Christmas tree...

This year we were going to have to buy a tree... no matter how much I(kevin) thought we might be able to just forget that we "needed"to have a tree this year, my family wouldn't let me forget.

So a few days last week I began thinking about a tree for Christmas. As you may imagine Kenya doesn't have a wide selection (not that surprising when many struggle to have enough food everyday, Christmas trees are luxury).

I started to look in the local store. they had a tree which kinda took me by surprise when I first saw it, then the price added to the surprise. I don't know what I was expecting but the range of the four trees in Narok were $10-$50 USD. They all looked like maybe they were china's rejected trees from last year or an overproduction of trees for Charlie Brown's Christmas performances. nothing like the large nearly tree-like ones that you see by the dozens in any walmart or target. these little trees ranged from 3-7 feet with the spread of about 2 feet across and the greatest point. looking at these, I figured that when I went to Nairobi, there would be a good chance to see what else might be available.

Nairobi wasn't that much better in quality size or variety, but in price they were a shade cheaper. So after making the all important call to Danielle to have her pick the tree that I would describe to her...we landed on a 4 foot 150 point tree for about $5. Our language teacher mentioned that they don't tend to last long, "you know about every three years I have to throw mine out and get a new one...they just don't last" and he doesn't have any kids living with him.

....And now we have a Christmas tree (at least for this year)...

I can stay in Kenya...

This last sunday and monday I (kevin) went to Nairobi. The purpose for this trip was two-fold. 1) to do a "shopping trip" for a car.. 2) get a mark in my passport.

1) the car shopping that I was doing was the very beginning of shopping just to see what was on the market. there is a market in nairobi that occurs only once a week (Sundays) and basically what happens is any number of people bring cars to sell. some of the people maker their living selling cars here others are just looking to unload a used car. there is a wide variety of vehicles from old used cars that should likely be headed to the junkyard, to slightly used BMW's.

I came with a short list of criteria, that eliminated all but about 15 of the cars of the hundreds there. of these 15 all but about 5 were eliminated by price....and of these 5 only one was even close to one we could live with and the price was too high. But now I know....

2) after a long process I was able to get my three year work visa. So my passport now says that I can be here for three years. This is wonderful because my first visa was set to expire in the next few weeks. While I was there, I was able to turn in paperwork for danielle and all of the kids. We should hear by Christmas that they have been accepted as well...at which point danielle and I will pay a chunk of cash and turn in our next bit of paperwork.

Glad to be back with the family not such a big fan of Nairobi as of yet...

Sunday part 3

I am making a little bit of a deviation from the plan....I was planning on writing this section, but then Danielle assigned E to a project that is similar to this for school so....I have made E and J the guest bloggers of the day...

"What did we do on Sunday?"

E: "we went out to the bush and saw lots of animals like zebras, wildebeests and dik diks and gazelles. at the manyata...there was fire inside...the house was not like our houses...it was actually made out of ground and grass. At the manyata while I was outside...as soon as one of the maasai girls picked one of the goats us I knew that I could pick one of the goats up too. I drank chai (tea). I went into a little thing with baby goat that didn't move very much they just laid on the ground they lived inside this fence of thorny bushes. I also played with sticks that didn't have thorns. and there was chickens."

J: "we went to the bush...we saw lots of animals, zebra, cows, goats, big birds. we went to a pinyatta (manyata is what he intended). I goed outside. I go with the goats. and there were lot of more friends that I saw. and there were lots of thorns. I also drank chai (tea)"

"What did you taste?"

E: "chai too"

J: "hmmm....chai"

"What did you smell?"

E: "I smelled the goat skin, and the chicken feathers...." inside the manyata? "fire and ashes"

J: "nothing...we didn't smell nothing.....I smelled the goats" inside the manyata? "smoke...I smelled the chai"

"What did you touch?"

E: " goats, other kids, sticks. I wish I could tough chicken feathers, but the chickens were too fast. I touched the parts of the house...the girl in the blue dress pulled some off so that I could touch it. the first one broke so she got some more, then I started picking up parts of the house, but there are sticks before the inside"

J: " I don't know...goats, I just touched one kid."

"What did you see?"

E: " I saw, everything that I looked at. we went both ways from where you were, to the goat one...I saw everything"

J: "I saw a basket, and my mouth. the house it had mud."

"What did you hear?

E: "I heard 'cock a doodle doo' and baby goats calling for their mommies 'ahhhh ahhh ahhh'. that is all I heard....I heard you and Jackson talking in the house. I heard kids, but I didn't know what they were saying."

