Welcome to Canada!

We are here!!! Well, we've been here almost 3 weeks now. Whoops, let the blog slip a little bit. But we are indeed in Canada! 

Slowly we are adjusting. We have both experienced culture shock. It is freezing cold here in Castlegar. The sun likes to pop out one day and then, bam, snow dumps the next day. We are amazed at how fast and efficient everything is here. You can get so much done in one day just because everything is so easy. Canadians are terribly kind and generous and we are feeling that big time. Kelvin wonders where all the people are. I think he is getting a bit lonely. He can't walk down the street and meet people the way he used to in Kenya. There are just no people here (compared to where we came from). Kelvin has been to two hockey games and is already more of an expert in the sport than I am. 

Slowly, we are getting our feet on the ground and creating a little life for ourselves. It won't be easy but we are up for the challenge. We are still on the hunt for jobs and have tried out a nice little church. We are looking for some new friends that we can call 'ours' not just 'nikole's'. Kelvin will be starting college in September. He is really looking forward to that. We are missing Kenya alot. Well, maybe I am missing it more than Kelvin at this point. We are missing our friends and youth. We really had a great group of friend and community over there. Now, it feels like we are starting from scratch. 

Kelvin and I both agreed that, for now, this blog will shut down. It will remain on the web but I will not be posting on it for a while. It was a great tool to keep you all informed with how we are doing in Kenya and it helped us promote and gain support for our project. For now, we have decided that we should focus on sharing our personal life with the friends and family around us. In saying that, if you would like to connect at some point, I would love to do coffee or dinner or a skype date! Please just shoot me an email! 

So my love, welcome to Canada, my home country. I pray that our time here is meaningful and fruitful. I pray that we can find purpose and joy in our everyday tasks and that our hearts would grow deeper and deeper in love with each other and our God. 

Transitioning...

Transitions used to be a way of life for me. I moved from one city to another, one job to another, one continent to another, one church to another, one set of friends to another, with very little fret. I actually remember in college saying to ladies in a bible study, "Transitioning is not always fun but I get so excited seeing how God pushes me through it." Hmm, I just don't have that same zeal this time. This transition is filled with a little more anxiety, uncertainty, frustration, and fear. 

Today I had a little cry. Not unlike me at all. I am just tired and frustrated and anxious to leave yet a little bit scared of what is waiting for us on the other side. 

We were asked today if we were excited to get to Canada. Our answer was, "We are really just excited to leave Kenya." There has just been a lot going on in our lives and all around us that has been tough and overwhelming and, to be honest, we just want to escape. Then there is the added stress of everyday living in Kenya like the fact that our water is not pumping and our house is ridiculously dirty and my phone just decided to die on me for no reason. Plus, the political climate in Mombasa is getting more and more intense as the days go by and I am not as comfortable moving about like I used to do because you just never know when something might happen especially when large crowds of zealous Kenyans (plus money, power, and pride) are involved. 

We are moving out of our apartment in two days and moving in with friends for the rest of the week. I am really excited to just get rid of all our stuff and live out of our suitcases for a while. It's hard organizing and getting rid of an entire household. My feelings have wavered from being totally embarrassed that, at our age, we have so little possessions to being really content (and almost proud of ourselves) that we haven't collected so much stuff that we will be desperate to get rid of in 30 years. I am thankful that we have a 'treasures stored up in heaven' mindset at such an early age. But then again I'm a little self-concious to say that all my clothes fill half a suit case. 

And then my stomach is not enjoying this transition. About 5 years ago, when I moved to Kenya the first time, I developed some bad tummy issues. After seeing the doctor and doing some tests, she asked me, 'Is there any big event happening in your life right now?' I bashfully told her that I was moving to Africa and then it all clicked. It was all anxiety related to the big transition. I am finding my stomach has also detected that a big event is happening in my life right now and has decided to fire back. 

I wish I could tell you had some big spiritual revelation of some sort about this transition but I don't. I know the facts: God loves me, God is with me, this is God's will for us right now, and we will be ok. 

Counting Down the Days

Can you believe we only have 3 more weeks in Mombasa? Crazy right!?

We are kicking into high gear trying to get everything figured out and dealt with before we leave. Its not an easy process. We will be SO ready to get to Canada once these few weeks are over. Kelvin and I often look at each other and just wish that we could leave tomorrow and not have to deal with selling our stuff, looking after the business and the project, and saying our goodbyes. As each day passes, our hearts are more and more excited to start a life in Canada.

