This needs to be put into perspective. Almost all buildings in Africa are made of cement or tin due to the termite issue. In our cement dorm, sound carries in an amazing way. We have 9 10-year-old boys.

And they all got their band instruments this week: 5 trumpets, 2 saxophones, 1 trombone, and one flute. And they all like to practice, because they are all enthusiastic beginners. I have dreams about how many ways Hot Cross Buns can sound flat. The phrase “Listen to this!” makes me break out in a rash. But they are so excited that it is hard not to have fun with it.

We also inherited a dog this week. She is a black lab named Jessie, who is suppose to be watched by another family while her owners are in the states on a furlough. But from the first day, she developed a deep dark crush on JT. She would chew through her leash to sleep outside our dorm so she could greet him in the morning and go with him to class. So we finally made it official on Tuesday, and she moved over to our dorm. Five hours later, we got the call: “Your dog stole our dog’s dish.” Some of my old friends know of my tendency to attract stupid dogs, and bring out the dumbest in them. The streak continues.
I cook for Nan when she is ill. My cooking is so wonderful that after one of me meals, she revives to cook the next one, no matter how sick she is, due to the healing power of my culinary skills. So it was no surprise that my cooking skills were called upon in Africa.

Noodles. My Korean guys would rather cook noodles than eat a hot fudge sundae. And today we cooked noodles while Nan rested. What I discovered is that there are ways to cook noodles and better ways to cook noodles. I heard many many times: “Aunt Nancy would not do that.” Finally, in a burst of desperation, I said, “What would Aunt Nancy do?” And we got through it, but I bet they wait until she wakes up next time.

We get daily reminders of the problems of Africa. We have planned power outages, because they begin each day in Kenya about 10% behind anticipated demand. There are roads here they have been damaged for three years that are still not scheduled for repair. And this week, email was down in the entire nation of Kenya for 4 days. It is not a shock to anyone here: it is expected.

We work with a crippled children’s hospital, and I was talking to one of the administrators. He talked about the children playing soccer with some rags tied together. The poverty is absolutely incredulous to western eyes, but it is the norm here. Our friend Grace remarks to us that she cannot make bread for her family because they do not have a stove. In her neighborhood, everyone cooks over an open fire.

I wish I knew the answers. My questions continue to grow.

YOP

Steve