While I began this week thinking that this week and next could be nice and calm before vacation, they turned out to be anything but. Katie made brunch on Sunday, but mid way through the day started feeling really terrible. Not hungry, achy all over....and those of us who have had malaria know what those symptoms mean. Unfortunately for her, this would be the 5th time she's had malaria since March. Sister Jane surprised us Sunday night with a visit from Nairobi and she determined that Katie needed to see a specialist rather than going to Malava hospital. So Jane took her to St. Elizabeth's in Mukumu, run by the Sisters of Mary. B/c she seemed to be having such a tough time getting rid of this nasty little parasite, they decided to admit her and give her a two day quinine drip to see if that would kick it once and for all. So Jane brought her back to Malava to get some overnight things, picks me up for moral support and we stayed with her until she got settled. Tuesday I drove Tom and Michael down to visit her, and despite everything, she seemed pretty up beat. While the hospital certainly isn't what you think of when you think of a hospital at home, it was clean and everyone was friendly. After getting a clean bill of health on Wed. I took Katie home. She seems to be doing ok.
Last weekend Angela's son Gracious turned two and not only did we attend the birthday party, we also got to help with the prep work. I went over with Tom and Michael in the morning b/c they wanted to learn how a chicken is killed and prepared for a meal. Angela let each of them kill a chicken (there are pictures of this and from the party on Tom's blog...I forgot my camera). I did not take part in killing the chickens, but I documented it on Tom's camera for posterity. Michael also threw one of the chicken heads at me, but luckily he has terrible aim and it missed. The party was a great success, even if Gracious did cry through most of it. We had an excellent meal and great company.
We head to Nairobi a week from tomorrow for our August retreat and a little vacation. I'm taking my GREs while we're there and the novice, Lucy, will take her first vows on Sept. 5th. Both Katie and Tom have family coming into town while we're there and it will be really nice to have our first American visitors!
Speaking of American visitors, Kate has finally bought her plane ticket! My sister will be joining me here in Kenya on December 9th for a whirlwind vacation before I return with her to the states on December 17th.

Weddings all over the world

First of all, it was really nice to see the Casey side of my family on Skype last night! I hope you all had a wonderful time this weekend...I was very sad to miss seeing all of you.
While I missed my cousin Caitlin's wedding this weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Angela's sister. Saturday morning was supposed to begin with a Harambe for David's church, but like most African events, when we arrived on time, it hadn't started yet. So after donating what we could to help David's church find a new worship space, Tom, Neto and I hopped on a matatu to Bungoma. We arrived expecting the ceremony to already be over (it was supposed to start at 8am). When we finally reached the church (around 1pm) we discovered that the ceremony had yet to begin. When Angela and the rest of the wedding party arrived, we learned that all the vehicles had broken down and the priest was not going to show up until three. So we hung out long enough to watch the wedding party process in and hear some of the speeches from family members (not that we could understand them). Finally, before anything had really begun, it was time to head home. We had a soda and some chapatis with Angela and then headed back to Malava.
Last Friday was our epilepsy clinic and my one task was to fetch the doctors from the hospital in Mumias (about an hour away). When I asked where to find the hospital, everyone told me just to take the road to Mumias from Kakamega and I would see the sign. They promised me I couldn't miss it. I now know I must ALWAYS ask for more specific directions. Long story short, Tom and I ended up being an hour late picking up the doctors. Despite that, it was our fastest clinic by far and Tom and I got out of there around 1:30.
This week is a trip to Sababtia Eye Hospital, which I'm really looking forward so since I haven't been out there in several months. Saturday Angela's son Gracious turns two, so we get our first taste of how Kenyans celebrate their children's birthday. It should be alot of fun.

