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. 

Two Weeks To Go!

The countdown is officially on. In two weeks today, we will be flying high on our way to Canada. 

I was the hostess with the mostess this past weekend. We decided to do a couple big goodbye get togethers with our fav people. Saturday, all my ladies came to my place for the whole day. They taught me to cook the real biryani swahili style. Most of my girls are true swahili people and make the raddest food around. I observed every step of the process with the hopes that I can make it for Kelvin on those days he is getting a bit homesick. The ladies had way too much fun trying manoeuvre all my 'american' kitchen items like the garlic press and stove. The whole day was a complete blast. These girls are some of the coolest people I know. 

A lot of chopping of vegetables. I loved that the recipe was made up of fresh everything - except for the gallons of cooking oil. 

One of the girls says to me, "Let me go stand outside on the balcony so I can know what it feels like to be one of those people who stand on balconies". Sometimes I forget how poor their community really is.

Blending the spices.

We actually deep fried the onions and potatoes before we added them to the stew. We used an absurd amount of oil. I think I will have to modify that when I cook it myself.

This was me the whole time: taking notes and hovering over people as they cooked.

Food was finally done and we all sat down to eat. My muslim girls just spread the food out on a cookie sheet and at it with their hands. 

I invited some of my friends to come and chat with the girls a little bit about their future plans. Its nice to know that my ladies will have other women to help guide them even when I am gone. They of course loved Ndela, who is a famous musician and a make up artist. Ndela gave them some good make up tips.

The day was such a blast. We ate, laughed, DANCED, and just enjoyed one another. I am going to miss these girls WAY too much. 

Then Sunday came along and we invited all our best friends from church over for the afternoon.

The men took over the living room and talked politics for four hours straight. No joke.

 

Meanwhile, us ladies took over the guest bedroom and giggled our way through the afternoon. 

I have such beautiful friends.

 The men took a small break from politics talk to summon the women to make tea. Ah, yes, we are still in Africa.

A good little african wife I am serving tea to all the men!

It was Kelvin's birthday the next day so we decided to celebrate with everyone around.

The night ended with a couple of speeches from us where I turned into a teary mess at the thought of not seeing my dearest friends for a long time. So many of them of getting married this year or starting off their careers or planning for children. Makes me sad thinking we are going to miss all of it. Afterwards, Kelvin and I knelt in the middle of the room and all our friends gathered around us in prayer. It was such a beautiful moment to listen to our beloved friends bless us as we start this new chapter in our lives. 

What my mother-in-law brings when she visits

Kelvin's Mom and twin sisters arrived this morning at our house. This is a BIG thing. Culture says that we are not suppose to stay under the same roof with her because we are married. Due to circumstances,     we have had to sleep under the same roof with her a few times so far. In April we visited her upcountry and, to my surprise, we were not allowed to sleep in the same bed under the same roof. So I slept on the floor with his two sisters and he slept on the couch beside me. We are suppose to build our own little mud hut somewhere else on the property that we stay in when we visit. We don't have the money (or the will) to do that right now. 

We invited his mom to come to Mombasa for Christmas and stay with us. He had to ask her if she was allowed to stay with us. She agreed and now she is sitting next to me on the couch. 

Let me just say right now how THANKFUL I am for our new apartment that has so much space that I don't feel totally overcrowded and overwhelmed. I like my space. 

Kelvin's mom came from the village with a variety of things that my mother would never bring. Here are just a few: 

- a large chicken to eat for Christmas. The chicken is alive. It's tied up on our porch. 

- 2 smaller chickens to give to Kelvin's brother who wants to start breeding chickens. They are in a box on the porch. 

- fake hair she bought so that her daughter could braid her hair.

- a whole sack of vegetables from her garden including sweet potatoes, maize, and beans - lots of beans. 

- CD's and DVD's of church choirs and gospel artists from her area. She doesn't have electricity let alone a TV so she never gets to watch them. 

- a VERY small suitcase of clothes (Mom, it is possible to pack light...)

None of this surprised me. I would actually have been a bit sad if she didn't bring a chicken for Christmas. 

