Swahili word of the day: “Karibu!” means “Welcome!”
Kenyan Culture fact of the day: Shaking hands is the best way to greet someone here. Physical touch is important, even more meaningful than saying “Hi, how are you?”. Shaking hands signifies friendship.
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No blog post yesterday, because we just got our internet situation figured out. There wasn’t much of anything to report anyway…just lots of waiting in security lines and flying! By God’s grace we made it to Kenya safely, with no mishaps, and with all of our luggage! We are staying at a research facility/hotel in Thika, with the organization SACDEP. It is a beautiful, almost campus-like setting, though not nearly as polished.
Today was our first full day in Kenya! I survived my first bout of culture shock and had a thoroughly enjoyable day, as did the rest of the team. We attended a fantastic church in Nairobi, whose congregation welcomed us as if we were family! They sang very enthusiastically too, which was fun.
After church we ate lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant nearby. That is where the pictures are from. (Luke was kind enough to hold all of our purses.) We ate Ethiopian-style, with our hands, and drank Ethiopian coffee to top it off (very strong…I only took a few sips).
To end our excursion, we went to Nakumatt, which is the Kenya version of Wal-mart. We exchanged our dollars for shillings (the exchange rate is 1 dollar for 83 shillings, just in case you were wondering) and had a grand time locating everything we needed.
We finished off the day by packing for tomorrow! We leave for Joytown Primary School bright and early to start the real work. Can’t wait!
Kenyan Culture fact of the day: Shaking hands is the best way to greet someone here. Physical touch is important, even more meaningful than saying “Hi, how are you?”. Shaking hands signifies friendship.
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No blog post yesterday, because we just got our internet situation figured out. There wasn’t much of anything to report anyway…just lots of waiting in security lines and flying! By God’s grace we made it to Kenya safely, with no mishaps, and with all of our luggage! We are staying at a research facility/hotel in Thika, with the organization SACDEP. It is a beautiful, almost campus-like setting, though not nearly as polished.
Today was our first full day in Kenya! I survived my first bout of culture shock and had a thoroughly enjoyable day, as did the rest of the team. We attended a fantastic church in Nairobi, whose congregation welcomed us as if we were family! They sang very enthusiastically too, which was fun.
After church we ate lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant nearby. That is where the pictures are from. (Luke was kind enough to hold all of our purses.) We ate Ethiopian-style, with our hands, and drank Ethiopian coffee to top it off (very strong…I only took a few sips).
To end our excursion, we went to Nakumatt, which is the Kenya version of Wal-mart. We exchanged our dollars for shillings (the exchange rate is 1 dollar for 83 shillings, just in case you were wondering) and had a grand time locating everything we needed.
We finished off the day by packing for tomorrow! We leave for Joytown Primary School bright and early to start the real work. Can’t wait!