Monday, October 15, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
I am the new King of the Jungle.....
Ok not really but I had my chance. We went on a safari on wednesday and it was one of the coolest experiences I have ever done. We saw heaps and heaps of zebras, giraffes, played with monkeys, lepords, and we were ab out 10 feet away from lions. I figured this was my best chance to wrestle lions, but then I realized that bear probably would have just stayed away so I did too :) I got a few pictures of it I can post on here. We dont have any with me and kylee in them becuase we didnt have another CD to burn the pictures onto but we do have a few of the day. Ill get the rest on when we get back. But anyway it was an awesome day!
For the rest of the pictures just go to this link
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1514&l=5b208&id=1173480010
Last night we left for the beach as a late anniversary present for kylee. We left at 8:30 and didnt arrive here today until about 12:30. Longest bus ride I have ever taken in my life. Only to find out when we arrived here that it would have cost a wopping $30 more to fly and get there in 45 minutes. So needless to say we will be flying back to Nairobi. We were supposd to go with a few kids we met in Nairobi but there was a new group of volunteers coming in and they needed them to translate, so its just me and kylee. Dont worry mom we got two rooms :) But anyway today Kylee and I went out for pizza along the beach and then took a walk along it. It was pretty awesome except for Kenyans have no sense of privacy so every two seconds you have somoene coming up to you either trying to sell you something or take your stuff. Were used to it by now but its still alittle annoying.
The baby orphanage was great the last few days. We were with a ton of awesome people from Australia that were also there volunteering. It was sad to say by to all the kids but I know that we will be back to see them. That made things easier. It is amazing to see the changes in the kids lives from before they lived in the orphange and what they are like now. What Ivan and Mary are doing is truly amazing! Well I hope you enjoy the few pics that I put on here (It has taken 1 hour to upload them) you have to love Kenyan dial up internet. Well Ill try to update once more before I leaev about the Kibera slums but we'll be home in 5 short days. Any Barbeque sauce donations will be gladly accepted :) Hope everyone had a good 4th of July and Ill see you all soon!
For the rest of the pictures just go to this link
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1514&l=5b208&id=1173480010
Last night we left for the beach as a late anniversary present for kylee. We left at 8:30 and didnt arrive here today until about 12:30. Longest bus ride I have ever taken in my life. Only to find out when we arrived here that it would have cost a wopping $30 more to fly and get there in 45 minutes. So needless to say we will be flying back to Nairobi. We were supposd to go with a few kids we met in Nairobi but there was a new group of volunteers coming in and they needed them to translate, so its just me and kylee. Dont worry mom we got two rooms :) But anyway today Kylee and I went out for pizza along the beach and then took a walk along it. It was pretty awesome except for Kenyans have no sense of privacy so every two seconds you have somoene coming up to you either trying to sell you something or take your stuff. Were used to it by now but its still alittle annoying.
The baby orphanage was great the last few days. We were with a ton of awesome people from Australia that were also there volunteering. It was sad to say by to all the kids but I know that we will be back to see them. That made things easier. It is amazing to see the changes in the kids lives from before they lived in the orphange and what they are like now. What Ivan and Mary are doing is truly amazing! Well I hope you enjoy the few pics that I put on here (It has taken 1 hour to upload them) you have to love Kenyan dial up internet. Well Ill try to update once more before I leaev about the Kibera slums but we'll be home in 5 short days. Any Barbeque sauce donations will be gladly accepted :) Hope everyone had a good 4th of July and Ill see you all soon!
Monday, July 2, 2007
I love a good Bargain.....
Today we went shopping in the Massai Market. I could finally use my bargaining skills after them being in the closest for 2 years. It was a great time. One of the guys even told me I was one of the best he had ever seen. I didnt buy anything but a cool leather bracelet, I just bargained for Kylee. She would pick it out and I would get her a good price, it was fun. We ended up spending like $150 but we got 5 bags full of stuff. It was a good time.
Yesterday we finished up the basework for the bike path at the orphanage. Today while we were gone they were going to lay the cement. Its amazing how much stuff they have going on at the orphange. There always thinking about getting bigger and better and its pretty cool to see.
