Goooooooood evening!

So, since this is a ”time altered” post, you guys can figure out I never managed to find time to sit down by the computer, other than posting on facebook that I’m actually alive!

 

Today has been great!
I got up at 6:30am cause I wasn’t sure if I was gonna go with Mary to church or not…
Once I realized my Swedish number wasn’t working here, I was already back at the hostel… (around 3:30am). Kind of regretted not buying it at the airport, but anywho…

 

After breakfast and settling in to my other room, specifically telling them NOT to clean it during my stay (they understood when I said why, though)… I went to Nakumatt, since it’s open 24 hours… I did find it at a place called Fone Express… The thing is, for some reason it has been inactivated to receive calls and texts… And I didn’t realize that until like 9:30am-ish (amish, haha! ….sorry, I’m tired…!) when I decided to call Mary, and she had been trying to get a hold of me for hours…

And it’s 9 something pm here now and it still doesn’t work.. But I can call and text all I want! Annoying… Hope it will be fixed by tomorrow.

It’s actually pouring down, like nothing I’ve seen before!
It was very cloudy and quite chilly in the morning, but then the sun came out and it was wonderful… It IS the wet season now… But they usually have nice weather, but it can be very unpredictable… like, sun one minute, rain the next , then cloudy…and then back to sun! It’s been like that today, but It’s been great!

 

Oh! And while at Nakumatt… I noticed a guy was checking me out from all corners… and eventually came up and talked to me, wanted to “be my friend… maybe boyfriend…” He seemed very nice, except those few too pushy moments… Funny story, I ended up giving him my phone number, the one I just got, and since it’s not working he’s probably thinking that I’m ignoring him :P

 

Oh well, it is always such an ego boost to be here… But I don’t think I can get used to the way people look, no, not look, STARE at me all over the place! Even when I’m walking with Mary, she’s like “giiiiiirl, they are checking you OUT!” She’s awesome! J It is sooooooo good to be back with her!

 

Anyway, I went to Nakumatt again to meet up with her and went back to the place I got the sim card and asked for help, and he said it can take 40 minutes up to 8 hours for it to work (which is not true, since I had it twice before… but there is something new about the whole deal, I didn’t quite get it…).
Anyway, he told us we could go to Safaricom helpdesk thingie down town, and we did… and we were #19 in line to get help… and over here it’s hakuna matata… Pole pole, slooooooow. T-I-A J (This is Africa).
We decided to move on, and have been trying to get a hold of the help desk via the phone all day… no luck. The last thing they told me today was that it should work by tomorrow around noon. Let’s hope.

We went to Shangilia, and it was so nice to walk through Kangemi again… I have missed it, A LOT!
It was so nice to walk through the gates and kids screaming out “IT’S MADDY!!!”… Warmed up my heart straight away, and I got a million hugs at once! And Grace is so biiiiig!! My girl!
The kids noticed my tattoo in the neck, and Mary told me many were jealous… But that IS how much I love her… and she doesn’t have anyone else… But I want her to know that there is someone out there who loves her like her own.
I felt really bad for her though, cause she had a very sore throat… And I could tell she was in a lot of pain. She was very calm, and didn’t say much at all, but I could tell by the hug she gave me that she has missed me too… J NAKUPENDA WEWE GRACE!

 

We stayed for lunch, and YES they served ugali na mboga!! LOVE! It’s so funny, Mary told me that is like the cheapest you can eat in Kenya, it’s really really cheap, but I love it so much! It’s AFRICA!
But if someone came up to me in Sweden and said “oooh I looooove the noodles you have over here” I would probably react the same way! :P  That is known as “student food” here, cause it’s so cheap, and something students buy to get by :P

We chatted with the kids and spend time with them, which was so so so nice.
I talked to Tom today about the list, and they’re gonna have a meeting tomorrow (Monday) and discuss what the different departments need (food, medicine, clothes, school material etc), and I will probably get the list tomorrow, and then I’ll start shopping.
Tom was really happy that I’m back and that I brought such a nice surprise!

After Shangilia we went back to the city centre and changed to a bus for Adam’s arcade (toy market).. And I found the coolest pair of Converse EVER…But a size too small… Bugger bugger bugger!! I think we wanted 1800 Ksh for them (less than 180 Swedish Kronor).
I did find 2 VERY nice shirts though 300 ksh (less than 30 sek) each J Perfect!

 

After a bit of shopping there we took the bus back to the city centre and had a great dinner at Java house… I had a pollo quesadilla, diet coke and a Malindi chai latte afterwards, and Mary ordered a roast beef toast, diet coke and a double coffee afterwards… I paid for both of us, and added a tip, and it was just 1500 Ksh (150 sek… you get the idea now right…?)…And it was a BIG plate!
And the Malindi chai latte tasted better than ever! J SO good to be back!

After that Mary came with me to YMCA, and I gave her some of the clothes I cleaned out from my closet that I thought she’d like, and I was right! J And I got her a walled (I have too many…!) and an MP3 player (129 sek at Netto, but a great gift!)

 

This is about what happened today, in a nutshell… I’m going to bed, looking forward to a brand new, awesome day tomorrow.

 

NAKUPENDA KENYA! This is my second home.

Oh, and yes, I do hope to fix my Kenyan phone number by tomorrow…! Feel handicapped when my friends here can’t reach me… Kind of hard to make plans that way…

Anywho, nighty night, over and out!

Me in Kangemi, Mare and I are on our way to Shangilia

Hanging out with the kids... The girls love my hair... :)

Mary and I and some of the kids!

UGALI NA MBOGA, Shangilia style!  Delicious!

Showing the kids my tattoos on my feet :)

Gracie and I... Poor thing was feeling sick... :(

Pollo quesadilla at Javahouse: Me be happy! ;)