We are also just trying to ENJOY kenya while we can. I was in nairobi this past week. We had some troubles on the bus and what was suppose to be a 7 hour ride took 11 hours. The plus side was that I got to drive through the african plains as the sun was rising and it was completely majestic. Africa is truly majestic. 

Last weekend we decided to check out Haller Park. I can actually see Haller Park from my kitchen but I have never been in it. I was surprised as to how many beautiful animals and wildlife are in my back yard!

 Giraffes will always be so gracefully goofy. 

 These monkeys (and their reproductive organs) always crack me up. Yes, his testicles are bright blue and his 'manhood' is bright red. Maybe it makes it easier for the woman to spot it?

Baby monkey!

I think someone was trying to hide.

 But this someone liked being in the middle of the road.

 Not sure what this animal is called.

They have a few hippos in the park too. Unfortunately, they weren't hungry enough to get out of the water and come eat their food. I was so looking forward to seeing their big bodies as I have only ever seen them in water. Its hard to believe they are the most dangerous creatures in Africa.

 And then it was time to feed the crocodiles. This was the big kahuna.

 For show, they like to tease the little guys and make them all jump for the meat.

These things were just wandering around in the open. They kind of look like something you might find in the mountains near my hometown.

 The greenery was so gorgeous and luscious.

 This tree was so bizarre with its neat roots system.

I used to dream of living in a place with palm trees. Now I have them right outside my window. 

We are trading in the tropics for the snow....

Outpouring of Love

Kelvin and I have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of crazy love that you all have showed us since we announced we are moving to Canada. Thanks to all who have rejoiced and praised God with us. Thanks to all who have assured us that this is God's doing. Thanks to those who have recognized that we take care of so many and now its time for us to be taken care of. Thanks to those who have given to the Rehma Family and to us personally so we can transition smoothly. 

We are definitely feelin' the love.  

Thank you. 

Thank you. 

Thank you. 

Thanksgiving Pancakes

I tend to forget Canadian holidays when I am in Kenya. Especially holidays, like Thanksgiving, that doesn't align with American holidays. I always dream of being that wife/mom who celebrates all these holidays and makes it extra special for my family by cooking a nice meal, doing some family tradition, and inviting our friends to join in. It just doesn't happen. Mostly because I forget. Like I almost forgot that this weekend is Thanksgiving. 

I was a little weepy yesterday for many reasons. Holidays (and birthdays) always make me miss home. Sometimes I just wish I could jet to Canada for the weekend to enjoy a yummy food, fall colours, and my family. 

I decided to do something somewhat Canadian - make pancakes. After travelling a little bit, I realized that most countries in the world don't make fluffy pancakes like we do. They make pancakes more like crepes. And Maple Syrup seems to be a distinctive Canadian thing (at least we have some sort of traditional food we can claim). 

They turned out ok. Well, actually kind of pathetic. Nothing like the ones my baba or mom makes. We ate them plain and with our hands. I made Kelvin a couple smokies since the pancakes just aren't enough for him. Come to think of it, the smokies probably weren't enough either. Nonetheless it was nice, it reminded me of home. Maybe from now on, the Opiyo Thanksgiving tradition will be pancakes for dinner. 

I mentioned that we bought some plastic chairs and tables to start playing games with people in the community. Its been such a huge hit. While I was meeting with my ladies on saturday, Kelvin gathered some curious kids and played a game of Rummikub. I wonder how well the kids got it since it is a game that requires some thinking. 

I hope Kelvin won. I am the master of Rummikub. He just can win against me. I know it hurts his man pride. I hope him winning against little kids made him feel better. 

Catching Up

I think the past 3 weeks of craziness has finally caught up with me. I woke up this morning with a terrible head cold that has forced me to lay on my couch and drink lemongrass tea all day. 

It's also giving me the chance to just catch up on emails, accounts, updates, paper work, etc. 

I travelled to Nairobi on Sunday night to renew my passport. I am so used to travelling with Kelvin that going alone has become a lot more nerve-wracking. Before I met Kelvin, I used to travel all the time by myself and it was no big whoop. But now I get anxious with out him. I also think I am more aware of the dangers of road travel in Kenya. Even as we were going to the bus station on Sunday night we saw a nasty accident between a motorcycle and a semi truck. I am pretty sure the dude on the motorcycle didn't make it. So sad. 

I did make it to Nairobi safely. I went the Canadian Embassy and applied for my passport to be renewed. Every time I step on that compound, I feel like I have been transported back home. Everyone is so kind, there is native art on the walls, our flag is plastered all over the place. They even built it in true Canadian fashion. I noticed that the toilet paper and soap dispensers in the bathrooms are ones from Canada! If only they would open a Tim Hortons there. 