I find Kenyans make pretty easy guests. They are really independent and don't need a lot of entertaining. Kelvin's sisters are busy making supper right now (can I get an amen?) while his mom is super content sitting on the couch watching her videos. We can leave them at home all day and they will be fine on their own. Because of the language barrier, we don't have the most vibrant of conversations but that will come in time. 

All in all, I am grateful for the large pile of sweet potatoes on my floor and having our house full of sweet family. 

Four Years

November 8, 2008. 

That is the day I first stepped into Mombasa four years ago. It was also the beginning of possibly the hardest 6 months of my life. 

We were placed in a mansion that was meant for a large Indian family. There were 8 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a humongous living room, and hallways that you could do endless cartwheels in. And we were only two girls. The house had some pretty major quirks: no water, no airflow, lots of dirt and gecko poop, a tiny kitchen, a noisy neighbourhood, and a few guards with their own personal issues. It was not an easy place to manage. 

I started off pretty excited about what was planned for us but my zeal quickly faded. It just wasn't what I felt called to do but I did it because we were told it was necessary, a spot needed to be filled and we got lots of praise for our courage to be there. Meanwhile, I was fading. We lived in a difficult neighbourhood and got constantly heckled by the men even though we tried as hard as we could to cover our bodies and act respectfully. It didn't matter; our skin colour was enough to make them go crazy. We had little preparation and support for what our work really entailed. No one guided us. We pretty much had to figure it out on our own. It was a huge learning experience and a massive point of growth in my life. But it wasn't easy. 

I eventually fell into depression and needed to get out. I went for counselling, my dad came over to visit, and they moved me to Word of Life. 

That's when things changed. I met Kelvin. I felt alive again in a position I felt I was good at. I was cool, literally, from the sea breezes that flowed through the Word of Life compound. It was a life changing few weeks to say the least. 

I swore I would never come back to Mombasa. Never ever ever! 

But alas, four years later, this city has captured my heart and offered me a wonderful life, an awesome community, and a pretty rad husband. 

I dug up some old pics of my first stint in Mombasa in 2008. 

We hosted a huge Christmas party at our house. To this day it is one of my favourite Christmas'. We had such a blend of cultures and religions there. We ate, played games, and hung out. We talked about the meaning of Christmas and love was shared. Such a memorable moment!

Our house came equipped with this inflatable boat that we had too much fun in. I remember rocking it back and forth singing "Rock the boat, don't tip the boat over..."

I worked in a youth library and we did a lot of youth events. We had a retreat for valentines day and we did some skits. I think this guy was proposing to me during our skit. 

This was new years. Yes, we laid in the driveway in the middle of the night. It was hot.

I spent most of my time trying to make friends. Some of these girls I still see today.

My organization partnered me with another girl named Sheena. I am really not sure how I would have survived without her. She was originally from Hong kong but lived in Canada. Naturally, she attracted every person in Mombasa who was also from Hong Kong so I listened to a lot of Cantonese and ate a lot of chinese food during my 9 months in Kenya. 

We used tuk-tuks a lot. It was easier and cooler. I hated walking around town. 

We purposed to enjoy ourselves since we lived in such a beautiful place. Here we had gone to Malindi, just north of Mombasa, for a day of snorkelling. Sheena was such a water baby. I didn't like the salt water and I didn't find the ocean refreshing as usually it was so warm from the heat.

My bedroom. 

The view from the outside of our mansion. I didn't say it was a pretty mansion. 

In the community we lived in, most the streets were like this. It was cramped and crowded but some of the structures were really beautiful. Some were pretty ugly. It is the old city of Mombasa and it is rich with history.

So Happy Four Year Anniversary to me!

Mombasa, I am glad you showed me that you can be an enjoyable city to live in. Thanks for loving me and caring for me over the past four years!

A wedding experience

I did, in the end, manage to convince Kelvin to take me to the kuhaswa last friday night. I thought it was sort of a 'men only' event but I was wrong. 

Let me just say that it was quite the experience. A fun one at that. 

