1/13/10

We awoke to such a strange rhythmic sound. I got my camera because it was a beautifully sunny morning and I had heard the mountains are glorious on clear days. When I got out there, I figured out the strange sound: Dr. Sams and Dr. Bunge were outside pumping water on a machine that functions just like a stair stepper in the US up to a holding basin on the roof of the house so that we could have running water this morning. Otherwise, we’d be using the outhouse! So they got their exercise this morning, and we are so grateful! The mountains and sunrise were glorious, indeed. So peaceful. When I got back to the house after taking a few pictures, Chris was donning on his gum boots and said he was going to milk a cow! He did great! I must say, he has a very quick response: the cow starting going potty half way through and Chris snatched up the bucket of milk to save it and backed clear up against a wall to escape the deluge before I hardly knew what was happening! Wednesday is immunization day at the clinic. More than 70 mothers brought their babies less than 12 months old for weighing and immunizations. I got to weigh the babies. They have a scale with a hook on it that hangs from the ceiling. You lay the baby in a fabric sling and take the 2 fabric handles and hang it on the hook. The poor babies just dangle there and you can’t help them from banging their heads lightly on the wall as they hang there. I really think I almost dropped one when I tried to “hook” it. Scary! Adam and I went to one of the primary schools around noon today. Adam took his guitar and played some music while I helped with hand motions. The teacher asked several of the older girls to present a few songs to us, as well, which I really enjoyed. They dance with everything. I’ve enjoyed that very much. After they sang, the teacher asked us to tell the students a little bit about our country. I looked at Adam, he looked at me, and then he turned around and sat down. The little punk! Ha! I guess the “history lesson” is up to me! So I told them about where we live, talked about the schools, etc. Then we let them ask a few questions. The first question they asked was, “Who is your President?” They knew full well who our president was…Obama’s family is from Kenya, and they are very proud to have Kenyan roots in America. We had a great time with the kids. After our presentation was over, we walked through them to leave and they got ahold of my hand. I really was afraid that I might lose my arm because they were pulling so hard. Everyone wants to touch you, feel your skin, your hair, your nails. They haven’t seen many white people, so they’re very curious if you feel different. It’s fascinating. They do have a bit of a mob mentality, however. If you pass out stickers, you’re surrounded and mauled. Just walking through them, I was being pulled so hard, I wasn’t strong enough to keep myself ahead…I really was afraid for a moment. I was glad the teacher was there to help me. It makes me wonder, when Jesus walked on this earth, I wonder what it was like for him…was he mobbed? Were people so curious about him that they’d run along side him just to watch him? Did the children want to know where the healing from his hands came from and nearly rip his arm off? I can imagine it was like that at times for him. I’m praying that the Lord will give me a bit of His grace to handle it like He did. Because there are times I just want to wrap myself up so no one can touch me and spare my arms from dislocation! Ha! I laugh when I say that, but I am a bit serious. We made dinner for the Kibaritas tonight when we got home. We decided we were going to make Pancakes, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. Were we in for a big surprise. Nothing turned out like we wanted it to. I tried to make the potatoes. We peeled them using great big long knives, then I cut them into small chunks, put some vegetable oil in a pan and stuck it over the fire. All they have to cook with are wooden spoons, however, so I didn’t have a spatula to get the “fried” part to stay on the potatoes. It just kept building up on the bottom of the pan. So we ended up with potato mush. The pancakes kept burning because we had to cook them long enough, but the pan was too hot. And when I went out to make the eggs, they said they were already done and showed me the pot. When I looked inside, I didn’t see scrambled eggs….I saw hard-boiled eggs. So we had pancakes, potato mush, hard boiled eggs and ugale (they weren’t sure they’d like our dinner so they make a traditional Kenyan dish that looks like mashed potatoes. It’s corn meal mixed with water and stirred until it’s so stiff you can’t stir it any more). I was laughing so hard by the end of it. Such an adventure here. Surprisingly, everything tasted really good. It’s as close to “home-cooking” as we’re going to get, I think. Fun memories. I’ll treasure them for the rest of my life.