The last few days have been crazy eventful. Last Thursday was an Eldoret day and also my first time driving the big 11 seater matatu. It was a challenge and honestly, the less I have to drive it the better. I did make progress with a little girl names Priscilla. She usually screams when I come near her, but I guess she decided on Thursday I was cool and wanted to be my friends. I also think she's associating me with the toy library and what kid doesn't love the person who gives them toys.
Friday I headed to Tumaini with Tom and Michael. There was a group of 12 Americans from an Evangelical Christian Sports Mission group. They had been running a sort of summer camp all week, playing games and telling bible stories, so we went to help out where we could and have a chance to talk to some more Americans. My day started with taking my buddy Clifford back to the hospital so the doctor could check out his broken arm and hematoma that formed from his mom not taking good care of it. The doctor had good news and it looks like he won't need surgery, but he's going to keep on monitoring him. My afternoon at tumaini was spent chatting with the new Americans, playing jump rope with the girls and basically being a human jungle gym for the some of the little kids.
Friday we were invited to lunch at John's house. John works in town helping to put people on the matutu. He had been reminding us all week, but he was no where to be found when we showed up to meet him. We had to send the other Matatu man, tyson, to go find him at the chaanga den (changa'a is an illegal alcohol that's brewed here and sold really cheap). John finally showed up three sheets to the wind and took us to where he lived. An afternoon that was supposed to be lunch with his family turned into a three hour hike around rural Malava meeting all of his family, seeing where his church is and where his kids go to school. All the time he was talking to Michael trying to negotiate a bride price for me or Katie. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but polygamy is not only legal here, but widely practiced. He already has a wife and four children but recently decided that he wants an American wife and more children that would be African American. I guess John kept telling Michael "I just want one American girl and you have two. Surely you can give me one". I went from being throughly entertained to really pissed off to shrugging the whole thing off as a learning experience. Michael did finally convince him that we were both married to American men, but promised to look for any American women who might want to come back and marry him. The whole thing was just really crazy. Here was this man who is probably old enough to be my father expecting me to just be handed over to him to be his wife. No one ever asked me, it was just expected that once they negotiated my price that I would be handed over. Michael tried to explain to him that he wouldn't want an American wife- that I wouldn't cook or clean or listen to him or be quiet, but John didn't understand. All he could see was the money and prestige that an American wife would mean for his family. The day ended with a lunch of ugali and veggies where his wife reiterated how much she would also like an American wife. Luckily his children were adorable and kept us entertained for most of the day.
Sunday was my day to make brunch, but the girl who does laundry for tom and Michael needed some extra money for a doctor visit so we pushed my lunch and invited all the Tumaini American volunteers over for a laundry girl pilau lunch. The pilau was DELISH and hanging out with Americans my own age who were Tom, Michael or Katie was really fun. I have to be honest, being around that many Americans after 7 months out of the states was kind of overwhelming. Tom put it really well. When all the conversations going on around you are in Swahili, you can tune them out b/c for the most part we can't understand them. But Sunday all the side conversations were in English, so I couldn't really tune them out. So it just felt like there were a ton of people all talking at once. But besides that, it was really nice to meet some friendly new volunteers. Unfortunatly that was the extent of our interaction with them. They leave today.
Monday it was back to Eldoret in the big matatu for me. One of our clients who is in school needed to go in for surgery for an abscess above her eye and our night watchman needed to see his doctor. Sr. Joy and I left at 6:45 in the morning and didn't get back until 7 pm. This is a long long week in front of me. We had a staff meeting today and Friday we have an epilepsy clinic before which I have to pick up the doctors for the clinic in Mumias. There is also a Harambee and wedding this weekend and trivial things like the fact that I desperatly need to do laundry. So there should be lots of good stories after next weekend.
I'm sad to miss seeing all of my Casey family this weekend. An early congrats to Caitlin and Mike on the wedding!
Also, the volunteers being at tumaini this week reminded me that I don't think I've ever blogged about the sponsorship program at the school and orphanage where Michael works. For about $25 USD a month, you can sponsor a child who might not be able to afford school fee, uniforms, doctors visits, etc... Anyways, if this sounds like something interesting, go to http://www.tumainimilesofsmiles.org/.

Well, as I was trying to fight off my first African cold, Katie and I spent a nice weekend in Kisumu. Every once and a while its nice to get to a city and sleep in a hotel. We went out on the Lake so Katie could see the Hippos (which is just as exciting the second time as it was the first). It was really pleasant and cool and our guides spoke excellent English. We said hi to local fisherman and even saw some people trying to secretly brew some illegal changaa (illegal booze).
Saturday Tom joined us. We did some Nakumatt shopping and has Chinese food. We tried to go to the Kisumu museum, but Katie and Tom didn't have proof of residency so it was a little too pricey for them. We did find an awesome little craft market with some stall that help HIV positive women and teenagers in and around Kisumu. I got some presents, but I'm not telling. They're going to be a surprise.
After a Saturday afternoon of sunning ourselves at the Kisumu hotel pool, Katie and I went to see a movie (Hannah Montana, don't make fun). All in all, a lovely weekend away. I have a trip to the clinic in Eldoret this week and the four of us are trying to plan our vacation in September. August is a month full of celebrations- so I'm sure I'll have lots to write about.

