Experiences...just a few of them!

Well things here are going great! I have already been here well over a month, 6 1/2 weeks for those that are counting. I know I haven’t, I had to go to the calendar to check it out.

So little time, so much to do, I have been busy, sick, and busy in adapting to life here, but wait that doesn’t sound any different then what I do at home…I know!

I have experienced many things while I have been mostly good experiences though I have to say the taxi experience will be with me for a while, just as a side note we were at the same parking lot the other night and I was trying to avoid my rogue driver. I think it was successful, he didn’t come running after me for a late night ride.

Some of the highlights of my experiences this past month:

Moving for the last time until next year – third estate later…I am now well known by all the gate guards, not sure if any know where I really live yet!

Gaining a family, one dog, two cats, and a tank of fish – Mocha, Luke and Fozie, and fish

Being made fun of for being Canadian, eh? Do your wear runners or tennis sneakers? Out (why does that sound funny) Your accent I just can’t seem to place it! You really do talk funny! How do you spell Center? Or is it Centre?

Family – being blessed with family close by…it always seems like it goes by too quick, wait a sec an over night stay usually means, eat dinner, stay over night, go to church and leave…that’s what makes it really quick! But then there are waterslides and pillow tag, and ballerina’s, and lets get Aunt Joelle games!

Giraffe Centre – Did you know that being kissed by a Giraffe could be really gross? They are nothing but tongue, all 12 or so inches of it!! Hugging might be a safer boundary to have.

Bhijaria’s – mmm…my new favorite ethnic food

Ethiopian Food – mmm…my new favority ethnic food, injura may look like acer bandages…but it is still pretty good as a utensil, napkin and plate all in one.

Indian Food - Ok...where else can you go to a place called Diamond Plaza, where the palm trees are digital lights...but order your meal from ten different restaurants...and have the best experience of Indian food ever!

Missionary Families – wow these people are the best, seriously know how to take care of you, feed you and get your sugar level, to the next level

Games Night – ok…nothing new about this one but definitely, loads of fun when I can embarrass myself. Apples to apples…whoonu….I haven’t told them about dutch blitz yet

The Bucket Lady – there is no way in the next year that I will be forced to eat from this wonderful lady, that serves stomach intestine stew

Monday Night Movie Madness – a new weekly tradition…I think I will see more movies than I would at home

Passing off as a resident – only had to use my charm once to say that I was a resident and could not prove it with ID, oh ya…I didn’t lie and I didn’t take advantage of the situation, this is not recommended for missionaries. It just helped that I was really sick and sounded really pathetic.

Friends - new and old, I have had the pleasure of meeting up with Kakes and with Rachel while being out here it is great to reconnect with the Axis Connection here in NBO. I also have been getting to know the small group of singles here, that has been great. Though I am the oldest of them all…so it makes for interesting times! We usually try to do something a few times a week, ok…so this last week it has been every other day but it has been fun.

Fruit Lady – buying fresh fruit salad for lunch…not the same as the bucket lady

Weather - ok…the weather is better than winter, but for all those that have been wondering, I know that you are out there…my tan is great! The weather has been warmer than usual for the grey days of winter here. Though pray for rain for many parts of the East Coast and further inland, life is getting desperate for many here.

Not showering – ok sounds worst then it really is…I still smell pretty!

Water disasters – might go with the above in avoiding water disasters

Billboards/Food labels – what food label would say that it is good for your heart…Blue Brand…margarine or is butter or is it oil spread?

Cooking – ok…you all know that I love to bake but now…cooking is getting up there on the list. I find myself planning meals, or thinking ahead, oh ya and making a shopping list, totally unusual for me.

Chatting online – ok…ya it is a highlight for me to chat with friends online, it totally makes the world seem smaller, to share with people on an intellectual level and as well be me without people acting surprised or shocked

Roommate – ok…so to add to the top on, in acting surprised or shocked, yesterday my roommate told me her first impression of me. She said, well Joelle is really quiet, thoughtful and sweet. Can tell that she likes to analyze things but also really smart. Unfortunately the first time we met, I was really sick, like I should’ve been in bed sick. Since then I told her that I love to play pranks (and all the ones that I have done), all about my friends, talked about backpacking through Europe, I also have belched in front of her, that was the end of sweet quiet Joelle.