There really isnt much to write about now. Nakuru is so much fun, I love it. Ill miss it so much. Its really cool to just be able to do whatever you want and go into town and see all these volunteers that you know. Everyone is getting really close. Hard to believe we leave in just over a week so we gotta live it up while wre still here. Wednesday were going to the national park so kylee can see her zebras and elephants. I can see my monkeys too.....woo hoo. Well thats really all I got so take it easy!
Yesterday we finished up the basework for the bike path at the orphanage. Today while we were gone they were going to lay the cement. Its amazing how much stuff they have going on at the orphange. There always thinking about getting bigger and better and its pretty cool to see.
There really isnt much to write about now. Nakuru is so much fun, I love it. Ill miss it so much. Its really cool to just be able to do whatever you want and go into town and see all these volunteers that you know. Everyone is getting really close. Hard to believe we leave in just over a week so we gotta live it up while wre still here. Wednesday were going to the national park so kylee can see her zebras and elephants. I can see my monkeys too.....woo hoo. Well thats really all I got so take it easy!
Friday, June 29, 2007
When in Kenya.....
Eat like a Kenyan, Or so they say. Well I can officially say that my trip here is complete, because I had Ugali. And it was just as I remembered it, clumpy and gross. From those of you that arnt familiar with this food from devil it is basically just mashed up corn and boiled. It is the staple food here but it is just awful tasting. Well anyway I had it with my meal the other night and needless to say I plan on making it the last time I ever touch it...
We are now done with our time in Kakamega. And I hate to say it but Im so excited that it is. Things there just couldnt have gone worse. Things seemed totally different then the last time I was there but they might have been the same before I just had nothing to compare it to. Where as this time I have been to the Kibera slums and Nakuru before hand. It was like nothing that we did or gave was good enough. Patrick wanted me to fill up his gas tank for him before we left, he asked if I could pay for his sons college education, his other son asked if I would give him a soccer ball(after I had given the orphange 3 balls and him a jersey with his name on the back.) They didnt appreciate what we did, because they expected more. I asked one of the ladies in the orphanage if she needed anything while I was in town, she said no because she would go in the next day. Well anyway the next day we paid for her taxi to go to town,lunch, and then for some reason she got the idea that when I asked if she needed anything in town she could get anything she wanted, so she goes and picks out a $25 dress. She didnt ask or anything, she just said "the lady wants 1,200 schillins for it. She never said thanks for it, just took it. Then Patricks brothers wife makes dresses, so when we first went to his house she said she wanted to make a dress for kylee. Never asked if we wanted one, just said she wants to make one. In my mind this makes it sound like a gift. Well on our way out we stopped there to pick it up, and she goes ok now it will cost 1500 schillings. And its a hideous dress mind you. So long story short I ended up paying 50 bucks for two dresses I will never see again. And I know that $50 isnt that much and it wont kill me, but its just the prinicpal of it all. They expect you to get them anything they want and to pay for everything. Its so frustrating for me becuase I had alot higher expectations then how things actually turned out. Im just so sick of people being greedy when you try to help. They should take a lesson from the kids in Nakuru who were happy with one cookie.....
