No, I don't have green antenna or spew slime!
Last week, I finally received my Republic of Kenya Alien Certificate. Basically, this means that I can now pay the resident price at attractions (which is about 1/10th of the tourist price).
In other news, I got to spend the afternoon with a Kenyan family yesterday. It was nice to talk to someone my own age and see the new place where she is living. Her last place had landlord/neighbor problems and she didn't feel safe letting her kids be there alone. Now she lives in a nice area, surrounded by friendly neighbors and other kids.
All and all, I spent about 5 hours talking/chatting with her and seeing her family's new chickens. Mary, my friend, has two daughters and her youngest sister is the same age as her youngest daughter. Ester (her sister) and Michelle (her daughter) are only 3 months apart. Mary is the one who pays for their preschool/kindergarten education. Also, her oldest, Abby, has mild epilepsy and has to go to private school to get the attention she needs. Public primary school (1st thru 8th grade) is "free" in Kenya. However, private education is quite expensive. This is a great burden for someone who makes less than $60 a month.
Mary is the oldest of seven children. Four of her siblings are in high school (3 are seniors). In Kenya, you have to pay for high school and also to take the final exam. Therefore, even though her 2 sisters and 1 brother are not the same age, they are all the same year in school. Having 4 children in high school equates to what it would be like in the USA to have 4 children in college at the same time. Its a HUGE financial burden. Mary's father does not make a lot of money working as a guardsmen. Therefore, part of the responsibility to feed everyone falls to Mary.
I met Mary back in November in one of the shops in Kijabe. Her younger sisters, Salome and Rose, have been coming to my house since about a month after I got to Kijabe. I met them through another American living here. Mary and I had never met until that day at the shops. Mary and I have become good friends. She is very close to my age and believes in the value of hard work. We have a lot in common. We are both the oldest, both care deeply for our families, both work hard, and we get along very well with one another.
She has good advice on Kenyan customs and I can help her with financial advice and budgeting.
Other than that life is going along as usual. I have run into another obstacle with the evaluation. My boss decided to change the adapters we were to use. There must be some spiritual warfare going on here because when I ordered the new adapters from China, two completely unexpected weather conditions hit the area. First, heavy fog has entombed the area (closing airports and roads) and second, it snowed in March! Hopefully the adapters will get here quickly.
I miss my family and pets. I don't think I am allowed to have a pet in the house where I live. Plus, if I am only here for a short time, getting a pet would not be wise.
PRAISES
- The healthcare strike is over. Most workers have returned to work, those who have not have been fired.
- I have stayed relatively healthy
- An election date has been set in March 2013
- Administrative finances for the evaluation have been worked out =)
- I got to spend Sunday afternoon with Mary and her daughters
- Continued health. Strep throat has been going around the area.
- Continued prayer for the knee evaluation. The program still has not started. Each time we get over one hurdle another takes its place. (Current hurdle: Change to new adapters, therefore, longer delay as we wait for parts from China)
- I have been offered to stay in Kenya for a second year. Please pray for wisdom about this opportunity. If I stay I would need to be able to raise the support for a second year. Also, my US insurance runs out this year so I also have to consider how to handle this.
- Please pray for relationships.
- Please pray for the coming elections in Kenya. This will be the first presidential election since 2007 when there was so much post-election violence. Pray for peace!
- My parents have considered coming over to see me in Kenya. Please pray that God's Will be done!
- I have been getting lonely. Please pray for friends, emails from supporters, etc!
