Mombasa

Last weekend was our Midterm break - already halfway through our first term, which ends on Thanksgiving Day. Wow! I decided to live our 4 days off to the fullest, and head for Mombasa with some other RVA staff and short-termers. So Friday we headed to the bus station, got on an overnight bus at 10pm, and woke up in Mombasa. Or rather, I REALLY woke up around lunch time on Saturday . . . thanks to Dramamine, the wonder drug.

The beach was gorgeous . . . white sands, Indian Ocean, framed by a reef.



We had a lot of interesting encounters with the locals. This is Dennis, who owned a shop on the beach and was eager for conversation. He appreciated my halting efforts in Swahili and the fact that my missionary occupation afforded a meager budget.



My absolute favorite part was snorkeling. We tried to swim out to the reef and were astounded by the multitude of sea urchins - it was like a minefield! Made me nervous to play in the waves later, but during high tide we were far away from them. The next day we opted for the glass-bottom boat, captained by Ali and Adam. We puttered out to a sand bar and dropped anchor amongst a fleet of sunburned tourists. I was dubious about the quality of snorkeling, given the laarge amount of neon snorkels bobbing around the area - but I was pleasantly surprised!



Ali started the entertainment by feeding the fish underneath the glass of the boat. When it was time to jump in I donned my rented snorkel gear but was surprised by a small crustacean in the tube . . . "Ali, there's an animal in my snorkel!" Ali also thought it was fun to throw pieces of bread at my face so that the fish would swarm me and dart at my eyeballs . . . but the snorkeling was good! Besides a host of regular tropical fish and starfish and urchins, we saw two lion fish, a family of clown fish, an eel or snake, and a giant dying fish that I was quite impressed by. And I got a picture under the boat:


The hotel provided some night entertainment, including traditional dancing that of course included audience participation. Contrary to what the picture might convey, I was not the only white person up there . . .


And they had a giant chess set. Here I am with Amber, modeling the African carvings . . .



And of course, camels on the beach.



Here we all are, the beach gang, happy and tan!

Run, Forest!

The Nairobi Half Marathon is coming up in a couple weeks. I’ve been training semi-faithfully for the past month and a half. It’s been an interesting experience, a little different from training in Charlotte. For one, my trail shoes - I’m obsessed with them. There’s no pavement in sight so they have been my best friend. My routes are kind of creative – during the week I run around the two fields on campus. This sounds tedious but sometimes it’s during intramural soccer, which keeps me actively engaged dodging balls. Once some kids were doing target practice with a bow and arrow on the field . . . so it’s not that boring. On the weekend we try to get in a long run. Since 25 laps around the field is about all anyone in their right mind can handle, anything over 5 miles means a route outside the gates.

Living on the side of a mountain means that all roads go either up or down, there’s not many level options. There’s Kijabetown Road, which is so rutted I have no idea how cars actually drive up it. It’s not too bad going out but coming back to school is a killer, huffing up some serious incline. Lower Road is my favorite, which is about 5 miles out to the ‘tarmac,’ or the main road. It’s a slight decline all the way down and not such a big deal on the way back. Except right at the very end, when we are running through the shops, but I try to find someone I know so I can stop and talk. We’ve had some special moments out there, 5 miles from civilization, realizing that running in the heat of the day wasn’t such a good idea after all . . .

This weekend several people who are running in the half ran out to Mt. Longonot, a dormant volcano near RVA. The route involves climbing up Nature’s Trail to the railroad tracks above the school. (Ever seen Ghost in the Darkness? It’s that railroad.) Then we get to run along, or sometimes on, the tracks for 8-9 miles towards the mountain. I ran on the tracks one other time and twisted my ankle so I was a bit apprehensive about this run. To be honest, running on rocks is not my favorite and I spent a good amount of time high-stepping it or stumbling around, trying not to fall. Thus the "run, forest, run" title - my form . . . not so hot. But every so often the path would even out enough that I could look around and it is the most amazing view - 100% Africa. The tracks run midway up a ridge of hills stretching out toward Longonot so the view into the valley is amazing. It was surprising after an hour or so of running to look up and see the mountain filling my view; it looks so far away from RVA.

My favorite part of the run was being joined by Paul, a boy from a village somewhere along the route. He trotted along with me for the last 30 minutes of my run in hopes of seeing the doctor that was running with us, a friend of his, but running quite a bit faster than me! He sang me a song . . . “I am so happy to be running with you!” and demanded one from me . . . “I am so tired, so tired, because I’ve been running so far . . .” Only I did it in some rough Swahili: “Nimechoka sana . . . kwa sababu nilikimbia hivi hivi . . . Ninahitaji kumpumzika!” He thought I did a good job. My other favorite part was spotting the bright yellow land rover picking us up at the base of the mountain. Nothing like a ride home after a hard run!

I didn't take a camera out there but someday I will. So here's some views of Longonot from RVA . . .

Kind of hazy, so I tried to help you out . . .

At sunset

And you should probably check out our Mt. Longonot Webcam, which is overlooks upper field and the mountain. If you watch it around 5:30 during the week, you might catch me making loops around the field. =) Wouldn't that be lovely?

