Kims In Kenya

2009-05-15T15:02:00.004+03:00

(Peter) As we count down....some of the recent happenings...

May 10 (Sunday) It was late afternoon around 4 pm when we decided to grab a quick bite to eat at a local food court. As we drove down Ngong Road, Amber and I noticed the traffic was worse than usual. We assumed it was an accident that was slowing things down. As we approached the shopping mall (food court), I looked up ahead down the road and saw a figure in the middle of the road which seemed like a body. I quickly said, "Close your eyes! Noah and Abby, close your eyes!"

Without question, they closed their eyes and looked down. Amber whispered, "what is it?"

I motioned with a nod towards the middle of the road. As we got closer, it was clear that it was a body of a man lying perfectly between 2 lanes of traffic (1 lane each way). What was amazing was cars were driving past like there was nothing there. Was it a hit-and-run? Was it a thief stoned to death? It couldn't have been hit-and-run. The car would have never gotten a way in this traffic jam. We pulled in to the strip mall, kept the kids away from the window. Ate and drove back.

The next day, I asked some of my students about the incident. One student saw the body after I did; the student said the body was off to the side of the road by the time (the student) saw it. All who have lived here for a while said it was probably a thief beaten to death.

Just have a hard time grasping that concept...a husband can beat up his wife to a point her face is unrecognizable and nothing would happen to him, but a person can be stoned to death for stealing a single banana to feed himself or his/her starving child. Hmmmmmmmm.......?

May 14 (Thursday) As we were sharing our "highs and lows" of the day during dinner, Amber shared with me that Abby had a "tough day. and broke down in the morning." Like me, she is having a difficult time with the upcoming "transition." Having to say "good bye" to so many people is weighing HEAVY ON OUR HEARTS. So much of me doesn't want to go back because of the relationships. I so wish it wasn't 10,000 miles away. As we kept on sharing about our day, Abby broke down and said, "If I say good bye to my friends here, Hala, Gabriel, Matthew, I won't see them until like I'm in college or something. That's like more than 10 years."

May 19 (Tuesday) 1st Annual "Rhino Cup" Staff vs. WNS Football team. We thought we could take 'em....who were we kidding? The kids ran circles around us. It was my very first football (soccer) game...I kept asking, "why use your feet when you have hands?" Final score, 3-0 The whole school body came out to watch. Embarrassement. The athletes walked away with the 1st ever Rhinos Cup...a stainless steel cup upsidedown with a wooden Rhino glued on it.

May 21 -23 (Thursday - Saturday) My good friend Joel Dixon asked me and my family to help him chaperone the annual 8th grade over-nighter. Because we love Mr. Dixon, we agreed. It turned out this was what the kids needed before leaving Kenya. It was the most fun Noah and Abby had while here in Kenya. 2-night, 3 day trip took place at "Savage Camp" in Tana River. 8th grade boys and girls (28 of them) were so nice to both Noah and Abby. The two joined them with all the activities including white-water rafting, rock climbing and many other team-building activities. Both Noah and Abby were allowed to rock climb...about 50 feet high. Abby went up about 40 feet before she got tired; Noah was able to climb all the way. Kenya is so great. Abby (6 years old) would have never been able to go climbing in the states because of her age and liability...stinkin' law suits. Noah spent all 3 days with the 8th grade boys. They were so good with both of our kids. When Amber and I asked them, " what was your favorite thing about the trip?" Both replied, "they didn't treat us like little kids."

May 28 (Thursady) 2nd to last day of school. Tonight, we had our first (annual) athletic banquet to recognize all our student-athletes for a job well done. The school has never had anything like this, so when I sent out the invition, I was expecting 40-50 people...we had over 110 people show up. Started with a catered dinner, then the letter awards presentation. There were a lot of hootin' and hollerin' which was great to see and hear. Katie R. presented me with a gift at the end...big mug with a Rhino engraved on it...also "It takes a little bit more to be a Rhino!" engraved as well. School spirit is a GREAT thing. Student-athletes at West Nairobi have done so much for me this year.

May 29 (Friday) Last day of school. Never in my teaching career, has the last day been so hard. It was SO HARD to say 'good bye' to so many wonderful young men and women. I tried my best to hold it together, but I couldn't. Shaq, Zam, Austin, Katie, Chris to name a few...hugging them and telling them, "I'm proud of you and I love you" got to me real quick. After school, spent about 45 minutes hugging, crying, and talking to the students. Then, I went to the 8th grade luncheon where I was the guest speaker. It was such an honor to stand in front of 28 awesome 8th grade students and speak. Parents were great, too.

Later in the afternoon, we met Abby's friend Hala at the elephant orphanage. Hala gave Abby a going away present...Abby is a foster parent to Mwenzi, an orphaned elephant. We got to walk around the orphanage, got to interact with the elephants, and Noah got to interact with warthogs. Will have to share the video with you when we get back. internet is tooooo slow to upload videos. Noah got very close...within 7 feet of them.

May 30 (Saturday) Amber and I got busy cleaning and packing to move out of the apartment. We packed and cleaned all day. We gave most of our furniture (2 beds, couch, mattresses, and other goods) to our friend John...a Kenyan man who befriended our family when we first got here....such a godly man. He makes 7,000 shillings a month, working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day...which is more than a lot of other people, but still not much. He was so thankful to receive the goods. Went and visited him at night and gave him more stuff. I'm sure going to miss John and his family.

May 31 (Sunday) We had to move out by midnight, so got up early from Mayfield Guesthouse, went back to our apartment, to clean and pack. I was able to make 1 round before breakfast. After breakfast, the 4 of us went back and got to work. The school sent their truck to pick up the appliances. Our friends (the Linc's - Abby's best friend Hala) were gracious enough to take the kids so we could utilize the little space we had in our car. Amber and I were hoping to get everything cleaned up and out by 10 or 11pm, but with the Linc's taking Abby and Noah, we were out of the apartment at 8:45pm. They even brough our kids back instead of us picking them (up)....if you don't know, they don't say "pick up someone" here in Kenya; they say "pick someone" When the kids were dropped off, Abby and Hala had to say good-bye. It was very difficult to see.

Amber and the kids are asleep now. As I update this blog, I'm surrounded by 18 pieces of luggage...how much is that going to cost us? Missionary rate, or better yet, missionary break. hope so. We have Monday and Tuesday, then we're out the door on Wednesday at 5:15 AM.

So much going on in my mind. Friends I'm leaving behind. to protect their identity....Mr. T, Miss P, Miss W. Miss P, Mr. D x 2, Miss C, just to name a few...then the facility staff, my Kenyan brothers, Abisai, Josephat, Daniel, Ayube, Shadrak, Evans, Peter, Michael, Gilbert, John, Chelule, Weje, Julius, and my sistas, Caren and Rose....how I will miss them so. They have changed my life!!!

It's 12:13AM. Better get to bed. I have to get up at 5:30 to go to work. Gotta finish cleaning up the office. No rest for the weary.

Be Blessed,
Peter Kim

Possibly one more posting before we take off.

Other random thoughts...

people have been asking me, "what's the first thing you're going to do when you get back?" My response, "first at the airport, I'm running over to the first drinking fountain I see and drink 'til I get a belly ache. Then before the weekend is over (we fly in on Thursday) I am going to wear my nice watch and going to go for a run 10:30 at night, and when cars drive by, I'm going to show them how nice my watch is and not get robbed."

Amber's response: "I can't wait to wear my wedding ring and feel safe." "We're going to go out as a family and see a movie at night and when the movie is over, just walk around the parking lot feeling safe just because we can." "I can't wait to go running with my girlfriends."

Amber and I both think Abby is going to find herself back in Africa when she's older.

Easter egg hunt, Rugby, winding down, getting ready to return...

2009-05-05T14:32:00.014+03:00

April 13
(Peter) Went over to our friends’ house for Easter Egg Hunt. This was a SPECIAL Easter Egg Hunt. Our friends are with an organization where they house over 20 orphaned girls (ages 5-16) and be their parents. They do have 3 Kenyan ladies who they refer to as “aunties”. In the past 2 years, our friends have built a home to house these 20 girls, are finishing up a dining hall, interviewed kid after kid to come up with 20 names with most needs, etc. Today was a fun day…egg hunt, egg toss, egg painting, bean bag race, etc. Noah and Abby along with our friends’ kids helped hide the eggs in their compound. They also participated in other games with the girls. So much fun!!!

April 16

(Peter) so I guess I didn't learn my lesson from the last time I had "cow intestine soup" with the guys. they invited me again and this time it was just "beef soup". I looked at it and it looked ok. Ayubu said, "it's not like the other soup. You had trouble with the intestine soup. we saw you struggling." Everyone laughed and said that I was the first mzungu to ever try the soup. Well, they gave me a plate full of beef soup with cabbage and ugali. I took a sip and deja vu...the smell almost brought my breakfast and dinner from last night up...I had to gather myself and hold it down. The smell wasn't as strong, but similar to the intestine soup...so I didn't eat any of the broth, but had everything else. They gave me a bottle of Coke to wash it down. The guys all got a good laugh at my facial expressions. Thank you God for giving me a strong stomach.

April 18
(Peter) spent last night packing up the car ‘til 2:30 in the morning. Got up at 5:30 to head out Rosslyn Academy for their bi-annual bazzare hoping to sell as much as we could before heading back home in 6 weeks. Couldn’t fit anybody in the car; Toyota Corolla was packed to the ceiling in the back, the passenger seat and the trunk was full as well. I had to scoot my seat forward and couldn’t see the side mirror nor the rear-view mirror. Got there safely and the sale was a success. Funny selling all the stuff that we packed to use in the next two years, then the plans changed. Funnier thinking that our shipment got here at the beginning of March (sent it back in July), had to pay again from this end just to get our shipment, only to sell it all off 6 weeks after its arrival. Anyway…got few things stolen, but all in all, it was a success.

April 21
(Peter) During middle school PE, our rugby coach who is also one of the assistant coaches for the Kenyan national team texts me and says, “U.S. rugby team will be coming over before our game to do a short clinic for both teams.”
“What! The U.S. team coming to our campus?!” I thought. It was exciting to be hosting a club team from the slums to play let alone the U.S. National team…how about that.
Well, soon after 1:30 a bus arrived with middle and high school age boys from Mathari slums. As an outreach event, the school paid for their transportation to and from Mathari. 5 minutes later another bus arrived, and wouldn’t you know it, it really was the U.S. junior national team. They worked their way down to the field and started playing with the boys from Mathari. Our students were still in class, but within 15 minutes, we had our whole school in the bandas watching the U.S. team do their thing. They worked with both boys from Mathari and West Nairobi. We ended up losing a close game to Mathari, but well played game for both teams. Noah got a chance to sit and chat with some of the U.S. players during the high school game. What a neat experience for him.
US coach came up to me and asked if his team can return and practice on our field. There was no hesitation in my voice as I said, “Absolutely! It would be a great honor for the school and once in a lifetime experience for our students.”
Our field isn’t all that great, but I guess a step up from the field they were assigned to… …how can you assign a team to a field with broken glass, nails and rocks all over the field?
Pix of the national team members running drills with U15 team from Mathari.

April 22
(Peter) The U.S. team returned as they said they would and practiced on our field today. They tore up the field, but that’s why the athletic field is there. Some teachers complained about it, but hey, the school’s out in a month and the field will have 3 months to recover. I purchased 2 rugby balls (1 for me and 1 for Noah) and had the team autograph them after their practice. I got a chance to speak with the head coach and found out he is a high school Physical Education and Wellness teacher in Arizona. Nice guy. Noah was excited about his ball.

April 25
(Peter) Saw my first ever rugby game live…front row for Noah and me…all for 500 Ksh (about $6.50). Junior (U20) World Rugby Championship…8 teams (Namibia, Cayman Islands, USA, Romania, Korea, Papa New Guinea (PNG), Chile and host country, Kenya.) Went to the rugby grounds 5 minutes from our apartment to catch USA take on Kenya. US won their first game and Kenya lost theirs; Kenya had to win in order to keep their championship hopes alive. Big Kenyan crowd. The game itself was fascinating to watch. US patiently build a 14 point lead with time running out, then a quick momentum change and the wheels fell off. Kenya scored 3 times in less than 4 minutes to win the game by 1. Heartbreak! Noah and I had a GREAT time. We’re going back. US is still in the hunt for the championship.

May 3
(Peter) After 2 weeks, it came down to USA vs. Romania in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy tournament. Both teams won their pool and headed for the championship game. Noah and I went early to watch other teams play for 3rd, 5th and 7th place. After each game, we walked around and found players to autograph the rugby balls. After Kenya played their 3rd place match, they came around and Noah got them in an assembly line to sign his ball. At the end of the day, his ball included signatures from: every member of the U.S team, every member of the Kenyan team, and at least one signature from the other 6 teams including the tournament winner, Romania. Team U.S. played their heart out, but came up short. Noah and I spent 3 days watching 9 games up close and personal and spent…1,700 ksh on tickets…that’s $21. Pretty cool. Rugby is still behind Football (American), Baseball and Basketball, but both of us became a big fan of rugby this week.
Picture of Noah getting his ball autographed by the Kenyan team members.

May 5
(Peter) A month before we return. Getting excited and nervous. Each of us going through different emotions…
Noah – never fully adjusted to Kenya. He’s excited to go back, but also slightly nervous thinking, “are my friends still going to be my friends? Have they forgotten about me?”

Abby – would duplicate herself if she could. Back home (especially in the last few months before we left), she became close friends with Brooke and Brynn, so she is SO EXCITED TO BE GOING BACK. But in short 10 months here, she met Halla – Swiss Norwegian (mom and dad). She was born here and speaks English, Kiswahili, French and one or two others…fluently. Yes, she’s 6 years old. She’s been saying how ‘cool’ it would be for Halla to meet her “2 best friends in America.”

Amber – by the time she adjusted to Kenya, we decided to cut our term short. So it took her couple more weeks to adjust back, but she is excited to be heading back.

Me – the irony is that I have the deepest roots in La Crescenta, going back to 1981, but I’m having the toughest time leaving this place. Just like Abby, I wish I could duplicate myself. It doesn’t surprise Amber or me very much though….just a product of a Third Culture Kid (TCK). I might not like change, but I adapt to it quickly and make friends

What we’re looking forward to. (selected few)
• *Friends and family
• Crescenta Valley Community Church (Pastor Scott, worship team, ICOM)
• Crescenta Valley High School (leadership, students, staff)
• Water we can drink from: kitchen sink, hose, restaurants…DRINKING FOUNTAIN, DRINKING FOUNTAIN, DRINKING FOUNTAIN, DRINKING FOUNTAIN, DRINKING FOUNTAIN…get the picture?
• Internet that’s faster than 20 kbps on a good day…looking forward to blogging “that day when things happen” rather than saving on a word doc. for weeks like I’m doing right now
• PERSONAL SPACE…when waiting in line at the grocery store, people don’t bump their “trolleys” (cart) into you, or come and stand next to you shoulder to shoulder
• ORDER – waiting in lines…grocery stores, ball games, movies, etc. We will be happy to “WAIT FOR MY TURN” patiently.
• “NORMAL BOWEL MOVEMENT” – not having to eat something and worry, “Am I going to be sick later?”
• No more “De-worming medication!” – I think the family will take our last dose when we touchdown at LAX.
• Doing a load of laundry and not having to wonder “Are the clothes going to be dirtier (because of water coming in) after the wash?” Lately, the water has been really dirty…all of our light-colored clothes come out of the wash with brown streaks all over.
• Mt. Avenue Elementary school for Noah and Abby. Always knew it was a top-notch school, and we’re happy that our kids are going back.

What we’ll miss about Kenya. (selected few)
• *Friends – Custodial staff at West Nairobi School, teachers at WNS, friends we’ve met from other organizations, our night guard, John, from the first home we stayed in.

*Gentle people of Kenya – the nicest group of people we’ve met
• The cost of cell phone…I mean “mobile phone” service-2 Ksh (Kenyan shillings) per SMS (text) does wonders (80Ksh ~ $1)…it calculates into less than 3 cents per SMS. I bought 1,000 Ksh (~$12.50) about 6 weeks ago and still have credit…no monthly fee.
• Movie/concession prices – every Monday, one can get a ticket to a movie, a good size popcorn, a hot dog, and a soda (16 oz.) for 500 Ksh…that’s less than $7. They call it “Monday Madness”, but mzungu (foreigner/westerner) dubbed it “Mzungu Monday Madness” since the majority of the attendees are wazungu (plural). Even on other days, I can take the whole family to the movies (get everything above) for less than $25. “WATABAAAAGAIN!!”
• *Driving – Amber does not like driving here, but I like it A LOT. It’s fun and frustrating at the same time. There is no ‘spacing out’ and wondering, “How did I get here (point A to point B)?” as people do in the States. You have to be alert every second behind the wheel. And if you drive a manual, it’s that much MORE FUN. POT HOLES (SOME CRATER HOLES), PEDESTRIANS, MATATUS, BUSSES, BICYCLES, POLICE STOPS, CATTLE, VENDORS (selling all sorts of goodies…pirated movies, puppies, flowers, newspapers, kittens, goldfish, sunglasses, maps, popcorn, bunnies, etc.), ACCIDENTS, UNMARKED SPEED BUMPS, TRAFFIC COP THAT MAKES TRAFFIC WORSE, NATIVE DRIVERS WHO GET ‘7 MINUTES BEHIND THE WHEEL’, ETC….all in days work, each time you get behind the wheel. It is so much fun. If you have the means, get yourself a plane ticket, $15 for international driver’s license and come and drive in Nairobi…GM Pontiac’s old slogan “We build excitement!”…that excitement is here in Nairobi.

We’ll know we’re back in Cali when: (selected few)
• We can drive with a cup of coffee/a large diet Coke and not have to worry about spilling it all over
• Traffic lights actually do their job
• There are distinct lines on the road and cars actually stay in their lanes
• Police/Sheriff can be trusted – I think I will be excited when I’m pulled over (1 or 2 times) knowing I actually did something wrong behind the wheel.
• Kids can go to the park and know that there are “western” toilets
• Cars involved in a little fender-bender actually pull over to the side of the road
• Cars have to YIELD to pedestrians...I just hope I don't hit any pedestrians while I adjust back
• We can get more than 1-2 things done in a day
*we are pressured to get multiple things done in one afternoon

* kids can't run around in stores/restaurants because of liability...kids are so LOVED here in Kenya and ALLOWED TO BE KIDS!!!