I'm really sorry for not posting for a few weeks. The truth is, there hasn't been that much to report. But here are a few stories

A few Fridays ago, after some rushed grocery shopping in Kakamega, I met Katie for lunch, only to find she was already sitting with another American when I arrived. Annette runs a non profit offering alternative education options for Kenyan girls out of Chico California. She was in Kenya for 6 weeks to check on operations here. We had a really nice lunch with her, talking about her work, our work, and how nice it is to use American english. Earlier that morning I drove Neto and David to an Awareness Workshop for St. Julie's. Every few weeks, Neto, David, Angela and Grace (or some combination) go out to churches in the community to tell people what we're doing at St. Julie's and hoping to find more children with disabilities who aren't being treated. Since the workshops are all in Swahili or Luhya, my role that day was purely as a chauffeur. Or so I thought. This Friday they happened to be addressing an entire primary school. I was planning on just sitting in the car, reading my book and listening to my i pod until they were done, but the head teacher wanted for me to address the kids. So I got up in front of an entire primary school and in broken Luhya and Swahili said good morning and that my name was Sue and I was from the US. For a moment all the kids looked at me, and then all burst into laugher. Nothing like being laughed at by a room full of children. After that I let David and Neto do the talking and fidgeted until they were done. It's actually a really neat thing to be a part of b/c these awareness workshops help us to reach far corners of our district that otherwise probably would never have heard of us.
I spent most of last week under the covers rather than going to work. Not really that sick, mostly just exhausted. At first I thought it might have been malaria again, but all of us seem to have gotten it. Katie first, then me and Michael and now Tom. It seems to have passes, and I'm feeling much better.
This past weekend Katie and I went to Kisumu just for the day. She was itching to get out of the house for a little while and I didn't have enough energy for the hiking/ nature options nearby. It ended up being really fun. We ate at a Chinese restaurant, my first in almost 7 months. Then we did a little Nakumatt shopping and came home. I think we're going to head down again this weekend, but for a few days. Katie wants to see the hippos in the Lake and we might hit a few of the other tourist options Kisumu has.

I wanted to say another BIG Thanks to First Church. The second package of toys arrived last week. They've been divided between our toy lending library, the toys used at the center and the toys that are going to be used at our new outpost station. We're all so excited for new toys so thank you very much.

Thats about all in my life for now. Hopefully I'll have some fun stories and pictures when I get back from Kisumu.

In the hopes of bringing a little of the Americana summer time fun to Kenya, Tom and Michael had a cookout on Saturday to celebrate the 4th of July. Lots of our friends came when we explained that while December 12th is Independence Day here, Americans celebrate independence on the 4th of July. The food and company was great and the whole afternoon was very low key. They made hot dogs and
hamburgers and potatoe salad. I brought ice cream and watermelons. We
sat around with all our Kenyan friends, had some beers and listened to
some Michael Jackson and Tom Petty. It was a very nice afternoon. Tom
has some pictures up on his blog, so if your interested in seeing
proof that I'm still alive, go to www.aviewfromthecave.com.

Otherwise, there's not too much to report on. I bought some new
bootlegs last week so now in a addition to like 100 movies, I also
have the first three seasons of One Tree Hill, 3 seasons of How I Met
Your Mother, 3 seasons of Lost and 2 seasons of Ugly Betty.

Last Friday I went to the orphanage in Kakamega where my roommate
Katie is working. It is a special home for abandoned and abused
children. We spent the morning in the baby room, waking them up,
playing with them, giving them baths and their bottles. When they went
down for a nap mid morning, we played with some of the older toddlers
who are still too young to be in nursery school. There was a little
girl (I can't remember her name) who had just come to the orphanage
last week. She was removed from her home b/c of abuse and you could
still see the scars on her face, legs and arms. She was soo beautiful
though. I sat down on the ground and after a few shy seconds, she
crawled right in my lap and laid her (somewhat snot covered) face
against my chest. I think she really just needs someone to hug her
alot. Although in many ways, I wouldn't trade anything to have Katie's
job, she really does get to have a profound affect on the lives of
these children. I mean she has them when they come out of terrible
homes or as little babies. She gets to show them that someone loves
them. And that can make all the difference. Don't get me wrong, I love
St. Julie's, but Katie has a chance to make a real difference

THANK YOU!

I wanted to post a BIG BIG thank you to my First Church Family back in Cincinnati, especially to Katie Campbell for organizing the toy drive for the children of St. Julie's center. The first package of toys arrived in Malava today. Your generosity is so heartwarming!

I'll be sure to post pictures of our kids enjoying their new toys soon.