I want to first apologize for not posting in over a week. I have been so busy. I finally moved into the house that will be my home away from home until April. It was so exciting since I no longer have to live out of my suitcase and have been able to unpack and decorate my room with pictures of friends, family, and my lovely trip to Italy. And in case you were wondering, I do have a Gryffindor banner hanging on my wall. Not ashamed one bit. Everything was in place and things were going to go smoothly from here on out. What a fool I was. The boys and I went to the bar to celebrate moving into our house. When we got back, the lock on the door had broken and we were locked out. And of course all of the windows in Kenya have iron bars on the inside to prevent theft and break-ins. Yeah, we were stuck and the only thing I could think to do was laugh. That is until I noticed the window to the shower had bars that were not in a grid pattern. There was a space between two bars where I could have possibly fit. So I borrowed a clothes hanger to unlock the window as it was locked from the inside. I was then boosted so I could grab onto the bars and proceeded to slide myself legs first into the shower. Again, I thought it would be smooth sailing. Until I got stuck between the bars. It was very brief and I was able to maneuver my way through into the shower. I made it inside the house and opened the door. It was hilarious and I am very thankful that no pictures were taken. The story does not end there, unfortunately. We all woke up and were ready to head to mass in the morning only to realize the lock (that we thought we had fixed the night before) had broken once again. This time, we were locked inside. I had to call Deborah to help us out and after about an hour we were able to break free. Anyways, enough about my misadventures. I want to explain the work I have been doing. I already stated that I have been working in the Mathare slum, at a place called Mododo/Street Children. I thought it would be a good endeavor to work in the shamba (the garden). I had some help tilling the soil and preparing a seed bed. Then I bought some seeds for kale, tomatoes, red onions, baby spinach, and swiss chard. We will get seeds for maize and beans after the planted seeds have germinated. Two days after planting, we already have some sprouts, though they are so tiny. Other than gardening, I have been playing with the kids and was even able to take them swimming in a very nice facility. They swam for hours and I could tell that it was the highlight of their week. My hope is to take them out of the slum at least once a week to go swimming or play soccer on grass instead of concrete. When I have not been working in Mathare or planning projects, I have been traveling and exploring downtown Nairobi. I was invited by the Benedictine Sisters in Karen to attend the first procession of two sisters into the convent. The mass was two and a half hours but was a very joyous occasion. And then there was a big celebration with a lot of food and cake. Seriously, the sisters were preparing and cooking for over 3 days for this celebration. And though the food was wonderful, it was the joy (especially from Sister Loice) that was intoxicating and made for a spectacular weekend. I will definitely return to Karen. In the meantime, I have downtown Nairobi to explore. I have only been a couple times (mainly to get pizza, which I miss dearly) but plan to travel there regularly. And I guess it is important to tell y’all that I went on a morning safari last week right outside of downtown. Yeah, I saw African animals in their natural habitat (aka not in the Africa section of the Asheboro zoo). Be jealous. There were baboons and giraffes everywhere. I got to see plenty of ostriches, a couple lions, three black rhino, zebras, impalas, antelopes, crocodiles, and other typical African animals. One of the coolest things is that I could see downtown Nairobi from most anywhere in the National Park. I am going to have to go on another safari soon. Once I get more internet, I will post all of the pictures I have taken so y’all can see some of what I have experienced in Kenya. For those of you who have made it through this long post, thanks for sticking around. I hope you enjoyed it – I know I enjoyed writing it.

P.S. There is so much more that I wanted to write but I do not want to write a book. If you want to contact me and ask me any questions, my email is zacharybtaylor@abbey.bac.edu. I would love to hear from you!