Ramblings

I have been thinking about “things” lately. “Things” as in material possessions that I own and that are currently sitting in storage at a rate of $160 per month, just waiting for me to pick them up and use them again.  $160 a month is $1920 per year.  We’ll come back that that number.

Did you ever read the Hunger Games or watch the movies?  The Hunger Games talks a lot about the ‘rich’ people in the Capital with their silly hair and clothing.  The Capital residents have tons of wealth and they spend it frivolously.  Well, the people in the Districts think the Capital residents look ridiculous and spend frivolously because the District residents have next to nothing and are starving to death!  The Capital residents buy new clothes, the latest electronics, fancy houses, etc. while the Districts are only allowed to work in awful conditions for next to no money.  They have to provide for the needs of the Capital, you see.  They Capital residents would take throw-up pills so they can keep eating until they tried all the food at the parties while the districts were fighting over the last grains of wheat.

Now, change The Capital with the USA and change The Districts with 3^rd world countries.  Who is spending a ton on new electronics, $20,000 health treatments a month (I’m looking at you Gwyneth), shiny cars, and fancy vacations.  Most Americans are in debt up to their eyeballs to pay for it all.  What kind of country are we building?  Who are we trying to impress with our stuff?  I can tell you that we aren’t impressing other countries in the world.  China owns a lot of the USA and many, many, many other countries.  Who buys the trillions in debt America has?  Foreign countries!  When the USA collapses, who do you think will come to our aid?  Who will try to take us over?  Ummm, probably the people who own us.  Think about it!  Do you want to be like China?!

Compare the obese Americans with too much money to the poor kids with protruding bellies because they lack food and nutrients.  (I’m overweight myself, but I am just making the connection). 

Quick story:  When I was in Kenya, on the safari tour, I had the most excellent server.  He would entertain us, serve us, answer questions, etc.  He told me that he has to walk home about 50 kilometers (partially through a safari with wild beasts!) to get home on his few vacation days he has.  His monthly wage is less than I make in a day and he could never dream of taking a trip to the US because it would cost him several years’ salary for the ticket.  At the end of the trip, I tipped him the equivalent of about $30 and I was told it was way too much from our driver.  I told him that I would normally spend about that for 1 meal at a normal restaurant at home (a nicer meal) and I got several meals and entertainment out of his services.  I didn’t feel like it was too much, but now that I am thinking back, was that rude?  I didn’t tip him any more than I would have in the States, but was I considered a ‘rich American’?  I certainly wasn’t rich and I wasn’t trying to overstep my boundaries.

So, back to the storage payment of $1920 per year.  What else can be done with that money instead of hosting all my ‘much needed’ stuff to fill my large 1 bedroom apartment?  I mean, you have to have a large apartment filled with stuff to impress the (inexistent) people to come over. (Sarcasm font)   I have a ton of kitchen supplies and I rarely cook!  I have tons of books that I read once and stacked on a shelf.  I could go on, but I won’t.  I literally have a 10x10 storage unit filled with my stuff.

Could I use that money to fund missions overseas? Could I fund shelters for animals and homeless people?  Could I go on mission trips and help people in other countries?    Think about this, if you just donated the cost of the mission trip to a charity in that country and you had not gone, how far would that $2,000-$4,000 carry them in their mission?  Why don’t we donate that money?  Because we want the ‘experience’ of helping the poor and to ‘help them be live and be better’ or ‘show our kids how fortunate they are’.   What is better?  Fortunate to get the newest IPhone or Xbox?  Is better being happy with what you have, your necessities (hopefully) or is it filled with consumer debt from trying to keep up with the Jones’. 

As Christians, we want to show people the love of Christ, but are we just showing the love of money and material possessions?  Christ was a King that became poor for his people.  He tells us to give our money away to the children and the widows.  Jesus tells us that it is difficult for a rich man to enter Heaven.  Do you think it is difficult for the people that have lower incomes from you to relate to you?  I can’t relate to millionaires and how they spend money, I can only imagine that is how other countries see us.  You show up with your Kendra Scott earrings and your Banana Republic jeans,  (I’m guilty of it too) and expect them to relate to you when your outfit might cost more than what they make all year.  How humble can you be?

That’s all my thoughts just rambled together.  I really wasn’t planning on making this a Christian themed post, it just sort of came out that way towards the end. 

Enough about my thoughts, what do you think?

1 year ago today

A year ago today, I traveled to Kingagop, Kenya to hang out with some pretty cool kids at Into Abba's Arms Orphanage!

I can't believe it has already been a year since I was there, man how time flies!  Into Abba's Arms is actually hosting a benefit concert on May 17th at 6:30 pm at Woodsedge Community Church in the Woodlands, TX.  They are having the Robbie Seay Band come out and perform!

