Five Weeks Completed

We are now a third of the way through our sabbatical in Kenya. We have finally settled into a routine of sorts.

Friday night was "game night" with Roland. We are trying to get together once a week to play games. This time we played Farkel ( a game introduced to us by our New York friends, Rich and Joy). We always have to eat as well! We had popcorn and homemade chocolate chip cookies. A special thanks to my friend, Sarah, for the chocolate chips. They are a precious and rare commodity here.

Most Saturdays we dedicate to a trip off campus to explore a part of the African culture in this area. This past Saturday was no exception. We made a trip to the Nairobi National Museum

At the Entrance of the Nairobi National Museum

After a couple of hours of viewing some interesting exhibits, we headed over to one of the larger malls called the Sarit Center. We enjoyed lunch and another couple of hours of shopping at the mall. Amazingly, we came back with only a small bag of a few grocery items!

Our ride home was probably the most "interesting" part of our day. The driver of our vehicle decided to take us on a different route back to campus so we could avoid the inevitable traffic jam(s) going the other direction. The way he drove us back was several miles longer than the usual route, but who knows what the traffic would have been like had we gone that way. Alas, I am digressing too much, so back to my point: It took us 90 minutes to go just 20 miles. As you can imagine, there was plenty of traffic this way too.

Best road of the day

Most of the roads we traversed were rough to say the least. While riding in the middle of the back seat in the SUV, I felt every bump. I remarked to Lee that my "insides" felt like an unbalanced load of laundry in the spin cycle of the washer! I wonder if I will ever get used to that aspect of travel here. It is the rule rather than the exception. After we arrived back to our flat, we both took a nap - a totally uncustomary thing for me to do, but I was compelled by a tired, aching body. It helped me get through the rest of the day.

Sunday night I decided to try my hand at making pizza for the first time here in Kenya. I wasn't able to find any pepperoni (our favorite topping) so we had to make do with ground beef. I did have a green pepper on hand so that was added to the beef. We shared a little with Mary, our neighbor. I was going to share with Roland as well, but he was busy entertaining, so we'll catch him another time. I have posted a few photos to verify my pizza making activity.

Start with "minced" beef

Note the on-line recipe

A true work of art :-)

Tastes as good as it looks

We continue to take our daily walks on campus and outside in the countryside. When we walk outside, we usually see goats and cattle. That's not something we usually see in our neighbor hood at home. I still marvel at the beautiful flowering bushes and nearly perfect temperatures which we enjoy daily.

I am making slow, but steady progress on my updating of the NIVS Manual. It has been a good project for me to undertake. It contains many practical tips on helping volunteers adjust to the different culture. I wish I would have see this before we came. I think it would have helped prepare me and made my adjustment easier.

Lee gave his first tests last week. He is now grading them. He doesn't have class on Mondays so he was able to get quite a bit done today.

It's been fun "chatting" with all of you. We'll do it again soon!