Kenya Update 9/29/09 - Parcels, Parasites and Pictures!

It has been a while since I have updated, and interestingly enough I've spent the whole time recovering from my trip to Ngong! No, my legs are not that weak, but my stomach is. That fateful Monday we had lunch at a local butcher, the food was wonderful (we had fried meat, ugali and stew :) YUM), but lets just say this establishment probably would not have gotten along well with the FDA. Anyway, for the last week I have had serious stomach/intestinal issues, what a draining and exhausting experience! Happily, I am recovering and have been incident free (you know...) for 2 days. Praise God for the little things!

On Tuesday I had an interesting experience. I went to the Central Square post office in Nairobi to collect some packages (parcels) sent from home. It was very fun because I was accompanied by my good friends Dibo and Jeannette. Jeannette is also an American (who is marrying Dibo in December! Very exciting...), so she receives various things in the mail as well. Anyway, the process for picking a parcel is particularly painful here, but it was very interesting! I'll walk you through the steps:

1) Present your little yellow slip to the first station along the counter. They take your slip and locate your parcel. Your slip is then stamped with a big rubber stamp. STAMP!
2) At the next station you are to open your parcel, removing its contents for inspection. They make an inventory on the back of your slip, noting especially the expensive or electronic items. Then, they stamp your slip again. STAMP!
3) You then leave your parcel and bring your slip and any expensive/electronic items to the director of imports. You go into his office and he judiciously decides what your items are worth based on his training through the Price is Right and the strength of your arguments. When he finishes his assessment, you guessed it, STAMP!
4) Upon return to the counter where your parcel is waiting, the employee does some math, taking a fraction of the determined value of your shipment as the fee to import the parcel. Sometimes this is very harsh and unfair. I made out okay. With another stamp (STAMP!), he sends you to the cashier.
5) Giving the cashier your yellow slip, you receive back a "voucher" for your bill. You see, at the posta they don't take cash or payments. So...
6) You proceed to walk 4-5 blocks to a particular bank. At the bank you pay your bill and receive a receipt, which you bring back to the posta to receive your parcel!

At least I assume thats what happens next. You see, when we arrived at the bank, it was closed. So I was unable to get my parcel that day! It was especially cruel looking through and seeing the awesome that my parents and girlfriend sent me, only to go home without it! Yet things worked out, Dibo was able to return the following day and pick the packages for us...

And what a package! I am so grateful for my loved ones at home who have been a consistent encouragement. Werthers caramel candies, Jello, sunday morning comics, all my music on a flash disk, a sweater and stinking Lego!
So what else is new, I am tutoring for the 6 math courses at ANU three times a week for 2 hours. That'll be fun once people realize they have free homework help! I spent an hour this morning typing 100 email addresses into my contact list, so I can harass the students to make sure they know I am here to help. Choir is going well! Tonight is the first rehearsal for the "PR" group, a public relations group, akin to a more select group from the choir.

Immanuel Ashene is the choir director and he has connected me (without any permission on my part, but I don't mind) with the local classical music scene in Nairobi. I am singing with the Nairobi Chamber Singers, which is so very close to the Chamber Singers at ENC. I love it, also yesterday some lady called and asked me to fill in for a missing tenor (from the chorus) in an up coming opera, part of a program called "Kenya Meets Vienna". Opera singers are coming in from Vienna and joining opera singers from Kenya to do a big performance...

In my spare time I've been sketching to relax. I found a National Geographic magazine in my flat and I copied a neat black and white picture out of it. I finally found a scanner, so I hope you enjoy:

I am off to tutor now! God has been faithful in sustaining me and providing for my needs in so many exciting and new ways. Okay - Jonathan signing out! **boop boop bip beep!**

Kenya Update 9/21/09 - Ngong Hills

This morning I woke up at 6:00am to go hiking with some friends I have made here at ANU. It was an extremely fun day. We hiked up the Ngong hills just southwest of Nairobi. The hike was physically strenuous, but totally worth it. The hills were shrouded by clouds (like we were walking through nothingness!) for most of the morning. When the clouds finally broke, it was like we were on the top of the world! The Ngong Hills are very bare, so there was very little between us and the huge expanse of Africa that stretch out for miles and miles and miles. I really enjoyed spending time with the fellas, they are seriously energetic, and photogenic! I got some great pictures. Special thanks to my neighbor Rao Yi for allowing me to use his battery charger for my camera.