*we can take clothes out of the dryer and have clothes fit us rather than hang dry...which makes my underware stretch half way down my thighs

*we can go into any bathroom and know that there will be running water

*I can walk around in shorts and not have people stare

*toilets flush the first time you jiggle the handle

*I can open my mouth in the shower and purposely drink the water and not get sick

We come up with things for all 3 lists above everyday. I'm typing this last paragraph sitting in my office during lunch and realizing just how much I'm going to miss my new friends, colleagues who share the same office...'T' and Polhemus. This might be our last blog...we might post one more....my new personal blog starting in June will be www.lifebackincali.blogspot.com This is mostly for my new friends that I've been fortunate to make here in Kenya, but if you folks back in states want to be included, I'll be sending you email notices. If you don't want to be included, just let me know when you receive the notice. I will not be offended at all....I figure, if you're already living in the states, especially California, why in the world would you want to read about my life in California?

Be Blessed,

Peter Kim

Happy Mother's Day?

2009-04-03T14:41:00.001+03:00

April 1st
(Amber): Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged my “exciting” adventures; it has taken me this long to wrap my head around all the changes happening right now. I have been home-schooling the kids and finally feel organized and adjusted to the 24/7 schedule (yes, I am with the kids, usually within several meters, 24/7, and yes, it was a HUGE adjustment). I knew that pulling them out was without doubt the right thing to do, but I didn’t realize what it meant not to have babysitters, play-dates or parks! It is very different from my home schooling experience in the states. We had to find a few activities around town, to burn off the kids’ energy, remember there are no safe parks, so I have to pay, but it is schillings well spent. We did find a free running/walking track about 15 minutes from our place, there is usually smoke from burning trash, but we can stretch our legs … for free! The kids are doing very well in their studies and will finish all the required work (plus extra stuff I had from the states) by early May. I have each of them doing extra cooking, bible and manners work until the end of May, just to keep them busy. I am really enjoying the changes I see in my relationship with the kids, particularly with Noah. It is a blessing to have this time to recognize the problems and stressors in our relationship, I would have missed them or maybe they were just easy to ignore in smaller doses. It is amazing the clarity that comes with close proximity.
SO, Peter has been sharing my “Jessica Simpson Sayings” (remember, Chicken of the Sea), but he hasn’t shared my latest (mainly, because I told him if he did that he would be in big trouble), so I’ll share it. So, we are in YaYa Centre (small in-door mall) going to the sporting goods store for quotes on equipment for the school and Noah looks up and sees a big sign that says “Happy Mother’s Day (March 22nd)”. It happened to be March 21st, so Peter and Noah exclaim “That’s tomorrow, what do you want, mom?” I have learned to save my gifts until I find something that I really love, so I said I’ll let you know when I see it and we all left it at that. Fast forward to the next day, Mother’s Day, and we have just put the kids to bed and starting to get ready for bed ourselves and I exclaim, “We have to call our moms or we will be in so much trouble!”. Peter looking dazed and confused replies, “Why? … Oh, Mother’s Day”. I would have been fine if I stopped there, but instead I so brilliantly ask, “When did they change it from May, anyways?” After the laughter subsided, my husband lovingly says, “No, honey it is only Mother’s Day in Kenya”. I for one, vote certain global holidays would make life much simpler, maybe I should post my suggestion to Obama’s website.
Another update, my arm (from getting hit by the car) is completely healed! It was just a nasty bruise for a few weeks and a bit tender, but it does make a great story.
The kids and I went with friends to Crater Lake for a day last week. The kids collected obsidian (black stone that is found all around the lake and animal sanctuary) and animal bones. The best find of the day was a full gazelle skull with the antlers attached, it made the kids day! The second best find of the day was three pieces of dung that had recently been used to hatch dung beetles and yes, of course they had to pick it up! I guess the kids have grown accustom to free roaming zebra, giraffe, hippos and leopards! Who would have thought?

Electricity has been very spotty (actually, so has the water, just imagine how great we look!), so we have had many candle lit nights lately. This is all part of living here, but it does stress the kids, waking up in the middle of the night to complete darkness is not their favorite thing. So this morning we are on the way to Noah’s basketball practice and he asks, “Mom, so if no one has power, does that mean the President of Kenya is in the dark, too?” My reply, “No, sweetie I am sure he has generators at his house, but that is a very interesting question”. The things that make you go hummm….

OK, so getting into bed last night and I exclaim, “I miss taquitos” and Peter says, “Real tacos, with corn tortillas”. I never ate taquitos in the states, but just to have the option is such a luxury. I guess many things that used to be ordinary to me, are now quite extraordinary and I am thankful for that perspective.

Furry little friend, cow intestines & poop smelling sink

2009-03-23T09:39:00.009+03:00

March 15
(Peter) Got pulled over by the Kenya Police on our way to church this morning. They don't have vehicles, so they just wave you down. I made an illegal u-turn (yeah, knowingly). So the policeman with his Ak-47 pointing right at me (not on purpose, he just had his strap over his shoulder) said, "you did a very bad thing. You turned over there and you can't do that. Should I take you in?"
I've been told they just want money (because they make so little), but I didn't feel like just handing him money...but also didn't feel like going to court either. I sensed he wasn't going to take me in, so I said, "If you have to."
He was surprised at the mzungu's reply and said, "You want me to take you in?"
I repeated myself, "If you really have to take me in than take me in."
He turned to his partner and started speaking in kiswahili. Then after a minute or so, he turned to me and pointed at Noah and Abby in the backseat and said, "You are lucky. Because we like kids, we're going to let you go."
I said, "Thank you" and went to church.
On our way to church, Noah said, "Dad, don't ever make that turn again."

March 17

(Peter) Came to school early this morning for staff devotions. A group of teachers walked into the music room and said, "there is a dead rat in the teacher's toilet" So after devotions, we ran up and found a mouse, not a rat, floating in the toilet...it was kinda cute....probably came in through the window at night to get some water and the rest is history. This is what is think....or HOPE...happened. My other thought was ...not to gross anyone out...people talk about bowel movements openly here in Kenya...everyone takes de-worming medications here...is there such thing as de-mousing medication? I'm sure this offended somebody...I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

March 20

(Peter) So the guys (custodial staff who are all Kenyans) invited me to lunch today...so I accepted. I had lunch with them one other time and it was pretty good...rice with beef stew. They have a lady who comes everyday with their lunch prepared...she walks from I don't know where with two big containers of food, one in each hand, everyday to feed our workers. As I stood in line I noticed that I didn't recognize what she was scooping up and putting in my plate. One of the guys told me "intestine soup" and I wondered...."intestine of what?" She scooped some sukumawiki (spinach-like dish) which I like and plopped it on top of the soup. I took some ugali (made of corn flour) and sat down next to the guys. The soup this not smell very appetizing. I thought I could hide the taste with lots of ugali and sukumawiki, but the aroma was overwhelming. I took my first bite, actually scooped up sukumawiki and intestine bits with ugali and ....felt my esophogus starting to spazzzz! I took a deep breath and settled my insides....I joined in on their conversation, then decided to take my second scoop thinking "might taste better after the initial shock."....NOT THE CASE. I felt the food come up. I buckled down and held it down. By this time all the guys were done with their food....oh, GREAT...now all the eyes are on me. Conversed some more and had my third scoop....much of the same as the first two. Then my fourth scoop...it came up and up and by the grace of God, I was able to push it back down. After gathering my breath, I asked Shadrack, "Would you like to finish my plate? I think I'm done." He smiled and took my plate. Others chuckled and asked, "you didn't like it?" I smiled back and said, "No." Hoping I didn't offend anyone especially the lady who spent hours preparing the food. They chuckled some more and said, "Thank you so much for trying it. You're the first person to ever try it." I apologized for not being able to finish the plate.

After talking with them for few minutes, I excused myself and went down to the teachers' lounge. Opened up the fridge and took out 2 bottles of cold Coke Light and downed both in less than a minute. I saw a plate of cookies nearby, so I grabbed a handful and downed them as well. I was hoping to get rid of the taste, but wasn't successful. Everytime I burped, I could taste the cow instestine soup. yummmm!!!

Came home after taking the U17 boys basketball team out to an early dinner (boys went 10-0 and brought home ISL (Int'l Schools League) championship ) and chugged another carbonated soda trying to mask the cow intestine soup (CIS). A little better, but still there.

March 21

(Peter) the taste is still there...during Noah's basketball practice (8AM), I went for a run and could still taste the linering taste of CIS. By late afternoon, I think it finally left my system. Thank God for giving me a strong stomach. I would have felt REALLY bad if I hurled in front of the guys.

Just wondering why our faucet smells like poop?!? Amber and Noah noticed it. Are our pipes crossing over with someone else's sewage pipe? Who knows? Best not to use that sink, I guess.

March 22

(Peter) Sunday afternoon...lunch with friends and came home to relax. After laying around for couple hours, I decided to go for a run. Got dressed, and sat down on our bed to put my socks on. I had my right sock on and was getting ready to put on my left, then "KA-PLUNK!!" OUR BED BROKE!! I found myself still sitting on corner of the mattress with my legs over the bed frame and saying, "Nice! This is Kenya." Amber came in and started laughing out loud. The bed was custome made....on the side of the road....but nevertheless, CUSTOME MADE for about $45 less than 6 weeks ago.

March 23

(Peter) At work checking my email, uploading our blog and teaching classes...in the last 3 hours the power has gone on and off over 6 times...I'm sure I missed some when I was outside teaching P.E.

Hit by a car

2009-03-13T09:24:00.003+03:00

March 12
(Peter) So I get a phone call from Amber at around 12:30...
Amber: Take a wild guess what happened to me today?
Me: You got pick-pocketed?
Amber: No.
Me: You got pulled over (by the police) and got bribed?
Amber: No, you'll never guess, so I'll tell you. I got hit by a car.
Me: You were in the car, or You got hit by a car?
Amber: I physically got hit by a car.
Me: Are you ok?
Amber: (laughing) oh yeah, I'm fine. I just can't believe I got hit by a car.

Turns out the 2 ladies Amber was with saved her from any serious injury. They were walking through a parking lot. Amber was talking to one of her friends and was facing her. That lady reached out, grabbed Amber by one arm and pulled Amber towards her; the other lady started yelling, "hey! hey!" and banged on the side of a SUV that was backing out...had no idea there were people back there. Amber felt something hit her elbow, and said (this is great!!) "Ouch. I think I just walked into this car." Then she heard her other friend yelling at the driver, "Hey, you just hit my friend!" Amber then realized what really happened. Turns out she is fine...just a bit sore on her elbow and forearm.

Slipped and fell in the slums, almost got pick-pocketed, got hit by a car...what is the theme? stick with my wife and you'll see exciting events ; )

Ahh...the pick-pocket incident...couple days ago, the kids and Amber were at Nakumatt grocery shopping. She had her bag over her shoulder. All of a sudden, a man bumped into her and her bag got tugged. He kept on walking towards another guy. Amber thought, "oh my gosh, did he just pick-pocket me?" As she was looking through her bag, Noah speaks up and says, "Mom, did that guy try to pickpocket you? Let's go get him!" Amber, searching her bag said "I'm not missing anything, but he was holding something in his hand. I don't know if that belongs to me or not." Noah then said, "ok mom, you follow him and I'll go down the next isle and we'll trap him!" Gotta love a 9 year old trying to protect his mom. Turns out it was a failed attempt on my wife....we know so many of our friends who were pick-pocketed here, and now my wife can proudly say, "I was also pick-pocketed...well, they tried." Better luck next time.

Unexpected/Sad/Exciting happenings....

2009-03-02T10:01:00.021+03:00

February 2
(Peter) Well, it was tough getting to the bottom of it all, but we pulled Noah and Abby out of school today. We decided that it'd be best for Amber to home-school the kids. It was tough to pull our kids from the school that I work at, but our kids are the first priority (our first mission field)...they belong to God and He has trusted us with raising them while they're here on earth, so in reality, it was a NO BRAINER decision. The story itself is somewhat complicated and long, but Noah stopped eating at school because of fear of getting beat up in the bathroom. 9-year old mind at work...if I don't eat, I don't have to go to the bathroom. Amber and I questioned him few times when he would bring his sack lunch home with a bite taken out of his sandwich, and he would always complain about how hungry he was. Long story short, we truly believe he was standing up for what is right and when he was threatened by other boys, 9-year old mind didn't know what to do next. We decided to pull Abby out as well for other issues at the school. Not what Amber planned on doing, but she's up for the challenge.

February 3

(Peter) I was asked to meet with the administration team this morning. They wanted to ask me about pulling our kids out of school. I was asked why I didn't give them any warning, and how bad this makes the school look...a teacher at the school pulling his out. I quietly listened then I had to speak up when one person said, "You guys are NICS parents..." I stepped in and said, "First of all, I'm my kids' father first period. Me being a NICS employee and being so called "NICS parent" comes distant second. Let's get that straight." After a heated discussion, one of administrator slammed the door and left the room. I didn't like that very much. I didn't know what to think about that move. Anyway, God gives us opportunities to stand up for who He has placed in our lives (His son and daughter on a loan while we're here on earth).

My in-laws left last night to return home after visiting for 2+ weeks. It was great having them. Kids really enjoyed their time together. I didn't make the same mistake twice...when my parents left, I dropped them off then I went to park the car only to find out that only passengers were allowed inside the building. I had to say goodbye to my parents through a window...that was pathetic. This time, we parked then walked over to the entrance, said our goodbyes and sent them on their way. I hate night driving in Nairobi...can't see anything.

February 4

(Peter) My neck keeps hurting...nothing too excruciating, but dull, constant pain that drives me crazy. The pain does get worse whenever I'm in a car, driving or as a passenger, doesn't matter. I keep praying for what my next step should be...whether to have the surgery or get another opinion...here in Kenya or go back home...if I opt for surgery, 2-4 months of rehab...insurance...road conditions...job market...students at WNS who I've fallen in love with...deal with it for another year...recovery period as I get older...my thoughts have been working overtime... overwhelmed...I find PEACE in the Lord...complete PEACE that only He can provide. He always has, and He'll answer my prayer according to His Perfect Plans.

February 13

(Peter) I received 2 emails today that had answers to what I was praying for....Clear Answers that closed and opened doors. It will be tough to make this announcement especially to the students at WNS who I adore. I'll have to see how I want to do this.

February 16

(Peter) There's nothing more peaceful than being in His presence. He gave me a clear answer about my future couple days ago. We're to go back at the end of this school year, and move forward with my neck...whether it is to have it fixed surgically or through alternative medicine...whatever the case, He will provide that answer when the time comes. I spent some time writing a letter to my colleagues at WNS explaining why I'm cutting my contract short. I plan on speaking with the administration tomorrow morning, then sending out my letter to all the teachers.

February 17

(Peter) Spoke with the administration today regarding my future at WNS. They asked me to hold the letter to the staff. My 3 close friends/colleagues know. I wanted to share with them in person before they found out from someone else.

February 19

(Peter) I spoke with people at CV regarding next year. I'll be back at CV for the 09-10 school year. I'm excited to be back; I'm saddened to be leaving the students and the new teachers I've met here at WNS. My prayer is that I do not mentally check out of this place before my job is done.

February 20

(Peter) I had a great conversation with one of our new teachers....however, during the conversation, I felt like my hands were tied. He asked me about our kids and next year...being back at school here at WNS, etc. I couldn't say much because the amdinistration asked me not to say anything until the news was released. I felt horrible as I walked away from our conversation.

February 27

(Peter) The administration released our news today. I sent my letter to the staff in the evening. I'll have to wait til Monday to answer questions.

March 1

(Peter) Got off the phone with someone in Mombasa who's helping me out with our shipment. I found out the company that I'm dealing with (remember this is a "shipping and receiving" company) does not have their own delivery truck nor do they have their own storage space. I'm having to pay $1,200 extra so that they can pay other people for their storage space and their delivery truck. What in the world is going on here? About 2 weeks ago, I went down to the company's Nairobi office only to find out the guy never comes to work. the office was open, but nobody was there. After calling him, we waited 90 minutes for him to arrive. As we waited, I tried to turn on the computer, the printer and the fax, but none of them worked. The office was a mess...empty soda bottles all over the floor, desk was a mess, top of the desk had black film from cigarettes, trash all over the office...CHAOS. What are we dealing with here? Anyway, gave the guy a go-ahead; just want our things...we've waited long enough.

March 3

(Peter) Our shipment FINALLY ARRIVED...21 rubbermaid containers with things missing...kids were ecstatic...our plan was to stay for full 2 years without going home for the summer, so Amber being a great mom she is, packed for 2 years...including 3-4 different size shoes, pants, etc. for the kids. Shoes are missings for both Noah and Abby, pants are missings for both...not all, but between sizes. So nice of them. "Don't take all of it, if there are multiples, then just take one." For instance, Amber bought 3 pairs of shoes for Noah (a full, half size up and the next full size)...the half size is missing. Same with Abby's jeans. I remember bringing 15 cds of Petri, but only 8 arrived. Surge protector for our desk top is missing which means we have to spend more money to even plug the computer for use. Containers were delivered early afternoon; I went back to work...and when I came home later that afternoon, the house looked like a bomb blew up. Kids had so much fun unpacking and finding their Christmas presents (3 months later) and other gifts from our home church youth group, etc. Abby had all of her dress-up clothes out and was going to town. $1,200 in addition to $1,500 we paid in the states later...all is good. We now have to pack right back up and leave in 3 months.

March 5

(Peter) Everything after school got canceled...some protest against the government. One of the tribal leaders (in charge of Matatus, a major transportation system here in Nairobi) ordered all the Matatus to stop service this morning...this caused the government officials to take a stand and the general public to act. One of our teachers took some students on a field trip this morning and saw items being torched and mass police checks, etc. We're ordered to be home before dark and stay inside.

March 6

(Peter) Nothing exciting happened yesterday...just a precautionary measure...and I think the US Embassy is preparing for the worst possible scenario especially after last year's post election violence which they didn't expect. All after-school activities were canceled today as well. Below is a copy of a letter from Rift Valley Academy to give you a better idea.

