Hakuna Haraka

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This past weekend was so fun! All of the volunteers on the farm traveled to Kisumu, which is right on Lake Victoria. I think there were about 10 of us. Traveling there was quite interesting. It took us 2 hours to drive, which is not bad at all but I think if it was the same distance in the US in wouldn't take much over an hour. This should tell you something about the roads. My butt was so sore from the bumps. hehe...

When we got there Saturday we went to the markets which had amazing carvings and souvenirs. I thoroughly enjoyed shopping and I probably got way to much stuff. I hope I can get it all home in my suitcase. =) I even kind of enjoyed bartering for the price. I got pretty good at it i must say... =)

Saturday night we decided to go out on the town. =) We first went out to eat and I actually got to eat pizza! It was amazing. THEN we went to this local place that had a live band! It was so cool...it was outside just under a roof. The music reminded me of a mix between what I would think African music and reggae music would be. EVERYONE there danced...i loved it. then we went to a local night club! this music was more hip-hop. I felt like I fit right in. =) it was so hot and everyone was sweating their face off...but just kept dancing.

Yesterday we woke up after just a few hours of sleep and went to hang out right on lake victoria. Me and a couple others took a boat ride out on the lake. There are a lot of hippos in the lake but we were not there at the right time of day to see them. =( But the boat was definitely worth it. There were so many people just taking baths and washing clothes on the shores. The little kids would try to swim and race our boat. =)

Today, I was back at Epico Jahns teaching. I felt like today was the first day where I feel I'm getting into the swing of things at my school. I caught myself talking in a way that is very slow and with a little different accent. I think it is actually working and the children are understanding me better. It was nice to see them actually getting what I was teaching. =) I am also starting fit into the lifestyle a bit more. I just had such an interesting conversation with a man named Stalone. He is the son of momma Betty and Reuben (they are considered our farm 'mom and dad' and are in charge of everything). He actually went to IU and graduated with a business degree. Anyway, i was speaking with him about the huge lifestyle difference between Kenya and the US. He said a very popular saying here is "Bendera Hufuata Upepo," which means "The Flag Follows the Wind." Everyone just goes with the flow and hakuna haraka, "there's no hurries." For example, I was supposed to teach creative arts for the last period of the day today. however, the teacher teaching the lesson before me kept teaching his lesson to the end of my time. but there is no worries and i am going with the flow. ...kind of starting to like it. =)

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