The nature here is so beautiful. I don't want to say its better than the Hudson Valley, but it sure is different. The trees look different and the mountains have formed differently. It's like seeing a different style of God's creation, and I love it. I've posted a link to a Picasa album for anyone to check out! Enjoy and God bless!

Just a mile from heaven...

Kenya Update 9/17/09 - Lecturing and Learning

I am learning so stinking much here in Kenya. For instance, it is far more difficult to think clearly and concisely much less cleverly while you are standing in front of a class of students. It is so much easier to process and analyze material when the material is being presented to you as opposed to by you. Well I am learning, and I'm hoping that my classes get a bit less awkward.

In other news, I managed to build up enough courage to ask the pastor of the university church (his name is Gift) to act as a spiritual director for me in the coming months. I don't really know what that will mean, but I hope it is an avenue for prayer, accountability and a sounding board for what I am doing, and where I am going spiritually. This will be a new experience for me, as it feels like a long time since I have been in this kind of intentional relationship.

It is a HOT day today. But, luckily, from what I hear, this is "as hot as it gets in Kenya" - but I don't buy that for a second! This weekend, I am hopefully going to dinner at the missionary compound with an "Extreme Team" type group who have spent the last week ripping phone books and blowing up hot water bottles all over Kenya. That should be interesting, to say the least. From what I hear, I can spend the night there, but whether I go depends on whether I can get back Saturday morning for the Java class I'm taking on campus.

After class I am going to my friend Charles's house to "fix" his computer. I truly hope I am successful as he seems to think I am some sort of guru. Please see the technical support comic posted last month. Also, Charles said that he could probably connect me with someone who can get me a good djembe while I'm here. So djembe in Swahili means "hoe", so when I tell people I can't wait to get a djembe they laugh at me. Maybe for more than one reason! :)

I just read a BBC article about the "major shift" in US foreign politics (Obama halted progress on the building of missle sites in the Czech Republic and Poland) ... Russia is very pleased and their UN representative made a great comment that tickles me:

"It's like having a decomposing corpse in your flat - and then the mortician comes and takes it away. This means we're getting rid of one of those niggling problems which prevented us from doing the real work," -Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's NATO ambassador

I am happy that internet works again so I can keep up with whats going on.

Okay so it's been a fine week. Tiring but fine. I look forward to a day of rest on Sunday.

Kenya Update 9/15/09 - Holiness Week

 

At ANU every trimester they have what they call “Holiness Week”, if you’re familiar with ENC it is like having a week long spring/fall revival every trimester.  I was excited about Holiness Week, I usually love hearing the word of God presented in various ways.  I heard that several years they had Gerson Semedo come in to speak (I wish I was here to witness that!)  The speaker this week is the good reverend Wes Phillips from the El Dorado Church of the Nazarene in South Africa (Jo-town!).  Like most preachers, Rev. Phillips has good things to say, yet this Tuesday morning I am not at the Holiness Week service, because among the supplies I packed for my time in Kenya I neglected to pack ear plugs.  This brother preaches LOUD!  It was very old school, traditional, authoritative preaching.  I hope there are students here that are receptive to that style of preaching.  Judging by the conversations I’ve had with my students, there are plenty of folks who couldn’t quite appreciate what the speaker had to say.

 

At any rate, I decided being yelled at (while with the best intentions) was not a good way to prepare for my lecture this afternoon.  Instead I am here updating my blog, answering emails, and continuing to work on my lectures for Logic Circuits.  It’s my goal to finish all of my lectures for the term this week – that way I can focus on grading and fine tuning for each class.  I also hope that by getting all the “heavy” work out of the way I can find time to set up a math tutoring system for the mathematics lecturers.

