Day 2 -
“I can’t wait to see more of Kenya. Hear the sounds! Taste the air! Heart, you will fall in love with country and with our Creator.”
“I can’t wait to see more of Kenya. Hear the sounds! Taste the air! Heart, you will fall in love with country and with our Creator.”
The first night in Ngong was a restless one. I woke with the roosters and took a cold shower. Nairobi (especially Ngong town) is chilly in the mornings and evenings due to the elevation and despite the closeness of the equator. Though, it makes sense because the Southern Hemisphere is in its winter season. However, the only way a westerner knows that would be to look at the natives with their winter coats while you stand comfortably in a t-shirt. My Kenyan teammates wore jackets and scarves while we enjoyed the cooler weather in thin clothing as we headed to our first Morning Glory. Our amazing directors scheduled a daily devotional for our team every morning at 7:15am (with exceptions) and one of us (students) would provide a word from the Bible before heading to breakfast. Breakfast usually consisted of bread, an egg in any form, fruit and some type of sausage. We all came to love the butter, Blue Band, and the Red jam (plum to be exact; not to be confused with the orange jam – we didn’t like that one) that accompanied our bread.
That morning we had more training on culture and how to deal with culture shock/being in different surroundings. Our director, Brian, sent us into town in groups after the afternoon meal. Ngong town was within walking distance of Watakatifu Wote Senta. We were given a list of things we would need to buy for our time there, yet there was a catch; the list was in Swahili and not in English. Therefore, we had to go into town and interact with the people there to find the items without the help of our Kenyan teammates. My first thoughts: “Yes! Trip to town. Oh gosh. Okay. Swahili? Good thing most of the people will know English….right? What is that greeting? Um…ha…ha something. Habari? Right? And I say ‘mzuri’ if someone says that to me. I think. Yes. Okay. Let’s do this!” I join Silvia and some of the other girls, grab shillings, and we start walking down the road. We only took one camera because we were not there to be seen as tourists but our goal was to blend into the people of the town and learn. It wasn’t one of the instructions from Brian, but I don’t think any of us desired to stick out like a rock amidst the sand. Swahili? Check. I thought I could greet anyone and be OK. I was a little too confident unfortunately.
As soon as we stepped into the limits of town, I quickly realized that I was a fish trying to fly with a flock of birds. Our group of wazungu (white people) drew the attention of the whole town; shop owners and school children alike. It was wonderful being out of the Senta walls and experiencing more of Kenya; seeing goats eat trash on the side of the road, seeing a contrast of new and old cars passing, children and adults talking about all the wazungu in town, buying supplies with Kenyan shillings, smelling the diesel, and filling our noses with dust. Silvia gave us more cultural dos and don’ts as we asked more and more questions. We were successful in buying most of our supplies; successful as in finding them and paying for them…not so much in asking about them in our butchered Swahili. Strategically, Brian mispronounced an item for us – the one item Silvia was silent about and that was the hardest to find. I was pretty bold in my group, but the price was laughter.
Being laughed at doesn’t exactly build self-esteem when you are trying out a new language. Every time someone greeted me in Swahili, I would have the response at the tip of my tongue, but it never came out until after I passed the person. Then I was told it is rude not to greet people back. Yes. I was staring straight into the face of frustration. On top of that, my brain was searching for any other language but Swahili in its memory. The tiniest bit of Spanish I used during High school Mexico missions trips would come out at random.
Someone: Habari yako!
Me: Muy bien! …I mean, mzuri..?
The time we had in town was productive and taught me a lot about how to cope in a culture when you are not very familiar with the ways of the culture. My team was triumphant in the end got everything on the list. Silvia probably hadn’t laughed that hard for a while and she told us to keep making mistakes so she could laugh more. I didn’t mind because I was laughing at us too. Especially when we were told Brian made it harder on us on purpose. It was an experience I thrived on and I had a blast.
We debriefed our experience with the whole team after we all got back. After chai, we joined the Maasai pastors (they were also staying at the Senta for their own conference) for a volleyball game. It was a blast to watch! The spirit of competition was high and yet the spirit of friendship was even greater.They had so much energy and definitely killed the Americans as far as scores.
That morning we had more training on culture and how to deal with culture shock/being in different surroundings. Our director, Brian, sent us into town in groups after the afternoon meal. Ngong town was within walking distance of Watakatifu Wote Senta. We were given a list of things we would need to buy for our time there, yet there was a catch; the list was in Swahili and not in English. Therefore, we had to go into town and interact with the people there to find the items without the help of our Kenyan teammates. My first thoughts: “Yes! Trip to town. Oh gosh. Okay. Swahili? Good thing most of the people will know English….right? What is that greeting? Um…ha…ha something. Habari? Right? And I say ‘mzuri’ if someone says that to me. I think. Yes. Okay. Let’s do this!” I join Silvia and some of the other girls, grab shillings, and we start walking down the road. We only took one camera because we were not there to be seen as tourists but our goal was to blend into the people of the town and learn. It wasn’t one of the instructions from Brian, but I don’t think any of us desired to stick out like a rock amidst the sand. Swahili? Check. I thought I could greet anyone and be OK. I was a little too confident unfortunately.
As soon as we stepped into the limits of town, I quickly realized that I was a fish trying to fly with a flock of birds. Our group of wazungu (white people) drew the attention of the whole town; shop owners and school children alike. It was wonderful being out of the Senta walls and experiencing more of Kenya; seeing goats eat trash on the side of the road, seeing a contrast of new and old cars passing, children and adults talking about all the wazungu in town, buying supplies with Kenyan shillings, smelling the diesel, and filling our noses with dust. Silvia gave us more cultural dos and don’ts as we asked more and more questions. We were successful in buying most of our supplies; successful as in finding them and paying for them…not so much in asking about them in our butchered Swahili. Strategically, Brian mispronounced an item for us – the one item Silvia was silent about and that was the hardest to find. I was pretty bold in my group, but the price was laughter.
Being laughed at doesn’t exactly build self-esteem when you are trying out a new language. Every time someone greeted me in Swahili, I would have the response at the tip of my tongue, but it never came out until after I passed the person. Then I was told it is rude not to greet people back. Yes. I was staring straight into the face of frustration. On top of that, my brain was searching for any other language but Swahili in its memory. The tiniest bit of Spanish I used during High school Mexico missions trips would come out at random.
Someone: Habari yako!
Me: Muy bien! …I mean, mzuri..?
The time we had in town was productive and taught me a lot about how to cope in a culture when you are not very familiar with the ways of the culture. My team was triumphant in the end got everything on the list. Silvia probably hadn’t laughed that hard for a while and she told us to keep making mistakes so she could laugh more. I didn’t mind because I was laughing at us too. Especially when we were told Brian made it harder on us on purpose. It was an experience I thrived on and I had a blast.
We debriefed our experience with the whole team after we all got back. After chai, we joined the Maasai pastors (they were also staying at the Senta for their own conference) for a volleyball game. It was a blast to watch! The spirit of competition was high and yet the spirit of friendship was even greater.They had so much energy and definitely killed the Americans as far as scores.
“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored…
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored…
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride…
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride…
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land…
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land…
They will know we are Christians by our love.”
They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love written by Peter Scholtes