I decided to spend the night at Word of Life where I went to bible school. It was so refreshing seeing old friends and spending time in the peaceful, quiet, cool village setting. I left on a 1pm bus yesterday (which didn't actually leave till 3pm) and arrived home at 10pm. Kelvin met his snotty-nose and overly tired wife at the bus stop, escorted her home, and prepared supper for her. Yes, I love him. 

Anyways, looking forward to getting a bit of rest today, catching up on some 'work', and snuggling with my kitty. 

Here are a few photos from the boys' game on Saturday. They have finally started up their leagues again after Ramadhan and the riots. 

Remember Kadenge? We were kind of disappointed in him since he returned back to Mombasa. He has sort of been avoiding us and the team. Usually the boys avoid us when they are doing something they know will disappoint us. We figured he had fallen back into his old habits of drugs and shady company. But to our delight, we found out that he was actually working hard to start his own chicken business! He discovered his family had a plot near by so he has been working hard on preparing it to start up his business. He has even been getting some of the boys involved to train them and help them out financially! Amazing! He came to us and asked if we could help him build a small structure for a caretaker on the property. We offered to help only if he promises to donate monthly to the team once his business starts! Amazing what God has done in Kadenge's life. 

 Some of the boys who didn't make the first team for the game. They still came out to watch. They also cleaned up pretty well if I do say so myself.

 Andrea and Kelvin. We have worked hard with this boy. We are praying for him and the decisions he makes in his life. He is a really good kid and is very devoted to the team. 

Noah has also just passed his Clearing and Forwarding course that we sponsored him to go to. He did really really well! We are praying that he can find an internship soon so he can graduate. 

See number 11? Yah, thats my husband. I could go on and on about how amazing he is. But I will do that another day. 

Surprise!

A few months back, my dad emailed me and asked if I would be interested in surprising my mom for her 50th birthday. At first, I didn't really want to. I dreaded the thought of making the 2 day trip to Canada alone again and well, I am still newly married and have a hard time leaving my husband for more than a day or two. However, after some convincing from Kelvin and some prayer, I said yes. I booked my ticket and kept it a close secret for two months. 

Dad was the only one who knew plus a handful of friends. I kept hearing that Mom was telling everyone how she wished I could be there. I played it off as if I was still in Kenya, sending her emails of what was happening in our lives and so on. The last email I sent her, I was sitting in the Calgary airport about to board a plane to Castlegar. I was writing to tell her how Kelvin and I got back to Mombasa safe and wishing her a good party. Little did she know that I was just a short plane ride away. 

So I snuck onto the property and went and sat on a bench in the back yard. Some friends, who were in on it, had taken her down to the deck. As she came up, she was told to look over my way and, well, the pictures will tell the rest of the story.

The ugly cry came out in full force. It was a great moment. Now that I am here, I am glad I came. I will be around for about two and a half weeks then I must jetback to my hubby. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my family!

What happens when the girls take over my camera

I learned my lesson. I can never expect my girls to take decent photos. We went bowling yesterday as a fun treat. I handed over my camera (since these girlies love love love taking photos) thinking that I could get some decent shots. In the past, some of my greatest pics have been when I gave the camera to someone else (like small kids). However, this was not so. I had turned off the flash so most pictures turned out incredibly blurry. As Kelvin was sifting through them this morning, he actually asked if something was wrong with my camera! Funny enough, while the girls were taking photos, they didn't seem to mind that they were blurry. They thought they looked pretty awesome - blurry and all. 

Here are the best of the bunch. We had a blast! Most of them had never been before so it was a new experience. They were pretty hesitant at first but managed to get the hang out it pretty fast.

Most of the girls actually got better scores than me. I believe it is because the gutters were up and their strategies involved hucking the ball so it purposely knocks against the raised gutters and bounces nicely into the middle making a strike. Whereas I am trained to try get it down the middle and not try hit the gutters. They beat me...

 Kayla came down from Nairobi for the day and got to come with us. 

 One thing I love is when the Muslim girls take off their buibuis. They wear them mostly outside and in public but when inside, they take them off. I love seeing their own personal fashion come out. Aren't they cute!

I got a text from Irene in the morning asking if she could wear shorts since bowling is a sport and all. I giggled and told her to wear whatever she was comfortable in. She made bowling look sporty.

My bowling style - all blurred up. 

It was an awesome time!! I just adore these young women. If you would like to support them and our activities, please click the link on the left and donate online. 

