And a little laughter......

Although my team is in Kenya to serve God in the Kawangware Slums, there is still time for fun and laughter. I've decided to share some of those moments in my blog for your enjoyment, although they probably won't be as funny to you as they are to us.

Something we hear everyday as we drive or walk through the slums is a chant from the children that grows and grows as more children join in. That chant is "How are you? How are you? HOW ARE YOU?" It goes on and on until we're out of sight. The kids get so excited when we repeat the chant back to them. What makes this more comical is that many of the kids don't know the actual question, but more the rhythm, so they say, "malaru, malaru, malaru." What makes this funny is that in Swahili, malaru means "potato." So, basically, we're called potatoes!

Another word we hear a lot is "Mzungu," which means "white person." Word in the slums spreads quickly that the "Mzungus are here." We have also heard it in the market place when the vendors are trying to get us to purchase their goods. I had an experience the other day when I was trying to negotiate a price on some wooden crosses and the vendor said he had to check the price with his boss. I attempted to follow the vendor when he stopped me and said, "He'll see you're a Mzungu and raise the price." I knew what he was really up to. He didn't have exactly what I wanted, so he was working as a middle man to sell me someone else's goods.

My team has heard all kinds of funny things in the market place. Here are some of the discounts we've been offered: Christian discount ("my sister is a nun!"), student discount, pastor discount, American discount and my personal favorite...."I'll give you a good discount since your President Obama was born in Kenya." Really? He has spent a bit of time trying to defuse that rumor.

Mark, our team leader, has an accent from living many years in Africa and South America. On our first day in the community center, the youth got in a giant circle and put us in the middle to introduce ourselves. As we said our names, the kids repeated them. When Mark said his name, his accent silenced the "r" and it sounded like "Mawk." The kids repeated it exactly and we haven't stopped pronouncing his name like that since. We often mimic his accent and come up with funny things to say. Karissa loves to take it a step further and add a Russian accent to the mix.

The driving in Kenya is just CRAZY! It makes driving in Mexico seem like a breeze. Drivers go when they want to, make their own lanes, and run down anything or anyone that gets in their way. Pedestrians definitely don't get the right-of-way here! Stella, she works for CCP and drives us everywhere, is excellent at swerving, honking and being an aggressive driver. We all joke that we will likely be in a car accident before leaving Kenya.

We all get a kick out of the Kenyan soap operas the cooks watch while we eat dinner. They are all Hispanic actors/actresses but their accents sound Japanese. The cooks love them though!

That's all for now. We only have 2 full days left in Kenya then we begin the 21 hour journey flying home. We have VERY BUSY days ahead of us, but they are exciting days. Tomorrow I get to take Hedessah shopping and I'm so excited to see her again. I will post pictures when I return home, so please check back for those. :)