Here are some Kenya related posts:

Countdown to Kenya Post
-Medications for Kenya 
-What I am packing for Kenya-Snacks 
-What I am bring to donate to the kids 
-File Folder Games I brought to Kenya

While in Kenya

-Meet Jacob
-Day 1
-Day 2
-Day 3
-Day 4
-Day 5
-Day 6
-Day 7
-Day 8
-Day 9
-Day 10
-Day 11
-Traveling to and from Kenya
-Final thoughts

Official Trailer

While I was in Africa for my mission trip, two film makers that worked with National Geographic were making a documentary about Into Abba's Arms.  They are still in the editing process, but the official trailer is ready for viewing.  I watched the trailer for it this morning and I cannot wait to see the full documentary.  I

Love it!  Click the link below to watch it.  I am not sure how to add a Vimeo video on blogger, otherwise I would.

http://vimeo.com/67606834

Final thoughts and IAA

Here are all the blog posts that I have written in relation to my Kenya trip so that anyone traveling over there won't miss anything!  Enjoy.

Countdown to Kenya Post
-Medications for Kenya
-What I am packing for Kenya-Snacks
-What I am bring to donate to the kids
-File Folder Games I brought to Kenya

While in Kenya

-Meet Jacob
-Day 1
-Day 2
-Day 3
-Day 4
-Day 5
-Day 6
-Day 7
-Day 8
-Day 9
-Day 10
-Day 11
-Traveling to and from Kenya

Final thoughts and IAA
I have been thinking how I can wrap up all my Kenya experiences in one post, but I don’t know that I can find the words!  It was a life changing trip and I feel like I got a lot out of it. Life in the USA is so different from life in Kenya.  I am sure if I go to other places outside my safety bubble of Houston, TX I will see that.  I am blessed to be an American, very, very blessed.  God made this great nation of ours blessed and most of us don’t realize it.  

I was taught to appreciate the things I have.  

Appreciate the variety in my daily choices.   I have a million options of where to shop for clothes or food.  I can watch tons of different channels on tv, I can surf the internet for hours.  Choices are everywhere here, but when you are on a very limited budget you don’t get the luxury of going to a huge grocery store and picking out what you want.  If you are from a nation like Kenya and don’t make tons of money you have your garden (if you are lucky) to eat from or the side of the road to shop from.

Appreciate that I have a say in my government.  I won’t be gunned down because I oppose the government and our judicial system.  In the US it is ok not to like the politics of the current leader (but you should still respect his position), but in Kenya it could be deadly to have an opposing view.

Appreciate that as a woman I have a voice in my community, whether I choose to or not.  Women throughout the world are property, just sold for 10 cows because they are of age.  In America I am free to choose my own husband, my own job, and where I live.  I can speak my mind and not be told to sit down because I am a woman.  I can do anything and be anyone that I choose to be.

Appreciate the fact that I have a wonderful job and make a good living.  The average middle class person makes $100 a month in Kenya and upper middle class makes $200.  I spend that much each month frivolously (trying to cut back though) on things I do not need, I cannot imagine living on that each month.

Appreciate the fact that I can see my family anytime I choose to.  I can hop in a car or plane at anytime and see them without having to beg for a ride or walk for two days to get to them.  I don’t have a job that keeps me stuck there for months until I save enough to get home.

Appreciate the fact that AIDS won’t wipe out an entire city (village) nearby.  AIDS is out of control throughout Africa and it is heartbreaking to hear the stories of little girls who have been raped by older men because they heard a rumor that if they have sex with a virgin then their AIDS will be cured.  Or another story that women believe that they can catch AIDS by cutting their husbands hair.  Rumors and mistruths run wild in Africa because they don’t have the education on how to prevent these diseases from spreading.

Appreciate the fact that I can turn on a faucet and drink from it without the threat of it being contaminated by Typhoid or another illness.  I can just go to the fridge and pull out a clean bottle of water and drink it.

Appreciate the fact that I don’t have to worry about my electricity going out at random times because electricity isn’t too reliable there (for the most part).  Even while we were shopping in a town the electricity went out at the power company! LOL.

Appreciate the fact that when I was a small child my parents were not killed by disease, government, another tribe, or each other.  There are orphans just living in the streets and in homes throughout Kenya that can be helped by places like Into Abba’sArms.  I also appreciate the fact that there are many US donors that donate to IAA to keep the children safe. 

Appreciate the fact that there are Americans like Jane who create children’s homes throughout the world to help the children of tomorrow.  These children will be the leaders of their countries one day in the not too distant future; do we want them to grow up educated, loved, and appreciated?  Or do we want them to grow up like they were thrown away and not cared for?  I want each child to know that they can have a better life, but until they are told that and shown the way, how will they understand?

