I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have lost over thirty five pounds since I have returned to Kenya. The bad news is that I am still fatter than anytime in my life, except 35 pounds ago.

Many have asked the secret to my dynamic weight loss. I answer that it is a combination of sheer unrelenting discipline, magnificent will power, and various other celebrations of me. I am planning to write a diet book and I have a winning title: Diarrhea Your Way to a NEW You!

We had car issues a few weeks ago, and we had it checked out. Kenya is not a safe place, and having your car die in the wrong place can really be dangerous. Everything checked out, and we went down to visit one of the schools we will work with in January.

And once we got there, the car broke down. I am not a real missionary, so I did not handle it like a holy missionary would; I hit the steering wheel several times. I was able to call a mechanic I knew and trusted, but it was going to be several hours. I was so frustrated, but what happened reminded me it is best to not be in charge; we had a great time playing with the kids.

We also got a chance to meet a possible computer teacher for our next center. We would have never gotten to meet her otherwise; it was such a great opportunity, and I almost missed it. I think my life could be full of great things like that when I’m not on my own schedule.

We took a rather harrowing road home to give the mechanic a ride

We had some guests the next week: representatives from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard came. It was a thrill for me; not sure our students quite knew what to make of it, but they did well. It was Ben who discovered that you can’t spell HaRVArd without RVA, which impressed them GREATLY. I’m not sure, but I think it means he will be automatically admitted to the class of 2023.

I went to a new school today: Kinungi. They have almost 1000 students with 25 teachers. Because of you kindness, we will be able to add it to the schools receiving lunches in January. When I walked into the first grade classroom, one of the students told me: `You are white!’ (I = actually get told this a lot, even in America for some mysterious reason).

The headmaster wanted to announce it to the students, and there were smiles and cheering. But one little boy just told me: `It will be so good to eat lunch.’

This is the part when I am suppose to be wise and sum up, and all I can think of is a little boy in rags who was so happy with the novel idea of lunch.

Your pal