Church – one thing that I was looking, I think I may have found one. This was by chance, it is a small Baptist church but the pastor is great, he remembers your name and I think I am really enjoying the small feel of it. It is smaller than Axis, definitely smaller than Center Street, I would say that it is about 75-100 people that meet in a tent in a school yard. There is about two younger single people, the rest are quite a diverse group of Kenyan’s, Ex-pats, and Indians.

Work – ok this really doesn’t show as an importance by being at the bottom of my list but I have enjoyed the dramatically decline in stress in this position, learning lots and being stretch beyond my means. This position has allowed me an experience that I could have never had imagined but it involved hearing the work of God hands of protection on a team here, putting into reality the sacrifice that is given as a role of a missionaries reaching the unreached. It has allowed me to reflect my own life, I definitely have regrets of what I will leave behind, I pray that my life will be changed.

Marriage Proposals – ok…for the count…still none! You guys should’ve bet money on that one!

Ok…I thought that highlights would make this seem shorter…I could go on with everything.

There seems to be great things happening here!

That is all for now!

Welcome to Africa!

Well hello Friends and Family!
I have been terrible keeping in touch with you all and I do apologize. This goes with limited access to email and internet over the past month. It is hard to believe that I have been gone for only a month but it also hard to believe how fast this month has flown by for me. As I left Calgary on the 11th of May and arrived here in Nairobi on the 15th, things have been busy but also really fun for me.

The first weekend that I arrived here I got the pleasure of spending time with my family here, it was nice to relax and spend time with them. Though it was a rough go of jet lag for me this time around, I was also suffering from motion sickness while I was sitting still. It was the most amazing feeling ever and was also quite sick from it. It was Titus’ birthday that day and let’s just say that a birthday with a dozen kids around does not help in trying to situate your body! Then the second day I was feeling better enough to have another birthday party with my two year old niece Ella. Yes it was a weekend of birthday parties and family time.

My first day of work was that coming Monday, so the rush to get me back into Nairobi and settled to the house that I was staying at was on. I met my host family and they have two daughters Abbie and Caroline, their ages were 9 and 7. They were a great family to start out with for two weeks, I learnt quite a bit and was thankful to have someone here to look out for me. The girls were great and didn't want me to leave but the time my two weeks was up there!

My first day on the job, was intense or you can say that I was shell shocked stepping into culture shock and a new job all on the first day...YIKES! I have to say, my new boss, Alan is an interesting man I have enjoyed getting to know him so far, he is down to earth, educated, honest and truthful, and full of integrity. He holds a lot of the responsibility on his shoulders, so by me coming made him a very happy man. We both do really enjoy a good cup of coffee, so that is an added plus. One thing, I just don’t miss Starbucks , the coffee here is beyond amazing. My position is great, it requires so much of what I am not good at. But I have been embracing it and love it at every moment, the transition of the directors happens this week so it is an interesting time around our office.

Some of my experiences here have been fun and interesting! Like my first day on the Matatu. Matatu are a transportation system here that goes throughout Nairobi and through Kenya. They are little min vans that you can fit 12 passengers in on. The only thing scary about it is that they are crazy drivers, it is just like jumping on the smallest bus jammed pack with 12 people that only costs 20 Shillings to get to work. But they drive like they own the road and there is no rules of the road. You are also not wearing a seatbelt in this case so it is taking your life into the hands of a crazy person. All the drivers here hate Matatu drivers and really have no respect for them.

One of my experiences on the Matatu, was the second day and I came walking around the corner and I might add that I was barely around the corner and they stopped and waited for me to cross the road but the road is unlike a side road or a busy road...it is like crossing Deerfoot where cars are going anywhere between 80 km or 100 km and also note that traffic drives on the opposite side of the road. It is not an easy task. By the time I get there, it is the wrong number after all that. I guess that is what it takes to stop a Matatu, just be a white girl!

