In the cafeteria

Day 2: Stella

I started off day 2 by waking up around 8, with the night before consisting of some pretty weird dreams, but im not going to go into detail on that. It was a slow morning considering we were all still jetlagged. Finally, all of us (Riley, Ginny, Maddie, Virginia, and I) were up and ready to start the day. A few of us took showers, with them being either burning hot, or freezing cold because there was no adjustment handle, you had the heat on or off. Then, I had a mini banana, made some toast in a pan and put some pineapple jam on top. (I still have mixed feelings about the jam) Since we were staying at the director of the school, Evelyn's house, we got picked up and drove the short drive to the school. Once there, we got geared up in our coveralls, ready to paint the newly built guest house. Some of us with rollers, some of us with brushes, we started to paint the undercoat. After a few hours, when we were all pretty tired from painting and being in the sun all day, it was time for lunch. The meal we had consisted of rice, beans and corn, lentils, beef, watermelon and pineapple. After lunch, we were waiting outside, and I went to the bathroom. Then I proceeded to get stuck in there for a few minutes, and when I finally got myself out, I went outside only to find that the group had left me. After a few minutes of looking and asking around, someone pointed me in the right direction, and I met up with everyone by the classrooms, about to join a few of their classes. Virginia, Maddie, and I went into the 8th grade math class. It was really interesting to see how different their class was from my 8th grade class, just this this past school year. The class started by the teacher walking in and all of the students standing up in unison and reciting a greeting to the teacher. After that, we learned about buying, selling, and profits. It was cool to see the different way they solved equations, and to teach them the way that we do it. It was also cool to see how interactive the teacher was with the students. Every once in a while the teacher would say something like "are we together?" And the students would respond with a "yes" all at the same time. He would also have them finish his sentences about what they just learned. After the teacher left, we, being Maddie Virginia and I, each had a students who  gathered around us and we started to talk. First we just had some small talk, "do you like the weather?" Or "what do you want to be when you grow up?" Then they asked me what my best subject was and I said spanish, so they asked me to teach them some. Then I asked them to teach me some Kiswahili. After we exchanged languages, we decided to exchange some dances and songs. Then we all went down to the field got our hair braided while we sang miley cyrus and played until dinner time. After dinner we had a group meeting about our day and then we all went our separate ways to bed. When we arrived at our home for the time being, we got ready for bed and tucked our mosquito nets in. We read for a little bit (mom, if you are reading this, I'm not reading the book you told me to) and then turned our lights off to get a good night's sleep for the day ahead.

From,

Stella

Day 1: Joey

Before I start talking about my experience in Kenya so far, please excuse my writing quality. I am writing this on a cell phone while playing Kenyan kids. Im still getting over the fact that I'm on the opposite side of home. Kenya, so far, is awesome. I'm going to skip talking about all the traveling we did because it was what you expected it to be- boring and terrible. So we arrived at the Nambale Magnet School around 12:00 pm and we were warmly welcomed by Evalyn, the founder of the school. We were told by Evalyn that we were going to be given a days rest so we could be prepared for tomorrow. This was a relief considering we were all exhausted. However, we were also very anxious to start our adventure so we started playing with the kids who happened to be at reccess. I was surprised by how excited these were to see us and I noticed that the simple pleasures made these kids very happy. By just waving and smiling made them extatic. We played for a while and then got a tour of the estate while the kids were in class. The tour of the place was cool and I was very impressed. Apparently, a lot of there food is grown on the estate. The school estate has chickens, pigs, cattle, and a massive garden. After the tour, we had tea time (thank you England) and I got to talk to a group of 5th graders. To my surprise, they enjoyed discussing politics in Kenya and in the US. We then had dinner, which was delicious and reflected on the trip so far. We hit the hay after dinner and got a good night's rest.

Arrived at NMS

We arrived safely at NMS yesterday, and were welcomed immediately and thoroughly. More details are coming, but in the meantime, here's a picture of a soccer game with 3- and 4-year-olds.

Safely arrived in Kenya

We are thoroughly exhausted, but excited and safe in a (really nice and very secure) hotel in Nairobi. Tomorrow: to the Nambale Magnet School! Zzzzzzzz....

At SFO, getting our boarding passes!

Packing for Kenya

We leave in 19 hours! What have I forgotten?