I don't know what West Nairobi School has done in regards to the Mungiki demonstrations today, but RVA put a travel ban on all our staff today, no going into Nairobi. There will also probably be a travel ban on us tomorrow as well. The demonstrations seem to be mostly located between Nairobi and Kijabe, places like Dagoretti, Kikuyu, and Limuru. You're suppose to bring your U14 basketball and football team to play us tomorrow. It might be a good idea to think about postponing the games tomorrow. We've heard rumors out here that the protests are suppose to continue until Commissioner Ali steps down, and that possibly the University students will join tomorrow, we're just not sure.The problem isn't only you guys getting out here, but since we can't start games until 4:00 or so, it puts you guys going home right when lots of people are getting off work in Nairobi, and with no matatu's running, things could get dicy.

Abby's suppose to have her birthday party tomorrow at a local restaurant. Hope nothing major happens...how do you explain corrupt government to a 6 year old who helped mom plan her own birthday party?

March 7

(Peter) Abby's birthday party at Amani ya Juu (Higher Peace) was awesome. She had such a great time with her friends. Adults had time to relax in their peacefule garden and enjoyed great food. We were there for 4 hours. Abby decorated her cupcakes for the party all by herself.

March 10
(Peter) Things are going well here in Nairobi. Kids and Amber feel safe here. We've been going about our business last few days; things are back to normal...what is normal anyway?...our definition of "normal" has changed so drastically in the last 8 months...just last night, Abby's prayer before going to bed included phrases like "Jesus, thank you for protecting our house so that we don't get robbed...help us not to get pick-pocketed." One of my mentors told me before I left the states, "make sure you don't take America to Kenya." Our family has tried real hard to live by that statement. Some might be reading newspapers on-line, etc. and thinking things aren't "normal"in Kenya...but to what standard of "normal" are they comparing Kenya to. If we compared everything in Kenya to what is normal in the states, YES, it would drive us CRAZY...but TIA...This is Africa, or more close to home, This is Kenya.

Being here has really "stretched" us and WE feel so much closer to God. I was talking with Amber last night about how my definition of "trusting God" has changed so much... a year ago, I had MY agenda and I trusted God to take care of it by taking care of me...Who am I to push my agenda on the Creator of the Universe? He has the perfect agenda for me and my family, and as long as we're in His light, we gladly accept everything that's on His agenda.

March 11

(Peter) Getting anxious to move back for different reasons...Amber and I talked about how quickly we're going to adjust back to life in SoCal. Do we want to go back to the "way it was?" Are our friends going to notice the difference? And are they going to be ok with that? Questions such as these have been causing bit of anxiety for everyone.

Demonstrations keep taking place near the city center (downtown), but life goes on here in Nairobi. School is in session as usual. All the students are here in attendance, and they are carrying on like it's any other day. U15 futbol and basketball game today at our school; we're hosting Makini School (a Kenyan school)...kids are looking forward to it.

Until next time, Be Blessed.

pix of: Abby's birthday cupcakes, Noah playing with a chameleon, piled up dishes that took 8 months to get here, Abby in her dress-up clothes (which also came in our shipment)

The New Year....

2009-02-06T13:20:00.011+03:00

January 10
(Peter) Amber and I were both getting over the so called “6-month hump” and feeling good again about being here. I’ve been spending a lot of time reading from the good book and praying often. He is our refuge and he provides more than enough for us. We were feeling pretty good as we were sitting in a café waiting for our breakfast…and out of the blue, Abby starts weeping. She was tucked up in a ball leaning against mom. We asked, “Abby, what’s the matter?”
After gathering herself, she whispered, “I miss America.”
It took us a while to gather our thoughts and to allow her to feel what she was feeling. After a while, we talked about it and discussed what it means to trust in the Lord and be in the presence of his PEACE. It was good.

January 11
(Peter) I guess I really am getting use to another culture. Amber and I rented a movie and started watching it after the kids went to sleep. The movie started with a car driving out of the driveway of a home in southern California. Driving on the right side of the road seemed odd to me. I don’t know if I’m suppose to be excited or nervous about that.

January 13
(Peter) There is a new apartment complex going up right next door to our apartment complex. The workers have been working hard putting the finishing touches on a pool in the back. I was envious with the thought that new tenants will have a pool available for them…until today. They were done tiling and started filling the pool with water. Aaaahhh….gotta love Nairobi water. Please note the pool is a white tiled pool…not green. Water is straight from the main water line. Thirsty anyone?

January 14
(Peter) Today was my first time back on a pool deck as a coach. It felt great. We don’t have a pool at our school, so we are renting out one of our neighboring school’s facility. We only had 5 swimmers today. Most of them beginners, but it just felt GOOD to walk up and down the length of the pool. Hopefully, there will be more kids as time passes.

January 16
(Peter) So, after just 1 practice, the swim team competed in school’s first ever swim meet today. The meet was held at ISK (International School of Kenya) which is the “Embassy” school here in Nairobi. We only had 6 swimmers competing, but we held our own. We had some great swims…2 more league meets (1 in February and 1 in March)…we’ll be alright.

January 23
(Peter) So I was driving home after dinner with other teachers and I stopped at Java House to pick up coffee for our night guards. As I was driving around to looking for a parking spot, I saw a big group of people gathered around what seemed to be a limosine…oh my!!! It was my first time seeing a limo here in Nairobi, and it was probably theirs as well. Word got around and people made their way over to the limo to admire and take pictures of the vehicle. Teenagers were calling their friends and describing what they were seeing.

January 24
(Peter) This morning Noah came out of the bathroom and started screaming and jumping up and down. Amber and I both asked him what was going on, and he said to us, “My first poop that wasn’t runny since August, whoahoo!!!!” We were so happy for him. He’s lost so much wait. Everyone freely talks about their bowel movement here because it’s such an issue with everybody. Oh, by the way, last month, we took our first “de-worming” medication. Amber actually felt better few days after we “de-wormed” ourselves. Family who de-worms together stays together. Every 6 months we were suppose to do this. What fun!!!

January 25
(Peter) Finally got the guest bedroom ready with a mattress and a bed (from Ngong Road furniture shops). By the time Amber and I finished putting everything together, it was time for me to drive out to the airport to pick up Amber’s parents. It was great to see a familiar face. When we got home, kids were eagerly waiting by the window. It was Christmas (3rd time in the last 3 months) all over again. American GOODS!!! A box of Slim-Jims, Mac & Cheese, movies, etc. etc.

January 27

(Peter) I took the day off from work to travel to Kijabe Hospital for an appointment with an orthopedist. To catch you up, for the last 6-8 weeks or so, I've had this pain in my neck. It started with "pins and needles" on my right thumb and index finger, then it turned in to numbness up the thumb-side of my forearm. Then about 3 weeks ago, my neck started really bothering me. Haven't been able to sleep at night because the pain is at its worst when I lay down. I finally went to see a doctor who recommended an MRI which I had done. Today, was the day...I get to see if there's anything wrong with my body or if this is just part of culture stress. Amber and I drove out to Kijabe (about 90 minute drive) with my MRI. The doctor did some strength test on me and Amber and I were floored at how weak my right (my dominant) hand had gotten. He told me that everything pointed to a bulgin disc between my C6 and C7 vertibrae. I handed him my MRI and viola!!! there it was...crystal clear...a bulging disc between my C6 and C7. He went over my options and placed me on my 2nd round of 4-days worth of oral steroids....you could get 4 days worth of 'roids for less than 70 cents here in Kenya...If Barry Bonds was my friend, I would have gotten him a GREAT DEAL! Here is a picture of my receipt for the 'roids...45 shillings. So, what now? I was relieved at the fact that the pain wasn't phantom, but now what? Epideral steroids every 3-4 months between my cervical vertebrae, or jump right ahead (which sounded like this is inevitable) and surgically remove the disc and fuse the vertarae together? Where do I get this procedure done? Here in Kenya? Back home? Rehab? Where? How much is this going to cost? Can I just live with this pain? So many questions. I only have one neck, so I can't use my usual phrase, "that's ok, that's why God gave me 10 fingers (or 2 feet, etc..etc..)" We'll have to pray, wait and see.

January 31
(Peter) So, Noah has been going to 1-on-1 basketball clinic on Saturday mornings for last 3 weeks. It’s not suppose to be 1-on-1, but nobody in his age group signed up, so the coach is working with him one on one. Today, he invited Noah to play in a tournament at Strathmore School. I thought it was a U14 tournament, so I asked his coach, “you think he’ll be ok?” He said Noah will be fine and that he would put Noah on his B team roster. West Nairobi School’s U17 boys were also playing there. I thought there were 2 separate tournaments going on, U14 and U17. When we got there, we realized it was only one tournament, U17 which is equivalent to JV level in the states. The coach said Noah would be fine. Noah’s team played 3 games, and Noah got in every game. He played about half of the game each time. He looked more and more comfortable each game and tried dribbling around a high schooler with a cross-over during the last game…key word…’TRIED.’ He played hard and was beat by his third game. He ended the day with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and multiple touches on the ball. He showed so much COURAGE today. When he found out it was U17, he could have easily said “let’s go back home.”

February 1
(Peter) I met with our former director of the school (the guy who hire me) for dinner and to talk over some things. It went extremely well. The night before, Amber and I had dinner with him and the Mrs. That also went well. I thought we got to clear some things that people might have misinterpreted and clearly taken out of context. They were direct which I love, and I hope we got on the same page........Just curious though, 1.) I wonder how they heard some of the comments that I made “behind closed doors” in a “confidential” setting surrounded by PROFESSIONALS. Last time I heard the phrase “behind closed doors” it didn’t translate into, “keep this to yourself, except to your friends.” 2.) With the given situation, was sharing that information productive to anybody? I'm only including this on our blog becasue I don't know who you are. Am I calling you out? Yes, I am. I'm choosing not to call you out at work because I really don't want to get everyone involved. I figure if you like to "stir the pot" then you would read my personal blog to get all the juicy details. In the future, I would appreciate it if you (whoever you are) would come and talk to me as a PROFESSIONAL and as an ADULT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. You know where my office is. More and more I think about it, more I'm disturbed by the whole thing.

February 4
(Peter) As Amber and I were standing in line at Nakumatt (Kenya’s Wal-Mart), I asked Amber, “Why do people move slower than molasses here in Kenya?” It’s great that people don’t rush when they’re talking with you, and they always stop and want to really know how you’re doing. But at their jobs, I just don’t get. Customer service just isn’t important here…I guess when you’re making “nothing” and when people tip 0 to 3% for serving their food…yeah, I guess it all makes sense. On a 1,500 Kenyan shilling bill (about $20), people usually leave 0 to 30 shilling tip….people told us “this is what they do, if you leave more tip, it will throw their whole economy out of balance.” What the heck? What a RIDICULOUS statement is that? I don’t see any waiter or waitress getting out of the slums because they got a 10-20% tip. What we have noticed though is that people serve us better, they always say “hello” and ask us how we’re doing, and always smile at us. When we run into them around town, they make an effort to come up to us just to say “hello.” When my parents were here, they took us to a nice dinner at a local Italian place, and she tipped our waiter 15%. We’ve been back there couple times, and each time, the waiter finds us and asks how my parents are doing and how the tip was such a wonderful gesture and how much it helped him. And when he’s not our waiter, he makes sure the waiter assigned to us takes care of us well. Reciprocate…I don’t know why this is such a hard concept for some people.

Christmas, New Year and Pyramids

2009-01-05T13:57:00.012+03:00

December 4
(Peter) We were invited over for dinner at Noah’s friend’s house. After playing in a staff vs. students (Grades 1-6) kickball game, we headed over to their place. A beautiful place…they shipped everything over from the states. They’re from Oklahoma. Anyway, they had a flat screen television with cable, so Amber and I were glued to the screen. We watched CNN for what seemed like hours. We haven’t watched cable TV since late July and Amber and I couldn’t believe just how much we’ve missed in terms of world news. People tell us to check the news on-line, but the internet is so stinkin’ slow, we usually are catching up on e-mails whenever we have internet access….and we brought a lot of kids’ movies and a travel-size dvd player, so that’s what we do. It’s tough when Noah asks, “are we ever going to get a TV or our own internet here in Kenya?” I think we might sign up for an internet service when the new year rolls around. We’ll see. Here's a picture of our "family movie night."

December 12
(Peter) Today is my mom’s 70th birthday. So we borrowed a satellite phone from school and called her early (her time) in the morning and the kids sang “Happy Birthday” to her. It was good for both of us.

December 14
(Peter) Kids’ Christmas play at church. Noah spent last night throwing up, so he was disappointed that he couldn’t be one of the Wise Men. He stayed home with mom. Abby on the other hand got dressed and got ready to play her role as Virgin Mary. She was fabulous!!! Check out some of the videos.

December 19
(Peter) Today Amber and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. It seems like yesterday when we both said “I do”…WOW! TEN YEARS!!! Time flies when you’re having fun. It was also the last day of the semester, last day of the final exams...so at school I wore a name tag that read, “Hello, my name is PETER KIM AND I’VE BEEN MARRIED TO MY HOTTIE WIFEY FOR 10 YEARS!” Students and teachers noticed it right away. I thought it was a great way to share my excitement with others and an awesome way to show the students (especially the middle and high school) what a HEALTHY marriage looks like. Rewind ß ß last few weeks I’ve been really focusing on “40 Developmental Assets” with my students filing out “Assets Checklist” and playing games (Teachers form CVHS know what I’m talking about), and have been floored by just how much these students lack assets and how difficult their home life really is. So I thought, “let’s make a lesson out of it.” Most thought it was great. I had many opportunities to explain to my students just how “awesome married life can be.” BUT…(there’s always a ‘but’) not all thought it was appropriate…mostly some of the teachers. They didn’t say anything to me directly, but the look on their faces was definitely a look of disapproval. Funny…I thought. Anyway, our friend (JD) was gracious enough to watch Noah and Abby, so Amber and I went out to see a movie, BODY OF LIES starring Leonardo di Caprio and Russell Crowe. Great movie, I highly recommend it.

December 22
(Peter) Our new place is a great location for a lot of different things. Amber and Abby were busy putting curtains up in our living room and dining room windows. Noah wanted to go play soccer with the neighborhood kids. So, I decided to go for a run. For those of you who know me, I have not ran in quite some time (ever since my last race in 2005…followed by a foot surgery last Christmas). I told myself that I would get back on the road again as soon as we moved to our own place…so I kept my word. I ran couple times last week, swam couple times and I was feeling good. Anyway, I got out there with shorts and a shirts and was feeling good. It was about a 5K loop. I was heading back when I hear footsteps behind me. I thought “some Kenyan is going to pass me…I’m going to try to keep up with him.” I kept hearing his footsteps, but he wouldn’t pass. Well, the trail split, so I went to the right, he went to the left. I looked over and saw a Kenyan man (probably in his 20s) probably heading home to Kawangware, wearing torn up Vans slip-ons, faded khaki pants, short-sleeve collared shirt, a plastic bag in his left hand and a 2-liter bottle of water in his right hand, running and smiling at me. I was crushed. Old age, being out of shape, and to top it off…the elevation. I kept running only to find out that the trail I took (which ran parallel to the one the guy stayed on) came to a dead end. He pointed back and said, “Go back around.” So I did and was determined to catch up with him. After few minutes as I was getting closer to him, he stopped. He didn’t know I was still running trying to catch up to him. When he heard my footsteps, he turned around, smiled and started running again. It was on. Getting beat by a Kenyan is one thing, but getting beat by a guy dressed in work clothes with worn out pair of Vans sneakers is completely different…I didn’t care if he was a Kenyan. I wasn’t gonna let him pull away. So for about a 2 kilometers, I stayed right behind him. I told him “I’m stopping at Junction.” He smiled and said, “Sawa (ok)” We ran side by side for a while, then I had to say “twanane bandaye. (see you later)” He waved and kept going. I came home with my tail between my legs. I told Amber what happened and she laughed and laughed. What a humbling experience. I think this might just get me out there on the road more often.

December 24
(Peter) We were invited to our friends’ house for Christmas lunch. Dinner was out of the question since their house is situated couple miles away from the main road without any street lights, we had to be heading home before dark. Anyway, we enjoyed having a holiday meal with our friends…not quite the same as having dinner with family, but it was perfect for where we were. After lunch, I was getting a tour of their 5-acre property. He is a builder and he is building a girls’ home which will house around 20 girls…dining hall, bedrooms, all the works through FLK, a non-profit organization. Then two of the workers (Kenyans) who live on the property (security guards) came over and asked which goat they can slaughter for their Christmas meal. As soon as I heard, I was beating myself for not bringing my camera. They tied its legs together, one put his knees on the goat to keep it down while the other got ready to slit its throat. I was expecting a machete of some sort and a clean ‘whack’ of the blade; instead, he took out a pocket knife with a locking blade (approx. 3-inch blade) and proceeded to “saw its throat” in half. Blood started squirting everywhere; it took quite some time for the goat to be completely motionless after having its throat cut in half. After it died, they took it and tied its hind legs on a beam (spread eagle) and got ready to skin it. It was fascinating. Took them over 30 minutes to skin the goat. We didn’t get to stay long enough to watch the rest, but Noah, Abby and I got a firsthand look at how the Masaai do it. Amber stayed inside with the ladies. Sorry, no pictures. Next time, I’ll make sure to have my camera with me.

After leaving their property, we drove over to FOR YOU Chinese restaurant to meet all the first year teachers (of West Nairobi). All (except for us of course) are single teachers, celebrating Christmas away from home by themselves. It was fun fellowshipping with all of them. They are one NEAT group of godly men and women. Thank you Lord for always surrounding me with people who are better than me.

December 25
(Peter) Kids woke us up at 6:30 to open presents. Our very first Christmas in Africa; it really didn’t seem like Christmas at all. It’s summer time here in Nairobi and the holiday season just isn’t like the States. Anyway, the kids had a great time opening presents from mom, dad, each other and of course, Santa. Santa stopped by and took a break by having some of OREO cookies that Noah left out. After opening presents, we went out to breakfast (mainly to Skype our parents) at Java House. Kids got to talk to grandma and grandpa along with their cousin Alex and Auntie Tierra. GG was also there. As I mentioned before about not feeling like it’s Christmas time…all the stores were open.