My experience the next day included quite the journey to visit a friend as this time we added into the mix a bus and a taxi. Just to think by this point I had been in the country of Kenya for seven days and I have experienced all modes of transportation that I am aware of in the city. The bus I would never be able to take again without a Kenyan I have no clue how that works, the buses are called City Hoppa’s and they do just that, just hoppa around the city they are marked but not in a logical way that I would be able to figure out.

The taxis which are the safest to take home at night compared to all of the above, are also an interesting experience. That leads to a story to tell. Getting a taxi here is quite easy, they usually are hanging out in the shopping centre parking lot available to be hired. The thing is that there is no rates for the taxi you just need to negotiate the price before you go anywhere. Well by the time I was ready to go, we went and negotiated a price for a taxi to take me home we got it down to 550 Shillings which isn’t too bad to where I needed to go, the driver asked me for directions on how to get home, funny thing is that I knew one way home from work but at this point I had no idea of how to get home from where we were. So once we figured it out and I knew where we were enough to get him to take me to my gate, he had the nerve to ask me to open up my gate to let him in, which he didn’t just want to drop me at the door, he wanted to come in with me. I was a little shocked but also wanted to pay and get out of his vehicle, so as I went to pay him I noticed that I was 50 shillings short, but only because he didn’t have change for me. I turned to him and was like oh I am so sorry but this is all that I have, he assured me that it was ok but I had to call him next time I needed a taxi or just to hang out.

OK...I hear most of you that are laughing, and there might had been some flirting on my side to get the better deal but I didn’t flirt that much to have him to want to come in my gate, nor come and pick me up later. Trust me!

By this point that was the end of my fun, my weekend ended up being me and bed and water, oh and advil. I had come down with a high fever, I stopped eating though I wasn’t physically sick. It was the worst sickness not knowing what was wrong.

You see a few interesting facts about Nairobi, being a third world country there are certain precautions safety wise that are not surprising. But one things is that Water is undrinkable here, fruits and veggies need to be treated and then washed with purified water. Brushing your teeth is with a bottle of water, not tap water. It is not wise to bath in the water without treating it first as well.

So that leads to my story of a visit to the doctor and the healthcare system in Kenya. So most Kenyan’s do not have any insurance so each trip is paid for out of your pocket, the American’s are use to this. The cost of a consultation is 1500 Shilllings. Then after the doctor was through during the visit she also requires samples of everything, I got the whole range of blood, urine and stool. Three things that perhaps two of them my body didn’t want to part with. So we went to the lab, oh I should add at this point the lab is in the same building and once again you have to pay before for each test this time it was 1580 Shillings. The wait time is nothing like being in Canada some days, I remember the last time I went for tests I waited for a good three hours. Here I no sooner sat down and my name was called. So here is my funny story, I do not do well having blood parting from my body and because my sister is not really into this, I will spare all the details. So anyways, I asked the guy if there was a place for me to lay down to have this done he said that he had a sturdy chair for me and I should be fine in it. Well ok, I figured that this was the better than laying on the floor at this point. So he turns flashes me a smile and says do not have fear, it will be ok. I turned around and told him matter of factly...that I was not feared, I am just not brave enough to have this done. So after it was all done with, I yes I did come close to fainting, he went digging in his Band-Aid container, and he kept digging like he was looking for something. It turns out that he was looking for a fun Band-Aid that the kids get because I did so well, then he smiled and changed it to say that it should match my shirt I was wearing.

So with all that it turns out that it was just an infection that my body was fighting, with a high white blood cell count. I was told it could have been anything, something that I ate, drank or just being here in Nairobi my body was adjusting. I probably could have taken all the precautions possible and still managed to get sick I had been told from other missionaries. Oh then the trip to the pharmacy is the chemist and it is open 24 hours and you can walk in without a prescription, anything you want...no worries.