I have learned more throughout my trip but these are the things I wanted to say the most. ^^^^That’s a lot of words! :)  I am very glad that I had the privilege to travel to Kenya for two week in April.  I am very honored to get to know the children and staff at Into Abba’s Arms and I hope to be able to go back soon and to bring many people with me to see what I saw. 

 

Traveling to and from Kenya

We travelled on KLM airlines totaling 22 hours each way.  We left Houston around 3 pm Houston time (11 pm Kenya time) on Monday the 15^th and returned around 1 pm Houston time (9 pm Kenya time) on the 14^th.  I will just say that I loved traveling on KLM Airlines!  I have never been on a plane that long and wasn’t sure what to expect.  KLM had friendly staff and lots of options on the plane that I you don’t get on shorter flights.  Every time I have been out of the country it has been a short flight, so I was worried about the 22 hours of traveling.  I had googled KLM to see what they were like and what sort of food to expect, but there wasn’t much out there so I thought I would write about my experience.

My sister and my nephew Cole dropped me off at the airport around 12 pm after we had lunch at Pappasito’s.  I knew I wouldn’t get Mexican food again for a few weeks so we went there for my last pre Kenya meal.  They dropped me off and I was a bundle of nerves about the plane ride, the trip, my safety, and tons of other things.  I met Tarin and her husband Bill when I got there and we checked in together.  We got there in plenty of time to relax before our flight, so there was no need to rush.

The First and Second Legs

On our flight they gave each of us a blanket and pillow when we first sat down, along with a set of headphones that went with the free in-flight entertainment system.  The kids each got some sort of kids game set, but I didn’t see what was in it because I didn’t have any kids on my row (thank goodness!).  I did have a few screaming kids on all four legs of the trip though, that was pleasant.

I thought the meals on the plane tasted ok, but some people don’t like them.  There was several items that seemed weird to me, but in other countries it was probably normal food.  Each flight we had two meals, a snack, and beverage service several times.  It always seemed like they were giving us something.  Plus, we got a hot towel several times throughout the flight. <--Which I thought was weird, but apparently it is normal!  Overall, the food wasn’t bad, just some parts but that is what you should expect for being miles in the air.  

The first meal was dinner and it was chicken nuggets, salad, roll, crackers, cheese, and a cake.  The only thing I remember about this meal was the nuggets tasted weird and the salad had some odd ingredients (odd but tasty).  The cheese and cake were great!  I think I had wine for this meal, but I didn’t drink a lot of it since I only like sweet wines and this was chardonnay I believe.

The second meal was breakfast, but I was still sort of full from the last meal.  I do remember that this meal was gross so I didn’t eat much of it.  It was a sandwich, fresh fruit, blueberry muffin, and strawberry yogurt.  The sandwich was terrible, I only ate the bread and the yogurt tasted like diet yogurt with a weird aftertaste.  I saved the fresh fruit for another time, but never ate it.  Maybe the yogurt tastes normal to other people?

We stopped over in Amsterdam for a 4 hour layover.  I updated FB saying that we had made it to Amsterdam for my families’ sake since I couldn’t call, but after that I didn’t do much except watch tv with the Boston Marathon news coverage.  We landed and all the tv’s were covering a news story about Boston, but we hadn’t heard anything while in the air of course, so it was quite a shock when we landed to hear that one of the most famous marathons in the world had been a target of crazy people.  I was half way around the world and I couldn’t contact anyone.  

We got back on the plane for another long flight.  This flight left around 11 am from Amsterdam and was flying in to Nairobi, Kenya.   This flight gave us the same service as the last one, just with different types of food, including ice cream!

The first meal was lunch and it had rice, chicken with terrikai like sauce, crackers, cheese, salad, roll, and a creamy pastry dessert.  I loved this meal!  The salad had pineapples and some other odd ingredients, but it was still tasty.  The pastry cream dessert was my favorite thing I had on the entire trip!  Seriously, so good.  I asked for ginger ale on this trip, but they said it is only offered on flights to and from America. :/  Boo!  Oh well, give me ice cream!

The second meal was a pizza wrap/rollup thing, salad with pasta, fresh fruit, and cookies.  The pizza wrap was a bit tough to cut/chew, but it was tasty.  I have never had a salad with pasta in it, but it wasn’t bad, I liked it.  The cookie that they give you is a famous Amsterdam cookie that I actually bought a box of when I came back through.

We landed in Nairobi with no problems and found our driver to take us back. I will say that the Amsterdam airport is very nice and organized, but the Nairobi was needed some remodeling.