 

I had the chance to be the rehearsal pianist for the ANU choir yesterday.  They sound so good on the songs they know, but not many (I didn’t notice anyone) can read music.  I am going to do my best (maybe doing sectionals at night) to help them learn their parts.  Their director is intent on doing a classical concert in October, performing the Hallelujah Chorus, Brahms and some other Italian songs…I hope I can help him meet that goal.  Also, he wants to feature everyone’s favorite mzungu piano player for a few selections on the piano.  I am getting the 3^rd movement of Beethoven’s Pathetic Sonata, Rachmoninov’s Prelude in G minor and Bach’s Prelude in Fugue in E ready.  I’ll use the Bach to split up the more exciting pieces, create a contrast between boring and fun! Ha. Sorry Brady, I know 4 part fugues are fun for you.

 

In other news, Julia Mattoon’s acquisition of a djembe in Ghana has inspired me on a quest of my own, to find a quality African drum and learn to play it.  I’ve found that most of the piano players around here are much better at playing for worship and stuff.  I still want to participate, but not at the cost of making a much better church pianist sit in the pews.  Anyway, I’ll be working that out, and searching for a drum that I can take home with me and play around campus!  So now I’m running and trying to learn to play the drum.  Am I Kenyan yet?  Um…nope!  I don’t think Kenyan’s eat an egg-in-the-basket every night before they go to bed, or hang Lego men from their walls in various ways.

 

[oh by the way I included a picture of me and a 1^st year student named Martin.  We spent some time together at 14 falls.  You can see how the vegetation in the water turned the waterfalls GREEN!! Very crazy!]

 

Kenya Update 9/12/09 - Sweaty Sunrise

Today is Saturday, and somehow, a CS student I’ve befriended named Graham convinced me to go running with him at 6am in the morning.  This is just as its getting light, in Kenya the sun rises around 6:30am all year round.  So, I gave running a shot again this morning.  Now this time around, I resisted the temptation to immediately swear to myself I would never run again after the misery ended.  Because there is misery.  Yet I am going to give myself a chance to grow accustomed to it.  How stupid is that?  Maybe not so stupid.  Anyway it is a much better experience when you have a partner to run with, and when you have the sunrise to encourage you home.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll come home from Kenya with a penchant for running.

 

 

And just for the record, we did not run far.  I have little to no endurance, but I pushed myself to whatever sad limit I have.  I will definitely keep you posted as to whether I catch the Kenyan running bug.

 

This was a very eventful week!  It was the first week of classes, except that very few students actually go to their first class.  On Tuesday afternoon I was asked by the chair of the CIS (Computer/Information Science) department to teach a course called Logic Circuits.  There was a conflict with the schedule of their regular lecturer, and I just happened to feel very comfortable with the material!  So I now have a small class of 3 students learning basic digital logic.  There are no text books for these kids in the book store, so I will be typing up lectures based on a text I found in the library and whatever Dereck Plante is kind enough to send me!  It is a lot of work, but very fun and exciting.  My initial dream was to come to ANU to teach, which was snuffed by a kind but firm “You simply don’t have a high enough degree!”  Yet I came anyway to meet whatever needs I could.  Lo and behold I find myself exactly where I initially wanted to be.  It’s remarkable how God provides in ways we don’t even expect. 

 

In other news, I bought chocolate peanut butter at the grocery store this week.  It is seriously awesome.

Test Message

 

Jonathan Ardrey

Isaiah 58:11

x253

 

Dancing as David Danced

I have no permission to post these but thought I would anyway. When in Rome ... do as the Romans do and when in Kenya ... dance as the Kenyans dance.

Kenya Update 9/7/09: No, I am not dead!

It has been a very long time since I have been able to update my blog exclusively because ANU’s network has a grudge against Google web applications.  It is very funny, the search engine loads, kind of…but as soon as you search it freezes.  Blogspot opens, but as soon as I sign in my Google account, it freezes!  Never the less through some Microsoft oriented trickery I am able to post again.  You see, using Outlook as a Gmail client allows me to circumvent the nasty proxies that make life miserable for Google – being able to send and receive email is especially nice because (lo and behold!) I can update my blog via email!

