First Saturday in Africa

Saturday is a day off here. After praying in the morning, we went back to sleep for a few hours, and it had to make myself get up before 11. I helped with some chores around the house, and then I accompanied Ryan and Carissa to do some tourist-type things. Our first stop was to see the giraffes and that was pretty nuts. We were 2 stories high and could feed them food out of our hands.

We finally made it to a public park right outside of downtown Nairobi where there were a lot of monkeys. The monkeys were not people-shy, because people always fed them peanuts and bananas… that’s right… the banana thing is not a myth or stereotype… monkeys really dig them. In fact, when they caught on to us having food, they would jump onto us and try to pry it out of our hands. Or, they would look for the source and try to steal it straight from there (Carissa’s purse or maybe even a pocket). They were so people-like! I will put up some pictures and, hopefully, a video or two on Facebook.

Next to the monkeys were some street kids who were swinging (on vines in the trees) across a ditch full of dirty water. We went over there and I asked if I could swing. They said I could and gave me a turn. Ryan and I swung on the vines a couple of times each. As we took pictures, the kids became fascinated, so we took pictures with them and of them. I even let them take turns using my camera, which they absolutely loved. They began to catch on and realized that they could pose, so they would stick up their leg in the air or turn around just so they could see how they would look. As we left, they shook my hand and pounded fists, but they also did what I have always known as a “pinky promise.” I asked them what it meant, and they said it meant I was their friend.

I ate cooked bananas for dinner, which oddly enough, with the additional flavoring, tasted like potatoes.

Tomorrow we have church, which I am excited to experience. Also, I keep growing closer to Joseph, the encourager. I am taking pictures of his kids tomorrow night because he thinks that the Lord may be able to use the pictures to garner financial support for his children. He said that it costs 24,000 Kenyan schillings for his two kids to go to school for a year, extra expenses aside. This is equivalent to about 300 dollars a year, and too much for Joseph and his family. So think about that… wink wink, nudge nudge… : ).