Karibu!

"Karibu" basically means "Welcome." Today was our introduction to Kijabe/Kenyan/African culture as we had Q&A time with some of the Kenyans who work at RVA and then toured the community, so I felt like it was our official welcoming :)

Q&A time was fantastic. We talked a lot about the differences between the West (mostly American culture) and Africa, and I must say, I'm favoring Africa in many ways. The way they find it more acceptable to just drop by than to try to "schedule" people into their day (which is understandable considering how fast-paced America is, but still...); the way they will talk to everyone they're standing by as opposed to purposely avoiding eye contact with a stranger until you're leaving, thus making an introduction as brief as possible; the way they think more as a community, so sharing their possessions which God has graciously blessed them with is no big deal. Don't get me wrong, I do love America, but I feel like we could learn a lot from this culture, if not just find a beautiful balance of taking time to love others more than our work and money. Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot of corruption here, but there is in America as well. It's strange trying to see both cultures in an "ungeneralized" way - not seeing either as perfect or as completely corrupt, but just seeking to find the best way to live in both cultures in a way which glorifies our God.

After Q&A time and, of course, the chai break... Well, first, I feel like this "chai break" thing deserves it's own little tangent because, well, that's what it does - it interrupts. Pretty much no matter what is going on in a day, Kenyans will stop everything they're doing for a chai break. This happens twice a day - in the morning and in the afternoon time. My neighbor was in the Nairobi hospital last week waiting in the urgent care, when all of the sudden the staff left. Why would an entire hospital staff leave? For chai, of course. During our school days, we have a scheduled chai break for students and staff, praise the Lord! For us, it will be a time of chai, prayer, and rest, and I will be working hard to institute this in the U.S. when I get back, I'm sure!

Anyways, chai break, official campus tour, and then down to the dukas we went. I met the vegetable ladies - sweet sweet Kenyans with the most beautiful veggies (and fruits, but everyone refers to everything as veggies) I've ever seen! They also sell other gift/decorative type items, so I bought myself an apron which is BEAUTIFUL since this is the week that I'm learning to cook.. I'm convinced! So then we ate at Mama Chiku's, the local little... I don't want to say restaurant because that makes it sound bigger than it is, but... restaurant? I had my first Kenyan meal, and it was absolutely delicious! There was rice, goat stew, sukuma wiki (spinachy stuff), chapatti (tortilla-looking thing), samosas, cabbage, and peas & carrots. AND, my first coke in 8 years!! Surprisingly enough, the coke was my least favorite part of the meal. The carbonation's a bit ridiculous. And they had this other stuff that looked like grits, but isn't, and I ate it, which surprised me because I haven't ever eaten grits, I don't think.

We finished touring Kijabe, I stopped and talked to a few little kids but didn't know enough Swahili to keep a conversation going, told myself that I WILL learn basic phrases so I can play with them more, ate my first African bug (which looked WAY cool, by the way - such a good choice!), and then came back home. I'd leave it there, but I must brag about the fact that I hung my own curtains today. Now, this might not sound very impressive, but it was. I tried to hang some a couple days ago, but couldn't figure out the hook system they use, so I ended up using clothes pins. Well after about 20 minutes of climbing up and down onto my kitchen counter, bruising up my knees, making ridiculous frustrated looks, dropping things into the sink, and all the time being watched and giggled at by my yard guy, they were up, and my kitchen looked better than ever!

Off to bed to the sound of thunder rolling around the hills and mountains around me... Praise our Mighty, Awesome Creator!