Off to Kisumu!

So much has happened since I last blogged! I'm currently in Nairobi getting ready to leave for Kisumu in a few hours! I had a ton of fun this weekend. I can't even begin to describe how great it has been. But, before I get too carried away, I will say that while Ann and I were never able to make chocolate chip cookies together, she did make some on her own!. They can to see me off from Ruiru Friday morning, and I must say that for a first-timer, they were pretty good! Anyway, I got to Nairobi Friday afternoon and met up with Morgan and Hilary, a couple really great girls from UNC. They've been in Kisumu for the past month and are leaving for Tanzania today before heading home Wednesday. Needless to say, I got a ton of really great info for when I'm in Kisumu, so I'm really excited! We didn't do much on Friday, but Saturday was amazing. Easily the best day of the whole trip (so far). We got up in the morning and went to Nakumat, a grocery store here. Hilary wanted to put her leftover money to good use, so we stocked up on snack food for a VBS type event held by Youngsters for Christ that goes on every Saturday in Kibera, an absolutely enormous slum that is home to about 1.2 million people. My pictures don't even show half the size of it. The three of us basically just helped out with serving food to about 100 kids between the ages of 4-12. It was SO much fun! The kids20really couldn't understand anything we said since they only speak Swahili, but the people volunteering were really awesome. Just about every volunteer was about our age and a student. The sacrifice these people were making to help out these kids is truly inspiring. Many of them could be working on a Saturday to earn much needed money, but instead, the dedicate and entire day to playing and feeding slum kids. I'm pretty sure all of them live in or near Kibera as well. There were actually 10 guys sharing 4 beds in a shack half the size of my dorm room, and they were perfectly happy. I talked to many volunteers, and they all had the same attitude. They want these kids to have the opportunities they didn't have growing up. I mean, they are nurturing whatever talent a kid has so that he can get a college scholarship in the future. Sammy, one of the leaders, has given up so much for these kids. He actually grew up in Kenya, moved to the US and worked for Campus Crusade for Christ before returning to Nairobi to help start this ministry.  It was truly a humbling experience, one of many that I've had in Kenya. We took a walking tour of Kibera before leaving, and it was shocking. Kids were playing in dirt and water that I wouldn't even consider touching. It's really almost depressing when you think about it. It seems like a problem that is too big to ever be solved,20but Sammy and his team are doing everything in their power to help the spiritual need of Kibera's residents. After Kibera, we went to the one restaurant in Nairobi that I really wanted to go to: Carnivore! It was SO much fun. Waiters would come around with huge slabs of meat on a skewer and shave it off directly on your plate with a machete. It was ridiculous. I ate crocodile and ostrich. The croc was kinda nasty, but the ostrich was actually pretty good! Apparently they used to serve game animals like zebra, but I think people got angry about it so the stopped a few years ago. Anyway, it was a really great way I think for Hilary and Morgan to finish their Kenyan experience. Wow. I seriously just speed--typed all that! I'm not sure of the internet situation in Kisumu, so I don't know when I'll be able to blog again. Unfortunately, since I'm not using my computer right now, I probably won't be able to upload a fraction of the 400 or so pictures I took yesterday! Thanks so much for all your prayers! I know that God has some awesome things for me in Kisumu and I can't wait to get there!  love, emily PS I was able to get a few up from Kibera on my facebook album so take a look!