Brackenhurst

We are now at Brackenhurst Christian Retreat Center where Ron will be taking a class. It is a beautiful place surrounded by tea fields and flowers. Sorry we have not posted since we have been here, but our internet has been terrible and we have had to pay for each minute - so photos would have taken forever. I will try tomorrow to post some pictures - we still have to pay, but it seems to be a little faster here. We have seen some amazing things. To see God's creation up close and personal has been great. We went on a safari, pet some baby elephants, a baby rhino and hand-fed and hugged (Luke and Zach got licked) by some giraffes. It is nice here because everybody knows English, so we have done some pretty good shopping here too! It is much funner to bargain in English, I can let my sarcasm fly!! I was everyone's sister at 1 market and everyone's Momma in another. We were everyone's first customer so we got a good price :) They bargain hard, but I usually won out! Kenya is a beautiful place - so green and lush. On our way to and home from the safari, we saw baboons, warthogs and zebras grazing along the highway. We have seen some pretty interesting things and can't wait to share some of our pics with you!

Kenya

We have arrived in Nairobi safe and sound - it is beautiful! Everything is so modern and green and finished. We haven't seen an unfinished building yet! We are going to be busy the next few days, but are going to be doing some pretty cool things. We will post pics as soon as possible!

A Lebou fishing village

Horse carts - they are very common here

Luke found a baby bird that was abandoned. He wanted to keep it, but after reading info off the internet decided to put it back where he found it. We read that it was a myth that if you touch a bird, its mother will abandon it. When he checked back a couple of hours later, it was gone.

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. Since Ron was away while I was working hard at language :) he has been catching up with his lessons. Since we are going to be away for 2 weeks we are going to have to work hard to retain and practice what we have learned so far! Right now we are so in limbo - we aren't great in either language. I struggle with patience in my language learning, but are having more fun learning Wolof than I did French. When we get back from Kenya we are going to be heading into the Lebou villages each week and will get lots of practice talking and listening.

This past weekend we headed downtown, which is a rare treat due the heavy traffic and lots of people. But, this weekend was the annual pilgrimage to Touba. There are several brotherhoods of Islam. One of the biggest ones are the Morides (that may be spelled wrong). There are millions of Muslims in that group. Once a year they head to a city called Touba to worship their leader who lives there. The traffic is great while they are gone and you are encouraged to travel downtown. Also this past weekend was the big softball tournament where several teams from Dakar Academy were playing. It was a fun time of hanging out and rooting for our teams - 2 of our teams ended up in the championship round. Although it was very windy and chilly, it was a fun weekend.

Wednesday we are heading to Nairobi, Kenya for Ron's classes for his degree program. We will take around 9 days of vacation and then starting Friday the 27th he will do his class at a Christian retreat center, Brackenhurst. The kids will play, explore, and do school work while we are doing classes and meeting with the professors and their wives. During our week of vacation we will mostly likely not have regular internet. We will try to check in as often as we can. We are looking forward to this time of exploring the area of Kenya - one highlight that we know we are doing is camping at a game park reserve. The kids are pretty excited about that! We will take lots of pictures!

Pictures from Olympics at DA

Above are pictures from the Olympics Day at the kids school - they had so much fun. They didn't come in first, most of the time coming in last, but they had a great time and felt so encouraged and supported. Luke had more fun digging in the woods, building a fort, but still liked participating!

An Overdue Post

YIKES! Has it really been a week since we have posted? I (Ron) have returned safe and sound to Dakar. A quick update on me - if you want it. If not, skip to the next paragraph. No procedure was necessary for my kidney stones, I just have to LOVE drinking water more than I ever have before. The drinking isn't really the bad part - I don't mind so much. The problem is being able to find bathrooms all over town. Our friends told me today to "pee on the wall." Almost everything is walled, so anywhere there is a wall, there is a bathroom. I'm not *that* African - yet. I would appreciate your prayers for the numerous small stones I have to pass soon. The urologist said I shouldn't even know it when they pass - that sounds good to me!

Thursday and Friday were Olympics Days at school for the kids. It was great fun seeing the kids from Kindergarten through high school competing in many events. What a supportive, fun environment. Over and over again, when it was down to just two people in a certain event (for example the high jump), the two remaining were rooting for each other and cheering each other on to do their best. We lazy lumps (called parents) on the sidelines got some sun, wind, and a full-on sandblasting. Several times I wondered what a staff and parents' Olympics would look like.

HELLO to Jack Kapus (and the whole Kapus family) and Maggie Hartman. You both made our day last Friday when we were in the office and checked the mail. Thanks for taking the time to send us a card/letter. It was fun to receive some real mail! Thanks again!

That's it for now - the countdown is on for our trip to Kenya for classes. We leave a week from tomorrow (Wednesday). Wow - that unplanned trip to South Africa really changed my schedule. I can't wait to take another 8+ hour plane ride!!!

Pictures from the weekend

A shout out to Nana - look what we found in Africa - smiley fries! An old favorite from our days in Maryland. They cost be $6 but they kids absolutely loved them!

Imagine my surprise when I found these still attached to my chicken!

Luke has been loving our tree in the backyard!

Here is a panoramic view of our back yard.