Day 12: Giraffe Kisses and Toi Market

Monday morning we awoke early to get a good start on the day. This week is pretty much going to be our "tourist-y" week. All of places we want to go and things we want to do are going to be packed into this week since the last week we're here we will be working with Brackenhurst and watching the kids for a missionary gathering.

We met up with Aunt Trina and Pris then headed over to the giraffe center. Although it can sometimes take 2 hours just to get across town, traffic was light because people were still traveling back to Nairobi after "the Christmas" so we made excellent time.

The giraffe center was pretty cool. There were also warthogs. After we got up to the platform, we grabbed some food and let the giraffes eat from our hands. We had to make sure our hands were flat or else they would bite your fingers (kind of like horses). All of us took turns feeding the giraffes, then Ruthie insisted that I feed one with my mouth. I had heard that she and Julia had done that, but I needed a demonstration before attending this feat :) So, she grabbed a pellet, stuck it between her lips, then moved in. The giraffe swiped the food right out of her mouth with its super long tongue. After Ruthie had done it about 3 times (we had to get good pictures after all), it was my turn. So, I followed suit. The giraffe's tongue was rough like a cat's and it pretty much licked the entire left side of my face. Although it was slightly gross with all the saliva, it was still fun. And I also had to do it about 3 times before all the picture-taking was done. Then Julia and Priscilla did the same.

One of the guides gave us a short talk about giraffes (the types, what they ate, their weights, lifespans, etc), and let us hold a giraffe's jaw. He told us to "be free to make a picture," so we did. Haha! Check f/b to see the results...

After the giraffe center, we stopped by a place that made Kazuri beads. The women workers were not there making the pottery because of holiday break, but we got to tour the places were they typically work. Then we browsed the store. I wasn't too interested in buying any of the merchandise though because the jewelry was kind of big and heavy and I didn't want to chance any of the other products (like mugs, etc.) in my carry-on. It might just end up in pieces.

We continued on to Toi market after stopping at the Kazuri bead store. I had been told that Toi was like a big, used clothing place where Westerners buy most of their clothes while living here. But I didn't know it was all outside. We headed in to the mazes of booths set up in line after line. They were covered with roofs, so you felt like you were in a building except for the dirt/mud floors. The smells were almost overpowering...At one point, Aunt Trina said that the shows that display the sights and sounds of other countries should also try to capture the smells! It would be quite overpowering. Lots of body odor, constantly surrounding everywhere. I'm not even sure most of the people were wearing deodorant.

We spent some time at the front of the entrance, then headed deep back into the buried shops. There were mostly clothes just in huge piles that you had to pick through. Then there were shoes set up that you had to guess if your size was there. The owners were constantly trying to pull you into their shop, and shoving possible articles of clothing in front of you as options. And that's all before the bartering even began. I was told that you never take the first offered, but at least offer half of that price. Then the friendly (or not so friendly) back-and-forth negotiations occur. Usually a middle ground is reached. However, yesterday, many of the owners did not want to barter much. We only ended up with a couple of shirts and some scarves.

Then on our way out, we hit the gold mine of pirated dvds. There is also another place here in Nairobi known for producing quality pirated movies (haha! It's so common here, it's not even really looked upon as wrong), so we were kind of holding out for that place, but this vendor only was charging about $0.65 for his movies and seasons. So, Ruthie and I spent some time there - trying to not to go too extreme and buy everything :)

All in all, the day was quite a new experience. I loved being part of the typical Kenyan culture. There were many new "firsts" included bartering. Although I didn't think I would like it, it was so bad. It's expected here so you don't feel like you're manipulating in the slightest like I would in the States. We were only called "wazungu" (white person) about 10,000 times, but then when we started bartering, they quickly knew we (or rather Ruthie) weren't ignorant and couldn't be overcharged.

The rest of the evening was spent at home as a family just relaxing. We had a lovely dinner, then watched "Taken" together. Ruthie's dad had gotten the movie for Christmas, so we all enjoyed seeing it.

Last night it rained. The past two nights it has rained actually. Both times the first thing I thought was "God bless the rains down in Africa." Then I have that song stuck in my head the rest of the night :) It is still beautiful weather outside though. The rains just cool everything down a little and keep the grass/trees/plants green.

There are still so many things I want to relate to you all about Africa: the British influence, the basis 101 of good missions teams, the little -isms of Kenyans. But they will have to wait for another time. Hopefully, you all are having a wonderful holiday season. The New Year is only a few days away!!!

Day 11: Sunday

So, this Sunday was the first "normal" one since we've been here. Normal referring to the fact that we were able to attend Ruthie's home church - Bahati Christian Center. It was the first real African service I had been to, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Because of the holiday season, they only had one service instead of the normal two (usually the first one is primarily in English, the second in Swahili). However, because there was only one service, it was a mixture of both. We did the entire worship set in Swahili, so I didn't have a clue what we were singing - just had the opportunity to witness how other cultures praise Jesus. It was fascinating to think that this was a taste of heaven. Jesus can be glorified in any language and culture, is being praised, and will be worshiped by every people in the world at the end of time!

Then the message was preached in English and translated into Swahili. It seems to be more easily done that way. But with both languages being preached the service was quite long. I think it was 2-2.5 hours long. But here in Africa, nobody minds long anything - services, visits, jobs, etc.

Another unique aspect of the service was that the special music was a rap done in Swahili. It was so amusing. There were two men up there just busting out a Kenyan rap with actions. The general superintendent of the Kenyan A/G (K.A.G.) was up on the platform just dancing away with the rest of the congregation. We also ended the entire service with another rap. They have a form of language here called Sweng (which is a mixture of Swahili and English), and they were using this in the songs. We also played a game as a congregation called, "Bible, Bible, Bible." We had to jump up and down while saying that phrase. Then the leader would yell out names, and if they were books of the Bible we jumped; if not, we didn't jump. It was quite fun - kind of like children's church all over again only with adults :)

In addition to the services being wonderfully African, I was able to experience the welcoming hospitality of the Kenyan Christians. They were such a family. Everyone here in this country (and probably the continent) is relational so you never feel alone here. Everything revolved around your family and your relation to others. I was greeted by more people than I can count. Oh, and their greeting is unique too. They shake right hands and then pull you in to one side of their face (more like over one shoulder), then back away and pull you to the other side. Definitely something I could get used to!

After the church service, we headed over to one of the best Ethiopian restaurants ever (according to the Lowenbergs who actually lived in Ethiopia). We met up with another family, and ended up at a table outside in a cute little nook of the garden. There were also huts we could have eaten in, but we wanted a breeze. The food was amazing - I'm not even sure I could tell you what we ate, but we had injera (a sour, spongy type of bread), shiro (chick peas), doro (chicken), tibs (meat), and vegetables. It was delicious! We ate with our hands and by the end we were extremely messy but happy.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting before Ruthie and I headed over to her high school (Rosslyn) for an alumni and senior class reunion. I was a little hesitant that I might feel out of place because all the students had history with each other, but I didn't need to give it a second thought. Everyone was so welcoming and easy-going. I'm pretty sure as international students that you have to learn to be friends with people quickly or else you won't have any friends at all. They have the same thing in common with everyone else: they understand moving into a town and then moving on.

We spent the evening chatting with other students, watching the football (soccer) game, hanging around the pool, listening to belated Christmas music, and having dinner. It was wonderful to finally meet some of Ruthie's friends that she talks about. They were all people worth meeting :)

After all of the amazing things we did, the evening ended with yet another great - watching White Christmas. We had a great day filled with wonderful memories.