I have been in Nairobi now for about five weeks. I have to say that the time is flying by, and I couldn’t believe that it had been a month since my last blog post. For the most part, I have been concentrating on school, school, school, and school. :) That’s what a good teacher is supposed to do though, right???
Those of you that are able to be in contact with my mother or me on Facebook know that I struggled for a little over a week with illness. I had quite a few strange symptoms that I have not had—or at least have not had at the same time. The symptoms seemed to be so unrelated that WebMD could shed no light on their cause! LOL. I began missing school and having difficulty with elevated blood pressure. At that point, I realized it was time to go to the doctor. As you can imagine, health care here is a little different than in the States. The doctor I saw was good, but she didn’t seem to take the same approach to medical issues as I am used to. She never did truly figure out what was wrong with me, but God was merciful anyway! She gave me an antibiotic for a sinus infection that seemed to “fix” whatever else had been wrong as well. It’s a little disconcerting to not know what was wrong, but to be feeling so, so, so much better is a huge blessing.
I teach five classes this semester: Human Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry, Health, Biology, and Physics. To say that my plate is full is such an understatement. I have had to teach myself time management all over again. My students and I are still getting used to my discipline policies, my pace for class, and their ability to “LISTEN TO MY WORDS”! LOL. (I can’t tell you how many times a day I say that phrase, and yes, I teach high school!) :)
One of the things that I am most thankful for is our furniture! I know that I mentioned ordering our furniture in my last post. I sit at our dining room table to do my schoolwork. We relax in our sofa and chairs to watch an occasional movie or TV show. It really helps make this apartment halfway around the world from my family feel a little more like home.
Recently, a family who has two students in our school invited all of the new teachers over to their house for dinner one evening. The food was wonderful, and the fellowship was even better. God has shown me the importance of investing in peoples’ lives so much more here because my family is so far away. The “highlight” of the evening did not come at their home, however. It was on the drive home. By 7:30pm, it is very, very dark here, and driving becomes so much more difficult. My roommate, Kristin, and I were heading home when I saw a look of terror on her face and realized she was looking at my window. (Note: I was driving.) I look over at my window to see the biggest spider I have ever seen crawling up my window!!!
Now, those of you that know me well know that I have terrible arachnophobia! When I realized that it was on the outside of the window, I was only slightly relieved. I still had to get out of the car when we arrived home WITHOUT this spider getting anywhere near me. One would think this spider would fall off since we were going about 40mph, but oh no. When we got home, I threw open the door and dove out of the car to make sure that it couldn’t get me. :) I searched frantically all over the car and couldn’t find that scary thing. I got back in the car and backed it into our parking space. No sooner did we get our things out of the trunk, when ALONG CAME A SPIDER! We park our car right next to Kristin’s bedroom window, and they don’t close tightly like they do in the States. I knew that we must kill this ferocious beast or be doomed to meet it again! I asked Kristin to get me the broom. (It was the only item that I could think of that would allow me to keep my distance from the spider while killing it.) Even this took several, several seconds for me to work up my nerve. But alas, we overcame!
I have had many questions about the restaurants here in Nairobi. Until very recently, there were NO American fast food chains. (Apparently, McDonald’s and Kenya have some disagreement about the meat and potatoes they would like to be used.) :( Well, a KFC recently opened. That’s right—Kenya has Kentucky Fried Chicken! LOL. The line was literally hours long the first few days that they were open. Kristin and I still have not gone just because our time is too precious to wait that long in line for food. Most of the other new teachers have gone, and said that it is FANTASTIC! I am hoping to get there this week. I’ll give you a report in the next blog post. :)
Those of you that are teachers or are close to teachers know that it can be very stressful, and one needs time to relax. That time for me is Friday nights. I do schoolwork every other night of the week, but Friday nights are my time to hang out with the other teachers and just have FUN! We usually go to a restaurant, do some shopping, and watch a movie together. The eight of us that are new get along so well that it is a real comfort to be with them and feel that I can be “100% Angela”. :) This past Friday night, one of the “seasoned” teachers had a Greek-themed birthday party at her apartment complete with Greek food and the movie “Mama Mia”. It was a great time of fellowship, but I don’t have such great words for the film! LOL
I am so pleased to let you know that I have found a church home here in Nairobi. I have been attending Nairobi Chapel now for about five weeks. I love their involvement in the communities in and around Nairobi, and I can’t wait to get more involved myself. Three of the other new teachers are attending there with me as well. We have all signed up for “Plug-In” groups to get us more acquainted with the church and to help us know where we can serve. We have our first meeting this Tuesday night and will meet for 10 weeks including a “Plug-In” retreat at the end. I will make sure to keep you updated along the way.
I almost forgot to tell one final story. Here in Nairobi, there is a hawk-like bird known as a kite that will swoop down and take the food right off of your plate if you are outside in a semi-open area! These birds are HUGE! I would guess their wingspan to be 2+ feet. The students (as well as the teachers) at school eat outdoors, so there is always a little fear. We had a special meal time at Nairobi Chapel last Sunday afternoon with some fabulous Kenyan food. The tables were all outdoors in the wide-open field!?! I saw the kites circling but thought that I would be fine. (Said the naive girl!) No sooner did I step out of the tent then one swooped down and tried to steal my food. I screamed! The good news is that he only got my fork! LOL.
I know that this has been a very, very long post. Thank you so much taking the time to read it. I will try my best to update it more often so that the updates are a little more bite-sized. :) I can’t thank you enough for all of the prayers and thoughts for me while I serve God in Africa. Please make sure to keep in touch!
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for continued health. My blood pressure is continuing to run a little higher than it should be.
- Please pray that God will help me to do all of my preparations faster and/or more efficiently.
- Please pray for our “Plug-In” group. I want to be very active in my new church so that I may spiritually serve the people of Kenya.
- Please pray for the people of Kenya: the drought causes problems with not only water, but food and electricity also; inflation is at 16.5% so prices are rising very quickly; the election next year is already causing tension; and the unemployment rate is said to be over 50%.
Praises:
- The school year has been going very well so far.
- We have not hit anyone or anything while driving! It may sound funny, but in Kenya, that is really your only driving goal. :)