Yesterday we left at about 10 in the morning to head back down to Nakuru. I have never been so excited to get onto a stinky, bumpy, and crowded public van. I ended up buying 5 seats on the thing so we wouldnt be that crowded, and Im sure glad I did. It was an interesting 5 hour drive to say the least. 45 minutes into it we got stopped at a police check and had to sit there for 2 and a half hours for them to inspect the cars. However I managed to strike up a conversation with the head police guy and our car was inspected first so it could have been a longer stay there. But it was still hot and stinky. And a guy also had a live chicken in a bag under our seat so the whole drive there was this bag moving around under the seat. Slightly odd..... ;-/
So here we are back in Nakuru...and once again things are great. Today me, Ivan, and Troy all worked on the kids bike path. It was some hard work but we got alot done. It all worked great except for I look like I fell asleep on the surface of the sun. My feet are so burnt, its going to an intersting next couple of days :)
Africa is great as always, but I guess this time Im seeing a different side then I have before. And maybe its just from getting more used to the country Im not sure. But anyway its good to be back in Nakuru and Im glad the Kakamega is behind us. But the soccer was fun! :)
We are now done with our time in Kakamega. And I hate to say it but Im so excited that it is. Things there just couldnt have gone worse. Things seemed totally different then the last time I was there but they might have been the same before I just had nothing to compare it to. Where as this time I have been to the Kibera slums and Nakuru before hand. It was like nothing that we did or gave was good enough. Patrick wanted me to fill up his gas tank for him before we left, he asked if I could pay for his sons college education, his other son asked if I would give him a soccer ball(after I had given the orphange 3 balls and him a jersey with his name on the back.) They didnt appreciate what we did, because they expected more. I asked one of the ladies in the orphanage if she needed anything while I was in town, she said no because she would go in the next day. Well anyway the next day we paid for her taxi to go to town,lunch, and then for some reason she got the idea that when I asked if she needed anything in town she could get anything she wanted, so she goes and picks out a $25 dress. She didnt ask or anything, she just said "the lady wants 1,200 schillins for it. She never said thanks for it, just took it. Then Patricks brothers wife makes dresses, so when we first went to his house she said she wanted to make a dress for kylee. Never asked if we wanted one, just said she wants to make one. In my mind this makes it sound like a gift. Well on our way out we stopped there to pick it up, and she goes ok now it will cost 1500 schillings. And its a hideous dress mind you. So long story short I ended up paying 50 bucks for two dresses I will never see again. And I know that $50 isnt that much and it wont kill me, but its just the prinicpal of it all. They expect you to get them anything they want and to pay for everything. Its so frustrating for me becuase I had alot higher expectations then how things actually turned out. Im just so sick of people being greedy when you try to help. They should take a lesson from the kids in Nakuru who were happy with one cookie.....
Yesterday we left at about 10 in the morning to head back down to Nakuru. I have never been so excited to get onto a stinky, bumpy, and crowded public van. I ended up buying 5 seats on the thing so we wouldnt be that crowded, and Im sure glad I did. It was an interesting 5 hour drive to say the least. 45 minutes into it we got stopped at a police check and had to sit there for 2 and a half hours for them to inspect the cars. However I managed to strike up a conversation with the head police guy and our car was inspected first so it could have been a longer stay there. But it was still hot and stinky. And a guy also had a live chicken in a bag under our seat so the whole drive there was this bag moving around under the seat. Slightly odd..... ;-/
So here we are back in Nakuru...and once again things are great. Today me, Ivan, and Troy all worked on the kids bike path. It was some hard work but we got alot done. It all worked great except for I look like I fell asleep on the surface of the sun. My feet are so burnt, its going to an intersting next couple of days :)
Africa is great as always, but I guess this time Im seeing a different side then I have before. And maybe its just from getting more used to the country Im not sure. But anyway its good to be back in Nakuru and Im glad the Kakamega is behind us. But the soccer was fun! :)
Monday, June 25, 2007
Flip Flops in the Jungle.....
Today we went to the Kakamega Rain Forest to go look at Monkeys and Butterflies. Kylee for some reason thought we were going to a museum although patrick made it very clear it was a forrest. Well Kylee decided to wear flip flops today. Bad enough I know, but throw on top of that it rained all night last night!! It was quite hilarious to see kylee slipping and sliding all over the place in the muddy jungle in her flip flops. It was even better when the guide told her that they had 35 different kinds of snakes in the jungle, and when she realized we were walking on fire ants. Yes I have it all on video for your entertainment enjoyment when we get back. It was classic. It was pretty cool though walking through it all. There were monkeys everywhere just hangin from the trees and there were alot of butterflies that would just surround you. Once you got over the fact that there were snakes crawling around and Mosquito nests everywhere it was a good time. I thought Gatlinburg Tennessee was getting in touch with nature, but this was getting alittle too close if you ask me. I tried to keep telling myself what would Bear do.....but it didnt work. That was definately a once in a lifetime jungle visit....
Things have been interesting here in Kakamega..and not in a good way. On Friday we realized that we had 6,000 schillings stolen from us from one of the ladies that worked at the orphange (thats about $115) So that upset us quite a bit. Also the shower doesnt work, theres lizards on the wall, and we have had beef(not good beef, but fatty beef) and rice for 4 straight days. So because of all this we are going to end are stay here short a few days and head back to Nakuru to spend a week there, and eventually spend more time in the Kibera slums....where we both want to be.
