last day with elias

well, today is our last official day with elias our esteemed teacher of what I call..."intro to Swahili" . we have had a lot of good times and have by far spent the most time with him over our first three months. the kids are very fond of him (not just because he brings them mangoes from nairobi) as well so this will be a hard good bye for all of us. this is a chance that we could hire him on at some point for a quick refresher (a week or two at a time).

beyond Swahili, we have gained a lot from ellias's perspective on most things Kenya as well as some things American. We have gained from his insight in the war between kenya and al-shabab....the price of goods and services with in kenya....the relationships between family members as well as how the family plot of land is divided with each new generation. We have learned the three biggest towns of kenya (and found out that we don't know the three for the US). We know all of the presidents (and almost all of the VP's) of Kenya. We know a lot about corruption from ellias's perspective as well as stories of how he has avoided serious trouble is Nairobi. He has taught us about the high cost of cell phones and how carrying many cell phones is actually a savings plan.

he has spent many days learning and playing UNO with j and letting m play with his cell phone while he's trying to text during his breaks. he has also taught e many things in swahili and now both of our older kids know about the game snakes on the cell phone, while neither of us adults do.

Elias has had unending patience with kevin, correcting his mistakes...and always ends danielle's sentences (uncorrected) with "thank you very much".

so today we will have nyama (meat) for lunch in celebration.