Around Kijabe

I apologize for the 'all at once' postings. The internet is speedy enough this morning to get it all in. I’ve got fall on my desktop and pictures on the fridge, but it’s not fall around here. After a few days of rain, we have welcomed back some sunny days. Somehow my hot water heater got messed up so that when the sun went away, the solar panels didn’t work and the backup never kicked in . . . meaning several days of no hot water and showers at my neighbor’s house. It’s fixed now and the laundry had a chance to dry, so life is looking up!

We read The Mouse and the Motorcycle in class and yesterday got to watch the movie – the same 1991 number that I watched in elementary school! Except for our little movie watching time we walked to Tembo dorm and watched it in the living room and then walked back to school. That was lovely. And then we cut out snowflakes. Despite the puffy clouds and green everything everywhere, we’re going to start celebrating Christmas next week.

Thursday I dropped off my milk pail at the cafo for my weekly liter of skim and . . . forgot to pick it up. I now know what interesting chemical changes happen to milk when it sits outside for 24 hours. But they kindly refilled my milk pail. And I carried it home like Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Here Comes the Bride . . .

I went to my first Kenyan wedding! Irene is the daughter of Gladys, who so wonderfully helps me out around the house. I was a bit nervous and unsure what to expect. The invitation said 10:00 but when I asked Gladys when I should come, she said they would ‘steal the bride’ around 10 and should be at the church at 10:30. So I showed up around 10:45 and the entire wedding party was hanging out outside the church.

Gladys and me! She looks so pretty!

The service was sort of what I am used to. I ducked in after the groomsmen had walked down the aisle and sat in the back. Unfortunately, right when the bride started walking down, the music stopped, and so did she. After standing around for a few minutes, she just walked the rest of the way in relative silence, accompanied by two cell phones ringing and a car alarm. Oh, well.

Other unusual features: the bride and groom sang a love song to each other in the middle, but I couldn’t see much of it as there were three men with video cameras standing right in front of the happy couple. An offering was taken (“Never come to church with empty pockets!”). Most of the service was in Swahili, with a long prayer in Kikuyu, and occasional phrases translated into English. There were at least 3 short sermons on love and marriage.

While we started the wedding in the last populated pew, the church was packed by the end. Around 2:00 the service ended and we started to head out to reception . . . but then it started pouring rain and everyone filed back into the church. As I got colder and colder and there was no food in sight, my mind started wandering toward the big-deal soccer and basketball tournament happening at RVA. At the encouragement of some other staff in attendance, I borrowed an umbrella and scurried home in the rain. So, I didn’t actually finish out my first Kenyan wedding . . .

But I did hear the honking horns hours later as the cars drove by. And I got to see RVA win the soccer tournament . . . the game went into penalty kicks and we finally won after 16 shots. It was quite exciting.

Superfans. This picture also explains why I might sometimes be confused for a student.