My Kids

Update on my class: they’re great! I just really love them! I just have the sweetest little group of kids and I feel so blessed to be their teacher. While it’s pushing me out of my comfort zone a bit, I’ve really enjoyed teaching Bible class. This is a new thing for me so I didn’t really know how to approach it – we ended up deciding to read through a Bible plan on the ministry of Jesus. Each student takes turns ‘leading’ the class and we’ve had some great conversations over the past week as we studied the Sermon on the Mount. I determined it was more authentic if we took our class outside . . .

I don’t do a ton of teaching outside, because my babes get a bit distracted by spiders and people walking by, but there is an outdoor chalkboard I plan to take full advantage! Our independent reading time is often done outside . . . which is great. The adventure is trying to get one kid through an online-based Accelerated Reader test during the 20 minute reading block. I am always leaving some behind during lunch or chai time or specials, as the test takes so long with our internet! But they are good sports.

Titchie Activities the past two weeks – last weekend was Staff Hunt. I found myself sitting in a tree house for the better part of an hour and throwing candy down to kids as they found me. This was actually kind of fun, as I came prepared with my ipod and a mug of hot chocolate . . .

In the tree house with Courtney, a 6th grade teacher.

This weekend we had Club Night. Staff and parents provided venues for the kids to sign up for. I was so thankful that I could combine with my friend Frances, the third grade teacher, to make cookies at her house! Friday night I’m a bit exhausted and I didn’t relish the idea of six kids in my tiny place. But the kids always have a great time! Next time I want to get creative on my own . . . any ideas?

It's Friday night, it's raining, and I'm in an apron!

Some teacher questions: does anyone have a good Bible curriculum/reading plan for kids? I also need book ideas for novels on the American Revolution and Europe in the Middle Ages. The sooner, the better, as I need to get books ordered.

Zed's Dishes

There is a potter who works at RVA named Zed. He makes amazing things. This summer, after several unsuccessful shopping trips, I set my heart on having Zed make my dishes. I dropped by his studio and described what I wanted. After a few weeks of waiting, they were done! And they are awesome. The only problem was that "medium bowls" aren't soup bowl size, but huge . . . like the one in the picture. So I bought one medium bowl and put in an order for 4 small bowls. =) Someday I'll take pictures of Zed at work, today pictures of his work will have to suffice.

Hospital Visits (or Why Titchies Climb Trees)

Living within walking distance of the hospital can be a good thing. Actually, walking distance is pretty crucial in my life, since I don’t have a car! That works out pretty well up here though.

Last week I found out that there are two babies in the nursery that have been abandoned. Monicah is a preemie, just over three pounds, and was brought in by some relatives. She is tiny, but not as small as some of the other preemies in there! The other baby doesn’t have a name. She is the only full-term baby in the nursery since hospital procedure is to place healthy babies in the bed with their mothers. The hospital staff went back to check on her mother and found the baby alone in the bed. I’ve been down to hold her a few times this week and she is possibly the cutest thing ever. Please pray for special families for both of these babies. Pray also for their mothers, and for whatever situation prevents them from being able to take care of them.

My other big trip to the hospital happened last Wednesday . . . student health at RVA schedules dentist appointments for the entire elementary school, and the nurses spent all day shuttling a class at a time down to the dental office for quick checkups. My class was scheduled to go right after lunch and I was looking forward to a good hour or so to plan for the next week. As I was ushering kids into the school van and reminding them to be good and bring homework, a group of third graders came running from the playground. “Miss Anderson, Penny fell from a tree and she’s SCREAMING!”

I arrived at the scene of the accident to see a very distraught student cradling an awkwardly bent wrist. Thus began a very long afternoon. First we had to walk to student health, which isn’t that far away but was kind of traumatic for Penny. It was on that walk as I questioned her about where her parents – who are both doctors – were that day and she realized with a wail . . . “They’re in NaiRObi!” After a brief inspection by the nurse, we left a very understaffed student health in the charge of one of the nurse’s husbands (all the nurses were either in Nairobi or at the dental clinic) and drove Penny down to the hospital. It was a short trip but every bump (and there are a million) brought screams.

Because this is Africa and things are different, I went to the dental office to get Penny’s patient number and nurse Jackie took my student to start the process of x-rays. And there was my entire class, chatting it up in the waiting room, updating me on their teeth and asking about Penny. Cute. =) Then back to the hospital to wait in a very long line for an x-ray. That process was quite painful for my girl, having to rotate her wrist for the technician . . . I’m sure her screams were not comforting to the 30 patients waiting in the hallway. About two hours later, x-rays had been taken that confirmed she needed surgery and her mom was almost back from Nairobi, so I met back with my class and drove back to school in time to pack up and pray for Penny.

It’s all in the family here . . . one of my student’s fathers was the anesthesiologist who put Penny under and another student’s father was the orthopedic surgeon who set her wrist. And the trooper was back at school the next day, anxious for access to my bag of Sharpies so that little cast was plain white no longer. So that’s why we let Titchies climb trees, because we live so close to a hospital that can patch them up.