Saying Goodbye, and Saying Hello :)

Mwalimu Judy and Me

It is time to say goodbye to Nairobi, and all of the wonderful people I met here. Today is my last day here. Chris left for his assignment site this morning and I am spending the day preparing to leave for Kitui tomorrow. It is definitely bittersweet. I have had such a great time learning Kiswahili, hanging out with the Carpenter family, and getting to know the people at my guesthouse. Chris and I finished Kiswahili lessons on Friday and had to say goodbye to Mwalimu Judy (teacher Judy). She was a great teacher, and she insisted that we can always text or call her is we need help with the language (only reaffirming how awesome she is!)

Chris and I did a few different things our last week in Nairobi:
1. We made a cake for our guest house workers and the other guests. The cake was a carrot cake with pineapple and cream cheese frosting (Thank you Selena for letting us use your cream cheese! It wouldn't have been as delicious without it) (To Reid: You are the cream cheese frosting to my carrot cake). Fortunately, the cake turned out well! Everyone at the guest house really liked it so we were pleased, and very grateful for their hospitality.

2. I got to hang out with Mary (on the left), who is one of the cooks at the guest house. It was such a blessing to hear her story. A little bit about Mary:
- You will never see Mary without a smile on her face.
- Mary hopes to some day own her own business doing mani/pedis for people.
 - Mary works to take care of her grandparents and her two younger siblings because her mom passed away a little while ago and there is no one else who can work in their house.
Mary's story reminds me that there are people everywhere who struggle with very similar things. Though the specific circumstances may be a little different, there are people like Mary everywhere who find themselves bearing a larger burden than they can bear on their own. When I was talking to Mary about it she just smiled and said "I just do it, there is nothing else I can do." She also insisted that she believed God will have something better for her family in the future. I am going to miss seeing her smile around :)

3. We got to make pizzas with the Carpenter family twice in one week. I LOVE pizza, so there was no way I would be complaining about that. The pizzas were great, but the company was even better!

Reid Carpenter, the Pizza, and Me

 

 

Tomorrow I will be saying hello to Kitui! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. There will definitely be an adjustment period, so I could use prayer for the next few months to go smoothly, and that I will be able to connect with my host family! Thank you to all the people from back home (Momma, Ivonne, Shiloh, Teresa, Kim, Nini, and anyone else I forgot) and those in Kenya who have been keeping in touch with me, encouraging me, and praying for me. I love you all so much!

Until next time! God bless and keep you all!

"And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail."

-Isaiah 58:11