We arrived at 11:30pm in a convoy of cars. As we arrived, we could hear the scratchy speakers playing local music and saw tons of people standing outside the door laughing, singing, dancing. We got out of the cars and waited a few minutes. Meanwhile the ladies from the brides place worked their way towards us singing, hollering, dancing, cheering, and generally having fun. It was a hoot! 

Then the groom's people (me included) took the sanduku (a suitcase covered in a lesso) and brought it up to the door. Thats when the bargaining began. 

It was quite lively. 

Check it out for yourselves. The bride's side is yelling "They don't have money" and the groom's side is yelling "We have!"They finally settled on a price and we were allowed to deliver the sanduku to the bride inside.

We had to wait to see if the bride was satisfied with what was inside. I would have been surprised if she wasn't because I think she was the one who helped the groom pack it. 

There's Martha, the bride, sitting as they explain what's inside.

Rahab and Gabby trying to get a peak over the crowd of ladies.

She was happy and the room cleared. We hung up the dress (which was also inside the sanduku) and waited for the wazee (older people) from each family to chat. That took a long time.

Then came the traditional kuhaswa blessing. The bride and groom sit with their best man and maid of honour while the elder family members of the bride give them advice. I was told that, because the family was christian, they don't spit on the couple like they are suppose to. It's too bad as I waited all night for that part!

Senior had to identify which one was his bride. I didn't even know. He did pick the right one though. 

The whole night was so cool. It was so neat to see two families come together in celebration for their kids. Although, we didn't get home till 4am. We got about 3 hours of sleep before we had to get up for the wedding. 

On to the wedding day...

The groom entering the church. This is it!

I was so busy during the wedding, I didn't get a chance to take many pictures. So I took pictures of them taking pictures. 

My fav part of the weddings - welcoming the newlyweds to the reception.

Just a glimpse of the fun.

Some handsome men tearing up the dance floor - I mean grass.

The newest newlyweds!

I loved this moment. Everyone had left and the decorations were being taken down. We got to just sit with the couple while they waited for their car. Time to unwind from the awesome day. Actually, they ended up giving us a ride home on their way to their honeymoon! 

Congrats Martha and Senior!

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.

Steve and Virginia's Wedding

We spent about 26 hours total in a bus just to get to this wedding. We HAD to go. Virginia has been a sister to me since I first came to Kenya in 2005. Their whole family made the long trip to our wedding in December and we were so grateful to have them there. 

Actually, our wedding was a milestone for their relationship. Steve's parents were telling us that when they heard he was coming to our wedding with Virginia, that's when they knew this was serious. It was also when suspicions started raising for Kelvin and I. We were wondering who this american man was who followed the Ronos all the way to Mombasa for our wedding?

Eight months later, we made the long journey for their wedding!

It was truly a celebration. We could feel the excitement in air from the second we arrived. 

 The kids welcomed the bridal party and the bride with some songs and dance. It was really precious.

 Proud parents walking their daughter down the aisle.

 Ryan sang a beautiful song during the signing of the certificate.

The happy could just being declared husband and wife!

Of course, LOTS of dancing from the kids

Mum looked amazing!

 I was totally impressed with Steve and his ability to keep the beat. 

 The ever so dashing brothers of the bride.

 A quick photo with the couple. We actually got to travel back with them to Mombasa where they are on honeymoon right now. I think we will catch them for bowling and a movie sometime this week.

 Of course, we got TONS of precious time with the kids. The wedding was really just an excuse to come see my favourite kids.

 Some of them aren't kids anymore. Beatrice is 17 years old! That was how old I was when I first came to Ilula. I was so excited to see this girl. We didn't get to see her last time cause she was still in school. She was suppose to be in school this time too but the government order all schools to close down for the holidays. Worked out well for me! She is definitely one of my favs!

 The kids LOVE Kelvin. They think he is hilarious. One girl said to me, "Nikole, he is really funny. I bet you never get bored." 

This was my 4th wedding in just over a month. We have one more to go this Saturday then it will be a bit of a break from weddings. At least for a month or two. Congrats Steve and Virginia!