The Return Trip

Coming back from Kenya seemed to take forever.  I didn’t get much sleep on the entire way home, maybe a hour or two, even taking sleeping pills!  It seemed longer because I was ready to get home, back to my routine, my family, and my Jabba the Hutt. <-- I missed that bratty boy.

We got to customs and checked our bags.  In the US, once you get through security you don’t have to go through another one or get your passport checked, but in Kenya and Amsterdam we had to show our passport constantly.  It got annoying.  I bought a few postcards for the boys with animals on them to mail before I left.  They just got the ones from Kenya this week, but didn’t quite understand the purpose of postcards.  Oh well.

I didn’t take pictures of the food on the way back because it was the same as when I came over, minus a few exceptions.  I do remember that the chicken on the first meal was much better than the chicken on the way over, other than that I don’t remember what the differences were.

The layover in Amsterdam was about 4.5 hours this time so we walked around for a bit.  I had some extra Kenyan Shillings that I needed to get rid of so I converted it in the terminal. Tip:  Do not do that! I  lost about $20 total converting it over at the airport.  I didn’t have a choice so it didn’t matter, but in the future either spend it before you leave or convert it before you get to an airport.  

At the Amsterdam airport I shopped for a few things for the boys, bought some chocolates for my work, went to the art museum, and almost got a fish pedicure.  The art museum was free inside the airport, which was cool, but I didn’t see any ‘famous’ artists in it.  I am not an art lover so I couldn’t tell you if they were famous, but the artists I have heard of were not there.  We also saw a royal motorcade leaving the airport.  A local guy said that the royals have their own license plates and they had passed by the windows in a huge group.  That was cool, especially since the queen was passing the crown on to her son that day.  We also almost got a fish pedicure where you stick your feet in a big fish tank and the fish eat the dead skin off your feet.  Gross but cool.  It was really expensive (like $50) so I didn’t try it, but I wish I would have.  Maybe when I go to LA I will.

We got back into Houston around 1:30 pm and I collected my bags.  I said goodbye to Tarin, Bill, and Jane with promises to stay in touch. :)  Laura and Cole picked me up and took me back to their house for me to take a nap.  I slept basically from 3 pm to 6 am the next morning, with a few hours wakeup in between.  So tired!

Kenya, Day 11

Saturday marked the last full day at Into Abba’s Arms and also the King’s Feast celebration.  I knew that the next day would be sad so I was determined to have a great day at the King’s Feast with the kids.  The day started with us icing the 20 cakes from the night before, and also adding the sprinkles!  Sprinkles just make life better, don’t you think?

The King’s Feast is in honor of King Lane who generously donated money when he passed away to set up the children’s scholarship fund.  He always wanted the children to have meat to eat, so IAA slaughters to sheep and a goat for the kids to eat at the feast.  <-- I did not partake in the viewing or slaughtering of the poor, innocent animals!  The kids loved it though and were eating the meat right off the grill.  Hearts, eyeballs, intestines, everything was fair game.  YUCK!

 Everyone was scheduled to arrive around 10 or 11 am for the start of the King’s Feast.  The first part of the feast was in the church where they sang and danced.  Then Jane had confetti poppers released and they had a big song dance party.  View the video below.  That part was really fun!

The kids from IAA also sang a song (the older kids danced) that I thought was so cute. (for some reason, it won't let me show the video on here.  Click the link for the YouTube video)

After they were done dancing, we went outside for the kids to eat.  The menu was Kenyan food (obviously) of rice, cole slaw mixture, beans, potatoes, and meat.  I stayed away from the meat but I did try the rice and cole slaw.  I didn’t eat too much though luckily because that night I was really sick! My stomach was just not used to Kenyan food since I wasn’t used to eating it. The kids each got a huge helping of food and two pieces of meat.  This was a feast that they did not go hungry at!  They also go a soda to drink.  The kids only get soda a few times a year, so it was a treat.

After lunch, we released the kids to play the different games.  They loved the box maze and they would stand in line over and over again.  Of course, Freddy and Jacob (the two youngest) would just walk up to the front of the line and go in again.  The other kids just shook their heads and said that they get to do whatever they want. LOL.  

Hopscotch was a kid favorite once they figured out how to play. I demonstrated how to jump in the squares a few times before they got it.  

The ball throw for points game was also a success, although they didn’t seem to keep score.

I also had found a bubble stick in the pile and had the best time watching the kids go and swat the bubbles away.

Three legged races were raced

Parachutes were played with

Cake was eaten

Everyone left around 5:30 pm and all was quiet.  Not!  It was still chaotic with the kids having all eaten sugar. Haha.  It was fun and that night we played with puzzles on my last night there.