On the soccer note things are going great. The only problem is that they are Kenyan, and lets be honest they can run for days if the daylight allowed them too. And well I am an out of shape American. So basically the games consist of me being a goalie, but hey thats fine with me. We have done alittle bit of "teaching" but there really isnt any point because everyone here knows soccer like the back of there hand. They just want to play. So basically we have just had pick up games with the kids. Which is still alot of fun. Amazing how happy you can make a bunch of kids by just giving them a ball to play with. Thanks alot Mark, Bob, and the Wizards for all the equipment!
Everynight me and Kylee bring out a few more games. Last night was Twister and Uno. It was hilarious watching them try to play Twister. The mat is no longer white but more of a clay red. But they enjoyed it and im sure we will be playing again tonight. Thanks Jac :)
Hard to believe the trip is half over already...doesnt seem like that long. But I really miss BBQ chicken and a hot shower, so its not all bad. Keep us in your thoughts as we try to get through our last few days in Kakamega and have a safe journey to Nakuru. Thanks everyone!!
Things have been interesting here in Kakamega..and not in a good way. On Friday we realized that we had 6,000 schillings stolen from us from one of the ladies that worked at the orphange (thats about $115) So that upset us quite a bit. Also the shower doesnt work, theres lizards on the wall, and we have had beef(not good beef, but fatty beef) and rice for 4 straight days. So because of all this we are going to end are stay here short a few days and head back to Nakuru to spend a week there, and eventually spend more time in the Kibera slums....where we both want to be.
On the soccer note things are going great. The only problem is that they are Kenyan, and lets be honest they can run for days if the daylight allowed them too. And well I am an out of shape American. So basically the games consist of me being a goalie, but hey thats fine with me. We have done alittle bit of "teaching" but there really isnt any point because everyone here knows soccer like the back of there hand. They just want to play. So basically we have just had pick up games with the kids. Which is still alot of fun. Amazing how happy you can make a bunch of kids by just giving them a ball to play with. Thanks alot Mark, Bob, and the Wizards for all the equipment!
Everynight me and Kylee bring out a few more games. Last night was Twister and Uno. It was hilarious watching them try to play Twister. The mat is no longer white but more of a clay red. But they enjoyed it and im sure we will be playing again tonight. Thanks Jac :)
Hard to believe the trip is half over already...doesnt seem like that long. But I really miss BBQ chicken and a hot shower, so its not all bad. Keep us in your thoughts as we try to get through our last few days in Kakamega and have a safe journey to Nakuru. Thanks everyone!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
No Showers......
Well we got to Kakamega last night. It was good to see all the kids again, especially Silus. He hasnt had any peanut butter captain crunch yet but we will get to that. We will be here until July 1st. And monday we are starting the soccer camp. It is going to be 5 different 1 day camps with 5 different schools. Then on Saturday we are going to have a tournament with all the different teams. Patrick has been nice enough to talk to all the schools and get the field straightened out that we are going to be playing at. Hopefully it all goes well,. Im looking forward to improving my futbol skills :)
Kylee and I also tried to take a shower today but we learned quickly that they dont work. So our showers today consisted of a bucket of cold and a bucket of hot water. Great fun!! Oh well things could still be worse....at least I had new underpants to change into afterwards..... :)
The day of the African Child parade was just crazy to say the least. Ivan and Mary went alittle overboard and instead of walking like every other school and orphanage they rented out trucks for the kids to ride on. So we decorated those with balloons and streamers. The electricty went out the night before so instead of using Ivans compressor to blow up 150 balloons we had to do it by hand. Needless to say I think we were all about to pass out when we were done. But anyway back tothe parade....we met in a park in the city square where the parade was supposed to start. Well what we didnt know was that this park was the main place where all the street boys lived. It was probably the first time in Kenya that I have felt alittle nervous about my safety. Within 5 minutes of us being there we had at least 30 street boys around us. They were all trying to touch us and the kids so it was very hard to keep 25 little kids around us. We had to wait there for about 30 minutes poking away the boys. But in the end it all worked out. The parade was nuts, we all felt like celebrities :) All the kids would just chase our cars down the street and wave. It was pretty cool. I liked it alot better this time not being the only white person....
