Livin' that Muzungu Life

While I previously thought that "muzungu" only meant "white person" (it seemed to be used interchangeably with "white face" when we've been heckled at the market!) I learned Sunday night that it mostly means "one who has traveled a far distance" but usually does refer to someone who is white. I like this definition much better...after all, we have traveled over 8,000 miles (or ~12,800 kilometers ;-)) to get here!


What a full few days it's been! Some brief highlights:

• KISSING GIRAFFES! We went to a "Giraffe Centre" to hang out with these beautiful creatures for a few hours, and snuck in a couple smooches! (pictures to come when I'm feeling less lazy and want to upload them)

• A traditional Kenyan meal, which was goat meat for everyone else, but roasted potatoes, ugali (a paste kind of like smushed rice)and greens for me

• Drumming in an African drum circle that we happened upon in a field...such fun

•  Getting to know the others in the program super well, and playing games upon games upon games every night (Blitz, Farkel, and most recently poker!)

• Finally visiting the children's home yesterday where Rochelle and I will be doing our internships! What. A. Place. The directors of all the programs there were more than friendly and welcoming, and every time they mentioned another thing they have going on there that we could be involved in I wanted to say "I'll do that too!" There are (I think) 82 kids at the home right now, and Rochelle and I were asked if one of our projects could be developing case files on each child. WOW. What an opportunity! Asking children to dredge up their past experiences will be painful, I can't even imagine to what extent, but having the opportunity to interact with all of them one-on-one and hopefully speak Truth into their lives is a very exciting prospect.

While I am truly loving this Kenyan experience, there are moments when I feel my "muzungu" status more than others...every day in the caf line I ask all the students around me what certain foods are ("gerthi", "gdengue" to name a few!) and then ask the weirdest question I could pose "Is there meat in it?" One of the drivers for our program who's Kenyan said he's never heard of an African who's a vegetarian, but I would be a good date since meat is expensive...ha. I'm starting to figure out how to think in shillings instead of dollars, am getting a better sense of Nairobi and learning to listen carefully to understand many different types of accented English, but it's still strange to exist in this place where I feel out of place and others know I'm out of place. It's all part of the experience, and my spirits are still high...I think I'm waiting for a moment when I don't feel like just a visitor, but I'm not sure that's going to come within 4 short months.

I'm off to journal in the sunshine--but not sit on the grass :)!

I don't even know where to start!

So y'all, I'M IN KENYA.

Try to let that sink in for a minute...I know it certainly hasn't sunk in for me yet! I and the other students keep looking at each other with wide eyes and saying "Guys, we're in KENYA."

We left behind a bitterly cold Chicago on Sunday night (and unfortunately one of our group members, who was stuck in Detroit :-( ). Fast forward through 21 hours of flying on a very nice airline and a brief layover in Turkey, and we landed in Nairobi at about 3:30am Kenyan time. In both Turkey and Kenya we left the plane via stairs down to the tarmac, which I've never done before so it kind of made me feel like I was in a movie!

We've spent most of this week just getting settled in on campus and doing some orientation stuff. Eating in the cafeteria is always an adventure as we attempt quick mental math at converting shillings to dollars and step around the wild cats that hang out around the tables waiting for dropped food.

I am really enjoying getting to know all my group members: who they are, where they came from, and why they decided to come to Kenya. Most of us only met 5 days ago, but it feels like family already (I don't care how cliche the "my study-abroad group is now my family" line is...it is so good to be here with great people!)

I have had a lot of time to relax and think this week, and have found myself pondering the ways that God works through culture. The Kenyan people are much more relaxed than Americans...being on time often doesn't matter and rushing for much of anything is unnecessary. I have been relishing in the extra time to read my Bible and journal and take as long as I want (waking up around 5 or 6 every morning due to my confused and jet-lagged body helps too!)

I'm taking one class here, the history of Kenya, and I'll be spending the majority of my time working at a children's home, which I'll see for the first time on Monday. I can't wait to meet the kids and get settled in there...this is what my heart has been dreaming of for months and months!

I'm off to soak in the sunshine and not walk on the grass (I guess that's frowned upon here).

Asante sana, friends!