So, last Friday was our 10 year wedding anniversary. For quite some time now (probably over 5 years), Amber has asked me to take her on a trip to celebrate our 10th without the kids, so we’ve been saving up for the last 5 years…then, this adventure to Kenya happened. I was struggling with where I could take her (with our kids of course…we had to change our plans a little bit since we were 10,000 miles away from home). Well, few weeks ago, a friend of ours asked if we wanted to take a 5-day trip to Egypt. They knew a friend (missionary family) in Egypt who would set us up with the tour guide and all, so we decided this was perfect for our anniversary as well as for our kids.

We spent the afternoon packing for our trip and headed over to our friends’ house. We were going to sleep over at their place and head out to the airport at 1:30 in the morning for our 4:30AM flight to Cairo. Kids went down around 8:30; I couldn’t sleep at all. The property is huge and the fact that they were robbed before just didn’t sit well with me even though now they had 2-3 security guards on the property.

December 26
(Peter) Anyway, we got ready and we were on the road by 1:15AM. Our flight took off on time and I slept all the way to Cairo (4 ½ hour flight). We landed safely, and going through Customs was easy. There was a van waiting for us. When we stepped outside of the airport, we realized in just 4 hours, we went from HOT SUMMER to CHILLY WINTER just by crossing over the equator.

From the airport to the hotel, we stopped by a small shop to pick up some water and snacks. We agreed to let Noah have his VERY FIRST TWINKIE of his life...we're in Egypt and the Twinkie wrapper had Arabic written on it, how could I say NO?

After checking in to our hotel, we took a taxi to meet our friends (actually friends of our friends who became our friends as well by the end of our trip). The taxi driver really didn’t know where he was going, so we got to know each other very well as 8 of us spent about 90 minutes crammed into a 4-door Hyundai Accent. We got a very good tour of downtown Cairo before finding our friends. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with them. For dinner we ordered in from McDonald’s and KFC. Kids were ecstatic. I downed a Big Mac value meal like someone who hasn’t had fast food for over 5 months. During dinner, I heard our kids say, “Nairobi STINKS.” We took a taxi back to our hotel, this driver must’ve been our previous driver’s relative because he didn’t know where he was going either. In
Cairo, you tell the driver where you want to go, he gives you a price, then you barter until both parties agree. When after driving around for another 90 minutes, he wanted to be paid more, but we paid him what we originally agreed on and walked away with him yelling obscenities to us. Can’t wait for Day 2.

December 27
(Peter) Went to see the Giza Pyramids and the sphinx. WOW WOW WOW!! Unbelievable! Got a chance to climb down one of the tombs as well. Here are some pictures; videos are posted on http://www.youtube.com/ keyword: kimsinkenya Check it out. After seeing the Sphinx, we had lunch at KFC/Pizza Hut. It was cool having American junk for lunch and looking out the window and seeing the Sphinx and the Pyramids.

For dinner, we went to Chili’s…FOUNTAIN SODA WITH ICE & FREE REFILLS!!!!!

December 29

(Peter) Went visited one of many mosque in Egypt. We were told this is where Osama Bin Laden studied as a young child. Interesting.... Here's a picture of Abby and Amber in the courtyard of the mosque with their head and neck covered as it was mandatory before women could enter.

We ate at a local hot spot for lunch...check out the list of sandwiches...all the way at the bottom. I never got a chance to ask them what that was. Is that English or Arabic?

December 30
(Peter) Egypt is such an amazing place. We’ve seen so much history in just 5 days. I’m definitely coming back here and going up the Nile to Luxor. They call the southern part of Egypt, Upper Egypt and the northern part, Lower Egypt due to elevation and how the Nile flows. Mosques, Synagogues, Churches, not to mention ancient ruins, but the coolest thing in my opinion had to be the Cave Church which we saw today. Took them over 30 years to build. Christians were basically banned and sent out of the city for choosing not to convert and forced to pay tax. Tax-free for converts. A group of believers heard God speak, so they were obedient and started digging and 30 years later, built this church in a cave. Check out my video titled “Cave Church.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon in a mall soaking in all the “American stuff” before heading back to Nairobi. It was hard to believe just how much “American goods” are loved by the Egyptians…all the fast food joints (McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s (Carl’s Jr. for west coast people), KFC, Burger King), restaurants (TGIFridays, Chili’s), men’s and women’s apparels, etc. Funny how some countries hate America(ns), but love American stuff. I always thought the people and the stuff made up America....Hmmm...makes NO sense to me whatsoever. Being away from home makes me love America so much more….not just our “stuff,” but our “way of life.” I didn't become a US citizen just because it was convenient...I believe what the country stands for.

FYI: many Egyptians wonder why Americans are so hard on Bush because since he's been in office Egypt has had less and less bombings. Their last bombing happened over 4 years ago. They think Egypt is a safer place.

We got to the airport to find out we misread our departure time (we thought it was 11:30PM, but it turns out it was 10PM.) We got to the airport at 9:20 and barely made it. Landed in Nairobi at 4AM. We went through customs only to find out that we had to pay for Amber, Noah and Abby’s visas again even though I had all the necessary paperwork. The immigration officer sent me to his supervisor who I found sleeping in his office. I showed him all the paperwork only to be turned away. So we spent another 45 minutes or so in the VISA line. By the way, if you’re ever traveling to Kenya, you must have brand new, crisp $50 bill printed 1998 or later in order to get your temporary visa. They will not take used bills and will not take bills printed before 1998. A family in front of us was turned away because one of their bills was 1996 print. They had to go to the forex and pay $50 and change for a “newer” $50 bill. Anything prior to 1998 has a lower exchange rate here. What a screwed up government is this?

January 1, 2009
(Peter) Got up this morning with another stomach bug. Spent the whole day in bed and in the bathroom. In fact, spent the whole night visiting the toilet every 20 minutes or so.
Amber and I must be experiencing the 5 to 6 month “hump” that people warned us about. Everything about Kenya is getting on our nerves. Unclean water, unsafe environment, loss of independence at night, power outage, immigration office, trips to the toilet…the fact that every government official (Minister of Parliament) gets 3 brand new Mercedes Benz while people are dying of starvation, the fact that MPs don’t have to pay taxes (MPs passed that law themselves), the fact that most Kenyans automatically assume we have money flowing out of our pockets just because we are wazungu, driving conditions, the fact that a thief can be beaten and executed in front of our friend’s home and the body left there for over 5 hours, that it’s safer to order a soda than a glass of water and it’s cheaper to order a soda and a bottle of water, etc. My complaint goes on and on…….
….What keeps me going is HIM. So often, I get lost in my selfishness, but His Grace keeps me moving forward. I know His plans are for good (Jer. 29:11) Hey, a friend of mine gave me a book before I left the states, a book written by his pastor. I never got around to reading it until a week ago. I spent every night in Egypt reading this book. I couldn’t put it down. I finished it yesterday. Go out and get yourself a copy. CRAZY LOVE –overwhelmed by a relentless God- by Francis Chan. The book will really challenge you. Thanks DSS for the book. www.crazylovebook.com

Until next time...

African Safari & more

2008-12-12T14:00:00.027+03:00

November 3 -10, 2008 plus some basic catch-up
(Amber) Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted! Well, I am going to catch you up and get back up to date. For the past week we have had an 8th grade student, Eunice, staying with us. She will continue to stay with us for the coming week, as she takes her exams. She will be testing tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday. It has been so cool to see the kids build a friendship with this young lady. Eunice usually commutes 1.5 to 2 hours just to get to school each morning. She navigates the buses and matatus from 5 am to reach school by 7am. She is second in her class and has worked very hard in school, we are very excited for her. I have gone on two more home visits to students at Raila Education Center in Kibera. The one two weeks ago was very exciting for me personally. You see, it had rained really hard the whole day before the visit, so the ground was very muddy. All my fellow Southern Californians, let me explain that the soil here is mostly clay, so when I say muddy, go beyond anything you know and imagine 4 to 6 inches of slippery clay with ditches and rocks thrown in for fun! Walking through the slums after the rains is more like walking on ice than anything else. Anyway, I didn’t know about the home visit before, so I wore my flip flops, sounds counterintuitive, but they are rubber and can be washed and are antimicrobial, good for walking in the slums! Well, I was mildly concerned about the mud, but in my “American” mind, I thought “a little mud never killed anyone”. As we started out I was doing great and it was exactly what I thought it would be like, some dry patches to jump over the areas of mud. I know I could do this, it was no big deal. Then we turned down one street and started down the hill. Kibera is basically built on a down slope and it is said that the further down the hill you are the, the greater the poverty you live in. We cut in and out of the winding alley ways which were getting more and more muddy, until we finally turned on to a main walkway which stopped me in my tracks. If I were smarter I would have asked to go back, but I knew that there really was no way for me to go back. It would not be safe for me to walk alone in the streets by myself, so I reluctantly kept walking. With my heart and mind racing, I slowly put one muddy foot in front of the other. Then before I knew what hit me, I was on my side in 6 inches on mud (and other things I won’t mention, just remember the “flying toilets” posting and you will know). All I heard were people says “Pole”(sorry) in concerned voices. If the Lord answered prayers for teleporting, I would have been transported to my shower in a nanosecond. Stunned, frustrated, cut-up and covered in mud, I had to continue, there was no other option. One of the school workers we went with looked for a “kind face” and found it in a tailor busily going about his daily tasks. She asked him if he could give me some water (a very precious commodity in Africa, especially in the slums) to wash my hands and feet. He looked hesitant, but took pity on me and agreed. While I was washing, the young man that we were with went on ahead to see if the road was better or worse. I was somewhat clean and the tailor offered me a seat in his humble place of business, I felt a wave of gratefulness, it was a simple gesture that meant the world to me. It was decided that with the approaching steep downhill in front of us, that it was not safe for me to walk. I didn’t like the thought of everyone turning back because of me, so I volunteered to wait for everyone else if the tailor would let me stay with him. He agreed, somewhat reluctantly and the others set off. After 5 minutes, I had the realization that I had no idea where I was, knew no one around me, had no where I could go and had spiders crawling on me! So, I prayed. When I opened my eyes I saw a young Kenyan mother efficiently making her way through the mud with her infant tried to her back and a 20-liter jug balanced on her head. In a split second I felt so humbled. This young woman does this everyday so her family will have water to cook with and to drink, so her baby can survive and I couldn’t even make it to visit a house. I felt about the size of an ant! After 30 minutes everyone returned to collect me. I never carry money in the slums, so I had to leave the tailor with a humble Thank You, not even payment for the water I used. I had nothing to offer a man who gave me shelter and protection in my time of need. My heart was overwhelmed. I learned several things that day, first: to wear rain boots on days like that, second: to carry a little something for emergencies, third: the Lord is always with me and sometimes it is in the kind face of a tailor, I think this one is the most important, just my opinion.

November 10-24
(Amber) Peter’s parents arrived on the 15th for a visit. We were all so excited! It was the most wonderful experience to see a familiar face, someone who actually “knows” us. They were so excited to see the kids and brought a ton of stuff for them. Noah and Abby said that it was Christmas in November. A Thank You to everyone who helped organize getting everything here (Thanks mom & dad, Kristy, Jennifer, and Stephy!!!), we really appreciate it! We had lots of fun going to the Giraffe center, bazaars, markets, a water park (no, not like Wild Rivers, think bounce house with water) and have planned a safari!

November 25

(Peter) We traveled to Mitumba slums today for school's community service project. One of our first year teachers is in charg of community outreach program; she took a group of high school students to deliever "Holiday Buckets" and to spend time with the students from the Mitumba primary school. Amber and my parents were fortunate enough to travel on our school bus; I wasn't as fortunate because I had a class to teach. (work always gets in the way of something I want to do ; ) ...ever figure out why that happens?) Anyway, another teacher (who also was inconvenienced by this thing called work) and I drove out together in my fully-loaded, All-terrain, 4x4 MONSTER of a vehicle...1998 Toyota Corolla! It was an experience I'll never forget. I wish I had a permanent video camera on the dashboard of my car so y'all could see just how FUN driving in Kenya really is....but I don't. A bad traffic jam due to road work (in the middle of the day) caused us to go off-roading...yes, in my Corolla. The video clip does not do justice...I was unable to video tape the best part because I was following matatus and watching them get stuck trying to get back on the road. God showed favor as HE always does...3 matatus got stuck and I didn't.

For video clips of all of our adventure, go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type in keyword: kimsinkenya

After 90 minutes of driving, we finally got to our destination...a bit late, but we got there and my car was still in one piece. Mitumba slums was HUMBLING. Our high school students did a fabulous job with the little ones. It was an eye-opening experience for my parents as well. Some pictures and video clips Amber and I took while we were there. Oh, by the way, our school delivered over 150 buckets (each bucket full of rice, maize flour, beans, toys, etc.) to the families.

November 24 – December 1, 2008
(Amber) We just returned home from safari, we had such a great time. The kids had such a great time with Harmony and Harabuji (Peter’s parents, it means grandma and grandpa in Korean). Everyone had a fantastic time seeing all the animals. We were very blessed an saw so many different animals, the big five (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo), a black rhino (very rare), a leopard eating a gazelle in a tree, several cat, secretary birds, all kinds of gazelle and antelope, it was amazing. The kids were very excited because the van had a pop-up roof, so they could stand up in the van and stick their heads out in the air, this was an “Africa is SO cool” moment for them. I was so relaxed and really enjoyed the safari and having Peter’s parents with us, it was just what I needed, the Lord is SO great!

December 1st-7th
(Amber) We got our “fake” Christmas tree! No not a 10-ft pre-lit beauty, think a few wire pieces with astro-turf glued on. It isn’t plush, but it is festive. The kids have hung some of the decorations we have gotten (our shipment still hasn’t arrived, so we have nothing for Christmas) and have made lots of crafts to have around our new apartment. We just finished moving in at the beginning of the week, by moving in I mean moving in our clothing, we really don’t have anything else. It was the easiest move ever!!! By the end of the week we got our refrigerator, microwave, washing machine and hot water kettle (a must have since there is no hot water for doing dishes) delivered. We have on last thing item, a stove, and then we are ready to actually think about furniture.

December 7th – 14th
(Amber) Yippy, got the kids beds ordered and got some of the fabric for drapes. We bought a dining table with 6 chairs and 2 chairs for the living room from a missionary who was leaving. We actually have somewhere to sit! Everything is slowly coming together, but we will get there. Our church had the Christmas program on the 14th and Abby was Mary and had SO much fun. She sang 5 songs and performed dances. She was so happy to be up on stage, Peter said she was just a natural. Noah was supposed to be a wise man, but he couldn’t because he woke up early that morning throwing up with a horrible upset stomach. There’s always next year.

December 16th

(Peter) I went swimming for the first time in....about 3 years. Since the ironman, only exercise I've been doing has been "lifting" fork/spoon to my mouth with varying degrees of weight added on to it. For couple weeks my neck has been bothering me and my right thumb has been numb (pins and needles) off and on, 20-30 times a day. And knowing swimming pools are hard to come by in Nairobi, there was this yearning to get back in the pool. So after looking around, I found a place nearby called Impala Club...basically, a country club with couple football/cricket fields (pitches) instead of a golf course, a gym and a pool. I got my stuff ready and headed over. It felt great to get in and put in some laps. As I was swimming in the so-called "swimming pool" trying to see farther than 6 feet ahead of me in murky water...I started wondering..."where is the pump?" "How come I don't smell the chlorine?" "How come there are all these things floating around?"...I realized that I wasn't swimming in a "swimming pool," rather I was in a "swimming lake" with 5 plastered sides to it. I didn't see anywhere the water would be filtered during the day. Hmmm...But desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm hoping swimming will be good for my neck and my thumb. I'm hoping the symptoms aren't the beginning stages of what my sister went through when she was my age (she had a neck surgery few years back).

As Amber mentioned, our containers still has not gotten here. They (US port) told us 30-60 days....it's been almost 5 months. Last time I checked on-line, the website stated that it left (Virginia?) on September 11...then, when I closed their website, Yahoo opening page had headline "Samoli Pirates..." They have our stuff, I can feel it.

'Til next time...

Be Blessed,

Peter, Amber, Noah, Abby

Visit from Los Angeles

2008-11-18T12:41:00.013+03:00

November 3
(Peter) We came home from school around 5:30 to see Eunice waiting with couple adult volunteers from First Love Kenya outside our driveway. Amber has been helping out with First Love Kenya (FLK) for some time now and Eunice is a student (13 years old) getting ready for her KPC test on November 11-13. This test will determine whether she gets into high school and continues with her education or she will be done with her schooling which means she must go out and get a job to support her family and herself…and continue this vicious cycle of poverty that so many Kenyans are familiar with. She is the oldest of 4 kids in her family and they live about an hour and a half away from the school she attends which means she gets up at 4AM every morning to get ready and leave her house by 5 in order to get to school (by matatu) by 7AM. When school gets out at 5PM, she does the same to return home. Eunice ranks 2nd in her class and FLK asked her and her family if she would like to stay with us during the testing period so that she doesn’t have to spend 4-5 hours a day riding in a matatu. You’re probably asking, “couldn’t she spend her time in a matatu studying?” Matatus are so crammed with people, you really can’t move around. Most matatus are the size of a Toyota Sienna minivan and during the morning and evening rush hour it’s common to see anywhere between 8-12 passengers squished in there. The conductor (person who takes the fare) is often seen standing with the sliding door open hanging out the side of the car….extremely SAFE!! Anyway, Amber and other volunteers from FLK visited Eunice’s family a while back and they agreed it’d be best for Eunice to stay with us during the testing period. She will spend this week and next Monday reviewing for the exam and will take the exam next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. One must score a minimum of 250 points in order to continue as a high school student. She is pretty much guaranteed to score 250 points according to her class rank and the scores she has been posting on her practice exams. She’s shooting for 350 or better in order to get into one of the elite high schools. If she can get over 400, Amber says she’s got it made. If she can get into a good high school and continue on this path, she can be the one that breaks her family’s poverty cycle. If she can get a college degree and get a good job, her income can take care of her whole family. Oh, by the way, she comes from a family of 6, but there are 15 people living in her 1-room home…well…a CUBE…that’s what they call it here. Amber says it’s just a square room with drapes dividing their bedroom (where all 15 of them sleep side by side) and their living room (which has a small sofa and a chair). They share an outside kitchen with another family. Staying with us will provide her with her own space and extra 3-4 hours of sleep. We just hope we can provide Eunice with much needed rest as she prepares to ROCK on the upcoming exam.

