A Farm at the Foot of the Ngong Hills...

As you may or may not know, this blog was originally named after a fictional book title in my mom's favorite british sitcom As Time Goes By. In the show, Leonel writes a rather dull book about his life as a coffee grower in Kenya. This is very similar to another non-fictional book entitled Out of Africa. (If you've seen the movie staring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, you know the story) Richard, the boy's dean, sat the SMs down at the beginning of the year and subjected our jet-lagged brains to the movie, and while I remember liking it, I'll definitely have to see it again when I'm fully conscious.

The Karen Blixen in the book is the same Karen for which the town down the road is named. Since we've been living so close for so long, Jacqui and I decided to use our last Wednesday town trip together to explore the Keren Blixen Museum.

Finally getting to visit this museum was definitely the highlight of our last town trip. Edgar, our tour guide, told us everything there was to possibly know both about both Karen's history and the house. We got to use our residency passes one last time (we only spent a mere 100KSH!), learned a lot about the history of the area, and got to play tourists in what has become our own backyard. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside, but Jacqui and I still got a few good ones out on the grounds.

The Karen Blixen House

Jacqui looking all cute!

Coffee plants and treating coffee beans 

I don't know about you, but I think my view of the Ngong Hills is so much better!

Real Missionaries

The SMs spent so much time and energy at the beginning of the year discussing whether or not we were "real" missionaries. Can you still be considered a missionary if you have hot showers at the push of a button, free meals in a cafeteria, monthly money to spend, and weather that is reminiscent of paradise? I've always thought this was a dumb question, but it's started to creep up again with the arrival and departure of Janice and Cody.

They came from Tanzania where the didn't have electricity, spoke swahili with the locals, and got dirty on a regular basis. I'll admit, it was super impressive to hear Janice speaking swahili in the market while she was here. It made some of us feel like maybe they had gotten the real taste of Africa, and maybe we had somehow missed out. But what is the "real" Africa anyway? How can you summarize an entire continent?

My Africa might not be Janice's Africa, but my mission was not Janice's mission. I was sent to serve the students at Maxwell. I didn't learn a language, but I learned so much about communication. I might not have built any churches, but I still built relationships. I didn't preach on sabbath morning, but I lived and taught one crazy group of high school freshmen for a full school year. My year might not have been what people think of when they hear the word missionary, but that's okay. I wouldn't ask for any other experience because I still know that the environment does not determine the missionary; God does. And He's the one who sent me.

The First Batch

It seems so strange to be saying this, but last night, the first batch of returning missionaries left Maxwell for the airport. Janice and Cody, two SMs from Tanzania, had been staying at maxwell for almost a week due to visa issues, and last night they began their long journey back home to the States. Their leaving seems to have made our own departure even more of a reality than it already was. The trading of items between SMs and in the market has begun in earnest now, and people have started filling suitcases. The next group leaves in a week, and it's strange to think about our SM group fragmenting.

Safe travels!

A Little Bit of Magic

Teaching can be absolutely draining, but there are moments that can also be absolutely magical. I never thought I would ever say this, but one of those magical moments happened for me today in recorder class.

I had been working with the advanced group on a three part piece for what feels like eternity, but it probably has just been the better part of this semester. We are playing the song for vespers this friday night and we had never made it from beginning to end in one piece. Today was our last official class period before the performance so I was nervous, and definitely aware it was more than crunch time.

The first two times we tried to play it all the way through, the same thing always happened; the second part got a beat behind, the third part a beat ahead, and the whole thing crashed spectacularly at the end of the second line. After a little more rehearsal, figuring out where the problem spots where, and mapping out places to regroup, we finally made it all the way through without stopping.

My students were elated! After playing through the entire song twice, Nick made a comment about how everyone who knocks recorders is wrong, and how great the class had just sounded. By the end of class, I drastically decreased the amount of clapping I had to do and radient pride could be found on every one of their faces. Finally, all of their hard work had paid off and they tasted the sweetness of their success. I've never seen eight students more proud of something they had accomplished.

Mothers Day

The more time passes, the more I'm not a fan of the distance between Nairobi and Chattanooga. Today, the distance is especially problematic because today is Mothers day and I am over 8,000 miles away from home. 

I am so incredibly thankful I have this wonderful woman in my life. She's both my voice of reason and one who pushes me out of my comfort zone. Constant companionship, unwavering support, and unconditional love. I am so blessed! I can't wait to see you in 28 DAYS! 

I love you.

Happy Mothers Day!