Treasure Hunt

I was dropped in town....

From this point I began my "treasure hunt" for a sink stopper for the kitchen sink. Stop 1. small shop that is labeled "hardware"...

(greetings)

ME "...so I was wondering if maybe you have a rubber stopper for a sink drain...it is something that will hold water in the sink and not allow it to go down the drain..."

HE "ahhhhhh...do you need the whole sink?"

ME" no...all that I need is something that will stop the water from leaving the sink."

HE " ahhhh yes we have." then he motions to a fellow worker who he directs as to where the box of stoppers is all in Swahili. Once this guy finds the right box in the stack of boxes, he pulls some small stopper.

ME"...okay, I was thinking of maybe one that is bigger...do you have anything like that? "

HE "ahhhh no"

so I say my farewell and leave shop #1...

Walking down the street I find hardware shop # 2 just opening for the day

(greeting everyone there as I am not sure who is the actually person at this shop who could help me)

ME "....so who is the owner of this shop?"

SHE (no english only swahili)" ....it is me"

ME" ...so I was wondering if maybe you have a rubber stopper for a sink drain...it is something that will hold water in the sink and not allow it to go down the drain..."

SHE (blank stare) "aaaaaaa...the name of it is?"

ME "all that I need is something that will stop the water from leaving the sink."

SHE (seemingly relieved that another man was joining us in the conversation) " he will show you"

HE "yes yes...I will take you"

and he does take me to shop #3

I walk in...

HE "ahhh yes what do you need?"

ME"...so I was wondering if maybe you have a rubber stopper for a sink drain...it is something that will hold water in the sink and not allow it to go down the drain..."

HE " yes, we have....what size do you need?"

ME " I need a bigger drain plug if you have it"

HE "like maybe 4 inch"

ME "sure...let me see it"

he motions to a man who brings forth a plastic cap to cap off a 4inch pipe

ME " no no...ahhh...this is not it...I am looking for something that is made of rubber that you place in a sink so that water will not drain from it."

HE "oh... oh... ya, we don't have."

so the search continues.....

small town

I caught a ride into town from jordan who was headed to work...he dropped me in the middle of town. At this point I started my "treasure hunt" (separate post on "treasure hunt"). Shortly after the treasure hunt, I was walking down a street when I saw a nice Surf (this is a car). It looked like one of maybe 15 in narok...but nicer than 90% of the cars in narok so I looked around for who may be the owner. That is when I spotted Tim...So of course I greeted him and conversed for a few minutes. And he was able to send me in the direction of Lorna's shop that we had been looking for 4 or 5 times never finding it until today. so I stopped by there for a few more minutes of conversation and then went off to the local super market.

monkeys again

yes it happened again about lunch time there were monkeys out of our kitchen window. They took the next hour and a half to go across the edge of the yard and several began playing in a tree that was close to our yard. we put the kids down for a nap....and about 20 minutes after they went to sleep we hard them jumping on our second floor porch. so danielle and I went to go check them out...took some pictures....and then realized we were "the exhibit" as the monkeys were free and we were in the glass and rock enclosure.

will the monkeys get old? Well maybe...

we also had a walk into town today with the family and the kids did really well...J and E both got a sausage from Mr.super duka. we also found some chili peppers and saw some huge carrots. all in all about 2 miles of walking . the kids only started complaining in the last half mile...good job to them.

We are thinking that we may go to an english church service...it will be earlier in both the start time as well as the let out time so it may work better for our schedule, and we are thinking that we'd like to understand a bit more of the service that we have in the last 4 Sundays.

sweets

Sweet things are less common here in Kenya. If you know me (Danielle), you know I have a sweet tooth. So, it shouldn't be too surprising that only after being in our house for a few days, I was making a cake. E and I had bought a pineapple at the market so Pineapple Upside-down Cake seemed like a good option. I began making it when our house-helper, Jackline, asked me what I was preparing. I invited her to help me which meant she read the recipe and watched me. I also offered her a piece when it was finished so she good try our creation. I usually don't measure precisely when I'm baking except for things like baking powder/soda. Also, some things are a little different here, like brown sugar, so I will probably measure more than "normal" for a bit until I get used to things here. While I was measuring the baking powder, Jackline told me that Africans think that's a waste of time, the measuring. Well, actually, I do too but I want my cake to turn out, so for now, I"ll measure.