November 4
(Peter) On our way to school today, I saw one of our teachers standing on the side of the road with his car parked in the middle of the road. He rear-ended another car. I pulled over to see if he was alright. He said one of our veteran staff was there to help him out. Fast forward…it is illegal to have an accident in Kenya. Isn’t that why it’s called “an ACCIDENT” and NOT “an INTENTIONAL?” The police showed up and he was asked to pay a large some of money…court fee, bond, etc. Our school’s Kenyan staff took the police aside and chatted for a while. The police came back to our teacher and basically told him that he is “lucky” because [our Kenyan staff member] lives in the same town as he does and that because of his neighbor, he [our teacher] could go without paying anything, BUT….THERE’S ALWAYS A BUT…But [our Kenyan staff member] would owe him a goat. BRIBE, BRIBE, BRIBE. They're everywhere in Kenya.

November 5
(Peter) So about 2 weeks ago, our U15 girls’ basketball traveled to Rosslyn Academy and got SPANKED 29-2. The worst part was Rosslyn mistakenly scored our 2 points. They looked liked they’ve played together for a while, and that day, we lost our starting point guard due to her grades. They were running 1-3-1 full court press forcing our girls to turn the ball over before getting cross the half. Our errors from their press led to 20 of their 29 points (or should I say their 31 points ; ). Anyway, we spent the next two weeks preparing to break their press. The girls worked hard and I felt confident that our girls were going to give Rosslyn a much better game. I honestly thought we were ready to compete with them. …their bus came through our gate and the players walked off the bus, and I thought…either I’m getting really old and I don’t remember any of their players, or they sent a different team. Ends up that they sent their “B” team…SLAP IN THE FACE! At least tell me that you’re sending your “B” team. Their coach didn’t even show…they sent another. Darn! We were SO READY for them. Anyway, ended up playing everybody, subbing players in early and ended up winning big. I guess we’ll have to wait ‘til next year to see their “A” team again.

November 8
(Peter) Noah is 9 today!!! It seems like yesterday he was in my arms watching his very first Lakers game on TV while mom was recovering from her emergency ceasarian. Noah was 21 hours old when he saw his first Lakers game on television. I was a proud dad. May be I started him too early and it backfired. He is a Pistons fan and doesn’t want anything to do with the Lakers. Noah celebrated his special day with his classmates yesterday (Friday) with a Java House Special Chocolate Cake. He lit the candles by himself (mom said ok) with matches. Mom also brought him hot pizza for lunch. Last night, he opened his birthday present from grandparents…Star Wars Action Figures. We told him he can open his presents early because we didn’t want him to wake us up this morning at 5 asking about his presents.

Amber had PTF(Parent-Teacher-Fellowship) meeting this morning at school. Rewind 3 hours….I woke up at 6AM to come up to school to send our athletes off to their tournament at Rift Valley Academy. Our U17 basketball and football were signed up to play in U19 tournament to get ready for next year. We currently do not have U19 teams – No senior class until next year. Anyway, they left on time and I felt good about our teams getting there on time. As I drove back up to school with Amber and the kids, I received a phone call from our basketball coach.
He said, “Hey, can you call RVA and tell them to send help.” The bus (with about 40 athletes) was stuck in the road about 2 km a way from RVA. There are 2 different ways to RVA; our bus had to take the one with horrible, non-paved road because the other route has a tunnel that the bus can’t fit through. With the amount of rain we’ve had in the past 3-4 days, it made the road conditions even worse. Anyway, I had to search for RVA phone number and called them for help. Athletic Director sent out 5 4x4 vehicles to transport the players to the campus and to pull the bus out of the mud pit near a “small cliff.” RVA AD told me over the phone that if their off-road vehicle can’t get the job done, they would send a tractor to pull the bus out. What school owns a tractor? Rift Valley Academy in Kenya does! I called our basketball coach back to tell him HELP was coming. He laughed and said, “This is Kenya.”
Well, after about a 2-hour struggle, the tractor along with couple 4x4 vehicles got the job done. I wish I was there to take pictures.

November 11
(Peter) Alright, I’m so ready to move to our new place. With the recent rain, we’ve welcomed cockroaches. Amber and I think they’re coming up through the drainage pipes. There’s been at least 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening in our downstairs bathroom. Along with cockroaches, slugs (on steroids) and millipedes or centipedes of some sort meet daily, morning and night, in our bathroom….I think to smoke cigars. We’ve found a place, an apartment closer to school, that we’ll be moving into sometime this month. As much as we’ve enjoyed living in this house where the owners have been so gracious in allowing us to stay here while they are on furlough in Germany, we’re READY for our own place. For one thing, it’s kinda weird coming home and seeing all these pictures of people we’ve never met. Mr. and Mrs. M. have been AWESOME throughout our first 4 months here in Kenya.

Eunice completed her first day of test. She told us she did well; she feels good about it. So many people have been praying over her. Even our night guard has been praying for her success. It’s so incredible to witness brothers and sisters come together in the name of Christ.

4 days until my parents arrive…we’ve requested so many items from them….mostly for the kids. Hope they survive the connector flights and all the luggage they must carry.

Today is my sister Stephanie’s birthday. Happy Birthday Sis!. I miss you very much. So… she is 22 today ; )

November 13

(Peter) I hurried to school this morning as I always do when I know the Lakers played the night before. As most of you back in the states are watching my Lakers kick BUTT on your High Def. 80 inch plasma screen TV with Tivo, I hurry to school the next day to turn on my LIGHTENING FAST DIAL-UP INTERNET to check the box scores. I read over the play-by-play for the whole game and picture the game in my head. It's kinda like reading a book rather than seeing the movie. I'm constantly expanding my creativity here in Kenya ; )

November 15
(Peter) I’m whoppin’ 37 today. “you’re old.” “you’re a baby.” All relative to who you ask. I do know that I’m the oldest of so called “young” teachers. I thought I was may be couple months older, but that teacher threw a little sucker punch with “I’m right there with you in about a year and a half.”

My birthday gift…my parents flew in from Los Angeles. 30 hours of travel including 8-hour layover in Amsterdam does a lot of damage to a 75 and 70 year old bodies, but my parents are real troopers. They got in and 7:15 this morning, and it was so nice to see them. Because of our OVER-SIZED MONTER OF A CAR (1998 Toyota Corolla), I had to leave the kids and Amber at home. Good thing because we barely stuffed all the luggage in the car. Kids ran out to greet them; they were so happy.
Then, my parents started opening their luggage…Christmas in November. Noah and Abby had so much fun every time my parents pulled out something new from their luggage. Nothing extravagant…just items from home you can’t find in Kenya like Kellogg’s Fruit Loops, box of Crayola Markers, snacks, etc. Noah and Abby, in short 3 months, have really learned to appreciate the small things in life. Crayola Markers and colored pencils were a BIG hit with the kids. Amber and I both got goodies too, mostly items that we ordered on our own, but still goodies of our own. Amber was ecstatic about getting a bag full of ZIPLOC bags. My favorite….NOSE HAIR TRIMMER!!! A quick background…I had one trimmer for about 10 years and before leaving the states, I thought, “may be it’s time for a new one.” So I bought one at Fry’s and packed it in my suit case. Third day in Nairobi, I got all excited to use my new trimmer. It was FANCY with a light!!! But once in my nostril, it didn’t trim; IT PULLED!!! Turns out the tip got crushed in the suitcase and the blade was mis-aligned. “Why couldn’t I leave good enough alone?” So for the past 3 months, I’ve been having my “cockroaches” (as my lovely wife calls them) pulled by my new, state-of-the-art Panasonic Trimmer. So when my mom pulled out my NEW “MAN GROOMER”….HALLELUJAH!!!!! I PROMISE TO PROTECT AND TAKE GOOD CARE OF MY “MAN GROOMER.”

'Til next time....

Be Blessed,

Peter Kim and Family

Videos available

2008-10-31T13:22:00.001+03:00

Gave up on google blog video upload....if interested, go to
www.youtube.com and type in kimsinkenya

Hope you enjoy.

Be Blessed.

McDonald’s play area, community park, San Diego Wild Animal Park, or…..

2008-10-23T15:20:00.015+03:00

Oct. 11 -12
(Peter) Got up early this morning to get ready for our camping trip to Lake Naivasha, about an hour and half outside of Nairobi. This was our first trip outside the city without the guidance of our veteran school staff. Well, before we could get packed up, we were awaken to Noah and Abby screaming, “Oh my gosh, Sasha peed in the house! Mom, Dad! There’s pee everywhere. The whole living room is covered!” I got myself out of bed and went downstairs to find the living room floor covered with water…not dog pee. Couldn’t figure out where and how the water came in, but I was busy scooping water into a bucket. Using a rectangular plastic jar, I ended up scooping 4 buckets (3-gallon bucket) of water before Amber and I could start wiping off the floor. I went outside to see if the upstairs balcony was clogged causing the water to seep through and found that wasn’t the problem. I went over to our next door neighbor’s house to find their hose squirting water directly to the side of our house. Concrete wall can only take so much water. What happened was the day before, we were out of water for part of the day and their gardener left the hose on when he left. Found out it’s a Kenyan thing to do because they lose water so often, when the water goes out, they leave a faucet on so that they know when the water returns….so all night water was hitting our side of the house. Somewhat frustrating to begin with, but after we found out the cause, learned something new about the culture.

Met 2 other families at their apartment complex around 9:30 and headed out. Within 20 minutes, we were officially out of Nairobi…and it was so beautiful! We drove past the great Rift Valley which is shown at the left. I’m heading over there in couple weeks for a U15 basketball game….can’t wait. After 90 minutes of driving we got to our destination….Fisherman’s Camp in Lake Naivasha. We checked in and picked out our camp spot…about 20 yards away from the electric fence that turns on every night @ 6:30 to keep the hippos from coming on to the campground….actually, more like keeping the people from getting killed. They said couple years ago, some mzungu (westerner/foreigner) went over the fence to take a close-up picture of a baby hippo…well, anyone who knows anything has heard how protective mother hippos are of their babies. Well, the person was attacked and died. In Africa, more people die from Hippos than any other animals. As we were settling in, we saw Colobus monkeys hanging around the trees.

We then went on a walking safari. We hired a guide for 300 Kenyan shillings (ksh), equivalent to less than $5, and drove to a nearby game park. We got out and went on a 90-minute walking safari where we saw African Wild Life up close and personal. No tram, no bus, no chain-link fence…just us on our feet. Noah and Abby along with 2 of their friends tried very hard to be quiet and get as close as possible to a herd of zebras; my rough estimation…they were about 10-12 yards away before the herd walked away from the kids. We saw gazelles, giant elan, giraffes…we even saw dried up hippo vomit. Marcus, our guide, told us that they vomit on vegetation to mark their trail for their return trip. We were about 30 minutes into our walk when we heard 2 boys (Noah and his friend) yell, “hey guys check this out!” The boys were hunched over looking intensely at a pile of dung! And there it was…a dung beetle busy rolling dung. Noah was fascinated. All I could think about was the scene from ICE AGE when all the animals were leaving to safer place and family of dung beetle rolling dung and the husband says, “Do we have to take this crap with us?” Boys will be boys. Next we found a little sand spot that Abby said it reminded her of playground sandbox. Little did we know that zebras and other animals come and roll around to get ticks off their bodies….so we QUICKLY got Abby out of there ; )

Noah found a skull of a muskrat near a fox hole, and Abby found a vertebrae of a gazelle.

Afterwards, we went to Crater Lake to sit and relax a bit. Kids had fun playing around.

When we got back to our camp site, we found our 5-gallon water jug tipped over and our trash bag torn up…we assume it was monkeys or baboons.

The next day was filled with more adventure. We went on a boat ride and saw:
A water buffalo relaxing ,

hippos swimming around,

the local kids swimming and bathing 25 yards away from the hippos,

local fishermen fishing.

Noah and his friend were in charge of camp fire for lunch, and they did a fantastic job.

Saw elementary school kids learning about wildlife

All in all, it was a great weekend!!

Oct. 16
(Peter) Another new experience.
Kids were asleep and Amber and I were in the kitchen debriefing about the day’s events. It started raining and around 9:30PM Amber got up to get something from the living room to find 2 ‘flying insects’ that looked like mosquitoes. She immediately said that they were heading to the kitchen. They were flying termites that people told us about and what kids and Amber saw couple weeks ago when geckos were feasting on them outside. Anyway, I took my shoe off and whacked one and when I looked around for the other one, there were 4 more…then 10 more…pretty soon the whole downstairs was filled with flying termites. We quickly shut the back sliding door that we usually leave open for the dog, but more termites were coming in. I was busy swinging at ‘em while Amber was trying to figure out where they were coming in from. Found out they were squeezing through front slotted windows that do not seal completely. Amber went upstairs and shut the door. She said “I can’t take this anymore. I’m going upstairs.” Well, Sasha, the dog, and I worked as a team. I whacked ‘em and she ate ‘em. Funny thing about the flying termites is that their wings fall off and they either die or crawl back into the earth. I got tired of swinging my shoe around so I turned off all the lights and went to bed trusting Sasha would take care of the rest. The next morning, I picked up quite a few wings off the kitchen floor and when we walked outside to leave for school, we saw all the wings that fell off on the ground. The pictures do not do justice. I told my first period students about it and they said Kenyans take the wings off, fry ‘em , add some salt and eat ‘em. Some of the American students said it’s actually pretty good. Noah and I will have to try it one day. I spoke to our night guard John about it and he said his tribe “Kikuyus” don’t really like flying termites, but another tribe (I forget the name of them) can actually play their drums and chant and make it sound like it’s raining to fool the termites to come up from the earth. Fascinating!!!

Oct. 20
(Peter) Today was a holiday…got up and headed out to Lake Naivasha again. First and foremost, we needed to go back to our campground to pick up Abby’s zebra backpack she left last week. She was devastated thinking her favorite bag was gone, but one of the campground workers found it, returned it to the front office, and they kept it safe for us until today. Abby was SO EXCITED!!

Afterwards we met about 10 of our teachers and their families at Crescent Island which is part of Lake Naivasha. Well, it use to be an island, but now it’s a peninsula/isthmus (whichever is which/) due to all the nearby flower farms that use up all the water from the lake. Our guide told us last week that the lake will eventually dry up if this keeps up. He also told us that tilapia and fresh water salmon population is dwindling due to the fact that some knucklehead introduced carp few years ago…turns out these carp (who are bottom-dwellers) are eating up all the eggs of the other two. Ever wonder why people ruin the perfect balance of nature? Anyway…saw more wild life today. The best event of the day was watching our kids chasing zebras, gazelles and wildebeests…and watching a dung beetle hard at work…it was amazing watching this little guy push dung 4-5 times his size up the hill.

Oct. 19
(Peter) Chronologically out of order, but this is worth telling. The family has been anticipating for this moment for the past 2 weeks. We finally got a chance to meet John’s family (our night guard). John and I have been talking frequently late at night, and we’ve become close friends. So, this morning at 8, we met John’s family at Java House (for the ones reading our blog for the first time, Java House is like Starbucks with a full menu). John and his family live in Kawangare which is the place where we visited few weeks ago with our church for Open Air Crusade. We were all nervous a little bit, but eased up with time. We enjoyed each others’ company. Their older daughter, Grace (8) and Abby ate and played on a nearby play structure while the adults talked. Fellowship was great. John said that his family walked by this place on their way to church one day and said, ‘this is a fancy place for wazungu. We could never afford this place.’ He felt so blessed to have us as friends to experience something he and his family would have never dreamt of experiencing. We felt so blessed they agreed to have breakfast with us and to share with us their life stories. Amber and I spent…all 1,800 shillings for our meals (about $26 to feed 8 people). The lessons we learned, friends we made, smiles exchanged….priceless.

Missing Home...just a little bit!

2008-10-01T16:22:00.027+03:00

September 9, 2008
(Peter) Well, it rained hard yesterday from about 3:30 in the afternoon ‘til about 5. I got a call from our basketball coach who had his players on the school van and was heading over to Brookhouse School for a U17 (equivalent to Junior-Varsity) basketball game. The game had to be postponed due to rain. This is a shocker for any coach back in the states….a rainout basketball game? Most schools only have asphalt outdoor courts (us too), so rainouts are common here. Something for me to get use to. Oh yeah, also, you can’t yell at your players to “dive for the ball!” It rained hard enough that teacher mailroom flooded. 3 of us (head custodian, another teacher and me) spent about 30 minutes scooping water with empty margarine tubs and mopping the floor. It was lots of FUN!

September 10, 2008
(Peter) Well, today was a beautiful day, then 3:45 came along and it brought lots and lots of RAIN. I was running a middle school basketball practice, and the flood gates of heavens opened up. Kids wanted to keep on practicing…so we did. There is nothing more satisfying as a coach than when your players are willing to work regardless of circumstance. They won a lot of points from me today. The practice was fun, but THE REAL FUN began after practice. I was on the “activity bus,” a school bus that takes all the athletes who normally take the school bus and drops them off at different spots around Nairobi area after practice. The rain stopped for a while but about 10 minutes before my stop, a HEAVY DOWN POUR!!! Traffic was so bad that we got off the bus and walked/ran in the rain to our drop off area at YaYa Center (shopping mall near our home) which is exactly 1 kilometer away from the house. That’s about 6 tenth of a mile. Amber was already on her way to pick me up. I walked home couple times, but couple “not-so-kosher” events have taken place on the street that I walk on and Amber really felt strongly about picking me up. Anyway, it took her 45 minutes to get to YaYa. She left her phone at home, so even though I was calling to tell her to go back, I couldn’t get in touch with her. Rain kept coming. Like I said, it’s exactly 1 kilometer to our house. It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to get home. Amber and the kids were in the car 2.5 hours for 2 kilometer drive. The lawlessness on the streets was mind-boggling. Buses, Matatus (minivan taxis) and other passenger cars were on the wrong side of the road hoping to get ahead…but we know this causes more problems because there are cars traveling on the other side as well. Amber not knowing how bad the traffic was going to be, left the oven on. It got so late, that I got out of the car, ran home in the rain to turn off the oven before the house caught on fire. I made PB&J for the kids and ran back to the car with sandwiches and bottles of water in my hands. They’ve moved about whoppin’ tenth of a mile. We saw buses on the wrong side of the road who got stuck in the mud. Cars stalling left and right. A driver of a SUV just abandoned his car in the middle of the road. I think he might have gone to get something to eat. On a 2-lane road (for those of you from La Crescenta, the width of a street equivalent to side streets like Janet Lee Drive or Teasley) (for Mr. Martin and his family in Mississippi, the width of your street) there must’ve been 4-6 lanes at any given moment. And these weren’t 2-3 lanes side by side going one direction and the other 2-3 going the other direction. It was mass chaos. There were buses driving down the wrong side of the road with a row of passenger cars next to the buses also traveling the wrong direction. Then there was a row of cars traveling the right direction standing firm and blocking the buses and the cars. All this in one lane. The other half of the road had problems of its own. I wish I had our camera with me because my description does not do justice; however, I did take a picture of our EXTRA WELL DONE chicken dish. Black sticks are carrots. I made myself a PB&J and called it a night.

