Sunday is my only day to sleep in and sometimes I'm so tired from the week that I don't wake up till noon!!! It's so nice to get this sleep but then I feel like I loose time that I could be using to get work done. I actually did pretty good this week about getting lesson plans turned in and updating all my grades by Friday..but I never feel like I'm done. Since the last week of break I haven't been able to feel like there isn't sometime hanging over my head that I need to do. I feel really busy here all the time.
Lately I've been having to create notes for each lesson in Social Studies, and while this should help the students improve their grade..I'm not sure it does. Sometimes it can take me up to 1 1/2 hours to create these and I don't even feel like they appreciate it. Besides, who wants to learn about "Reform in Industrial America" when you live in Kenya?! Thankfully there are only 2 more lessons after tomorrow..but that only means that I have to find some new material from online to buy and make a part of the curriculum!
I've got some new things to try this week and lessons should go smoothly. I go back and forth between feeling great about my lessons and then just okay about them sometimes. Can't wait for Friday and for that feeling of knowing the week is over! Time sure does fly here. Can't even think about going home yet....what a weird feeling it will be!
I'm excited about getting this week and next week over with and going on a camping trip to see "wild dogs" the weekend that we are off. I've even calculated and there should be a "new moon" meaning that it will be a great opportunity to see some stars! I just love seeing the stars in the night sky because it is so beautiful and brings me to far off places. Although I thought seeing the stars here would remind me of home...I think that because I've gotten into constellations and star gazing here that when I'm home seeing stars will remind me of being in Africa.
Learning that new song on the piano is going well. I'm doing more but I still need a lot more practice. I always enjoyed playing the piano and I forgot what a good feeling it is once you learn sometime new! Can't wait to have the song down, but until then I need to keep practicing!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Back to school
So, it's the second week back to school!! I can't believe it!! Nothing too eventful happened last week except I was off last weekend and it was nice to get a break and relax around campus!!! This week is already flying by as it is Wednesday night! Yesterday on our town day the SM's went to this Ostrich Farm and got to ride an Ostrich for 500 shillings!! (A little more than a dollar) Anyway, it was really nerve racking and really fun!! Before we left we had a goodbye meal for Frank and his wife and it was so nice to spend time with them. (He started sitting with us in the cafe and his wife and him work at the ECD)
Oh, i started learning how to play this beautiful song on the piano!! I just love it!! Here's the link to it...I'm probably about a minute into the song.. but enjoy http://youtu.be/GTkzyyv0DuA.
Today I taught PE and had the students do some races to practice their running..but I feel pretty tired out myself only doing 2 small races! Gotta get busy with school stuff...it feels like that's all I ever do these days!! :(
So, the documentary part 2 came out..it's really cool! I'll have to add links later!
I've been enjoying my hammock more lately and it's nice to relax in it!! :)
Gotta get busy..only 1 1/2 more days of teaching left till the weekend!
Oh, i started learning how to play this beautiful song on the piano!! I just love it!! Here's the link to it...I'm probably about a minute into the song.. but enjoy http://youtu.be/GTkzyyv0DuA.
Today I taught PE and had the students do some races to practice their running..but I feel pretty tired out myself only doing 2 small races! Gotta get busy with school stuff...it feels like that's all I ever do these days!! :(
So, the documentary part 2 came out..it's really cool! I'll have to add links later!
I've been enjoying my hammock more lately and it's nice to relax in it!! :)
Gotta get busy..only 1 1/2 more days of teaching left till the weekend!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"Therefore we do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For out light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:16-18
It is getting to be about that time where I'm feeling drained and unmotivated. Problem is...I've just had a nice and long 5 1/2 week Christmas break. Other problem is..school starts Tuesday. Last problem..I'm not ready yet because I haven't done many lesson plans. I do not want to loose heart, but sometimes I really feel like I'm wasting away. (Outwardly and inwardly) I feel like I'm getting burned out. I want to be renewed day by day, but sometimes it's very hard to do. Sometimes trusting in God can be a lot harder than it should be. Why would my ways EVER be better than God's ways. The fact is that they can never be close to being better than His ways, but the truth is that I continually trust in myself before I trust in God. I think I can make it on my own and that is my mistake. These troubles are temporary and God's kingdom is eternal.
