Questions

A friend of mine asked me these questions, so I thought I might post them and their answers since maybe just maybe a few of you might be thinking the same things and the answers are somewhat interesting I think.

1. What are you eating? Are you eating a lot of vegetables and fruits? Are you eating anything out of the ordinary that people in the US might not eat? Do they have any candy ;)

Answer...

In the mornings I eat bananas and yogurt from the grocery store just to have something. Lunch is either out to eat (some decently normal restaurants although the only chain American restaurant Ive seen is Olive Garden. Dinner is normal stuff at the compound or from Pastor Winterle. I have had several homecooked African meals for lunch or dinner, they use a lot of rice, and a lot of low quality meat, they use the whole animal, dark meat, fat, everything, Im not complaining though, and Ive eaten it all. When serving the guests they also give large portions which has been tough finish sometimes. Some of the restaurants weve eaten at have been very nice. Some candy but not a lot, and no where near as much as in the US. A lot of chocolate at the supermarkets and such though.

2. Have you put on any puppet shows yet with those puppets your mom gave you? Are you using the Sunday School supplies you were given? If so, do they enjoy those things?

Answer....
I gave out almost all of the Sunday school supplies at a Sunday school seminar. They liked it, and were very happy to finally have some good resources to use. Many of them used to just teach their classes by just reading straight from the Bible which can be a tough way to teach 3 year olds. I havent had a chance to do puppets and not sure when I will now unfortunately. Im sure they will be put to good use here eventually either before I leave or when I leave them with them.

3. Have you had any interesting experiences with animals or anything (aside from the giraffe kissing you)?

Answer...
I was feet away from a lion, saw a leopard, and saw an interesting giraffe mating fight neck thingy.

4. What time do you go to bed and get up? Do the natives get up really early?

Answer...
Depending on the days schedule I get up anywhere from 7 to 8ish and go to bed at nights anywhere from 9 to 11. The people dont seem to get up all that early as a whole, though I dont know much about that.

5. What's life like there?

Answer...
It depends on who you are. Some still live out in the nature in huts and in tribes. Others live in the different portions of town out of whatever they can find to make a house and wash their clothes in the streams and have small jobs for money. Others are orphans living in the slums trying to survive. Others are normal people with normal jobs living in standards that are decent enough though probably less than most middle class in America though that may depend on what your standards are. Still a few others are doing very well and live quite well which is why you do see some really nice things mixed in with some really bad things in this country. Youll see a really nice building compound, surrounded by trash and dusty bad conditioned roads, and that seems to be the case in a lot of places here.

6. What's the weather been like?

Answer...
The sun shinning directly on you can be hot, but the temperatures dont get all that high, hot but not all that uncomfortable hot except during maybe midday. Nights are very cool (perfect for me for shorts and a tshirt, maybe a long sleeve shirt for you girls or girly men, wink wink) which although I love, I see the native people in full winter coats and bundled all the way up with scarves and everything! All in all, I would much rather have this weather than a scorching humid Missouri summer right now.

7. What have you guys been doing lately?

Answer...
The main group left on Safari, but the Wehmeier family and I stayed and did work with another church one day and did Sunday school stuff another day and went to church on Sunday at the church that Pastor Winterle is Pastor of. The whole group goes back to America tomorrow night and then it is just me as the lone American here! I will have a young man from Hungary coming in a few days and we will probably be going around a lot together. I believe if I am remembering this correctly that we will be doing most of our work with a group of Orphan boys called the Lost Boys at Kibara (not sure on the spelling) which is one of, if not the largest slum in the world.

8. Is there any one experince that stands out in your mind?

Answer...
There are so so so many. I dont even know where I would begin. There is so much here that I view everyday that just makes me say wow. An interesting thing that happened just last night would be that there was a riot at the Muslim bording school right next door to my compound. The students at the school were rioting against it for some reason. They broke almost every window on the compound and had to be broken up by tear gas from the police. I had been planning on leaving my compound right before it started too, who knows what might have happened if I hadnt been sidetracked by poor internet.... so that is probably an experience that stands out from just last night, though it isnt even the experience that stands out most in my mind probably.

Well, those were all the questions sent. I love you and miss you all very very much!