September 7th – September 14th
(AMBER) This week was my first real “busy week”. I ended up being out every day; it was so hectic I felt like I was back in Southern California! I was very glad when Friday rolled around. It is funny how quickly I adapted to a slower lifestyle, I have learned I do not like feeling rushed. My favorite part of the week was on Wednesday I attended my first session of a class called “The Kingdom, Human Dignity and the Poor: A Biblical Ethic of Social Justice”. I thought this would be a pretty relevant topic for me. It already has me thinking about things in a new light. After the class, I was very fortunate to go back to the school in Kibera and spend the rest of the day there. I was greeted this week by a group of young girls who were practicing their English and then I was stopped in my tracks by a group of 4 preschoolers (4 years old) who jumped up to give me huge hugs! One of them, named Natalie, located the Kipling monkey attached to my handbag and thought it was the greatest thing ever! She called a bunch of other kids and I was quickly surrounded by 15 other children who all wanted to get a look at this “toy”. I waited for each child to look and I was quickly rewarded for my patience with children embracing my arms and my waist and those who were smaller simply hugged my thighs. I could’ve stood in that moment forever! I made my way inside the school office to start “working”. I am going to be helping to interview students to find the students who are in the greatest need. We will do several interviews and home visits to verify the information to find the best way to aid those students. This week I was introduced to an 8th grader and got to sit in a listen to her interview. What a fascinating and intelligent young lady. She will be taking her exams in November and will get her scores in February, this will tell her what high school she will be eligible to attend. Kids who scores are less than 250 do not qualify to go to high school. Those who score between 250 and 500 will go to high school, where the quality of the school depends on the quantity of the test score. Our interviewee is 4th in her class and has a goal of scoring 350. It will be best if she can get into a boarding school, since she currently commutes 1 hour and 45 minutes by bus and matatu by herself, each day, to attend school. After the interview, three preschoolers came into the office to say “Hi” and hang out with us during their recess. The same little girl, Natalie, introduced her two friends to me, one was a new student who only speaks in her “mother tongue” and does not speak any English or Swahili and the other was a spunky “little bit of a thing” who spent the next 20 minutes playing with my hair, sitting in my lap and touching my skin. She kept pulling at the neckline of my shirt and gently pressing my collar bones. I asked my friend what she was doing and my friend explained “she wants to see if your skin is white all over”. I had to chuckle, give this little sweetie big hug and thank the Lord for this amazing opportunity! As the little ones were returning to their class, my friend informed me that the little girl who clung to me is an orphan. My heart ached for a moment and then I had to praise the Lord, because even though her parents are gone, she is still here being loved and cared for. She isn’t out on the street somewhere, the Lord has kept her safe and will continue to protect and provide for her, God is SO great!

September 14, 2008
(Peter) Today was SIMPLY AWESOME!! We started the day by attending a new church halfway between our house and our school…just outside one of many slums here in Nairobi area. This was our 5th church we’ve visited since we touched-down 2 months ago, and each member of our family has had different opinions on the previous 4 churches. I wanted a “Kenyan” church experience AND be spiritually fed; my whole thought has been (without offending anyone…this is not a racial remark by any means) ‘I don’t want to attend a ‘white church or Korean church’ 10,000 miles from home in AFRICA.” Amber has been looking for “Biblically-sound teaching” and "a place where our kids could grow in their faith." The kids wanted a service "not too long" and a place "where they can have fun." Well....we found it in Victory World Outreach. A pastor who spoke at our staff retreat couple weeks prior really got to my heart, so he and I talked for a while and decided that we'd visit the church...and we're really glad we did. God is so amazing in providing for us. The majority of the congregation is from one of many different slums around Nairobi, and we are 1 of 2 non-Kenyan families in the church...the other being the pastor and his family. God used him to raise up this church few years back and he has been training a Kenyan pastor to take over. The service is done in English with Swahili translator. The worship is AWESOME!!! Much longer than what we're use to; nonetheless, AWESOME. We just felt the spirit of God under the giant white tent. Kids had Sunday School followed by 90-120 minutes of service with the adults...a bit long for them, and I thought for sure they were going to complain about how long and boring it was, but that was not the case at all. They loved it. They loved the worship songs in Swahili and enjoyed watching the worship team up on the stage. Afterwards, we went out to lunch with pastor's family and they invited us to Open Air Cruasade in the slums. I've been wanting to visit the slums for a while, so we jumped on the opportunity. We got to where the church members had set up their sound system and portable pop-up around 5 pm and the place was rockin' & rollin' The members were in the middle of a dance routine/skit followed by worship. The pastor then came forward with a short message where more than 15 people gave their lives to Christ. So WONDERFUL to be in the SPIRIT!! Noah and Abby loved the experience; it made everything so real to them. We always have told them 'how fortunate they are to have the things they have,' etc. and seeing their peers living in the slums brought everything to LIFE. They spent much of their 45 minute visit to the slums shaking hands with other kids and talking with them. Here is a picture of VWO youth leader who was a town knucklehead few years back. He was in prison for drugs and theft, and found Jesus and is now witnessing to the neighborhood. God is Good!

September 15
(Peter) We forgot to wash the Abby's PE uniform over the weekend, so late Sunday night we ran the washer and when it was done, we hung them to dry knowing full well they wouldn't be completely dry by 7:15AM. Well, I got up to find damp uniform, so...I did what I've done in the past and threw them in the microwave. What I've done in the past was I pause it every 2 minutes or so to "fluff" it to let all the steam escape then I throw it back in...repeating the step 3-5 times depending on how wet the clothes are. It was a "typical" Monday morning; I threw her PE shirt in the microwave and ran it for 10 minutes. I was planning on pausing it every 2 minutes or so to "fluff," but like I said, it was MONDAY. After I pushed the start button, I jumped in the shower and was feeling blessed to have HOT water. I got out, dried off and open the bathroom door to a funky burning smell. I walked over to the kitchen thinking to myself, "Did Amber burn something?" (Typical husband blaming his wife ; ) ) Then it hit me. Abby's PE shirt. I opened up the microwave with 12 seconds remaining and found her shirt with brown burn marks on the front and the back. Abby did not appreciate that very much, but she's been a trooper and has been wearing her shirt 3 times a week on M-W-F on her PE days. She's still beautiful.

Sept. 15-21
(Amber)This Sunday we tried out a new church where the Pastor’s son is a student at our school. This was the first church that we have attended that was considered an “outreach” church. Besides the Pastor and his family, we were the only other Wazungu and we drove in one of the five cars that were parked in front of the church (keep in mind there were probably 150 to 200 people in service). The Sunday school took place form 9-10:15 and then service occurred after that with children and adults together. Noah and Abby did great, the other kids were staring all through Sunday school and the smaller ones came to sit next to Abby and tried to touch her skin and hair. She would just look at me and smile and laugh. After service the Pastor invited us to lunch with his family. We ate yummy Chinese at our favorite place and the Pastor asked if we would like to attend a crusade at the Kawangware slums. Peter hesitated at first (it was around 3pm and we started the day at 8:30, so we all a little tired) and then decided it sounded like a good idea. We all grabbed some coffee and tea at a local place, made the kids go potty since there really are no toilets in the slum and headed for Kawangware. We drove right up to where the church had set-up a “pop-up” tent, under which they had audio equipment, this way they could secure our cars. The church had the worship team sing and a group of ladies perform dances. They gave a message and had an altar call. A woman to my left was weeping and speaking with a church leader. An 11-year old next to me, named James, raised his hand to receive the Lord. I had been talking with him throughout and I was very excited for him. It was time to go, since it would soon be dark, so we all got in the car to go home. We had a little excitement when our car was having trouble getting up the dirt road, but we made it on the 7th try! The streets were very crowded, so it took some time to reach the main road. Noah and Abby were busy talking and Peter and I were discussing the wonderful opportunities we experienced throughout the day. From the back seat Noah piped up, “Hey guys, can we go back to the church next week, I want to do this again!” Any number of things could have turned the kids or Peter off, there were many things they could have disliked, but the Lord gave us eyes to see and ears to hear his plans.

SO... I turned 33 this week! It was very cute, Peter had his Geometry class sing "Happy Birthday" to me. I was floored by hearing two of the boys sing acapella, they need to sign a contract with some record label, they were really good! Peter announced to the class that I just "turned 22", the look on the kids faces was hysterical! One young man said that I "didn't look a day over 18". I just love having the fact that our family is all at the same school, it just makes for a lot of fun throughout the whole day!

September 20, 2008
(Peter) Noah had his first sleepover in Kenya at a 5th grader's birthday slumber party. They were going to a Go-Karting place around town. Well, safety and liability isn't very BIG here in Kenya...so when we picked him up the next morning, he had SO MUCH to tell us. "Mom, Dad, we drove without helmets!" "[Johnny] drove too fast around this turn and got thrown out of the car!" We asked, "Wasn't he wearing a seatbelt?" Noah responded, "No, none of the cars had seatbelts!" "And [Bobby] burned his hand because he touched the hot engine." Amber said, "let me guess. The engines weren't covered." This is Kenya. We love it. It reminds us of home 20 years ago when kids could be kids without having to worry about who's going to sue who? Kids can be kids here. Our school would be shut down so quick if it were in the states because there are so many safety violations...for instance, check out this electric fence near the back of the school right next to our trash pit (once a month they burn all the trash, sometimes during basketball practice...it smells REALLY GREAT!)

September 26, 2008
(Peter) Noah spent the night at a friend’s house; 2 sleepovers in 2 weeks. We’re so blessed to have Noah as our son. Amber got a call from the mom last night; we were expecting her to say Noah wants to come home…but she was calling to ask Noah’s boundaries. The boys were deciding on what video games to play, and Noah stepped up and said, “I can only play E-rated games, and I have a vivid imagination, so I can’t watch a lot of scary movies.” This was a MILESTONE for Noah. Taking initiative and speaking up. It would have been so easy for him to have played other video games that he so wants to play and not have said anything, but he self-monitored. We are so blessed to have such a responsible young man.

September 27, 2008
(Peter) Got up @ 6AM, showered, got dressed, and started making PB&J sandwiches for my U15 girls’ basketball team. The team has been practicing for over a month now and today was their first game… actually, a tournament with guaranteed 5 games. Found out 5 minutes before our first game that 8 of the 10 girls have never played an official basketball game…EVER! “THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!!” I thought.
It was a 1-day, 12-team tournament and I wondered what the tournament format was going to be like especially since they told me that it would be over by 2PM. All the coaches in the states know that 8-10 team tournaments take 3-5 days to complete…so how does each team get 5 guaranteed games in one day? Play your “Pool Play” games that are 10 minute running time with no time-outs, no quarters or halves…just 10 minutes. No wonder the entry fee was FREE!. There were 2 games going on side-by-side with Pool A playing on court 1, I mean “pitch 1” and Pool B playing on “pitch 2.” Each game started with a jump ball and then it was ROCK & ROLL for 10 minutes. Players would stop playing on one court thinking they heard the whistle, but it was from the other court. If I was paid a quarter for every “non-call” and “missed call,” I’d be a rich man right now. But it was good, and it was fun.
Our first game, we were shut out 8-0. I personally thought we could have taken this team, but the girls were nervous…deer in the headlights. It was obvious other schools brought some of their upper level (U17) girls, but we kept our team as is and played through. I have never understood the point of bringing someone down to win games. One of our U17 girls came with us and everyone wanted her to play, but I had to disappoint them and say ‘No.’ A big meanie! We improved each game and ended our pool play with 2 wins (1 by forfeit, ineligible player), 1 tie and 2 losses. We tied for 2nd place in our pool, but point differential knocked us out of semi-final game. Not bad for the girls’ very first game(s). We turn right around and travel to ISK (Int’l School of Kenya) on Monday for our very first “real” game with 4 quarters, timeouts, changing baskets, etc. It’s about an hour drive; if the kids lose…they’ll walk home…; )

October 4th
(Peter) It rained hard this afternoon and I was out dropping off our babysitter and when I got home, I saw my 3 loves (Amber, Abby and Noah) all laying on Noah's bed and looking out the upstairs window. I thought, "gee, I've only been gone for 45 minutes...they must've missed me a lot." I opened the front door and Abby yelled down the stairs, "Dad, you missed all the action! The geckos, the geckos, they're out and eating all the bugs!" So I went up and saw half dozen geckos on the side of our wall, patiently waiting to catch their next meal. The rain brought out all the termites...they have oversized-wings and fly around. The kids and Amber said that they saw the geckos having a feeding frenzy.

October 6th
(Peter) Came home late after a long day at school to find a gecko in our living room. People tell us they're just part of living in Kenya. They eat all the mosquitos, and we'll find lots of them just "hanging around" the drapes. We had to put the dog outside because she wanted to eat it. Noah caught it and set it free outside.
Things we miss...

Fountain sodas (with ICE!) - what's up with drinking room temperature soda pop?
All the restaurants in La Crescenta area...Joselito's, New Moon, Los Burritos, Hill Street, La Cabanita, Yaki's, and of course, Tommy's and In-N-Out. In Southaven, Mississippi area...Brucesters (spelling?) Ice Creme parlor!!!
Traffic laws - it really shouldn't take us 1-2 hours to get home from school (10 km = 6.4 miles)
Consistent power
CVHS' set rules and policies (I really miss BLACK & WHITE...too many GREY at this young school.) - but we keep moving forward.
Reliable internet
Family and friends

Things we enjoy...

Kenyan people - you have to experience them if you ever get a chance
Kenyan's hospitality - it competes with southern hospitality we experienced with the Martin Family.
Our faith being tested by other "wazungu" Christians of all people. This was difficult at the beginning, but this will only make us stronger, and we will enjoy this growth period.
Our new church at Victory World Outreach - I'd pay to see our 2 pastors (CVCC and VWO) to get together and talk about Christ. I'd be like a kid in a candy store.
Going to school as a family. No matter what kind of a day I'm having, when Abby comes up behind me and gives me a hug, nothing really matters.
Teachers at West Nairobi, especially all the first year teachers and teachers in my (Peter's) office.

Until next time...Mungu akubariki (God bless you!)

Next posting will hopefully include pictures of African Wildlife...we're going camping this weekend.

Gettin' Comfortable...well, sort of.

2008-09-07T19:14:00.033+03:00

August 17 – 23, 2008 (AMBER) Well, this week has been a week of new things. We began the week with our first Skype call from my parents. Noah and Abby were so glad to finally talk to Grandma and Grandpa, it was a very special time. I also got to “chat” to my parents for the first time using Skype, also. It is such a great resource for anyone living overseas, it was like a little taste of being home with family. We also had our first “Back to School” night with WNS. It was wonderful to meet so many parents and get to hear about the other students in Noah and Abby’s classes. We got a little rain here the night of “Back to School”, so our kids had GREAT fun playing soccer in the rain. They came home exhausted and soaking wet, it is great being an MK in Africa. Later in the week, I spent a day downtown with a friend checking out a potential vendor for personalized school gear (baseball caps, mugs and sweatshirts with the school logo). It was very exciting and we ended up getting a parking ticket in the process! For anyone who has ever failed to put money in the meter and paid the price, just consider yourself lucky! We had to pay KSH (Kenyan shillings) 1000 fine, even though there is nothing posted that states there is a fee to park, nor are there any instructions that explains what to do. Apparently, there are people in bright yellow jackets that you have to located and pay KSH 70 in order to park anywhere in the downtown area and they give you a receipt to put on your dashboard. If you do not pay, they come and put a “boot” on your tire. This not just an ordinary boot, it has spikes on both sides, so if you don’t see it you not only have a 1000 fine you also have a flat tire! I thought that the fine was a small price to pay for the invaluable lesson of how to park in the city, I was very grateful to be with a friend during the entire experience. This week I also had my first experience going to the Kibera slum with another friend. I felt very fortunate to be able to go so soon after our arrival. You see, being a mzungu (foreigner in Swahili), it would not be wise (very safe) to go into the slums without a Kenyan national or another mzungu who is known in that area. The Kibera slum is the 2nd largest slum in the world and was one of the places that was hit hard by all the post-election violence. Many of the places are being rebuilt, but you can still see the black soot on the ground and building walls from the burning. To describe the scene driving into Kibera (I couldn’t take a camera), does not do it justice, but I will try. You drive down a hill to see one square mile of small corrugated metal structures. Some are in good shape while many others are rusted and still others are full of holes or half missing. The first thing you see when entering is a huge trash heap just outside. My friend told me they used to have a “No Dumping” sign posted, but then they just gave up because everyone dumped their trash there. To put it in context, trash pick-up is US$6.oo a month, for most of the people living in the slum this is a week’s worth of wages. I, too, would much rather have my trash sitting in a hump outside, than in my house. Once you pass the trash, you start to notice all the people. This one square mile is one of the most densely populated in all of Africa. All of the people walking makes driving a difficult task since the driving space is narrow and the people dart out to cross the street. I was very impressed with my friends driving, she was a pro! Next you notice all the “businesses”, as Kibera is a “working slum” and is basically a small self-contained community where its’ residents can find most of what they need at a local vendor. These businesses are small stalls (most are no more than 4 ft by 4 ft) that are structures with tree branches tied together for framing and most have corrugated metal roofs. [Peter: picture on the side is not Kibera, but imagine something like it and expand it to 1 square mile area] Many also have corrugated metal sides, but some only have fabric or mud walls. As we passed the local butcher, we saw the stray dogs hanging out near the open window where the sides of meat were being displayed, I am sure they were waiting for the smallest scrap. As we progressed, we saw one of the Presbyterian churches that was burned and was presently being repaired. The remaining walls were deeply stained by the cooking fat that was used to fuel the blaze. Then we finally reached our destination after driving down a steep and rocky dirt road (I was really glad we were driving her 4WD because our old Corolla would not have made it back up the hill). Our destination was a private K-12 school in the heart of Kibera. I got to meet the wonderful staff and volunteers who pour their time and talents into the wide-eyed students who attend. The annual tuition of $65 pays for schooling and two square meals each school day (for many of the students, this is the only food they will eat throughout their week), which is served in a cafeteria and the food is prepared by 2 wonderful ladies in a small kitchen. The elementary and middle school consisted of corrugated metal structures, while the high school had concrete classrooms that had been funded by a local politician. The school had a computer lab (all computers where donated by a large computer manufacturer) and an impressive science lab. There was a large dirt area that served as a playground for the students. The most amazing part was the kids. They were all SO HAPPY, to be at school. This school was an oasis for them, a place where they could learn, feel safe and get fed. They all understood how blessed they were to have the opportunity to be able to go to school. They were so excited to practice their English with me, they asked, “How are you?” “What is your name?” “Are you a teacher?” “Where are you from?”. I asked one class “How old are you?” and they all stared at me with a perplexed look on their faces. I had to rephrase the question to “What grade are you in?”, because most people here do not keep track of their age. I am learning one small tidbit at a time! I felt the Lord and his gentle nudging when I looked into the eyes of these sweet youngsters, I know that I need to be involved. So, now I am waiting upon the Lord, that he might lead me to fulfill his plan and serve, to glorify Him. I never would’ve guessed in a million years that I would be typing this story, and yet, I feel overwhelming blessed and elated to be doing just that.