J: "I heard birds, chickens"

this concludes the interview blog.......

and the thoughts on Sunday...unless you have questions :)

Sunday part 2...

....so as the kids desired to get a closer look at the wildlife, we took out our lunch that danielle had packed for us and began to eat as we walked out toward. After a bit we turned around and began to head back towards the church when we realized that wild life is actually wild and we were not going to catch any of it.

By the time we got back to the church building, Jackson (our translator and friend) had decided that we should go look at the water pan (an area of earth built up in an area of drainage to catch and hold water for times of less water). in this water pan (middle of an area that usually doesn't have much rain) were several turtles. One of which jackson caught and showed off to the kids.

After leaving this area we approached a set of maasai homes. Jackson now speaking Ma with a woman of about my age. we soon found out from Jackson that we were invited to take some tea. on our way to the home, we met up with this womans' husband and his friend. They were coming to join us for the tea

there is no way to describe the home itself, you must just experience this for yourself.

Upon entering this home (remember no electricity/running water/ windows/chairs/kitchen table/microwave/ carpet/paint/etc...) we all sat on low stools as the mama began to restart the fire.

I noticed that the kids of the village were no longer indie the home with us, so I asked jackson if it would be okay if J and E joined the kids outside. he said sure and they left...we could still hear them talking and playing as the men and jackson were talking about what all had been and was going on in the area. as the fire was getting going the men offered jackson and I some milk. This is an important part of the Maasai culture. As a cattle dependent people milk has always been a big part of their lives. They even have saying about the depth of friendship. a good friend is "one you drink milk with". I should mention that there is no refrigeration so the milk is stored in a kaabaash (sp?). storing milk using this method doesn't usually keep the milk from going a little sour (or a lot). before being served this milk...it is shaken within the kaabaash to break up the chunks... after the chunks are broken up...it is poured into mugs and served.

Jackson knowing that most Americans dislike "sour" milk, he said to the hosts that I didn't need any milk. Then, he proceeded to give me some of his Sour milk. I took a big drink...knowing that the taste will not matter if I took a little or a lot...if it is bad it will be just as bad no matter the amount. Jackson then asked if I liked it and in fact I told him that I did like it. It didn't have the sour taste at all, it did have some small chunks, but was really much like milk in flavor. After seeing that I liked it, jackson offered me some more. I asked him how much I could have and he said I could have half, but after the next drink, it was already well below half. so I handed the mug back to him.

Realizing, that I had drank most of his, he made some comment (in Ma) like, " oh the white guy does like sour milk...to which our hosts refilled his cup. shortly after that the tea was ready. we all had a cup and J and E both has partial cups as well.

we were in the home for about 2 hours...but what were J and E doing?

see part 3.....

Sunday part 1...

this sunday we J, E and I (keivn)...went out to the bush if you have read the previous post, then you know already that this was going to be a day of learning and adventure.

It started out with a walk into town...to our meeting place. we left out house 30 minutes before we were to meet our ride and I figured that it was plenty of time, but it wasn't. we hit the 30 minute mark before stopping at the Grocery store for some sprite (to settle the stomach a bit). then we still had 8-10 more of walking.

the best place for us to meet is at a local gas station where many people find it to be an ideal place to meet. in addition to this there are also 3 modes of public transportation that set this gas station as one of the best places to stop. So needless to say this place is always busy. Not just busy, but people are approaching us (strangers) in order to do one of a few things...a) ask us for money or food...b)welcome us to kenya...c)sell us some small trinket...d)ask us where we are headed so that they can get us to the proper vehicle (varied in destination from 1 km away to across the country). For A and C I often try to be polite and speak in swahili so that they realize that I am not a tourist. Group B is fun, only sometimes drunk, but often people just desiring to see you enjoy your stay. the D group is also fun when speaking to them in Swahili they enjoy the fact that I am at my destination and that I don't need them to take me anywhere.

so we caught our ride...and began the long trip to church. J and E (E feeling a little car sick and J feeling sleepy) both drifted near sleep. I was trying to hold one or both of their heads so that they didn't smash into each other or the hard plastic/ metal pieces of the cars interior as we were jostled about by the road.

we arrived at Church and were dropped off with our good friend Jackson. The car then left to go to another church (saves a great deal of gas). We were greeted by several of the people who were there (kids). and we were informed that there wouldn't be a large group because of the season of rain that we have been having and the need for some household tasks taken care of ( like to patch holes in the mud houses between the rains). so the number didn't grow so much, but we had two choirs, an organizer a translator and three visitors.