I want my momentary troubles to lead me to God and to fix my eyes on the unseen prize. I want all my efforts to lead me to God and an eternal life with Him. I want to be a genuine, caring, selfless daughter of God.
It is getting to be about that time where I'm feeling drained and unmotivated. Problem is...I've just had a nice and long 5 1/2 week Christmas break. Other problem is..school starts Tuesday. Last problem..I'm not ready yet because I haven't done many lesson plans. I do not want to loose heart, but sometimes I really feel like I'm wasting away. (Outwardly and inwardly) I feel like I'm getting burned out. I want to be renewed day by day, but sometimes it's very hard to do. Sometimes trusting in God can be a lot harder than it should be. Why would my ways EVER be better than God's ways. The fact is that they can never be close to being better than His ways, but the truth is that I continually trust in myself before I trust in God. I think I can make it on my own and that is my mistake. These troubles are temporary and God's kingdom is eternal.
I want my momentary troubles to lead me to God and to fix my eyes on the unseen prize. I want all my efforts to lead me to God and an eternal life with Him. I want to be a genuine, caring, selfless daughter of God.
Monday, January 9, 2012
I've really been enjoying Christmas Break!!! I was able to have a great time with Amy while she was visiting!! My family gave me tons of stuff and I am so happy!!! While Amy was here we took a camping trip to the Maasai Mara, Hell's Gate (the inspiration of Lion King) Mombasa (took an overnight train to the beach-Indian Ocean) and afterwards I went to Amboseli where I was able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro!
The Mara was really fun and I always enjoy seeing the animals there! At night we made a little fire and I walked around a little bit for a good place to see the stars. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! Oh, and I got attacked by safari ants a couple times so Amy and I decided to sleep in "da beast." On Christmas day we spent time safariing around and I was even able to drive "da beast." Well, anyway, we had an exciting trip back and only got stuck while on safari once! When we got back to the house late at night the other SM's and their family were having a Christmas party with yummy snacks and some games. (Although I was too tired and fell asleep on the couch) Oh, but then I woke up and called my family briefly and Katie Mac!! It was nice to hear from them!
A day or so later the Raymonds, Amy, Eric, and I took a trip to Hell's Gate! It wasn't really too far away and I was able to get in for residents rate. (DESPITE STILL NOT HAVING MY WORKERS PERMIT-but that is another story) So when we got there we hiked around in the Gorge for awhile. It was pretty fun climbing up some rocks and through the water. At first I wanted to try not to get my shoes wet, but then after awhile I was just walking around in the puddles of water. Caleb and I walked around for a bit and it was pretty fun talking to him. Towards the end of the walk I saw some maasai children but was able to talk to them a little bit in swahili! That was cool.