August 24 – 30 (Amber) Hey, I am mobile! I finally got the courage to tackle the roads here and I am doing great. It is stressful to drive here, but having independence is worth it.

August 31 – September 6 (AMBER) This was my first week volunteering in the classroom. I got to read to Noah’s class as part of their Library time, I just loved it! It was my favorite part of the day. This weekend we had a staff retreat at “The Lukenya Getaway” in Lukenya, which is about 1.5 hours south of Nairobi. It is a warmer and drier climate, so the kids swam the weekend away. We got to see wild zebra, wildebeests, Thompson gazelles and giraffes. Adults and kids alike where yelling, “Gazelle, gazelle … look a zebra … look a giraffe…” I am sure we were hilarious to our driver. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, worship and relaxing; we felt very blessed and were so grateful to WNS for arranging the entire retreat. It was during the retreat, specifically at 3:30 am on Friday morning, when I was awakened by Abby so she could inform me that she “had lost her loose tooth”. It sounds silly, but this is her first tooth to fall out, so it was a monumental deal of us. Wow, when did she get so big? She also had another first this weekend; she stepped on her first Acacia thorn. Look at the picture and then you will understand. These thorns are so stiff that they easily pierce through tennis shoe soles … ouch! Thank the Lord she stepped on a small one. (Amber holding an Acacia thorn and pix of Acacia tree)

Gettin' comfortable…(Peter) Not as organized as Amber (from last post 'til now)
Driving on the other side is starting to feel natural for me and I’m starting to understand all the “unwritten rules of the road.” As chaotic as the road might look to us Americans, there’s method behind the madness. It’s complete “controlled chaos.” One thing I still do not like and will probably never get use to is the fact the majority of the drivers use their high-beams at night. Driving a Toyota Corolla and being so low to the ground makes it nearly impossible to see clearly. Almost got clipped by a bus the other night driving home in the rain after a basketball game, literally came half an inch from being hit by this on-coming bus. The other day I officially became a “Kenyan driver.” There was HEAVY traffic on the road and we (me and 2 other teachers) were not moving at all; all due to 2 small fender benders. For some reason, the cars involved in the accident are not to move in Kenya; they stay there until help/police arrive which could be hours. One accident involved a bus (full of passengers) and a passenger car. The car crashed into the side door of the bus, so all the passengers were stuck on the bus until the help arrived. Anyway, I got tired of sitting, so I followed one of the Matatus and went for an OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE in my Toyota Corolla. It was like the “Little Engine That Could.” I kept telling myself that I was in a 4-wheel drive SUB (Sport Utility Beast) and hoping that my 10 inch rims wouldn’t get stuck in a rut on the side of the road. With our fellow teacher being a second set of eyes, we were able to zoom by the stand-still traffic and pass right by the accident. We did come very close to falling into a ditch, but that’s just minor detail. The experience put MANLY HAIR on my chest. ; ) We’re including some pictures of the road hoping all the readers can visualize what driving is really like here.
Amber is slowly getting comfortable behind the wheel. She has been driving back home to run errands on days she’s not needed at school and picking the kids up after school. She’s doing Great. Thanks for praying for her, CVCC family.

Few weeks ago, all the new teachers and their families were treated to a visit to a nearby giraffe
center. All of us had a blast. We got to see giraffes (obviously) and warthogs; they’re not as cute as Puumba in the Lion King. They actually didn’t even belong to the park; according to the park ranger, the warthogs travel from the nearby Nairobi National Park to eat all the food that falls to the ground. Truly a funny sight to see these guys. Because their stiff necks won’t allow them to reach the ground, they actually have to bend their front legs and crawl on their knees to scrap up food. Giraffes were beautiful. We got to feed them and Noah actually got some “tongue action” from one of the giraffes. What are we teaching our 8 year old?! (FYI-it just took 24 minutes to upload Noah's video and 19 minutes for Warthog after the download failed 4 times...learning to be patient. Hope you enjoy them.)

It’s been almost a month since school started. Words can’t describe how cool it is to be going to school with my kids every day. It was so exciting to see our Abby walking to her kindergarten class on the first day of school. I get to see Noah and Abby several times throughout the day; sometimes, I sit with them and have lunch together. Abby is a trooper, A SUPER TROOPER! Even though she is 1 of only 3 girls in her kindergarten class, she has made many friends and is really enjoying learning. The coolest thing to see is watching and helping both kids memorize their Bible verses for the week. Noah has become quite the reader. Last year, he read because he had to; this year, he’s reading for enjoyment. Two of them usually stay after school to play.
Teaching Geometry has been an experience. I know all the teachers at CV are laughing at the fact the school asked me to teach the class. That’s ok; I’M STILL LAUGHING MYSELF. It’s a young school, only 12 years in existence with policies that are not set in stone, working towards accreditation from (MSASC) Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges and (ACSI) Association of Christian Schools International this coming November, trying to keep teachers for longer than 1-2 years…it’s a working process. I don’t know how good it will look for the visiting committee to see a non-math credentialed teacher teaching Geometry, but oh well. The lessons I leaned at Crescenta Valley HS and the Glendale USD have been such a blessing as I try to fit into the puzzle at West Nairobi School. Please pray that each staff member stays focused on the task at hand especially through trials that they may, I mean they will face and always rember why they came over in the first place. As the new Athletic Director, I'm finding out just how young this school is. Please pray that God can use my prior experience to better the athletic program. The other day, I had to bring home 24 soccer jerseys and wash them myself. The school usually does this, but because of scheduling error, I had 1 night to get this done. Good thing the jerseys are "quick-dry." I’m still trying to have fun at work each and every day; a mentor of mine told me some time ago “If you can’t have fun with your job, it becomes work.” I haven’t had opportunities…well, I have, but I’m still new at the school, to pull any pranks, but it’s coming. Teachers I work with especially in my office and the ones that I deal with daily are great group of people, and I think they all like to have fun….we’ll see.

Couple weeks ago, we had our first day-long power outage. Power outages are very common in Nairobe. In fact, we were shopping at Nakumatt (Kenya's Target/Wal-Mart) the other day and there must've been 6 short power outage. Nobody blinked. On our first day of school the power went out for 20 minutes or so; when the lights first went out, I (the rookie) was the only one in my Geometry class that reacted. No student said a word. It's just part of life. Anyway, Amber was trying a new recipe and the new dish took literally the whole day to prepare because the power was on and off all day long. Here is a picture of our family eating and the kids doing their homework with candlelight. The kids loved it. Abby said, "This is like camping!"

Got my 1st haircut since my last one that left me looking like a Chinese monk (Mad Monk dubbed by JSmiley). I went back to the same guy and just got the back and the sides trimmed. Amber says it's much better. It was looking pretty funny with a Kafro (Korean Afro). I'm going to copyright that by the way.

Just this weekend (Thursday – Saturday) we went on a Staff Retreat to Lukenya Resort. We took many pictures to and from the resort as well as in the past month. Enjoy!

Pictures from the topt: 1. Remember Bugs' Life 2. Are we in Tijuana? 3. Relaxin' camel ride on Saturday afternoon. 4. Welcome to my tarp shop. do you want to buy a tarp? 5. Don't drive here. Lane closed. 6. Noah watching U17 Boys' Football game. 7. Abby walking down to her class on the first day of school. 8. Just hanging out. 9. Expansion of WNS Music Room. 10. Guys digging out the boulder by hand. 11. Sugar cane for sale. 12. Apartment building being built, notice the what they use for framing.

Quotations:

Noah: "One thing I don't miss about America is all the smoking."

Abby: "Mom, the other day I couldn't nap during nap time because I was constipated." She thought it meant she couldn't pee, so during nap time she couldn't fall asleep because she had to go to the bathroom

Until next time....Be Blessed!

Surrounded by GREAT people

2008-08-31T16:15:00.000+03:00

(Peter) Well, it’s been over a month since we touchdown in Nairobi and things are slowly, but surely starting to click. God has surrounded us with such beautiful people who make us better each and every day. 3 people that really stand out are all Kenyans and they’ve made such an impact on our lives in such a short time, it’s all God. Not in any particular order and to protect their anonymity, their names will be omitted and as much as I’d like to, I will not post any pictures. First, our house help who comes to our house couple times a week to straighten things up for us. It took us about a week to get use to the idea of having a house help, but it’s just the way of life here. For a day’s work (about 7+ hours), she is paid about $10. She lives in one of the slums in Nairobi and really doesn’t have much, so she earns her living as a house help. She lives a hard life supporting her kids with the little that she makes, but the HOPE and the THANKFULNESS she has for Jesus is unbelievable. She shared with Amber and me her life story, and most of us would have either given up a long time ago, and/or be in despair. But she’s different. She said, “You know, God is so good to me. He’s always given me the things that I need.” What one of my colleagues told me back home rings true…”We think ‘oh these poor people need us!’… Kenyans don’t need us; we need them.” We’re already better people because HE has surrounded us with people like her. Next is our night security guard. He gets to our compound a little before 6PM and is here ‘til 6AM. Yes, 12-hour shift, NO OVERTIME. He lives in one of the poorer slums in Nairobi and works as a secondhand shoe salesman during the day. He and his wife have 2 kids, one Noah’s age and the other is less than a year old. Amber’s been cooking a lot at home and we usually have more than enough, so the kids or I have been taking dinner out to him 3-5 nights a week. Just the other night he and I had a 10 minute conversation (wanted to keep talking, but didn’t want his food to get cold) about his family and how “[we] have been such a blessing to him.” He was thankful for being full so often with foods that he’s never tried before…cheeseburger with ketchup and mustard, spaghetti with meat sauce, etc. He always has a smile on his face, and he’s diligent about what he does. He doesn’t take shortcuts; he patrols the compound late at night to make sure it’s safe and to keep himself awake. When he needs a rest, he doesn’t nap; he sits and reads with a help of a SMALL flashlight that he carries around with him. As difficult as his life is, he SO ENJOYS EVERY MINUTE OF IT. It’s written all over his face; he is ETERNITY-driven. We’re better people because God has surrounded us with people like him. The 3rd is actually a group of Kenyan men and women who are employed at West Nairobi School. There are over 25 workers, and every single one of them works so hard without a single complaint and always with a smile on their face. Every chance I get, I’ve been having conversations with this group, mostly men, and I’m like a kid in a candy store (or a grown man at Fry’s Electronics)…if neither one of us had to work, I’d sit and listen to them tell me their stories all day. It is fascinating learning about the Kenyan culture. To them (the 3 mentioned above), we are such wealthy people, but the reality is that they are SO MUCH MORE RICH IN SPIRIT, we’re humbled every time we interact with them. Someone once told me to surround myself with people who are better than you…I feel so blessed at the fact that He placed me at Crescenta Valley High School for the past 10+ years surrounded by people who taught me so much about education and life, and now 10,000 miles away, He’s done the same thing with completely different set of people. I know that we can’t fathom just how much He loves us (and He loves us all), but in moments like this, the selfishness in me says, “He loves me more.” ; ) I wish you could all experience the people of Kenya. God Bless, and next post will include Amber’s experience at Kibera slums, her parking ticket fiasco, and much more.

Life in Nairobi - Learning to slow down

2008-08-12T16:10:00.014+03:00

Driving
(Peter:)Well, I’ve been driving around Nairobi for over a week now and I must say that all these years driving in Los Angeles, D.C., New York City, Detroit, Houston, I wasn’t driving at all; I was just steering. Here in Nairoibi, I’m learning to “drive.” Learning to cut in, avoiding potholes, recognizing “unmarked speed bumps (giant size), avoiding Matatus (name for a taxi service where these out of control minivans go in and out of traffic to pick up/drop off passengers and usually 10-15 passengers are crammed in), spotting road workers without any notice, driving through a detour on a dirt path, slowing down for police checkpoints with “spike strips” are all in a day’s driving. Smog check…I don’t think it’s mandatory here. There are a lot of buses here and many do not come to a complete stop to pick up/drop off passengers, people are either running to get on or jumping off the bus. Potholes are dime a dozen. Unmarked speed bumps are pretty fun for the kids, but hard on the car; our shocks are SHOT! Matatus are crazy. People say that Matatus are involved in almost all traffic accidents. When they’re not causing headaches for the other vehicles, they’re fighting one another for whatever reason. (picture shows two Matatus arguing about something). There are no traffic signals and hardly any road signs. Round-abouts are common (I knew them as “traffic circles” back in the States). Add all this to driving on the other side; it’s like pouring salt on a wound ; )

(Amber:)With all that Peter says above, he is really doing a great job adjusting to driving here. Last night there was horrible traffic and he pulled out and crossed Ngong Road (the busiest street here) and fought his way through three surrounding buses. Let’s just say that my new favorite phase is “Whoa, Whoa, WHOA!”. I, on the other hand, have not attempted to drive yet, I have found that walking to the local “mall” for groceries suits me just fine. Although I will say that walking has its own excitement. On the ½ mile walk to the store the kids and I have to watch for the barbed wire hidden in the bushes, the drainage ditches along the path filled with trash and smelly water and the cars that zoom by just inches from your arms. Peter actually had his sleeve grazed by a big truck a few days back. As crazy as it sounds, the kids and I are getting used to it. We have memorized where the barbed wire starts and ends, the kids know where the small bridges are to cross the ditches and we have learned the streets with the widest paths and the best places to run across the street (since there are not any “ped zones”). The kids know when I yell “Go, Go, Go!”, they better start to run across the street or we will miss our opportunity and will have to wait a long time. I guess as I start to venture farther out I will have to start driving , but I will wait until my nerves can handle it.

School
(Peter:) It’s about a 20 minute commute to school and Karen (town where WNS is located) is very peaceful. WNS is a growing school with an eager staff who are all called to serve the Lord here in Kenya. It’s definitely a different group of teachers than what I’m use to, but they’re GREAT. It’s a peaceful place to work as you can see. (Picture of one of 3 Bandas where students eat lunch). School sponsored “back to school picnic” was a great event where parents and students got a chance to meet the teachers , ask questions and just “hang out.” I found out (5 days before start of school) that I am teaching Geometry. I wasn’t thrilled and I’m not sure I’m thrilled now, but He tells us that [He will not give us anything we can’t handle], so I guess I’m now a math teacher as well. It should be FUN! Athletics should be interesting; I’m looking forward to it.

(Amber:)The kids have really taken to their new school. They have enjoyed several afternoons on the playground, seen their classrooms and met their teachers. They already know several of the Kenyan school staff who have helped us over the past 2 weeks. About 5 days ago Peter came down with his first bacterial infection and needed antibiotics. He wasn’t well enough to drive and I wasn’t comfortable yet, so one of the school drivers came all the way to our house to help us. We were so grateful and are amazed at how helpful Kenyans are. I have been fortunate to have met and spent time with several Kenyan nationals and I am astounded by their hope and faith in God despite illness, poverty and hardship. I have had a few opportunities to talk with a women who lives in the “slums” with 2 of her grown children and 4 grandchildren. She was widowed by her first husband and her second husband left her and their 4 children. She is left to pay school fees, book fees, housing, food and anything else that comes up. She said her main focus right now is getting her youngest son through school, as he is entering the most expensive year in school. After she mentioned her concern, she without a pause asked me to pray for her, because she knows the Lord will provide. She said He has always provided in the past and will continue. All I could think was that this is a woman I wanted to know and I was so grateful that the Lord has brought her into my life!

Housing
(Peter:)Living in Nairobi takes a little practice, patience and a lot of prayer. We’re not use to all the bars on the windows, padlocks (5 around the house to be exact), 24-hour security guards, motion-sensored lights and electric fences for security purposes. It’s taking us quite some time to settle in; we’re resting more and more each night as we get accustomed to the new surroundings. Kids on the other hand are usually “out” by 8:30 after a busy, fun-filled day; they’ve been sleeping like rocks. Speaking of rocks…it’s the tail end of winter season here and it’s been quite chilly at night. 50-55 F. doesn’t sound too cold, but when the house is made out of concrete without central heating, it’s 50-55 degrees in the house as well. Hot water is hard to come by. There is a water heater; however, we have to manually turn on the heater about 30 minutes before hot water becomes available. As soon as we’re done showering, the heater must be turned off since the heater is so expensive to run. However, the heater does not supply hot water to the kitchen sink, therefore, we have to boil water to do the dishes. Dryers are not very common here; we do not have one as well. We have a laundry area where we hang-dry our clothes. It obviously takes a lot longer, but we both like hanging the clothes…it’s peaceful for Amber and therapeutic for me. As we meet more of our neighbors (our next door neighbor is a student at WNS and is a GREAT young man) and get to know more about our guards, we are feeling much safer here and sleeping better each night.