We sang, we danced and I was blessed to talk about the creation of the world and the problem of sin, the hope we have through salvation. It was a great service and it was a pleasure to be a part. The service broke and this is when J and E began to interact with the other kids. They played with the kids and chased young goats and generally had a great time.

After a while the kids from church needed to go home and J and E spotted some ostriches in the distance and decided to go get a closer look.

(continued on part 2)

to the bush...

this Sunday J E and I (kevin) are heading out to the bush for church. If you haven't heard the term "bush" is an interesting one as J and E both think that it is just a single stubby tree. what they don't yet realize is that it is a big expanse with wild animals as well as sparse vegetation.

this thought of bush became even funnier when e was worried about using the bathroom...Danielle may have said to just use the side of a bush. our kids are shy enough that they won't just drop and go, but it will be interesting if the need of this arises.

.....a bush or the bush.....

uno...a game of...

So J and E have really picked up the great american pastime of UNO. It started out as a way for J to lean his colors (at least four of them) and numbers. As we should have known, they have also taken a keen interest in skips. draw two's and wild draw fours...

just before a serious round of uno we were witness to the following conversation:

E "I want to win"

J "I want to win...I am going to skip you"

E "well, I am going to give you a draw two"

J "I am going to give you a draw two and a skip"

E "I am going to give you a draw four"

the good news is that they weren't upset, but it was trash talk none-the-less...

so look out for the competitive uno squad from kenya!

a big lady

M has been "potty training" since before we moved to Kenya. Her "potty training" has consisted of wearing underwear and me remembering to take to the bathroom every so often. M hasn't really initiated much until recently and even now, it's not really all that much. However, she is going long periods of time without going potty in her pants and is also having dry diapers after her naps and in the morning. We are thinking things are clicking for her and it won't be much longer before she starts telling us more. Today, she woke up from her afternoon nap dry and actually has been playing in her bed for awhile after waking up. I brought her downstairs and took her to the bathroom. I was telling Jackline that M had been awake in her bed and Jackline asked if she had a dry diaper. I said yes and that she was going potty now. Jackline replied with "she is becoming a big lady." Indeed, she IS becoming a big lady! :) we are proud of our big lady!

church...

today we went to early english service at church. After studying Swahili all week and needing a good bit of time to rest, we didn't want to cram our brains and day with a long service in Swahili.

so thinking that the english service was at 9:30 we left our house early for the service knowing that the english service is often short, we didn't want to miss any of it. however it started at 9am so we were "late". The sermon had just started and there came a few others after us. We did feel blessed to be there and always warmly welcomed.

What I didn't expect was the offer of the pulpit in the english service, then again by another pastor just a bit later the offer of the pulpit in the larger Swahili service. I was also offered any time that we wanted to hold classes or a workshop that we would be welcomed to do so. It was really a nice gesture, I didn't pursue it to see what this might look like as I have plenty on my plate.

so that was our morning...

we have no grandparents in kenya but...

this post is especially for grandmas and grandpas of our kids....

the one thing that grandparents do really well is to spoil our children. we aren't upset by this, but have come to know it as a fact of life.

now for a story....

I needed to go to the store and danielle was just entering her two hours for class. The plan was that I would go and leave the kids with our house helper (jacklyn). so I carefully explained in swahili what I was doing and that I'd be back in half an hour. she said "Okay" (this could mean about anything). and i left...

...found what I needed at a little store beside the road before I even got to town and headed back home....

once I arrived the kids were all happy and M especially so. I had left her with a banana for snack and she was sitting in her chair asking for more. so I put some banana on her tray and she picked it up and put it back on the table. the continued to ask for more. so I asked M what she wanted more of and was getting more sure it was not the banana. e & j were both working with school work and e lifted up her head just enough to look at me and say she thinks that M wanted more chapati (flat bread that jacklyn was making at the stove). J added that they had all had a few small pieces.

I don't know how much food the kids were given after "snack time". I guess that we will see how much they ate if they seem not interested in lunch.

so don't worry about the kids not getting some "spoilin" ...that is being taken care of!

the mt.

so There is one place in Narok that I had not been to that is a must for any red blooded north american. It is a small store in town that near the main road, across form the gas station. you might miss it, except for the one bit of refreshment that some of the guys on the team desire more than BBQ sauce...it is....MT DEW. up until this point in history, this sweet nector of north america has been limited in kenya to nairobi, but for only the second time in our knowledge, this little bottle of goodness has made its way to narok...only in the little duka in town. they seem to get about 10 plastic bottles in every month, but if they get them I know a handful of people who will buy whatever they can get.

today my friend stopped by and picked up the last 5 bottles for the carload of us headed out to the bush.

it doesn't have the same flavor...I don't know if it is more citrus, or if it is just that it is made with real sugar, but it doesn't taste like the stuff out of the can in the US. but it is a neat treat!

bush "church"

once a month AH tries to take as many people as they can out to the various rural areas to participate in the local community churches. Many of these churches are in areas that are not very accessible and have some connection to AH.

