only a week ago!

Only a week ago, I was spending my last night in Kijabe.
The last class taught.
Seniors graduated.

Last meeting of the dinner club.
Bags (mostly) packed.

As you can imagine, the last 10 days have been a whirlwind! A wonderful whirlwind of goodbyes and hellos. Goodbye to Kijabe, the view of the valley, the running at 7500 feet. Goodbye my students, my friends, my Bible study. Goodbye house, goodbye flowers, goodbye monkeys, goodbye trees. Goodbye sunbird.

I don't like goodbyes.

But this time, I was ok. I felt, and maybe this is mislead, but I really strongly felt like it wasn't goodbye forever, just . . . see you later. Later will be a long while from now, but how can I not be back?

and . . . so many hellos!

Hello fiance! Hello New York! Hello internet, cell phone, paved roads, grocery store! Hello Setauket, hello new house, hello Long Island Sound.


And then, after a couple days, hello Oklahoma, hello family, hello Tucker, hello wedding prep!

I love where I've been. I love where I'm at. I love where I'm going.

changes for erica

Kijabe, oh Kijabe. What a wonderful lessons I've learned here! Oh my goodness, seriously.

It's a very 'growing' type place. Move here and be changed!

At this particular post will skip over the spiritual insights, lessons in love, refining processes, friendships forged, selfishness revealed, pottery skills sharpened, revelations in teaching . . .

Right now we're going to focus on my growth in the culinary and creativity realm. You might remember that back in Charlotte I was the one who took the easy way out during my week of kitchen duty. I loved shortcuts and ready-made ingredients. Well, of course this was not an option out here, and after a few months of sauteed vegetables several days a week, I discovered a new addiction - searching the internet for recipes and inspiration, then making the necessary adaptations to make it work here in Kijabe.


Sometimes this works well. Butternut squash tastes just like pumpkin. Yogurt instead of sour cream. I haven't used real butter in ages. All of our ingredients are different in texture and quality - flour, sugar, cream cheese, etc. Not to mention the altitude thing. So every attempt is an experiment. Maybe that's why I like it so much, it's all new and novel. Sometimes - often - the substitutions flop . . . I went through a wacko healthy phase a month or so ago and started substituting whole wheat flour and knocking back the sugar, which sometimes creates disasters. These were a healthy success - whole wheat banana strawberry muffins.

But I'm learning. I've made my own cottage cheese a few times now, which is gross, I know. I'm not telling how I did it. :) But between that and the homemade yogurt, I should probably take up residence in Wisconsin. I puree stuff and use it for soup stock. I'm such a missionary!!! I made my own granola bars, but I already told you that. They were yummy marathon fuel and no hidden partially hydrogenated anything. :)


But sometimes I forget what I'm doing and things like THIS happen . . . which was so gross and disturbing I had to take a picture . . .


But anyway, it's mostly good. Whipped up some butternut squash soup for lunch one day, taco soup another day (it's cold, remember?), pumpkin pancakes for the dorm girls, and last week I made cinnamon rolls for their brunch party. Three hours of effort for a Cinnabon experience right here in Kijabe. It's weird, this new obsession, and I think it's partially a coping mechanism with the moving and the leaving. This is methodical, quiet, and yields immediate results, which is satisfying, and it gives me a way to bless my students/Sunday school class/dorm girls. It is also probably some sort of nesting instinct kicking in as I get ready to become a WIFE! (yippee!)

So if you ever want to talk food/recipe blogs, I'm your girl.

just imagine . . .

. . . that it's cold outside. (No, Erica, sorry, but it's the middle of July. July = H-O-T.) Oh I know, believe me . . . July still spells H-O-T even though I've spent the last 3 Julys here in Kenya. But you're supposed to imagine. Imagine it's cold. There's a brisk - almost violent - wind blowing around the sides of your house and through the cracks in the windows. Feet propped on the hearth with a fire cracking and popping cheerfully, providing a small radius of warmth and a welcoming glow.


Does that help with your imagining? Those are my cozy toes right now. So don't feel bad for me at all as I launch into my complaining about the weather. Right now, all is well.

But SERIOUSLY, I have been FREEZING this week. Gray skies and a damp, penetrating cold have settled in. My classroom temperature hoovers around 55F until about 1:30 in the afternoon (we have a classroom thermometer. I check it regularly.) Every day I bundle up in multiple layers, scarf, and coat, and stay that way ALL DAY. When I felt convicted that my sniffling and complaining was sufficiently interfering with my students' education, I sought to find a method to stay warm. First I tried an old Charlotte favorite - the rice sock. But my microwave here is not the same quality as my previous one . . . and after a couple days of smelling like burnt rice, I gave that one up. Now I bring a thermos of hot water and some tea bags and just fill up all morning long.

It made for an unsatisfying Fourth of July. We had our third annual Titchie skating party, which thankfully meant a barbeque . . . because I can't do the 4th without grills. But as soon as the sun went down, it was layer upon layer, huddled next to students and under a blanket. Matt calling to say he was watching the hot dog eating contest at Coney Island was awesome . . . but so 100% different from my current status! Thus passed my third 4th of July in a row in Kenya! Bring on the firewords, corn on the cob, and sparklers. It's been too long.
Kijabe's favorite babes in their Fourth of July bundling.

and other events

Let's get all the exciting events of June in all at once, now that we're in July! Here's the whirlwind tour:

Bible Study: We take turns hosting and I love having it at my house because it saves me the treacherous walk down and back up in the dark, cold, lonely night. When my friends arrive they're always panting and filled with awe over my weekly treks and demanding rehydration for their efforts. On Wednesdays we do a meal and Gladys helped me make the most AMAZING pizzas . . . tomato basil . . . mm . . . anyway, here they are, crammed in my place:
Since we finished a study, we had to CELEBRATE, and what better way than a BBQ? I had a friend drive down my cornhole set so we could have some real summer barbecue fun. First, appreciate the million dollar view:
Dr. Ndasi, our Cameroonian compadre (or ami, actually), manning the grill:
Imma winding up her winning toss:

During this time my friend Meghan was visiting, who works with a nonprofit in southern Kenya. It was great to see her again!