The pineapple upside-down cake turned out wonderfully and we were able to share it with our teammates Tim and Liz on Friday night during out scheduled electricity outage. We couldn't see it real well, but it tasted wonderfully!

I also got some zucchini at the market so zucchini bread is sounding pretty good!

the weekend...

this weekend was a nice, slow, relaxing time.

On Saturday Kevin, E and J all went for a hike with Jordan and B as well as Tim and Liz. the destination was the river that runs thru town...but upstream from town where it is still a little cleaner. Upon our arrival we waded into the freezing cold water. Tim commented about the fact that it was African water at the temperature that you would imagine to be closer to Canadian water. this didn't stop B from stripping down and getting in. Tim, Jordan and Kevin rolled up our trousers and waded in and E pulled up her skirt enough to get her knees wet. J and Liz took to eating the bananas that we had brought and sitting on the bank watching the rest of us. Eventually, J stripped down to his shirt and stepped into the water for a minute. After about 45 mins of fun we hiked back.

On Sunday we went to church...the Swahili service so that we can work on picking out words that we know as well as get the pace and tone of the language. There were about 75 people in this service and one of a handful of visitors. each of whom get the chance during the service to introduce ourselves to the congregation and be welcomed. it is at this point everyone know how little Swahilli we can speak and often a translator is provided for us (as well as being told about the English service that they have). So the 10:30- 12 service ended about 1:15 or so and we walked home to get PB and J sandwiches and get the kids down for a nap. After lunch there were about 8-9 monkeys that were playing on our fence that we took a little bit of time to watch.

What to eat for meals this is still a little bit of a challenge for us as to having the right stuff and working in the time to make it (with what is locally available). So we had an evening meal from Mummy's Fast Food. Kevin walked to town (30 mins) did a bit of quick grocery store shopping for the things needed for breakfast on Monday. Then to Mummy's....the ordering is the fastest part...samosas 8....chips 3....sausages 2. then the line to pick up the food (15 mins). on the way home Kevin saw the banana guy (bananas in his wheel borrow) and bought bananas. headed back home uphill (45mins). not noted with in the trip are the people who wanted to talk to Kevin, or the friends that Kevin saw on the way (45mins) so Mummy's Fast food only takes about 2.5 hours.

all in a weekend...

in kenya now

it has been so long sice updating that now we are in kenya and doing well. We are in what many call the "honeymoon period" where everything is new and automatically good and wonderful. Over the next few posts, perhaps you will see the highlights of our lives in Kenya.

highlight number 1: the animals-

Even on our way out of nairobi to narok, the kids and danielle got to see baboons, various birds and several herds of dom

esticated animals...all of which drew a lot of excitement and anticipation of the next sighting.

Just after moving to our home here in Narok, we spoted some monkeys just up the street...how good and wonderful. a couple of days later...they were right on our front porch.

Our new home has a great view, we can see across the river, but in a lot of ways it is nearly resort quality views of plant life. with such wonderful plants and trees, there is a draw for the birds. And the variety of the birds is amazing.

We have even spotted several animals that we don't know. one little guy that we have seen a couple of times is a furry little fellow that is about 4 inches tall at the shoulder and about a foot long, with fur and four legs. could it be a ferret? or something else?

So in all of this we are amazed by our surroundings, but fully aware of the need for us to get back to studying. Our formal language teacher isn't arriving until the 10th of OCT so for the present we are self teaching. Our focus has been on vocab as nearly anyone will correct how you say something so our helpers are nearly endless. we anticipate a time when we will get more interaction than flashcards and will get to begin to understand the grammar of Swahili.

leaving

Tomorrow we board a plane and head for Kenya (actually, for Detroit, then Amsterdam, then Kenya). All of our checked bags are packed and weighing 50-52lbs each. All that is left will/should/hopefully fits in our carry-ons and hopefully doesn't weigh a ridiculous amount. We left our house on Wednesday, Sept. 7th and have been spending time together as a family on a vacation of sorts. We are staying in a hotel, doing some fun things like going to the beach, using up gift cards, going putt-putt, swimming in the hotel pool, and watching movies. It's really just some emotional downtime between saying our goodbyes and our hellos. E and J are sharing the pull-out couch while M sleeps in a pack-n-play in a closet. Kevin and I have a separate bedroom. We have been making phone calls, saying our last goodbyes, and skyping with the grandparents for the last time this side of the pond. It's still a bit surreal and hard to believe we're moving to another country. It'll eventually sink in though, right?