sat and sun 2nd and 3rd Feb.
quite an amazing weekend. in fact sad as its become my last weekend in a week that started badly but now we live in peace.
ok the British news might imply something else. but everywhere i have been this weekend including Kibera slum has been a safe place.
after a Friday which gave me the last chance to put together my teaching and speaking engagements i also had chance to go shopping!
So i drove the 45 min journey to Village Market across Nairobi and visited the Massi Market. Loads of those gift type things that no one in Kenya would buy but any Muzongo would love to snap up and take home as authentic Kenya.. Lol.. You know how much stuff have you bought in London that is "English"... ha ha..
Anyhow.. I was perhaps the 7th Muzongo in the whole market., Here is where you start to notice how bad tourism has got. They normally are selling loads. but now hardly anything.
Picked up some gifts at a price that i would pay in the UK. So that is quite a lot of money really! But most of the time they started at enormous amounts of cash. 4,000 sch was normally where they started. But you see that's like £25 so no no no.. (they tried to make me buy at a stupid price but i said no no no).
So i made them happy, i felt i was on a learning curve on bartering.. But I got a few gifts..
In the evening Dawn and i hit another Indian restaurant. Lets be honest I've eating some African food and I've eaten Indian food and the Indian stuff has been lovely... slightly more tasty than true Kenyan food. Little chunks of meat with soup and rice and stew. I love it. Tonight a taste of Goan Fish and Ginger Chicken curry's even now send my mouth watering.
Sat I headed into town with my mug of coffee and bible under one arm to go do some training on the first five books of the bible. Loved it. really enjoyed the training and felt that we had all got somewhere with the information that i had. I love doing this kind of thing and here in Kenya feel really quite useful. Sad that in this time of peace that i am experiencing i have to go..
The afternoon came and i was picked up by Dawn after a walk around town. Nairobi is a really fun place to visit the markets on the streets the shops all bustling with people. Even met the "Strange Man" again. This time i spoke a rubbish french and seem to get away with it. lol. I then headed to the dodgy DVD section. Look i really wanted to see Lost season 3 and well i was taking my £1.60 into my own hands. When i got home later i tried it out and i was watching a copy that had been made from the tv.. so public domain.. ahem...
ANYHOW i wasn't attacked or mugged. So come to Nairobi, Its really a great place to visit. Forget about the tv. I mean would you come to England if you simply watched the news about what happens there??
Dawn then took me to the Nairobi National Park to see the animal orphans.. Awh.. i stoked a baby leopard!! and met lions and ostriches, monkeys and warthogs. its was great. Missed the giraffe park though as it was closed when we got there..
This evening we hit the Safari Park Hotel for a meal with a show. Here you paid for a set meal and you get soup (tomato), salad (sure a bunch of lettuce leaves) and a whole bunch of meat cut and served at your table (eh Dom you'd love it). I sat as they bought sausage (nice), pork (nice), lamb (well tasty), beef (just right), ostrich (really nice I had seconds and perhaps thirds of this), camel (like beef but a bit tough), crocodile (hmm it really tastes like fishy chicken - imagine surf and turf in one), spare ribs (bit bony).. at the same time the house band played (sometimes badly) and then at 9 pm the show started. It was like a representation of some of Kenya and different parts of it. All done Hollywood style. a 45 min show that was really great to watch., I loved it. colourful, musical and visually exciting.
Sunday..
We left to go to Kibera, Remember this was one of the slums that had made it to the news as having problems ok. On arrival no gun shots, no men with knives, no tyres on fire. Calm, and more calm. people playing in the street, men hanging around to buy water, women cooking on outdoor stoves, children with made toys in the streets. Hmm its amazing what giving peace a chance works.
In the church we gave more food to the children from the area so at least that this week they could eat.
£20 people will go a long way in the slum... fancying giving this amount once a year? its not helping me but its helping direct with NO admin costs (email me and I'll let you know what to do)
I was speaking in church today, But on arrival I was asked to dedicate a child.. I've baptised someone before but never done a dedication. I then sang a song and afterwards spoke to them.,
Two people decided to be Christians after i spoke. Amazing.
The afternoon I was training again although as the morning was quite tiring I was not really in the mood for a 2 hour lecture on the law of the Jewish people. hurrah.
SO quickly exiting we headed back to Dawns house and that night we'd been invited for a meal with her neighbours upstairs.
It was really tasty and the evening was really good.
Monday.
Today the school have asked me to help cover swimming lessons. Im going to stand around looking like David hasslehoff (or more like Roy chubby brown) and supervise. then in the afternoon im actually in a class with yr 5 covering.. hurrah.
Tonight i shall pack my things and get ready to leave for home tomorrow.
although i still wonder if im leaving as its unsafe for me what about all the other NGO's or Ex Pats or Embassy people hmmm..people over here are quite confused..
Simon
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