I've already been here 3 weeks!?!

Where does the time go??!!! I can't believe that I landed in Nairobi THREE weeks ago! In general, the time is FLYING by...the weeks just some how melt away into a flurry of school and church and home activities. I remember my first day here (a Thursday three weeks ago) and so much has changed since then!

For starters, here are some of the accomplishments I've made in the past three weeks:
1. I learned how to ride the matatu and get to school all by myself.
2. I can speak a little Swahili.
3. I learned to quickly divide by 85 in my head to transfer shillings to dollars. (Just kidding- I can't do that in my head! But, I have learned to remember that 100 shillings= (about) $1.20; 1000=$12; 1700=$20.) Using benchmark prices helps me to try to figure out how much things cost.
4. I can now write quickly and neatly in chalk.
5. I learned to speak slowly and without idioms so the students can understand me.
6. I learned to eat, and "sort-of" enjoy ugali and sukuma (the think grits and green veggies we have at school everyday). :) And, today I was totally Kenyan and ate them with my fingers- no spoon!
6. I learned, over and over, that God is my Provider and he is SO looking out for me, every day and in every moment.

I've learned a lot more, but those are things that quickly spring to mind. I can only imagine all the new things I'm going to learn in the next six weeks!

Here are some interesting/fun things that happened at school today:

First, and most importantly, THE FOOD FOR THE SCHOOL CAME TODAY!!!!!!! It was the most exciting thing I've EVER seen. I mean, ever. A giant, white "Feed the Children" truck drove into the school grounds and a Kenyan guy started offloading big, 50 kg bags of maize and split peas, I believe. The kids cheered and the excitement was electric. It was such a cool moment that I'm really glad I was a part of. (I wish this would have happened two weeks ago, but praise God they have food now.) It was also surreal to see US Aid bags printed with the American flag and emblazoned with the words "Paid for by the American People" (or something like that) in real life. I've seen Feed the Children/US Aid stuff in pictures and on TV before, but to see it in real life and to personally know some of the kids it's going to help was an incredible thing. Government operations sometimes drive me crazy (like the fact that this whole food thing took so long), but it's good when the government can actually produce results. I didn't want to be rude, but I took some pictures of the moment because I never want to forget it. So exciting! (The maize has to cook overnight, so the kiddos won't actually get to eat until tomorrow. But, it's a start! I cannot wait to see how lunch works tomorrow and how they get all those kids served! It won't be the greatest tasting food, I'm sure, but it will go a long way to making the kids feel better and to helping them concentrate in class.)

Second, I spent a lot of time talking to a few of the girls in my 6th grade class. They are so sweet and want to know everything and anything I can tell them about the US. I asked them what they do when they go home from school. Their daily life consists of a walk home (and a matatu ride alone for one of the girls), then they change clothes and wash their uniform, cook dinner/take care of younger siblings, wash dishes, and do homework. It sounds as though they have little to no time for leisure at home. Certainly no TV watching or gaming going on in these homes! I don't know about TV/internet access, but I'm guessing it's not that common where they live. (TV probably being more common than internet.) One girl, Purity, asked me if I was engaged because I was wearing my purity ring. That was a fun conversation to have as I explained, in 6th grade terms, what purity was and why I wear the ring. She also got a kick out of the fact that the ring was like her name. :) Purity is one of my best students. She's vibrant and full of personality, she's a hard worker, and she's kind to all the other students. Today I found out that she lives with her older brother, his wife, and their child. She doesn't have a mom or dad. She has another older sister that lives faraway and she only sees her occasionally on holidays. I noticed she was always wearing a hooded sweatshirt on her head, with the rest of the sweatshirt just hanging down her back. (She only wore the hood part as a hat, and the rest was like a cape.) In the two weeks that I've been at the school, I've never seen her without her sweatshirt like that, even when playing football. Today I asked her why. She dropped my gaze and put her head down and didn't answer. Her best friend, Mercy, told me that she was embarrassed because her hair was cut very short and close to her head. (Most of the girls have braids, which they call plaits, but Purity is definitely not the only girl with a nearly shaved head!) So, I told her that I thought she was absolutely gorgeous and praised how pretty her eyes and smile are. She smiled and looked at me, and I asked if she would show me her hair. She slowly took off the sweatshirt and revealed a VERY cute, short haircut! I told her she looked so pretty and "smart" (their word for cute/pretty). She practically beamed with pride AND she didn't wear the sweatshirt for the rest of the day!!!! YAY! I was so proud of her for finding her confidence, and so glad I could help her to discover that she is beautiful, no matter if she has short hair or plaits or anything in between! :) It was a great moment of success for me and a validation of what I'm doing. (Sometimes, especially here, "teaching" isn't so much about the lessons. It's about helping the kids feel valuable and discover their own self-worth.)

Third, I was asked to lead devotions for the 6th and 7th graders tomorrow afternoon. I'm not sure what I'm going to teach about yet, but I'm pretty excited about it!

Well...here I am, three weeks in. Kenya has surely found it's way into my heart and there are SO many things I'll never forget!

Love,
Ashley

(PS: Here are a few things you can pray for: my continued health, the structure of the school to keep getting better and more organized as time goes on, the first lunch tomorrow to go smoothly, safety on the matatu ride, and my communication with the students to continue to go well. You can praise God that I've learned ALMOST all the names of my 35 6th graders!!!! whoo hoo!!! There are only two or three that keep giving me trouble, the rest I'm finally remembering! :))