The next weekend was moving day, yes my three bags of luggage moved and then we were done, we had gone to the Nakumat (the grocery store) earlier to stock up on groceries so there was a little more than what I had. So we moved into this house for two weeks, it is rather sparse and let’s just say not well equipped for much. Last night we had popcorn for dinner, homemade cooked on the stove top, might I add that this was the first time I had ever done that. It was delicious.

This morning was the morning that I will never forget, literally. So funny story, you see there is way more of a process in how you live here. For water there is way too much to do, to drink it needs to be boiled and filtered, to have water in the house, the city pumps water to a holding tank in your yard and to be able to use it you pump the water to another holding tank that is in the attic inside the house.

You see this morning, first day new house, my roommate had showered, we had done a few load of laundry, we were told that we would have to run this pump every morning for a bit to fill up the tank. So I had figured that there was quite a bit of water used and being new I didn’t know if there was going to be enough water in the tank for my shower, and running out in the shower of water...is not fun is something else I had learnt. So I turned on the water pump being told that having on for 30 minutes was plenty. You see I turned on the pump and then jumped into the shower, as I was in the shower about 5 minutes later I hear loud rushing water outside; I was rather surprised and yelled out to my roommate to shut the pump off. It still went on. So I opened the door to shout out, and as I opened the door...I hear more water pouring, this time it was coming from the ceiling. So I threw a towel on and ran downstairs to turn the switch off, and then we rush back upstairs and deal with all the water that is now rushing through the ceiling...and all over the floor then I look in my room water is rushing in to my two suitcases, and was about three feet away from my laptop...seriously there was mass panic, lots of water and lots of laughter and me running around in a towel trying to get this cleaned up. We finally got the water controlled, so I jumped back into the shower to finish getting ready for church. But this afternoon I had to pull out all my clothes that got wet. I also in the panic this morning realized mid afternoon that I put all my bags on the bed that got wet...so as I was cleaning up...my bed was soaked too!

So just as you think that it cannot get better...

This whole time I have been having troubles with my cell phone, so this afternoon I went to plug it in to charge it, the stupid thing didn’t work, I was so frustrated that I had tried it in three different outlets and I was done it just didn’t work, I thought by this point that everything had decided to stop working on it. I left it and went to take a nap.

I woke to find out that the power had gone out...it was about 5:30 pm and it starts to get dark about 6 pm so I had to start digging to find my flashlight in the mess that the flood had caused. I came downstairs just as it was getting dark to find my roommate Sammy making scrambled eggs in the dark, thankfully we have a gas stove so all was good, but that night we had scrambled eggs and peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Very creative! We ate dinner in the dark, and then talked until the power came back on by 9 pm but then it went off again.

We then went down to the Kenyan market, it was a great experience as we found some good amounts of everything, potatoes, green peppers, mangos (juicy ones), bananas, carrots, apples, tangerines, tomatoes, and avocadoes all for a really decent price ok...all that for about a weeks worth of supplies was about $11 Canadian, no joke it was the best deal I have ever gotten on fruits and veggies. We even have enough potatoes for a month the guy really liked us and kept piling them in the 5 lb bucket which I think we got 15 lbs from that is what happens being girls in the market and making friends with Alfonso.

So I am feeling quite domesticated all of a sudden, like a little homemaker with all these house chores. Our daily routine involves boiling and filtering water for drinking and cooking. Cooking without a microwave so we really need to get creative on what we cook. There are not a lot of options of packaged cooking, most things are from scratch like pancakes, cakes, etc. And a big chore is cleaning all the fruits that we bring home from the market.

I was just feeling so domesticated just with everything you need to do for the house and to live on, I felt like baking. So I was going to bake some cookies but realized that I didn’t have enough margarine so I pulled out the brownies to bake. The interesting thing here is learning how the gas oven works, lighting it and setting the temperature (which it doesn’t have a temperature gauge, go figure). So I figured how to light it, got it working stuck the brownies in, and waited. I went in to boil a pot of tea and noticed that the flame in the oven went out…we ran out of gas. The funny part of this…was they were the best brownies ever. They were only slightly undercooked so still edible and we took them to our bible study the next night and everyone loved them. One of the short term guys asked if there will be more of my baking next time??? I was like definitely you will, the bonus for him is that he will be moving in across the street from us next week!!