I was invited to go to an area where currently there is no church. There are a few believers, but not even many of those. I went with a national AH missionary names Steve. He has been working to build relationships in this community for a while now, but there is no established church.

The community is so rural, that government agencies don't even go there. There is a road to the place, but it is basically 2 tire tracks going off into the distant rolling hills. this community is at the end of this "road".

There has been rain in the region for the last couple of nights and this turned the "roads" into something much closer to mud pits. the mud here is extremely sticky. It is comparable to driving on ice after the mud fills in the tread of the tires.

we see the necessity of 4 wheel drive vehicles in traveling through the bush.

We had a paved road for about half the way to the community where we were headed. We sloshed and slid the remainder of the way. The vehicle that I was riding in had four of us...two were dropped off at a church on the way. Then Steve and I went on further for another hour or so... to the place the road literally ends (it actually fades into nothing).

Steve and I pulled up to one of the housing areas, the women were all working to get the sheep and cow pen cleaned out before the next rain storm. but they took a break to bring us tea and join us for a short service. we sang 1 song and then I was invited to speak (with steve translating) to the 6 ladies, one man and about 12 kids. Steve spoke for a bit, then steve had me pray.

our next service was at another house that as we were pulling up to we realized we were entering into a wedding celebration (just before it began for most of the people). There were kids surrounding one woman who was just beginning to butcher a freshly killed goat. Many men of this village came to hear what was going on...the women and children followed. Most of the people who attended were there because they know steve. this was to be a short service as I was asked to tell one short story (steve translated again). just as I was coming to the end of the story, one man began to make a big ruckus...he didn't see to like what he was hearing. He had also began the wedding celebration already with a lot of home brew. Steve talked after me, but much of what he was saying was directed at this man. I don't know what was said exactly. we then shortly afterwards left. as we were getting ready to leave once of the sober old men told me in swahili (his and my second language) thanks for coming.

then we began the trek back and even as only 1 hour had passed, there was a big difference in the road conditions. we were able to go quickly and only had to be in 4 wheel drive for maybe 1/4 of the time. we arrived at a meeting place where I and two of the people in my car were to catch a ride back to narok. Here we took tea and then met up with our ride, and headed out to narok before the heavy rain clouds let loose their loads.

Packages and Mail Info

Several people have asked about sending things to us, so we wanted to give out the following information. Please know that we can get everything we need here in Kenya, most of it can be found in Narok, and if not, Nairobi. We've come up with a list of things that would be great to receive and, if we don't, we'll be just fine. :) It has taken about 2 weeks to get letters and we're unsure about packages. We'd love to receive hand written notes as well!

Extra Special Goodies List

• J and E both LOVE puzzles, 40-100 pieces wo
  uld be best. Please remove from the box and cut the finished picture out. Put pieces and picture in a ziplock bag to mail
• Color Wonder books
• Books for the kids-paperback would be easiest to mail, E is reading easy-reader books, we'd LOVE non-fiction books as well
• Pecans
• Chocolate Chips
• Dried fruit
• Ranch Dressing Mix powder
• Parmesan cheese
• Any DVDs or CDs you think we may like
• Craft stuff for the kids
• Recent photos of family and friends!!!
• Kid snack stuff (goldfish, fruit snacks, graham crackers, dry cereal, granola bars, etc.)

Shipping Tips

The Kenyan Post Office charges us a duty or import tax on all packages we receive. Here are some things our team has found to keep that charge low.

• Send things in a bubble mailer. It costs you less to send and usually us less to receive. The flat rate boxes can also be used internationally, although they cost a bit more.
• On the custom form when it asks for the value of the package, instead of what you spent on it, you can put what the “yard sale” or “resale” value of the items would be.
• Also on the custom form check the box “other” instead of “gift”
• If you list all items on this custom slip and also include a list inside of the package, there is a better chance all of those items will get to us.
• So far everything sent to us has made it, but all packages but one have been opened and searched.
• Remove any DVDs or CDs from their original case and put in a disc sleeve or between 2 pieces of cardboard.

Our Address

Kevin and Danielle Foster (or E, J, and M Foster)

c/o Africa Hope

PO Box 847

Narok 20500

Kenya

EAST AFRCA