Oh My God...Kenya!

2010-08-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

2010-08-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

This is a picture from the football match I played in our last week.

I'm glad we had this time together

2010-08-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

Knowing this is my last day I feel like everything is important. Like what we do, what we say is going to be with then for a long time. So I'm trying to make everything work out for the best. Like chilling with them for a long time; making Them Feel Good and letting them know I'm here for them. Let Juma, Simon, Dennis, Godfrey, Benson, Kevin and the others know I'm here for them. So if they need me, I can be there like the number 1 person that will be there no matter what. Even if they're dieing. Even if I'm miles away, I won't forget them. They will always be my Kenyan friends forever.

My most promising moment was playing that soccer game even if I barley know how to play. It made me feel like I was a foreign star.

2010-08-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

2010-08-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

Basketball all day long....

2010-08-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

Goal for St. Mary's

2010-08-04T07:50:00.001-07:00

Today the boys (at the orphanage) had a soccer game. It was real important to them because they can barely afford to go to other schools and play. We paid for a van so the whole team could make it. So when they played...they played hard. They didn't want to lose. So after the first half the score was 1-0. We were up. After a while it became 4-1. We were still up. That's when i got into the game. I barely know how to play so i had mistakes. Off-sides and stuff like that. When i corrected my mistakes i was good. We won 6-2.

History in the making

2010-08-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

Today we saw a once in a lifetime experience. We saw one of the still remaining tribes in Africa-- he Masai Tribe. They have their own language. They wear red clothes that are plaid or plain. The reason for the color is so they can tell each other from the other tribes and when they used to be warriors, it made it look like they ere already injured from a distance.
They had a map made out of sticks and rocks to show details of their village. Instead of shaking hands one person at a time, they sang a welcome song.
Then after, we bought souvenirs. i bought my mom a necklace that has a heart and it says LOVE and a purple bracelet. I bought my dad a necklace with a carving of a tooth and a bracelet that almost matches. Me-- I bought a bow and arrow, a necklace of animals, and they gave me a bracelet. For my grandmother i bought a statue of a woman. For our living room, a statue of a giraffe and an antelope mask to hang on the wall.

Oops...there it goes...

2010-08-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

Today was funny because after dinner they gave Ms. Kehn wine and a girl named Angela spilled the wine on Ms. Kehn as she said, 'be happy she's your teacher or you wouldn't be here in africa'. While she said that she swung her arm and hit the wine onto Ms. Kehn's clothes. I was on the floor laughing.
Before that , we finally saw all the animals we wanted to like- lion, baboons, hippo, crocodiles, rhino. We saw crocodiles eating wildebeest while they wre trying to cross the lake. Then we had an out door packed lunch. We figured it'd be PB and J with water. But it was chicken, orange juice, an orange, water, chips, juicy fruit, and cookies. We were surprised. Then afterwards...I took a nap with a Masai blanket.

Can You say WILD!!!!!!

2010-08-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived at Masai Mara where we went to our camp Mara West. While driving in a Land Cruiser we saw Billy goats just driving to the camp. We got settled in our tents. Kahlil and I explored the land before having to go on Safari. The Jeep had like a sun roof where we could stand on the seats and look at the animals. We saw a lot of wild life including: Common Zebra, Grevy's Zebra, Hippopotamus, African Buffalo, African Elephant, All three types of giraffes (Regular Massal and the Resticulated Giraffes), Water bucks, Thomson's Gazelle, Brindled Gnu or Wildebeest, Common war hogs, and spotted Hyenas. For dinner we had fish but i had pizza. The crazy thing was that we had lasagna for lunch so we thought we'd get something big like a T-Bone Steak.

Chilling in Day 7!

2010-08-04T06:54:00.001-07:00

When we go to the brother's house in Nairobi it was like banging. We chilled in like a mini Mansion aka hotel. The dinner was popping; we ate stew chicken. It had mad meat on it. Then i played basketball in the lobby versus some girl from Minnesota. I won 5-3. Their teacher taught Joe Maure ; the catcher for the Minnesota Twins. Then we went to socialize in this huge living room. We sat and ate Popcorn, Barbecue Chips and Peanuts. They had sprite, apple juice and adults had red wine. Before all of that, we found out that Ms. Kehn's friend died. He used to be a teacher at the school, he left when we came in. His name was Mr. Matharu. He got hit by a car which is ironic because in the book that we are reading The absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian. ( good book by the way), the main character Arnold Spirit's grandmother died by getting hit by a car.