And around RVA . . . we had sophomore restaurant, where the soph class transformed our cafo into a Night in Paris, complete with chicken cordon bleu, a french fashion show, french tunes, and chocolate mousse. It was definitely Kijabe Date Night as all the staff dressed up and left the kids at home and juniors and seniors asked that special girl to dinner . . . I was missing MY date but had a great time with Anita, the Nagles, and the Rebers. I think the window boxes and awnings are adorable. . .
THEN they had a shower for me. It was such a sweet time of sharing and I left feeling so blessed by the women of Kijabe! My sweet senior girls made these awesome cakes as a final project in their cake decorating class:
The entire girl fish survived to come to 4th grade the next day and awe and delight my class.

Then, let's see, what else . . . I ran a marathon . . . and came back to see my Jenny the next day! She flew in Saturday night and was out in Kijabe before lunch on Sunday morning to get a feel for the place. It was super/surreal to have her here and show her my life and her new life! So crazy!

Of course we had to take the typical "welcome to RVA" picture . . .

Had her meet all my friends . . . made dinner with Anita . . . trying to fill J up with mexican food before she headed to ABO.

We had to say goodbye so soon as she had to head off Machakos. We're already planning a visit in December while she's in the U.S.
love it.

ok that's my life.

DID IT!

I've been battling with the internet since Sunday but I'm experiencing my own Kijabe Miracle - uploading pics on dial up! Hooray! So now I can finally give the race update.

Here we are, the traveling gypsies, en route to Lewa. 9 of us in this car: 5 adults, 3 kids, and baby Ava.
We crossed the equator and watched a riveting demonstration of how water changes direction north or south of the equator and flows straight down on the line! Pretty amazing! Below is 4/5 of TEAM KIJABE! Hooray for psych shirts.


When we made it, we set up camp and went for a drive of the course. Below is what we saw . . . that's right, all over the course!




That night they had a pasta dinner for us and we checked out the competition. There were a ton of people running the half, as that was a team event and the real money maker for the event. After dinner we tried unsuccessfully to light the camp stove to boil water for my hot water bottle . . . and just went to bed. We were so tired. It was so unbelievably cold. And not everyone had the same idea of going to sleep in order to rest up for the big race, but I stuck in some earplugs and slept fairly well. Until 5:15, that is, when Linda knocked on my tent and I burrowed into my sleeping bag and choked down a cliff bar.

So . . . a flurry of sunscreen and energy goo and toilet paper and off we went to the start line. We are SO CUTE, I know . . .


And look at us GO! I love this picture of us all starting out together.

The race was a 21km (13 mile) loop. The first half was crowded enough with the halvesies. We'll not dwell on them and their half marathon, one lap jaunt in the park. The park was beautiful! And well stocked with water stations, thankfully, as was SO HOT.


Just a few kms in, Todd and I struck up a conversation with a new friend, Ron, who shared with us his disaster experience at last year's race, collapsing against a tree at mile 25 and finishing in a stretcher. He also pointed out that the hill we were trotting up was part of a 10km succession of hills. We were thankful for his wisdom and impressed that his wife found our crew - they were all together when we crossed the halfway mark! We were all smiles at that point. The first half hadn't been that bad, we were well prepared, having trained at altitude and on difficult terrain.


But it got harder after that and the next loop presented challenges. The heat was intense. Cramps set in on each of us at diffierent times. We took turns feeling death's imminent knock on life's door. Seriously. I know I experienced the worst pain of my life during those grueling hours. It was during one bout of group delirium that we pledged our undying love to each other and vowed to stick together to the end. A wise choice, because miles would pass where we could see no one ahead of us. No one. Just the wild African bush.

While I was dying, this is what Ava was up to:

We didn't see many animals on the run, save zebra and warthog. The sky was stocked with planes and helicopters that buzzed the course to keep the large game away. Motorcycles would buzz the ground and deliver water towards the end, and there were people spread out to offer assistance, more sport drink, water, oranges, and the life-saving sponges of cold water. I felt like a real crazy runner, letting a stranger pour water over my head.

So, the inevitable finally happened: we made it to the finish.


Best Friends Forever.Sweet success. While our time of over 5 hours is nothing to brag about, I WILL brag about it because I'm so glad I DID IT! The results are here: http://www.lewa.org/2009-safaricom-marathon.php. That's right, I placed in the top ten women! Never mind there were only 18! And I suppose I agree that this should be one of the hardest races in the world. It was rough and tough. But I'm feeling awesome now.

The rest of the day is a story in itself . . . packing the car, the 6 hours home, oh my word, I think that was worse than the race. Did some heavy praying as we drove through some carjacking opportunities and some loud rejoicing when we finally unloaded the car at 10:30pm.

Thanks for your prayers.
I think I can run another one someday . . . maybe on pavement, in the fall . . . any takers?