Having family here has been great. This past weekend my brother and oldest niece and nephew came in for a day trip. We went to the Nairobi Game Park and to the Waterslides. The Game park was more like an Animal Orphanage where there was rescued animals that were neat to see. Then we went to the waterslides, we all ended up a little beaten afterwards. I have a bruise from my brother and a few slide burns from going down. I get to head out to RVA next weekend to see them all and to enjoy a weekend away from here.

Still no marriage proposals…ha ha! It is interesting here, you don’t dare look at anyone in the eye or say hi to just everyone, there are some mean and scary people and mentally unstable people, you really just stick to what you are doing and walk on. It is really for security reasons if you are too nice to someone you risk being mugged or kidnapped. Yesterday we went for a walk to the grocery store and out for lunch, it was a nice treat but I felt super cautious the whole way there and back it was risky. We ended up going to an outside market and it was like walking into a mine field, seriously I was amazed. There were people everywhere and all trying to sell their wares, one guy wanted me to buy coasters but for a ridiculous price, I told him no and then he was like, but you need to take something home to remember me every morning when you wake up. I was like only if I can buy them for $800 Shillings (in CAD that is $12.75) he was going to charge me twice that. He was like ok. As soon as I pulled out my money…I was swarmed but other sales people, one guy took me over to his stuff and was like it is my birthday so you should buy from me too. So I actually pulled an interesting Canadian bartering tactic, ok maybe this is Joelle’s bartering tactic, I started to ask where he came from and if was hand crafted and how much time he spends on each piece. I had actually dreamt this up one night and thought to myself, next time I have to barter I will find out the facts of how much work went into this and then figure out how much I was going to pay. Just some advice it sort of takes them off their game…or you find out the truth. One guy had “handpainted” canvas’ to sale and I asked if he handpaints each one and he was like oh yes I do, I was like well how long does it take for you to paint one, he was like, well one month and one half, he had over 250 canvas’ piled on the ground, so my response was “wow you must really work hard on these because you have several pieces” Sammy was so amazed that I would just be so blunt about it. So as I was walking away the guy gave me his phone number, he actually asked if I had a phone and I was like sorry I don’t so he proceeded to give me his phone number and asked for me to call him. Sammy thought it was funny as we beelined out of the market it was so insane then the Kenyan ladies here at the office laughed at me when I told them the story.

Things are good otherwise, I finally got internet at home so I will have better access to emailing and keeping in touch. Homesickness really hit me this past week, I guess my first mistake was that I read a few of the inserts of the journal that Lyndsi put together and I started to miss everyone tremendously.

I am thankful that I am here and it is funny to hear that is snowed and hailed the other day. Here it is winter, for the past few weeks winter is…plus 27 degrees temperatures with the odd rain shower (or for better description it was literally raining cats and dogs). Today was freezing cold, the Kenyan’s thought it was a freezing day that the temperature drastically dropped to about 15 degrees I would say it was this morning. To be honest it wasn’t that cold, but I have adjusted to the warmth enough to agree that it was cold this morning enough for me to wear a sweater to work.

Thank you for all the notes of encouragement, checking up on me and just saying hi, I do appreciate it tremendously. You all mean so much to me and being away in a community with no one really my age that is single does make it hard. There are lots of families around and right now 4 single people in our office. I work with mostly American’s, ok all American’s in the office and they have made fun of me for some of our Canadian terms, eh? But things are good, I am looking forward to getting settled and moved this weekend as well as finding a place in the community to help out. Though I think these next few months if they are anything like what I discovered today I might not have the time to get involved outside of my position in the office.

Take care everyone and I will try to keep you all updated way more often over the next several months.

Joelle