Well thats all I got. We will be in Kakamega till July 1st then its back down to Nakuru Baby Orphange for a week and then we will be staying in the Kibera slums for a few more days before we head out on July 11th. Time is flying by over here. Well take it easy everyone!!
Kylee and I also tried to take a shower today but we learned quickly that they dont work. So our showers today consisted of a bucket of cold and a bucket of hot water. Great fun!! Oh well things could still be worse....at least I had new underpants to change into afterwards..... :)
The day of the African Child parade was just crazy to say the least. Ivan and Mary went alittle overboard and instead of walking like every other school and orphanage they rented out trucks for the kids to ride on. So we decorated those with balloons and streamers. The electricty went out the night before so instead of using Ivans compressor to blow up 150 balloons we had to do it by hand. Needless to say I think we were all about to pass out when we were done. But anyway back tothe parade....we met in a park in the city square where the parade was supposed to start. Well what we didnt know was that this park was the main place where all the street boys lived. It was probably the first time in Kenya that I have felt alittle nervous about my safety. Within 5 minutes of us being there we had at least 30 street boys around us. They were all trying to touch us and the kids so it was very hard to keep 25 little kids around us. We had to wait there for about 30 minutes poking away the boys. But in the end it all worked out. The parade was nuts, we all felt like celebrities :) All the kids would just chase our cars down the street and wave. It was pretty cool. I liked it alot better this time not being the only white person....
Well thats all I got. We will be in Kakamega till July 1st then its back down to Nakuru Baby Orphange for a week and then we will be staying in the Kibera slums for a few more days before we head out on July 11th. Time is flying by over here. Well take it easy everyone!!
Monday, June 18, 2007
New Underpants!!
Hello Everyone!! Well we are now in Nakuru Kenya...and things are still going great. We left Nairobi at like 10 on Friday and didnt arrive in Nakuru until 3. And its only about 120 miles away. The roads were so bad and a bus tipped over and blocked both ways of traffic for an hour and a half. That was interesting. Then we got a flat tire so needless to say it was a really long trip. But hey we made it. Oh and my bags finally came in. So you know what that means..........NEW UNDERPANTS!! woo hoo. Never thought I would be so excited. But I was
Our last night in Nairobi me and Kylee made Barbeque chicken for everyone, with a side of Pringles Cheezums of course. We also got to talk to a couple people in the area there about some things and it was amazing to hear there stories. A couple of kids got thrown out of there houses when they were 18 by there parents to go live on there own. They decided to get a house together by the AIM base. The rent for one month is only $75 but they had run out of money to pay the next months rent. They also had no food so me and Kylee restocked there shelves with some food for them. WE are returning there on July 8th so if we have the money Kylee wants to pay July's rent for them. Needless to say though they really touched kylee and I think that was her first wake up call as to how life is in the slums and Kenya in general. Overall though she loved the stay in Kibera and is really looking forward to going back in a few weeks....
Well the place we are staying now is an absolute madhouse to say the least. There are 27 kids all under the age of 4 and about 10 more visitors/helpers that stay there. I had no idea how many people were in and our of this place all the time. Its alot of fun but crazy too. Yesterday morning at 7 in the morning I woke up and rolled over and had a kid just staring there looking at me asking me if we could play soccer. You just have to laugh. Kylee of course is just in heaven loving on all the little kids. She is definately in her element. The people that own the place are so much fun and love to joke around so its pretty good. Yesterday Me, Kylee, Ivan (the owner), his two daughters sarah and rachel and then one of the helpers emma from australia went on a cookie run. Its basically where you guy buy a big box of 300 cookies and give them away to kids in the remote parts of the town. We had 900 cookies and in 2 hours they were gone. It is amazing to see how happy the kids get after getting just one cookie. Pretty cool seeing the difference you can make to someone for $5 bucks. Money well spent Id say....
Tomorrow is the day of the Africa Child. The orphange is going to have a float thing for the kids to ride on and thankfully this time around I will not be on the only white kid in the entire parade!! Long story if you dont already know. So that should be a good time.
Im not really sure what else to say from here so Ill leave it at that. I hope all is well back home and Ill talk to you all soon!!!