The next trip was to Mombasa-that's the beach on the coast! We left friday evening (almost 4 hours LATE from the train station) Once we got on the train we quickly ate dinner. It was quite an experience walking through the hallways of the train, like 5 cars down, to the dinner place. The food wasn't all that good but I feel like that's expected. This was the first time I'd ever been on an overnight train and it was pretty fun! OH, and I also saw the Big Dipper (really cool cause I've never seen that here yet) Baobab trees (the really fat ones) and I THINK I saw lion eyes..not exactly sure. Then, the next morning I got to see the sunrise. This was the BEST one I've EVER seen. The sun was BIG and RED! Too bad there are no pictures to share. I was really tired afterwards so I went back to bed. I was really happy that I was able to sleep for pretty much the rest of the way there. BUT, it was extremely HOT on the train. I felt all nasty and crusty when we arrived. Once we got to Mombasa we then took like a two hour matatu ride to Watamu. That is the Adventist Resort that we stayed at the whole time. Anyway, we were greeted with nice cool towels and cold fruit juice. Amy and I quickly changed into our swim suits and went to the beach before dinner. The whole day I didn't even realize that it was New Year's Eve!!! But, we had a good dinner (with delicious veggie meat) and then we went back to the rooms and played Monopoly Deal--a really fun card game that we've been playing a bunch over Christmas Break. New Years wasn't as big of deal like it is in the US, but we all stayed up and wished each other a Happy New Year and watch this burning thing the hotel next door had. The next day I went out to the beach and snorkeled a little bit and swam at the pool. We had a pretty good lunch and then I realized how burned I was and stayed inside. Although I had put on 50 spf in the morning..I forgot to keep reapplying it. I was so burned that I stayed inside all the next day with the exception of going out to get pizza and gelato for lunch. The beach was really beautiful and the sand was very soft and felt good on your feet. It was also really nice to see the stars on the beach at night. The last night we all went out to this restaurant which was a lot of fun. (Despite getting eaten ALIVE) The next morning that we left was so long. We decided to ride back in the vans which was bumpy and long, but I did get to sleep a lot of the way which was very nice.
The last place we went to was Amboseli. This is a National Park known for Elephants and seeing Mt. Kili. It was a long, hot, bumpy ride--but this is nothing new. Seriously I was burning up. We saw tons of elephants though. Like 50+ in one area! And some of the males were fighting which was quite a sight. Oh and the worst part is that I had to pay visitors rate which was $80! But, we still had a fun time.
It's been really nice being back and getting a chance to relax a little bit. Saturday we had a big potluck at my house. Then we went to Ngong Hills and had pizza at the Raymonds for dinner. Pizza at their house is ALWAYS TO DIE FOR! Afterwards we watched Courageous which was a very very good movie. Sunday, we had a good breakfast at Java House, went to New Life Missions Orphanage (AMAZING) to the Glass Factory, to Karen (a town where I bought some great roses for 100 shillings and had some delicious mint chocolate gelato) and ate Italian for dinner. The food there is very good--but don't go there if you are starving or in a hurry!
Anyway, this is SO LONG and I'm getting ready to relax. haha. Idk, I guess maybe I'm still tired. Tomorrow I should be going to get a pedicure so I'm really excited. I'll post more pictures later!
The Mara was really fun and I always enjoy seeing the animals there! At night we made a little fire and I walked around a little bit for a good place to see the stars. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! Oh, and I got attacked by safari ants a couple times so Amy and I decided to sleep in "da beast." On Christmas day we spent time safariing around and I was even able to drive "da beast." Well, anyway, we had an exciting trip back and only got stuck while on safari once! When we got back to the house late at night the other SM's and their family were having a Christmas party with yummy snacks and some games. (Although I was too tired and fell asleep on the couch) Oh, but then I woke up and called my family briefly and Katie Mac!! It was nice to hear from them!
A day or so later the Raymonds, Amy, Eric, and I took a trip to Hell's Gate! It wasn't really too far away and I was able to get in for residents rate. (DESPITE STILL NOT HAVING MY WORKERS PERMIT-but that is another story) So when we got there we hiked around in the Gorge for awhile. It was pretty fun climbing up some rocks and through the water. At first I wanted to try not to get my shoes wet, but then after awhile I was just walking around in the puddles of water. Caleb and I walked around for a bit and it was pretty fun talking to him. Towards the end of the walk I saw some maasai children but was able to talk to them a little bit in swahili! That was cool.
