Want To See Kenya?

While riding on matatus you will hear some interesting music. Most of it is hip hop stuff and occasionally you hear a some real deep reggae. I quickly took a liking to one song in particular by an artist named Juliani. The song is in Kiswahili but is still catchy even if you can't understand it. So I looked up the music video on YouTube and found it to be an awesome overview of the people and places we see everyday here. It even features Moi Avenue which is where the Mormon Church we attend is located. So here it is. Turn up the music and enjoy:

My Walk To Work

My office is pretty close to home. It's nice. See the people, tuk tuks, and matatus on the way from my front gate to the office.

Still Had A HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hadn't planned to make any costumes this year, but I woke up on Halloween morning and I felt that sudden spark of creativity and motivation to AT LEAST come up with SOMETHING for Reyna. Poor thing--I can't NOT dress up my ONLY daughter on her very first Halloween! And one hand-me-down kimono, one headband, one black sock and one twist tie later, this is what I came up with.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is SO STINKIN' CUTE!!!!!!!!!

I realized, this is why I do it! I like to google over how precious my kids look in their costumes and yip and yap and sound like a complete fool while trying to get my babies to "SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!!!!" So glad I did it.

The boys were cute. I bought candy for the first time at the store. I discovered that they have Mars bars and Smarties like the ones in Canada. I bought just a few candies for each boy, and then we had them trick-or-treat in our house to the different bedrooms. Haha!

Daddy came home a little early and brought pumpkins with him. I guess it took quite a bit of effort for him to find them. The kids had fun carving. Our landlord and Lenik were excited to see them on our doorstep.

Then Daddy treated us to this AWESOME fried chicken place owned by an Egyptian guy from Saudi Arabia. Seriously, like just as good as Roscoe's Chicken n' Waffles from Pasadena. EXCELLENT fried chicken. And I liked their fries, too. Actually crisp and tasty, the way fries are supposed to be. They even had coleslaw. Then to top off our lovely meal, Hunter took a scoop of what LOOKED like pudding for dessert….it wasn't pudding. It was garlic creamy stuff that maybe we were supposed to dip our chicken in. Hahahahaha! He discreetly spat it out into a napkin and took it like a man. Oh so hilarious! It was kinda expensive, but it was nice to celebrate the holiday together. They even had a TV inside playing Tom n' Jerry and Garfield Halloween episodes, so the kids were able to feel like we weren't the ONLY ones celebrating. :)

Alright, I'll let you go ahead and scroll back to that picture of Reyna now. Oh my goodness! It's too much for me!

Primary Program

What an awesome Sunday! Today was the primary program. Now, I've been known to shed a tear or two while listening to the kids sing the beautiful primary songs in past years, but I was especially touched this time when the sweet kids in our branch were saying things like "I know Heavenly Father gives me many blessings" knowing what some of their homes look like. Or singing things like "I always want to be with my own family…." and knowing that many families have yet to save up and make major sacrifices to make the long journey to the nearest temple which is in South Africa so they can be sealed eternally as a family in the temple. I was just very touched. I love these children.

(That mzungu at the piano is Elder Lyons. He was just called to be an AP. I'm worried they'll ask me to play the piano now.)

It was also a very special day today because we got to attend the baptism of a young widow named Agnes, and her daughter who have been attending church since we arrived. 

It was awesome to watch our entire branch pile into two matatus and bus over to the public swimming pool called Star of the Sea. I'm talking like thirty bodies packed in a 12 seater sized van which is already crammed with 15 seats. It was hilarious and so exciting!

All the members laughed at Elder Lyons for jumping into the shallow end. I made a comment like, "Yeah, I want to jump in, too! It's so hot!" and I was immediately met with shocked expressions, and "Can you swim?????" I said yes. Few adults can swim here. Honestly, there were only a handful of people swimming in the pool. They only teach it at the private schools which are generally too expensive for people to attend, I guess. The sisters were clinging tightly to the bar along the shallow end wall. It probably took a lot of courage to let the elders baptize them by immersion. 

Anyway, it was so special. I'm excited for Paulo to be baptized in just a few months!

By the way, these are the famous Mombasa tusks over Moi Avenue. They're just a small distance down from where we meet for church. The kids look sloppy, I know. I've since cut their hair.

Shamba La Salaam

Last weekend, we were invited to South Coast to Shamba la Salaam, which is the name of the estate that Natalie Fairbourne's parents lived in when they were here. They are preparing to sell the place as a vacation home, so we got to take advantage of it one last time (my first time) before they sell.

The place is on this vast, lush, land and the richness of the home and property is completely hidden from the rural dirt road outside the gate. The beach house is completely open to the air. There are windows in bedrooms, but the common area is open.

Our room had a king sized bed and this was the view from it.

We could walk past the swimming pool

Cross the lawn and through this little coconut tree grove

And then there was the ocean. 

Gorgeous. 

The kids enjoyed playing in the sand. 

Here they're coconut bowling with the Fairbourne kids.

We also made a Volkswagen Beetle.

Once again, we'd see fishermen out working. When the tide was low, they'd be picking through the seaweed, I think for fish bait, and then when the tide came in, they'd go out in their boats which apparently are made from mango trees, all one piece, carved out into a boat.

It was so peaceful. It felt very much like a private beach except every time we're near a beach, we're approached by people trying to sell us a carved keychain or a bracelet. This time I told the teenage boy that I used to make bracelets too when I was a kid, and I tried to explain a different method he could try.

Anyway, it certainly felt like a vacation at this home. The Fairbournes cooked for us or hired people to cook for us so we didn't have to worry about food the whole time. 

I made friends with the cook, Najma. She taught me all the stages of how to get the coconut milk.

First it starts like this.

After the green part is removed, you try to remove most of the husk, and whack this huge heavy knife around the center of the coconut until you can break it in half with your hands. I wish I had filmed this part. Sorry.

The juice, if I understand right, people like to drink because it supposedly helps with urine infection.

Anyway, after you grate out the meat of the coconut...

…you put it in this cool woven bamboo thing called a kifumbu and then squeeze out the milk. The milk is used for cooking.

Now this is how you process an older coconut. A young coconut's meat is much softer and is used for drinks. Yum!