Madness in Machakos

Machakos, Kenya. Got to love it.

There are 32 adults and 9 kids hanging out at Scott Theological Seminary, just outside the town of Machakos. We sit in class ALL DAY long, but it's interesting stuff - African world view and culture has been the topic of the last two days. We have Kenyan teachers so I feel like I'm getting the real deal as far as teaching. Living accommodations are . . . adequate. More on that later.

I'm enjoying the people a lot. I've found some running buddies to trek through the village and up the hillside, past the coffee fields and kids on their way to school. We are headed to different parts of Africa when this little learning session is over - Nairobi, northern Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Chad, RVA, Tanzania, eastern islands, Madagascar . . . and more. We're from Germany, UK, N. Ireland, South Africa, Canada, and the U.S. So, I like that part a lot. We’ve spent time educating each other on our countries. Now my South African friend thinks all American teachers wear button covers. Still trying to set that one straight . . .

Unfortunately I can’t get any pictures to upload, so I’m going to have to be extra descriptive. I was here last year helping out with the children’s program so I knew what to expect. But one major surprise - this year, we’re staying in the girls’ dorm. That has provided many adventures. The first night we were here, there was an usual amount of flying bugs in the hallway, buzzing around the light. My friend Juli and I were surprised to see a man in the bathroom, spraying the bugs with Doom (the African equivalent of Raid.) As we inquired about the large amount of bugs, I noticed that they weren’t just flies, they were BEES. I asked him where they came from and he took us to a dorm room. We watched as he proceeded to open the door and spray half a bottle of Doom into the room, which was swarming with bees. Thousands of bees, dead, all over the bed, the desk, the floor, and some still flying through the air. He kept up that process for a while – open door, spray, shut door, for a bit, and the next day we saw some poor girl sweeping heaps of bees out into the hallway. Grooosssssss.

So far we’ve had electricity and running water every day – although hot water is a commodity in the girls’ dorm. They are having a water shortage so we are told to conserve our water usage, flushing and all that. Yesterday I was pleased to hear that the water was hot, so I rushed eagerly to the shower. Everything was going smoothly – hot water and all – when I tried to adjust the water flow by turning the hot water faucet. Suddenly, the faucet shot off the pipe and a stream of hot water started to gush out from the wall, under the door, and all over the bathroom. I started to panic, knowing I was wasting a lot of water, and HOT water at that, and started yelling for help. The girl in the next stall was extremely helpful. “Oh yes, that is a bad shower.” When I realized she wasn’t going to be much help, I surveyed the situation, found the missing faucet, and – dodging the boiling geyser – stuck the faucet back on the pipe. Catastrophe averted. And I will never use that shower again.

So, I’m doing well. Thanks for the emails and comments, I've been able to read them all, even if I haven't responded yet! Some people have been asking how to subscribe to my blog - I'm not really sure, but I think if you click the orange button up in the browser bar - it might same something like "subscribe to this page" - then it will put a link on your browser and indicate when the blog is updated. Or if I'm wrong or you have a better idea, leave a comment so the kind souls who read this can read it even more.