Phew

Yup, so I'm getting a little tired. I STILL haven't found time to sit and write about anything from last weekend. And this weekend, I'm going to go upcountry with my field assistant. Please pray for a safe journey and good time together with Florence. We'll be travelling for 8 hours by bus to a town right near the Ugandan border. I'm sort of looking forward to it, but I just know I'm going to be SO tired by the time I get back!

Here are some highlights from last week, again, without any photos, sorry. I wish I had the time or the energy to paint real pictures with my words... but I just don't have the energy this evening!

1. I attended a funeral for a street man who was murdered on the street last week. It was quite an honor, really, to be there amongst the prostitutes and homeless people of Nairobi. It was a rather, well, shall we say, "fragrant" ceremony, since most of the people there were drunk, and straight from the streets. But it was an honour to be there and to be able to pray for them as they mourned for their friend in the best way that they knew how. Right after that, we stopped and watched a more "upper class" funeral for a child. The contrast was amazing. There seemed to be no hope at the first funeral, whereas the second one, I think people must have been believers, because even though it was a child that had died, the people had some comfort and hope.

2. I also went on a "Safari Walk". Yup, I went from a homeless man's funeral to a walk with the animals - rhinos, lions, cheetas, zebras... quite something. Basically, it's a really nice zoo on the edge of the National Park here. If you have money, you can drive around the park on a real safari. But if you don't have money, you can use your feet and walk around the zoo, which is still really, really nice. I'd say it's just as nice, if not nicer, than most of the zoos back home.

3. I also got to visit an amazing informal school in the largest 'informal settlement' (ie, a slum) in Africa. The director there is quite amazing. In a place no bigger than my parent's lot at home, they have a school that teaches 450 students! Quite amazing, I tell you. The teachers there really cared for the kids, you could tell. It was more than just a job to them, which is unusual in the schools here. Most of the teachers who are teachers don't actually want to be teachers. And that's not really conducive to good learning, when your teacher hates teaching! So it was encouraging to see the teachers having good relationships with the kids and really trying develop the kids into good members of the community, even though most of them come from quite difficult home situations.

4. And, my paper's still not done. So I have to go and work on it, plus I have to go home and do some packing for this weekend. I have to be at the bus station at 7am tomorrow for our voyage across the country!