Let me tell you Day 6...

2010-08-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today we went the schools called Nymachaki Primary school- that's where Benson, Dennis, Simon and Godfrey go to school. Benson is in Class 5, Dennis is in class 4 Simon is in class 4 Godfrey is in class 5. ( class=grade) They have big classes at least 60 to a class. When we got there we felt famous everybody following us from age 5 to older. The place is huge and dirty. the bathrooms look like they need major fixing. Then we went to another school ;the school Juma and others go to. The surrounding was beautiful just what Africa is known for. Their classes wasn't as big as Nymachki's were. They still are two great schools no matter what the conditioning.

DARREN 101

2010-07-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

ST. Mary's is crazy because everything is so different. Like if you don't make eye contact or smile at everyone they going to think you are rude. You can walk in the street like it's the sidewalk but cars won't stop for you. Everywhere has mud.

I have surprised myself because I finally found out that I can swallow a pill instead of biting it. I really never knew that i was going to like someone else cooking. I've tried new foods and surprisingly i like them... like Chapati.

The boy i feel most connected to is Juma because we are both good basketball players and we know how to dance very well. Juma is 17 years old in 7th grade. P.S so that means he was on the street for a long.

5 things that are different from American and Kenyan cultures are
1. The showers
2. Animals can run around
3. Food is different (more beans not a lot of meat)
4. The dancing (It's slow and repeats itself)
5. Eye contact (Must have it and smile)

The most difficult part for me so far has been walking outside at night without street lights. You can't see anything without the flashlight and since you only hear crickets you don't know what's out there. The kids are dark skinned so it's hard to tell who it is at night.

Yesterday we visited a place called the slums that's where some of the boys came from. the environment is beautiful which is what Africa is really know for. The only thing is they have no garbage bag or can so it goes on the floor then they burn it. They bathroom is just wood with a long piece of cloth on it. Inside the houses look crazy small; no rooms or nothing just one small spot that only fits two small beds and like a little spot for like a pan and wood for fire.

Yo Day 3.... !

2010-07-27T04:12:00.000-07:00

Today Kahlil and I made our own breakfast because Ms. Kehn over slept for hours and didn't wake up until 9:50- breakfast was at 7:20. So I made Scrambled eggs and two toasted breads with butter on them. Kahlil had to fried eggs and two toasted breads with butter on them.

Later we taught the kids for about an hour. They really need some help because i kept asking them the same question over and over-- they still couldn't get what's 6-4= . Their classroom was small and dirty-- they had pencils the size of a pinkey or smaller. The cover of their books were made out of newspaper ads. They reused the same books from two years ago. I had asked some kids where are their books , and they showed me three different books. ms. Kehn came back and said those aren't your books because i remember then from two years ago.

For now on we pull out 6 kids and I'll work with two of them; their names are Benson and Arafat. when ms Kehn met Arafat two years ago, he didn't even know how to write his own name. now I taught him today how to carry when adding and Benson and Arafat both Know to do double adding. Today I taught them how to sound out words and then say them ;they breezed past that like it was nothing. Arafat and Benson are only six and seven. We really need to get them books.

That Day 1

2010-07-25T03:02:00.000-07:00

When we got to St.mary secondary school and rescue center we met the boys they gave us a tour we felt like we were famous. They all wanted to shake our hands and know our names. Then we played Basketball with the new Basketball we gave them. They were good. Then they invited me to a game of soccer or as they call it football but was crazy was they played with no shoes or with sandals on and their field had rocks in it. After we had dinner- we had Hamburgers and French Fries or as they called it Chips. Then came movie night where we watched The Karate Kid. We left in the middle. That's when Kahlil and I ran home because it was raining. our foot prints were engraved in the reddish orange dirt on our floor. thats when Kahlil fell and cut his hand but he's ok. They also have roosters that are everywhere-- i just hope one don't wake me up. They also hung their clothes everywhere because Saturdays are wash days. I feel good.