It's Canada day today! Happy Canada day to all my lovely canadians! Every year that I spend in Kenya, I am more and more grateful for my Canadian citizenship. I only remembered in the middle of church that it was Canada day and then tried to figure out how I can celebrate. My first thought was food - what food could I make that is distinctly Canadian? The only thing I could think of was pancakes with maple syrup. Since it was an after thought, I didn't really want to put the effort into making it plus I know that Kelvin wouldn't get full on pancakes. So we are celebrating Canada with some good ol' Kenyan ugali and sukuma while watching the finals of the Euro cup. How canadian of us, EH? 

Who is that chick playing out there?!

Can you spot her??

That is Ali, a fellow Canadian passing through Kenya. She is a friend of a friend and when she heard that we have a soccer team, she asked what she could do to help. She came loaded with a bag of soccer stuff for the boys and some other kids, something that we always need. Then she asked if she could practice with the boys. "You want to actually practice with them??!?" "Yeah, I do" she replied as if it was no big whoop.

Kelvin was tickled pink to have her come out. And let me tell you, she was fierce. I guess she plays on the provincial team in British Columbia and has even gotten chances to play on the national team. She plays for a big club back in Victoria, BC. So she's pretty darn good.  She held her own out there with those boys. I think they were pretty impressed. They kept saying, "Ah! ye in kali!" Ah! she is fierce! 


She came off the pitch at the end of practice with a smile on her face. She said it was probably the most intense practice she has had in a long time. She figures that if she was to practice like that everyday, her game would get even better.

Although, she was walkin' like a granny. I think she was quite sore. I bet her muscles are painin' today.

Way to go girl!

Glorious High Speed, Unlimited, Wireless Internet

Today I am totally lovin' my high speed, unlimited, wireless internet. Before I left Mombasa, I made a whole list of things I want to do on the internet while I am home. In Kenya, I have to pay per megabyte that I download so I try to avoid downloading videos, large files, pictures, or Skype. Plus, my internet is quite slow so even if I wanted to watch a video off of YouTube, I would have to wait half an hour for it to download.

But today I have had my eyes glued to my computer screen (ok not quite all day but whenever I had a little extra time). I have watched a few episodes of my favourite TV show, Modern Family. I have written countless emails and redesigned my blog (what do you think of the new look?). I have creeped on old high school friends on Facebook.

While I am home I want to download movies, music, and podcasts off iTunes (and I am thinking about getting a Kindle). I want to do some research on some business ideas I have for Mombasa. I also want to update the Rehma Boys website (I will be sharing some exciting news about that soon!) and look at possible funding options for our projects. I need to catch up with some friends across the country on Skype. I might upload some of the video clips I have to YouTube and then share them on my blog. I will try to figure out how to use twitter and finish my online travel writing course.  And then I plan to just watch funny videos or useless stuff that my brother sends to me and thinks is hilarious.

I am thanking God for a whole 6 weeks of fantastic internet!



I love that I can take my computer outside on our deck and watching the ferocious river pass by!

Summer in the Kootenays

One of the main reasons I decided to come home was to enjoy summer in Castlegar.  Summer in the Kootenays is to die for! Since I have been home, we have had endless sunshine. Today, my family and I had a little impromptu family bonding when we pulled out some chairs in the back yard, made a pot of coffee, and chatted as we looked out over the gorgeous columbia river. I have spent hours on my deck friends and family catching up on life and all that it entails. I got to see many precious friends and share in lots of laughs. It's been so joyful! (although I am missing the Kelvinator big time). 

My mom bought me my favourite flowers and had them waiting for me in the house when I stepped in. Love the gerbra daisies! 

My brother also acquired possibly the cutest, most fun loving, playful cats while I was away. The brilliant brother that I have named them fish and sue. Yup, a cat named fish. Try figure that one out.

They love to snuggle and play with each other. 

My parents have been really involved in the BC Senior Games this past week. Dad and I went to Nelson to check out the dragon boat racing. 

Nelson's signature orange bridge.

I spent all of last night with ear plugs stuck in my ears. Nikki took me to the drag races in spokane. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Nikki didn't tell me that my arm hairs would vibrate from all the noise. They even had cars that had a jet engine on them. They only went about 350 mph....no biggy.  

And I am totally lovin' hanging out with my BFF, Nikki. I love that she is only a quick 5 mins down the road. We are getting a good dose of cards and tea! 

I got news today that our new captain, Kadenge, was accepted into an awesome agricultural program! Kelvin called my parents this morning with so much joy and pride to tell them that his 'son' got in. This agricultural program is put on by one of my favourite organizations, Empowering Live International. I know that he will be in good hands for the next year. 

I am looking forward to another great week in the sun!