5am cow slaughtering

I set my alarm for 4:50 this morning so that Kelvin could get up and go slaughter a cow. He rolled over and said, "you are the best thing that has ever happened to me". I was so drowsy that it took a while for what he just said to sink in.

He was picked up at 5am by the groom so they could go slaughter his uncle's cow for the wedding tomorrow. They had to get one guy to actually kill the cow at the farm, skin it, and cut it up into large chunks, taking out specific organs (including the liver, stomach, intestines which are still good to eat). Then they had to take all these large pieces to a qualified butcher to cut it up into smaller pieces that are suitable for biryani. We learned that this has to be done a very specific way for biryani. After that, they needed to take the meat to the caterers who need to start preparing the feast tonight.

In between all these things, Kelvin has done a million other errands for the wedding including buying water, picking up his clothes, doing a dress rehearsal, buying items for the gift table, and so on. Its now 6pm and I haven't seen him. Its been a bit of a lonely day to be honest. Its pretty hard being in the house by myself for 12+ hours. However, I know how important it is to be there for good friends. It was one of my resolutions for this year.

In the meantime, I baked some yummy oatmeal muffins for the Kelvinator when he gets home. I still had lots to do concerning the wedding, mostly to do with money since I am handling all the finances. I spent some time catching up on emails. I slept in till almost 9am (unheard of for me). I watched a cheesy movie on tv. I called my dad before he went to work. I cleaned our shoes. I wrapped the card box for the gift table. It hasn't been such a bad day.

I hope Kelvin will be home fairly soon. Then I have to say goodbye to him again. They have the kuhaswa tonight so he is escorting the groom with some other men to the bride's home for the ceremony. He might make it home by 2am. (Actually, I want to see if it is appropriate for me to go. I would love to witness such a cultural event!)

I still need to figure out what to where to the wedding tomorrow and glue one of the soles of my shoe back together. I also have the two batman movies that I want to watch.

It's days like today that I am thankful for my cat who provides another life in the house.  I am thankful for internet, power, television, books, an oven, running water, cheap calling rates, and a cozy home. Not everyone around me has these basic things. I am grateful for a husband who takes a few moments of his busy day to tell me how much he adores me.

Ok, am off to start ironing my outfit for tomorrow.

Bringing the ghetto home

Today was the final day of camps until august when school is out again. We had 200 kids come to our home from the ghetto last week. You should have seen their faces when they saw how big their beds where and how nice the hot showers felt. They would shower 3 times a day because they never get hot water. They LOVED the food. For many of them, it was their favourite part of the camp. They ate foods that they get maybe once or twice a year. It was a challenging but fun week. I was a counsellor along with 2 others in a dorm room with 12 girls. I think I have expressed before how much I dislike living in a dorm. I like my own space and peace so I had to put aside all my own comforts and learn to adapt and love these girls' way of life. They stole my heart as I got to know them throughout the week. 

This was the last day of camp as I am sending them out the door. I was exhausted after staying up late watching and listening to the girls sing and dance traditional dances.

I had been waiting for weeks to see this cow give birth. In the middle of a volleyball match, we noticed the cow rolling around own the ground with her legs in the air. We called over the men who watch the cows and they started to pull the baby calf out. Out came the new addition to our compound! Mom started licking the slimy baby right away.

Every night we had a theme and this night was twin night. James often gets teased because of his light skin and his american ways (he spent 6 years in the US when he was younger). So we decided to be twins.

These 3 boys crack everyone up. From left to right is Deno, Pudo, and Mich. You would think they are brothers because they act the same and are always found within a few meters of each other. They are just great friends who know how to make kids have a good time. They always amaze me as they never seem to run out of energy and psych. Even last week Deno was suffering from malaria and lost his father but you would have never known. Amazing boys.

This is Kate. She was one of our best campers and a sweet girl. 

It was a great, but exhausting week. I loved loved loved getting to know these kids. Most of them deal with daily trials which most people in the West will never experience in their life yet they are full of lots of love to give. It was amazing just to shower them with love and treat them to an awesome week of camp where they could just lay aside all responsibilities they have at home and be kids.

Half a cow

For some reason, cows really fascinate me. I find them so interesting with the funny things they do and how they are such a part of life here. They are often tied up around the compound during the day to feed on the grass. They stand there all day just watching the world go by. Last week, one of them thought that my favourite sweater was something yummy to eat and so he pulled it off the line and began to chomp on it. Luckily, he didn't think it was very tasty and didn't do much damage to it. I washed it thoroughly, stitched up the two small holes and it was good to go. 

I walked into the kitchen the other day only to find a huge carcass of a cow. The chef had literally bought half a cow. He got two legs and the left ribs which also included the heart. It was huge! I guess I am so used to steak nicely cut and packaged ready to be bought in the supermarkets. Here you get everything except the skin. So it took till late at night to chop it all up and prepare it to be eaten. The whole thing cost less than $200 and will feed us 25 people for the next two weeks. I think its a pretty good deal. Here is our chef, Sylvester "de-boning" it. I just need to say that Sylvester is an amazing chef! He loves little details so often I find pineapple in the coleslaw or cinnamon in the chapattis. These are things that are foreign to most kenyans. My favourite food he makes are hamburgers. They are so juicy and full of flavour. I think he needs to sell the recipe to MacDonalds. 

Chef Rahab is not really a chef but helps out when it is chapatti day. It is a lot of work but she's the master. She is such a hoot and even dresses the part. I can't tell you how much I love this girl. 

I have enjoyed playing our evening football (soccer) games although at times I can get discouraged because I can be more of an obstacle than an asset. But I love watching the boys play. I have never seen boys play like this before with all the fancy footwork and aggressive play. Some of them don't even have proper shoes. We have one guy who wears about 4 socks on both feet to play. 

If they don't have "soccer boots", which we call cleats, they play in simple rubber shoes or barefoot.

 

This cute little boy came to watch the big boys play.

Today was my first afternoon off since I arrived. I have not had a big chunk of time to just relax since I got here. It's been a good time catch up on emails, reading, and laundry. This is my washing machine. 

Washing is getting easier for me and I am getting quite fast at it. I washed half of my clothes today and then went outside to put them on the line to dry. Just as I got back inside, it started to rain so I ran outside and pulled them all off the line again. I hurried inside and hung them up around my room. As soon as they were placed nicely in my room, it stopped raining. So I packed them all up headed outside to hang them all up once again. It hasn't rained since so they are hanging outside nicely drying.

I am ready to start a new week now. Last week was tough as I was getting quite tired and antsy and really needing a break. I am praying that this week will be more energetic and joyful. I am loving what I am learning. We started the topic of African Traditional Religion. It's a really fascinating topic and very relevant today in Kenya. As much as many kenyans claim to be Christian, many of them still resort to traditional practices like witchcraft. It hurts to see so many people fall into these funny practices. In Tanzania, they have a big problem with murdering albinos. Albino body parts are high on demand in witchcraft circles. Continue to pray for these funny yet very real practices here.

Look who's knocking at my door

I turned the corner to my dorm yesterday and look who I found in front of my door. Yup, he wanted in. I told him that I do love him but it is impossible for me to let him in. First, he wouldn't fit through the door.  Second, he would make it stink inside and he might end up doing potty in there and I definitely don't have time to clean it out right now. And thirdly, the others would miss him and think it was unfair that he got to visit me and they didn't. I didn't want the others to resent him. So I kindly asked him to step back so I could get to my door without any of his yucky flies getting into my room. I saw him today and even after I rejected him, he still loves me.