Our last night in Nairobi me and Kylee made Barbeque chicken for everyone, with a side of Pringles Cheezums of course. We also got to talk to a couple people in the area there about some things and it was amazing to hear there stories. A couple of kids got thrown out of there houses when they were 18 by there parents to go live on there own. They decided to get a house together by the AIM base. The rent for one month is only $75 but they had run out of money to pay the next months rent. They also had no food so me and Kylee restocked there shelves with some food for them. WE are returning there on July 8th so if we have the money Kylee wants to pay July's rent for them. Needless to say though they really touched kylee and I think that was her first wake up call as to how life is in the slums and Kenya in general. Overall though she loved the stay in Kibera and is really looking forward to going back in a few weeks....
Well the place we are staying now is an absolute madhouse to say the least. There are 27 kids all under the age of 4 and about 10 more visitors/helpers that stay there. I had no idea how many people were in and our of this place all the time. Its alot of fun but crazy too. Yesterday morning at 7 in the morning I woke up and rolled over and had a kid just staring there looking at me asking me if we could play soccer. You just have to laugh. Kylee of course is just in heaven loving on all the little kids. She is definately in her element. The people that own the place are so much fun and love to joke around so its pretty good. Yesterday Me, Kylee, Ivan (the owner), his two daughters sarah and rachel and then one of the helpers emma from australia went on a cookie run. Its basically where you guy buy a big box of 300 cookies and give them away to kids in the remote parts of the town. We had 900 cookies and in 2 hours they were gone. It is amazing to see how happy the kids get after getting just one cookie. Pretty cool seeing the difference you can make to someone for $5 bucks. Money well spent Id say....
Tomorrow is the day of the Africa Child. The orphange is going to have a float thing for the kids to ride on and thankfully this time around I will not be on the only white kid in the entire parade!! Long story if you dont already know. So that should be a good time.
Im not really sure what else to say from here so Ill leave it at that. I hope all is well back home and Ill talk to you all soon!!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
We Arrived, But no new underpants
Hey everyone back home!! Hope everything is doing good back there. Things are interesting here to say the least. Our flight was delayed in Chicago which made us miss our Nairobi flight. So we took Virgin Atlantic. Flight was great, but no bags were waiting for us on the other side :( Oh well things could be a lot worse. Me and Kylee are both safe and having a great time. We met some really great people at the AIM orphanage so far. This guy Scott and I have the same personality so we got along great. The college team that is at the base is also pretty cool. Except they have a wisconsin badger fan in the group so Im alittle uneasy about her :-0 We went to Kibera yesterday which was pretty interesting. Kylee’s first time. Just as eye opening for her as it was me. Its good to be back though just wish we had a couple bags. Well folks that’s all I really got for now, but were here and were safe so we cant argue too much. But I wouldn’t mind a new pair of underpants here in the next day or two. Hope everyone back home is doing good and that the Cubs will be in first place (Don’t laugh, there is a God!!)
PS. If anyone at the bank is reading this I had to wait in like for 15 minutes today at the Barclays! So you can never say that I am slow and screw up a lot anymore. :) Yes Kathy that is for you!!
PS. If anyone at the bank is reading this I had to wait in like for 15 minutes today at the Barclays! So you can never say that I am slow and screw up a lot anymore. :) Yes Kathy that is for you!!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Thank you Everyone!
I would just like to say thank you to everyone that donated items for me to take over to Kenya! We ended up getting 15 boxes full of donated items! Everything from soccer balls and cleats to board games and arts and crafts. Everything is perfect and the kids will definately love them! I would not be able to do what I am doing without people's generosity so thank you so much for helping out!!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Eye Opening
I think few people realize how lucky we are to have what we do. Myself included. The last week has been rough in our family but rough compared to what? Rough because we dont get to go Florida this summer for vacation, or rough because we may not be able to go out to eat as much as we normally do? Do those things even matter? There are thousands of people dieing every day in Africa of Aids, Maleria, and starvation and yet here we are complaining about not getting a couple luxuries we are used to? We have family, friends, a houes over our heads, food on the table, what more can we ask for? These things other people are not as lucky to have. Hopefully I will never forget how I feel now and I will always appreciate everything I am blessed with.
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