The next trip was to Mombasa-that's the beach on the coast! We left friday evening (almost 4 hours LATE from the train station) Once we got on the train we quickly ate dinner. It was quite an experience walking through the hallways of the train, like 5 cars down, to the dinner place. The food wasn't all that good but I feel like that's expected. This was the first time I'd ever been on an overnight train and it was pretty fun! OH, and I also saw the Big Dipper (really cool cause I've never seen that here yet) Baobab trees (the really fat ones) and I THINK I saw lion eyes..not exactly sure. Then, the next morning I got to see the sunrise. This was the BEST one I've EVER seen. The sun was BIG and RED! Too bad there are no pictures to share. I was really tired afterwards so I went back to bed. I was really happy that I was able to sleep for pretty much the rest of the way there. BUT, it was extremely HOT on the train. I felt all nasty and crusty when we arrived. Once we got to Mombasa we then took like a two hour matatu ride to Watamu. That is the Adventist Resort that we stayed at the whole time. Anyway, we were greeted with nice cool towels and cold fruit juice. Amy and I quickly changed into our swim suits and went to the beach before dinner. The whole day I didn't even realize that it was New Year's Eve!!! But, we had a good dinner (with delicious veggie meat) and then we went back to the rooms and played Monopoly Deal--a really fun card game that we've been playing a bunch over Christmas Break. New Years wasn't as big of deal like it is in the US, but we all stayed up and wished each other a Happy New Year and watch this burning thing the hotel next door had. The next day I went out to the beach and snorkeled a little bit and swam at the pool. We had a pretty good lunch and then I realized how burned I was and stayed inside. Although I had put on 50 spf in the morning..I forgot to keep reapplying it. I was so burned that I stayed inside all the next day with the exception of going out to get pizza and gelato for lunch. The beach was really beautiful and the sand was very soft and felt good on your feet. It was also really nice to see the stars on the beach at night. The last night we all went out to this restaurant which was a lot of fun. (Despite getting eaten ALIVE) The next morning that we left was so long. We decided to ride back in the vans which was bumpy and long, but I did get to sleep a lot of the way which was very nice.
The last place we went to was Amboseli. This is a National Park known for Elephants and seeing Mt. Kili. It was a long, hot, bumpy ride--but this is nothing new. Seriously I was burning up. We saw tons of elephants though. Like 50+ in one area! And some of the males were fighting which was quite a sight. Oh and the worst part is that I had to pay visitors rate which was $80! But, we still had a fun time.
It's been really nice being back and getting a chance to relax a little bit. Saturday we had a big potluck at my house. Then we went to Ngong Hills and had pizza at the Raymonds for dinner. Pizza at their house is ALWAYS TO DIE FOR! Afterwards we watched Courageous which was a very very good movie. Sunday, we had a good breakfast at Java House, went to New Life Missions Orphanage (AMAZING) to the Glass Factory, to Karen (a town where I bought some great roses for 100 shillings and had some delicious mint chocolate gelato) and ate Italian for dinner. The food there is very good--but don't go there if you are starving or in a hurry!
Anyway, this is SO LONG and I'm getting ready to relax. haha. Idk, I guess maybe I'm still tired. Tomorrow I should be going to get a pedicure so I'm really excited. I'll post more pictures later!
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| A HUGE thank you to all who bought stuff for me!! :) |
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| In our tent at the Mara before we choose to spend the night in "da beast" |
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| I got many hippopotamuses for Christmas! |
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| We made it out alive! |
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| My favorite animal here in Africa! |
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| Tanzanian/Kenyan boarder with Amy <3 |
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| No big deal |
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| The 50+ elephants at Amboseli |
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| Sunset at Amboseli |
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| Waxing Gibbous--I need to get a better lens and tripod but lens credit goes to Eric |
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Pictures soon to come!