(Amber:)I will totally agree with Peter on the above statements, although I have been sleeping a little better knowing that we have Sasha, the world’s greatest guard dog! Sasha is our Rent-a-dog, she belongs to the owners of the house we are staying in and part of our rental agreement is to take care of her. She is a sweet and spunky Dachshund who loves sleeping in Noah’s bed (she somehow ends up under the covers every night), adores Abby’s hugs and lets us know when there is something outside. She only barks when she needs to, so I am resting a lot better with her around.

Language SNAFU
(Peter)“Haircuts: Afro and Caucasian” is a phrase that can be seen at hair salons and barber shops here in Nairobi. Not many Kenyans can cut “Caucasian” (meaning non-afro) hair. People have told us “go here” and “go there,” but I wanted to venture out on my own and get into the Kenyan culture, so I went to this place nearby for a much needed haircut. For those of you who know me, you know that I get my haircut every 2 ½ weeks. I walked into this place and a Kenyan man asked if I wanted a haircut. I said yes and sat down. I told him “#2 on the sides and the back and this much (using my fingers) off the top” He started with the trimmer and looked pretty confident. He first trimmed the sides and the back. I felt comfortable and since I wasn’t sleeping well at night, I closed my eyes to rest a while. Then it happened. I felt the trimmer on the top of my head. I opened my eyes and he was buzzing the top. He thought I said “this short on the top.” He was extremely nice and I figure “I’m the one with the accent that’s hard for Kenyans to understand.” I’ll be going back to him and he and I will be on the same page, I know it. Amber says I look like a Buddhist monk; the other night she joked and said, “Hmmm, I never knew I married an international movie star Chow-Yun Fat” If you don’t know who that is, google “Bulletproof Monk.”

Police: Still not so crazy about the police walking around with semi-automatics in the mall, out in the streets, etc. Noah of course is fascinated by them. He stares at them like there's no tomorrow.

We'll be back. In the mean time, please pray for our family for the following items: 1. that we keep adjusting well to the new culture 2. that Noah and Abby enjoy their new school 3. that they are surrounded by Godly adults and peers 4. that financial support keep coming in. Things are "skyrocket" expensive here ever since the elections back in January. $9 for a box of Kellog's Corn Flakes and over $6 a gallon for gas. 5. that Amber and I are aware everyday of the devine appointments God puts forth.

Thanks family and friends. Take care.

1st Week in Nairobi A

2008-07-29T22:32:00.009+03:00

Updated with PIX "Check us out!"

Wednesday 7/23/2008

Spent the whole night (yes, I pulled an all-nighter; Amber went to bed around 4AM) packing and labeling, and then loaded up the rental truck and drove it down 710 Long Beach Freeway to this Warehouse to ship our 21 16-gallon Rubbermaid tubs to Kenya. They told us it would take 10-12 weeks. We’re taking off tomorrow at 10:40AM.

Tuesday 7/29/08

We’ve been in Nairobi for 4 days now. We came in late on the 25th, and we were glad to see two families from West Nairobi School patiently waiting for us. Our backs and tailbones were sore from 21 hours of flying. We had two connector flights, one in Detroit and the other in Amsterdam. We were forced to go from one end of the airport to the other with 50 minutes and 45 minutes between flights. We loved walking through Amsterdam Airport listening to the Public Announcements. Most of us have heard airline personnel on the loudspeaker saying something like “Mr. John Anderson. Please report to gate 23 immediately. Thank you.” In Amsterdam, it went something like this. “Mr. John Anderson. Report to gate 23 immediately. You are delaying the flight!” Good laughs.

We packed 10 over-sized luggage along with 9 bodies into a Toyota minivan and made it to Mayfield Guest House safely. Mayfield Guest House is provided by Africa Inland Mission (AIM); it’s a place where missionaries are housedas they complete training/ orientation before they head out to the field. All the new teachers from West Nairobi School are staying here for the first 5 days as we go through “New Teacher Orientation.” Visitors are fed 3 square meals each day and are well taken care of.

First 4 days have definitely been an eye-opening experience for each member of our family.
First, if you’re planning a trip to Kenya and will be requesting a temporary /visitor’s visa, make sure to have a BRAND NEW, CRISP $50 bill for each visa you’ll be applying for. People warned us about this. We were so busy packing and cleaning, I totally forgot to go to the bank to get 4 “crisp” $50 for each member of my family. We ran into a bit of trouble, nothing major, but I learned 2 things: They really don’t like anything but BRAND NEW “CRISP” $50 or $100 bills. They (not all, but the one who was helping us at least) do like a “little extra $”

On our first full day (7/26), one of the WNS teachers picked us up and showed us around town. We first drove up to the school. West Nairobi School is amazingly beautiful. Without students there, it feels like a vacation spot…a tropical resort. We then visited one of the shopping malls. A lot like the ones back home, only much smaller and a lot less fancy. We ended the day by spending some time at the teacher’s home where Noah and Abby quickly befriended their kids and their house helper’s kids. 7 of them ran around the “compound” climbed trees, caught a chameleon (Noah was holding it, but had to let it go before I could take a picture because it started clawing and biting Noah’s fingers), and found 2 abandoned kittens. Kids from different socio-economic background and cultures playing together without any type of judgment…we can learn so much from kids!

On our first Sunday, we visited a church in town (Emmanuel Baptist Church) with another family from WNS. It was neat to see a mixture of expats and Kenyans serving our Lord together. We got talking with the lead pastor about the “rough road conditions” in Kenya. He took us over to his car and showed us small cracks that were beginning to rust on all four corners of the windshield frame. He said they were from “all the bumps on the road.” On Tuesday 7/29, we got to check out the car we purchased a while back when we were still in the states; we’re glad that it’s already broken in. 1998 Toyota Corolla with Hawaiian seat covers fully-loaded with “hand” powered windows and door locks. We’ll work on getting insurance and hopefully practice driving on the wrong other side of the road by end of the week. I’m looking forward to it; Amber not so much. Crazy driving conditions won’t bother me too much; a lot like New York and Seoul. It will take some time getting use to driving on the other side of the road and turning on to another street.

Kenya is so different from home, much more different than we anticipated. People live in such harsh conditions, yet, they are so kind. We already agree that Kenya is a beautiful place to visit; to live and to raise our kids…haven’t been here long enough to have an answer for that yet. Amber thinks the places we’ve visited so far are safer than downtown Los Angeles and New York city, but not as safe as Seoul. As mentioned before, the road conditions are terrible in many ways. Unpaved roads and potholes are dime a dozen. There are no traffic lights, and there are a lot of vehicles on the road. People cross the road whenever and wherever, and there are a lot of people along the shoulders of the road very close to moving vehicles. On Ngong Road (one of the major roads in Nairobi), you can see different businesses all along the road from nurseries, farmer’s market, furniture stores and even tarp salesmen. We first thought these people were drying their tarp/blankets; we soon found out it’s their business. It’s their way of saying, “Come and buy my tarp.” You can also see small piles of trash being burnt any time of the day on any given day. People burn their trash here. They do have trash pick-up service, what we were told for about $6 a month, but when your monthly income isn’t much higher than that, it’s best to burn your own trash. The smell of the smoke and diesel fuel is all around the city. People are often without water and power. We were at a teacher’s house and their power went out as well as their water. They told us it’s an everyday occurrence. It did not phase them at all.

On Monday 7/28, all the new teachers came in, and on Tuesday, we visited WNS as a group. We got to meet the front office staff and got a chance to thoroughly tour the campus. The school also assisted in opening up a bank account and we got our first paycheck. Well, actually, we got paid ½ of our first paycheck in Kenyan schilling. I feel like a rich man. 20,000 ksh. I think the other half was deposited into our bank account as a minimum balance to keep an account open. I got to see my new office and the bulletin board that I’ll be in charge of. I am quite excited. We also checked out the athletic area including the soccer futbol and rugby field. The story behind the field is amazing. The field was not leveled and since the school wanted to start playing their home matches at home, they needed to level the field. The school could have hired a bigger company with machinery and have gotten the job done faster, but they used this as a ministry opportunity. They hired manual laborers which meant more people were employeed by the school for longer period of time. At the end, the school celebrated a job well done by putting together a Kenyan celebration…they killed a goat and cooked it in a pit, shared the Gospel and each worker was presented with a Bible. They use every situation as a ministry opportunity here. Yesterday, Noah and Abby befriended a local Kenyan boy who walked with crutches. During our free time, we were outside in the playground, and this young man was pacing back and forth looking into the playground. We soon invited him to play with us; we played baseball, futbol and kickball together. He was so happy to be one of the kids. Noah was amazing. Without being asked, he took this boy under his wing and encouraged him and showed him how to swing, where to run and how to play the game. I’ve never seen a bigger smile on a child when I asked for a high five. Noah is already a better person and is learning the lessons He wants us to learn.

What a small world...Yesterday we were sitting on the front porch of the Mayfield Guest House and lo and behold, a young lady walks up and looks at me. I look at her and she says, "Hey, aren't you the swim coach at CV?" None other than Stephanie Martindale, CV Class of 2001. She dated Jeff Little back then. She's out here with her brother and boyfriend on a safari, and checking the place out for a possible short-term mission with her high school group back home (Montrose Church). Familiar face in a foreign land goes a long way. Thank you God.

Well, signing off for now.

FYI…no stinkin’ “free refills” here. I went from having 2-3 32 oz. soda pops to one 300 ml. bottle a day. Simple luxuries we take for granted.

PFO 2008 - Southaven, Mississippi

2008-07-12T01:55:00.000+03:00

12 days in Southaven, Mississippi was an eye-opening experience. We attended classes from 8AM to 5PM daily (sometimes 'til 8) getting ready for what waits for us overseas. Speakers were great and shared their wealth of knowledge with each one of participants. We met so many people with a common goal of serving our Lord overseas. Our small group (Adam, Jose, Russ, Amber and me) rocked. Our advisors taught us so much and really prepared us for our upcoming mission. We had small group time and one-on-one time with our advisors breaking down our personalities and how the Lord can use our strengths and weaknesses to further His Kingdom. Seven of us going to 5 different places around the world. Pretty amazing!

We also got to meet our new teachers of West Nairobi School. They're a fun group of people who are going to make a difference in Kenya. Amber and I are so blessed to be working with such a great group of people. Noah and Abby are so lucky to have met all of them before getting to Nairobi; the two fell in love with Mr. Dixon (right w/stripe shirt). They had so much fun playing with him. Miss Keyser (left) was a late hire last school year, so she shared her wealth of information with the new crew.

Our host family, the Martins were such a blessing to us from the moment we checked in at SBEC (Southern Baptist Edcuation Center). They were waiting for us as our bus dropped us off. They took "Southern Hospitality" to a new level. Over the 12 days, we really didn't have much time to hang out with them because our schedule was so intense, but when we did, it was wonderful. Conversations we had were candid and heart-warming. We felt at ease from the moment we met. Their daughter Logan (pictured in front) was amazing with Noah and Abby. She is starting junior high next year, so she could have been a stereotypical pre-teenager, but she was FAR from the stereotype. She gave our kids so much positive attention; Noah and Abby had a hard time leaving their home. They've been misssing Logan a lot. Sam and Ginger were great hosts. Amber and I fell in love with Mississippi and the Martins. If the Lord ever places our family in Mississippi, we can totally picture ourselves hanging out with them. We love our friends in Southaven.

Other points of interest. We met so many people going to all sorts of places around the world, we can now say "We have friends all over the world," in Korea, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Germany, Brazil, Peru, Ghana, Afghanistan, Japan, etc. Noah and Abby met so many new friends along the way. Thank you Lord for preparing the way for each member of our family. Some more pictures: I'm standing with George Carnall, co-founder of "Fantastic Sam's" hair salon...I just got my haircut from Fantastic Sam's in La Canada a day before we left for PFO. Amber really enjoyed getting to know his daughter, Abby playing with Mr. Dixon, Amber with new lady teachers of West Nairobi at Triple-A baseball game in Memphis, TN., and Noah with one of his many new friends.

Signing off - We have 11 days 'til departure. July 24th. Got lots to pack and clean. Take care, friends and God bless all of you.

Checking in at PFO (Pre-Field Orientation)

2008-06-24T09:55:00.000+03:00

June 23, 2008
Flew into Memphis, Tennessee at 1PM and met up with NICS welcome crew. The first person at the table to greet me and my family was Mr. Trevor Maxwell, head of school at West Nairobi. This is one person Amber and I have been waiting so long to meet. Mr. Maxwell and I have had so many wonderful conversations over the phone in the past 4 months, and he has done everything he can to make our transition a smooth one. Great conversation continued between him and me as the yellow school bus took new teachers from the airport to the NICS Headquarters in Southaven, Mississippi.
4:30 Noah and Abby got to meet their leaders and their classmates for the next two weeks. They have a busy schedule lined up for the little ones. Noah’s group (2nd -4th grade) had 12 kids and Abby’s group (K-1st) had 8 kids. They warmed up quickly to their new friends.
6:30 After dinner the kids went with their leaders and the adults had our first workshop. Over 165 new employees for the upcoming school year. A lot of them going to Korea, Singapore and Indonesia. We met other new teachers who will be working at West Nairobi next year. Then, we broke up into small groups and spent about an hour finding out about each other. This is what we found out. David Kelley is going to Bandung, Indonesia. Russell Newcomer is going to Kabul, Afghanistan. David and Florence Tan are advisors to the new staff in Singapore. Jose Velasquez is going to Seoul, Korea. He and his wife are expecting their first child in February. As a group, we’ve visited 39 countries with David and Florence visiting over 15. And we’re not talking about a 2 week vacations; we’re talking mission-type work in over 15 countries….IMPRESSIVE!!!! Amber and I are humbled being surrounded by so many people wanting to spread the Gospel all over the world. We’re in a good place. Kenya is going to ROCK!

Cleaning out my office at Crescenta Valley High School

2008-06-23T09:10:00.000+03:00

June 22, 2008
It’s 10:30 at night and I’m in my office wanting to hold on to my keys that I’ve held for over 16 years. Saturday night I was here until 11 cleaning up the place and now I find myself standing all alone reminiscing one last time before I turn my keys in. So many different thoughts racing through my head, I couldn’t even think straight. Coaching along side great Chris Kaufman and Jan Sakonju and my mentor and friend Pete Loporchio brought me many wonderful memories. Students and student-athletes who have come and gone…my mentor Jim Beckenhauer sitting me down during the first month of my full-time teaching gig and encouraging me to complete my master’s degree…standing in front of the girls and resigning from my head coaching postion…colleagues who have become my friends…life lessons that I’ve learned each and every day…laughter I shared ESPECIALLY with the coaches…GREAT MEMORIES!!! I sat down on my chair one last time and I thought to myself, “Show must go on. He called me to Kenya and there will be great memories made there as well.”
I took a deep breath and realized, “Shoot! Gotta go and pack for PFO( Pre-Field Orientation).” It’s 10: 40 and I haven’t even started packing for our 2-week long orientation in Southaven, Mississippi. (And we have to leave for LAX at 4:30 AM!)

How, Why, When and Where?

2008-06-18T09:36:00.000+03:00

This letter was sent out via email to all of our family and friends in late April, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

God tells us “[to] Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) and “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah (29:11)

For the past 3 to 4 years I have ignored His calling and brushed away the thoughts of uprooting my family and leaving behind a job that I have done for the past 10-plus years. To make excuses, my family has moved twice into a new house, put a down payment on a house in Oregon, and have actively searched for teaching positions and homes all over the country. This was not in God’s plan. As I was battling with this issue, I was fortunate to have gone through a Bible Study with the Men’s Group from our church. Men’s Fraternity is a 3 year course that have taught me “What it means to be a man” and more importantly, “What it means to be a man of God.” Our men’s group is in the process of completing the 3rd and final book written by Dr. Robert Morris.

As our men’s group started our final book in January of this year, it was loud and clear that I cannot ignore the Man upstairs any longer. I came home after our first meeting with a decision that I was going to step down from my current position as the assistant principal at Crescenta Valley High School. I talked to my wife and within the week, I was in my boss’ office to share my plans. I told her that I would not renew my contract and that I would be actively pursuing a teaching position overseas. She said she was sad to see me go, but she would support my decision 100%. She also told me “Let’s not make this official until you know for sure.” As a follower of Jesus Christ, I knew He wanted me to trust Him completely and take a leap of faith. I was 100% sure of my decision. After months of filling out paperwork, sending in applications and phone interviews at ridiculous hours crossing the globe including Korea, Russia, , UK, Spain, Guam, Italy, Mongolia, Kenya, Austria and Indonesia, it’s CLEAR that Kenya is the place God wants us to be at to further His Kingdom. Kenya was not our first choice. Actually, we passed up on Kenya and didn’t even bother sending in my application at the beginning of this process. I had multiple interviews with couple schools in Korea, the UK, Indonesia and Austria. Korea would have been the logical choice and the easiest transition for my whole family, but God close that door quickly and clearly. I was one of two finalists for a private Christian school in Seoul, and I really thought and hoped that the position would be given to me. I felt confident after having 2 interviews with the school principal and especially when he told me it was between me and one other candidate. The school ended up choosing the other candidate. Bottom line, this position in Seoul was what I wanted and not according to God’s will.

Through careful consideration and prayer, Kenya kept coming back, and I knew (my wife as well) that I could not ignore God any longer. After multiple phone interviews with the head of school, I’ve decided to take the job as their middle school and high school physical education teacher and as the athletic director at West Nairobi School which is a Christian K-12 school that serve kids of the missionaries and locals kids as well.

This news is difficult for everyone (family and friends), but as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we’re more EXCITED at the plans that God has for our family. In the past 2 ½ years going through the Men’s Fraternity, I’ve learned that real men of God “reject passivity,” “Accept responsibility” and “Accept the challenges God has for us” and “Trust Him COMPLETELY.” This venture is for 2 years (according to the contract), but who knows how long God will use us there….Only He knows, and we’ll follow.

As our family goes on this GREAT ADVENTURE to further His Kingdom, I pray that all of you will see what God wants all of us to see…and that is to be obedient in His plans. Through this experience, my wife and I want our kids to see that God rules our house and we are to be obedient in the plans He has for us. (Joshua 24:15) We know it’s going to be tough, but His plans are for good and we will be “storing up treasures in heaven.” I pray that all of you are as excited as we are!

God bless all of our family and friends.

Peter, Amber, Noah & Abby