 

It has been an eventful week and a half!  I have met some good people, made some interesting friends and gotten closer and closer to my “niche” on ANU’s campus.  I am not there yet, but I will continue working towards finding the tasks that I can accomplish well in a healthy, God breathed context.  Let me tell you about my friends.

 

There have been 4-5 fellows who I have gotten to know very well.  They were the guys I initially worked with in the computer lab over a week ago.  Xavier, Charles, Peter, Michael, Evans, and Joe are just some of the boys who have taken me under their wing.  Consequently, they have spread the word.  The regular under grad students have returned to campus, and now what seems like a vast majority of them know my name (at least my Kenyan name!) and never fail to greet me with a knowing smile and a “Hey Mwangi!”  Probably the coolest part of knowing these guys is their enthusiasm for cooking for me – Kenyan style.  Xavier Mzizi has been the coordinator and chef.  The first meal he simply said “I want to cook some fish for you!” Neat, I like fish.  Little did I know that these fish were very little indeed!

 

 

If you look very closely you can see that this dish was like a fried medley of whole minnows, tomatoes onions and greens.  I can honestly say I enjoyed that meal, yet in retrospect, I would probably defer to another menu option! A few nights later Mzizi and the guys came over again to make stew and ugali.  Ugali is a Kenyan doughy meal actuator.  What I mean is that it’s a hot corn meal based dough that you use as a utensil to pick up things like meat and vegetables in a stew.  This meal was scrumptiously messy. 

 

 

On Saturday the Freshman and their mentors (most of the guys I know are mentors.  ANU has a great system for mentoring new students imparting the “wisdom” of the older guys onto the new students.) went to a national park around a famous water fall called “Fourteen Falls”.  It was a super exciting trip, and I got some cool pictures – but I will talk more about that when I have access to the pictures.  Anyway, while at the falls Peter and Xavier decided to buy some mudfish to bring back to my flat to cook!  They fried the crap out of those fish, but it ended up being quite delicious and well worth the exhaustive clean up afterwards.  I spend the majority of Sunday mopping my floor and scrubbing the walls around my stove to get all the exploded vegetable oil off!

 

So those are some stories for now – I can get back to updating everyday so I can fill you in slowly but surely.  I don’t want to overwhelm you with a long exhaustive entry with everything I’ve been doing for the past 10 days.  Also, its dinner time!  God Bless.

Remembering my Grandma

This past Saturday was my Grandma's Memorial service. It was the third time I've flown to Orlando this year, and it was bitter sweet. My Grandma has been battling with ALS for some time now, and Friday August 21st she went home to be with the Lord. I've been thinking a lot about my Grandma, and the heritage she has passed on to her children, grandchildren, and great grand children. I don't have very many memories of her from my childhood, but almost all of them are of her singing. She had a very strong alto voice, and I can remember sitting with her in church as she belted out the alto part of all the hymns. On Saturday as we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "It is Well with my Soul," I could almost hear her singing along with me. It was hard to get through the harmony.

I count it a very great privileged that my Grandma got to be a part of Meg's life, even if she won't remember it. In January, I flew down to visit Grandma while I was still very pregnant. I really enjoyed being in church with her as she introduced her family to everyone. She would say, "These are my Daughters, Myra, and Denise" (everyone in the church already knew Deborah), "This is my granddaughter, Heather" and then she would pat my belly, "And this is Meg." When we went back in June for the family reunion, she was very excited to get to hold Meg for a while, and loved seeing her smile. Meg would stare at her ceiling fan and smile, and Grandma would just laugh. She had a great laugh!

Saturday's memorial service was good, and hard. It was good to have most of her family in one place. It was hard to know she wasn't with us. There were moments we smiled, moments we laughed, and moments we cried. But I came away feeling like I knew more about her, feeling like I had inherited more of her personality than I realized, and just overwhelmed with grateful for her love of God and family. I know she prayed for us, I know she loved us, I know she wanted us to love God. I hope that I can pass on that same heritage.