Amy is here and I am so happy!!!!! I was able to receive a lot of gifts from my friends and family and it's an early Christmas!! :) I am currently living on 3.5 hours of sleep, but tonight will be a good night of sleep! :)
Today we stopped in Rongai and I bought my first thing from the market. I bought 2 feet of garlic for 10 shillings each!! Then we went to another place next to Tusky's and I was able to buy some potatoes!! I got a pretty good deal--5 kilos for 200 shillings AND then he gave me like 5-6 extra and said "Merry Christmas!" So....I was pretty excited!!! We're planning on making some homefries and some french fried!!!!!!!! :) YAY!!
I get pretty excited about food as you can tell. So, I REALLY enjoyed dinner!! We had haystacks tonight and it was AMAZING!!! My sisters got me some fritos!!!! (not available in Kenya) and Yani made some ballin chilli....we made a hefty bowl of salsa!!!! and then Derek topped it all off with some nacho cheese! I seriously can't explain how good it was except for to say that my mouth was literally tingling because of how GOOD the food tasted! :)
Tomorrow we plan on going to the elephant orphanage!! I'm pretty excited to go back because the baby elephants were pretty cute! And, I think that Amy will REALLY enjoy it!! Also, we plan on going to the glass factory and I can't wait to smash some glass again. Lastly we plan on going to the Maasai market at Galleria tomorrow and I wanna get some cool things and help her bargain!
We've been at the Raymonds house tonight looking at tons of pictures. I'm really really excited about going to the Mara this weekend!!! We also plan on going to Hell's gate when we get back and then to Mombasa (the beach) for a couple days! Hopefully we can hit up a couple other places like Ngong Hills, the giraffe center, ect!
This week we've been going around town to places like Sarit Center, Westgate Mall, shopping for kikoys and souvenir shopping at Blue Shack. This place was pretty fun but everyone bombards you so it's kinda hard to shop in peace.
Other than that, not all too much has been going on. I'm really enjoying being on break and I hope it doesn't go too fast. My time here in Africa is just incredible and I am already thinking about how much I will be missing it next year :(
And you should listen to this song because it is pretty cool!!!
Today we stopped in Rongai and I bought my first thing from the market. I bought 2 feet of garlic for 10 shillings each!! Then we went to another place next to Tusky's and I was able to buy some potatoes!! I got a pretty good deal--5 kilos for 200 shillings AND then he gave me like 5-6 extra and said "Merry Christmas!" So....I was pretty excited!!! We're planning on making some homefries and some french fried!!!!!!!! :) YAY!!
I get pretty excited about food as you can tell. So, I REALLY enjoyed dinner!! We had haystacks tonight and it was AMAZING!!! My sisters got me some fritos!!!! (not available in Kenya) and Yani made some ballin chilli....we made a hefty bowl of salsa!!!! and then Derek topped it all off with some nacho cheese! I seriously can't explain how good it was except for to say that my mouth was literally tingling because of how GOOD the food tasted! :)
Tomorrow we plan on going to the elephant orphanage!! I'm pretty excited to go back because the baby elephants were pretty cute! And, I think that Amy will REALLY enjoy it!! Also, we plan on going to the glass factory and I can't wait to smash some glass again. Lastly we plan on going to the Maasai market at Galleria tomorrow and I wanna get some cool things and help her bargain!
We've been at the Raymonds house tonight looking at tons of pictures. I'm really really excited about going to the Mara this weekend!!! We also plan on going to Hell's gate when we get back and then to Mombasa (the beach) for a couple days! Hopefully we can hit up a couple other places like Ngong Hills, the giraffe center, ect!
This week we've been going around town to places like Sarit Center, Westgate Mall, shopping for kikoys and souvenir shopping at Blue Shack. This place was pretty fun but everyone bombards you so it's kinda hard to shop in peace.
Other than that, not all too much has been going on. I'm really enjoying being on break and I hope it doesn't go too fast. My time here in Africa is just incredible and I am already thinking about how much I will be missing it next year :(
And you should listen to this song because it is pretty cool!!!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Christmas Break
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| Just another lion at the Mara!!!! This is like the most basic picture ever but I still think it's PRETTY COOL! |
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