


This was right before Praise ran down the edge of the River bank and slipped on a rock and fell flat on his face... which I saw and couldn't do anything to prevent happening. This was the millionth time that I was reminded that my calling is NOT in the medical field, as I almost passed out from the blood.


Remember Phyllis? The 8 year old photographer? When I was getting ready to get out of the river, SHE sat ME down and proceeded to wash the dirt off of my feet and legs. When she couldn't find clean enough water where we were, she walked to another area of the river and came back with it cupped in her hands. Then... she dried my feet OFF with her socks...

She's EIGHT! These precious children who have been through so much - so much. And yet, they have such a desire to love and care for others. Which is so amazing considering what they've been through. Apparently the love and stability they are receiving here is working. It's a safe place.

Security and Guards

So Kenya isn't super safe.

For example, I would LOVE to walk into town, and have never really been afraid of walking anywhere in any foreign place in the daytime, but I have been strictly warned against this, because to get into town here, I would have to cross a bridge where there are regular muggings and rapes - in the daytime.


Where I am staying is the Guest House/Office. It is really nice, and VERY secure.


We have THREE dogs... a blend of Rotweiler and German Shepherd. These are just two of them. You've already seen how well Mocha and I get along in my previous post about him... The cone is because he was "dealt with" and they don't want him to tear his stitches out. The "dealing" was supposed to make him nicer to his brother... it didn't work ... and I promise that if ONE MORE of them jumps on me...

Here's where they live.


Here's how well they're locked in their homes...

And at night, we have a Security Guard on duty - from 8pm to 8am.

When our Security Guard comes we sign him in and give him dinner and chai (tea with LOTS of milk). Nice, huh? Here's the crazy deal - although after some of the other things you've read on this blog it may not SEEM crazy here in Kenya... Most burglaries occur from your Security Guard. They tend to hire a couple of local thugs to help them and then they break in. It happened to a friend of ours about a month ago. And when someone was telling this to Rachel and she expressed some shock they said, "well, it was kind of their fault. They didn't treat him very well,. They hardly ever took him dinner or anything." Of course they PAID him for the job he was doing... therefore... dinner every night.

Now OUR particular guard, Juma, seems to be a very wonderful young man - always reading his Bible and gets on well with the dogs. Sweet spirited and we feel fortunate to have him.
So, we are certainly safe here. One thing I don't ever think twice about.

MomBASSSA!

We had a good time.


Actually, for a beach vacation, it was perfect. Okay - it was hot. And getting there was a burden. But, honestly, we had a great time.


getting there. Seriously. Lest you think that there is ANYTHING convenient about this country... I REALLY like that when you are flying DOMESTICALLY they have you PICK UP your luggage in between flights and RE-CHECK in. I think that is a FANTASTIC idea. Especially with a baby. Especially when it's a million degrees outside and baby needs to sleep. Especially when the OTHER passengers leave their luggage cart right where they took their luggage off. No, let's not put it AWAY. That would make it easier for OTHERS.


We did find a nice taxi driver, though. Kennedy. And we went to this place called Akamba Carvers - our friend Moira told us about it and told us that right to the LEFT of the retail is the wholesale area. And an hour later we emerged from the 125 degree (seriously, I don't think I'm exaggerating) building with our baby and a lot of stuff. Ruth didn't think I'd fit it all in my suitcase... but I did.


When we arrived at the Nyali Beach Hotel they greeted us with ice cold eucalyptus scented washcloths... nice... and a glass of fresh fruit juice with a fork in it to get out the fresh fruit at the bottom.


The sand is like powder. The water has a lot of seaweed. The pools were beautiful. And Gasper was faithful to keep the drinks coming.


The gardeners climb the coconut trees to bring you new coconuts with a straw to drink the milk. Okay - not my favorite, but still fun.


A couple of nights they had dinner outside - they went to so much work. And we had salad... so nice. No lettuce here in Eldoret. Anywhere. Or spinach.


I discovered that this new camera that I got at Sam's two days before I came here has different color options! Incredible. Again, may I point out that this camera was LESS than $200 AND came with a memory card of 2 whatever they are?


Hence, my "hand" at being photographically artistic. Humor me, people.


so which one do you like best of the previous three?


Eating apple. The first night when we got to our room there was a plate of fresh fruit, waiting for us.


Where Diana spent most of her time... She was SO good. Seriously - it was hot and she was SO good. She LOVED the pool. I would sit her on the edge and she would just fall into my arms. over and over again. We got her a ring that had a seat built in and she couldn't stop smiling. She would nap in the breeze for ages in her stroller.

we had fun.

How was your Easter?