Woo Ra Ra...

Go team! Ah, I cant believe that I totally forgot to mention about the challenges and group activities that I had proposed. Ah, its wonderful! They want me to run a course for the older kids and do a retreat doing goal setting, challenges, etc. And they have asked me to do one for the staff as well. Im very excited about both. I cant believe that I forgot to write that, sometimes things just slip my mind. Other than that things are going very well. The other day Uncle John had a talk with the guys about life and responsibility; it was much needed. They asked for my opinions so I talked to them about learning, the value of education and appreciating everything they had. It was crazy how intently they were listening. Their eyes were glued to me and their ears were open to the words flowing from my mouth, it was crazy that they actually responded and I got a thank you from ALL of them from washing their dishes that night instead of from a select few. They are so lucky to have what they have and I think they dont realize it. They dont realize that there is a world outside where people struggle for their next people; I dont think we realize it either. Once you do begin to realize these things you really grab hold to what you have, hold on to each moment and are thank the Lord for what you have been given. Life is wonderful like that. What else is new? We have new volunteers. Natalie and Kirsten are here from he East Coast and Gaia and Paul are coming tomorrow from Ireland and Italy. The group from the Kitui Village is here which is Jim and Jean (UK), Clemonce (France), Herman (Father from Penn) and Kat (Rhode Island). Its great to have all the volunteers together and really get together to share experiences, stories and what not. Its also great to hear from all of you, it makes my day getting your calls, texts and reading your emails! :) I think about you all the time, really I do. For example yesterday I was cutting a mango and I thought of Dad, why you ask, because I was cutting it like you would fillet a fish! :) Ever since I had the pictures of baby Anabelle the kids have been asking "How's the baby?", so I think about baby Anabelle and the Byrne family all the time. The boys try to beat me up and I say "thats nothin", and they say "why not?", my response is "if you saw the size of my brother you would know how hard Ive been hit"; they laugh. Seriously, the craziest things make me think of you guys. Its weird, I know my patience would be further developed here, but I always thought it would be by the kids. No, thats where I go for stress relief. Currently, I am working with the cleaning staff and sometimes, in my opinion, they do things a bit backwards. For example, the clean in the morning when everyone is walking though, then they have to clean again at night. They also sweep the drive way and then 5 mintues later more leafs fall. They dont move chairs they just mop around them. They dont clean with soap all the time. Its very frustrating. So having to take orders from someone and do things much differently than I would normally do them has been a struggle for me. But I do it and I do it with a smile, knowing that Im not the boss and that this is how they do it. Also, living with my Italian roomie and having to wait for her to tell stories SLOOOOWWWLLLY and look up words has been a challenge. I'm making this sound worse than it is. I love everything, I really do, I just want to say that I am learning, that I am growing as a person and that its not just fun and games all day with the kids. :) ha ha. Alright, we are going to town. Oh, also, I had a chance to meet up with Greg, a fellow Marquette-er which pretty much made my week! It was wonderful to see a familiar face! My fabulous roomie Elizabeth cooked us a great Italian meal and we just hung out at Nyumbani for a while. It was cool, just to chill with a familiar face. Hopefully Ill see more of him while we're both here. Alright, time to go to town. Peace, love and Godspeed.