“It looks good- but is that the real story?” A friend of mine was messaging me on facebook, checking in to see how I was doing. Her question caught me off guard. She was referencing what she has seen on social media or blog posts in contrast to what’s really going on… Hm. The real story? I think so? Social media and the internet is renown for showing only the highlight reel of a persons life, repressing completely the rest of the script, and heaven forbid anyone even think about pushing that little “bonus features” button to dig into the deleted scenes. So, the real story? Let’s dig in…

The good!

I’ve met a zillion and a half wonderful people. Seriously- I am so thankful for the community here in this place I’ve been able to connect more with some of the folks I met at my orientation, even while being here at RVA- that’s been a lot of fun!

I’ve been able to meet so many wonderful people here on campus as well. Family after family has hosted me for dinner, providing insight into various different aspects of campus life as we get to know one another. Another single gal on campus took 4 of us newbies to Nairobi to all of her favorite places, enjoying a ladies day shopping together. God has been so good in reminding me of Himself in the small moments. I attended a “community barbecue,” two new families having a grill out with three established families. My first thought was, “Great! I’ll chat with the women and be able to make continued connections, and friendships!” Nope. I spent the entire 2 hours chatting with the 11th grader, as he’s going to be in my AP Chem class. And yet, I walked away from that lunch so energized and excited for my role here at RVA! It was a reminder of who I’m serving, the Lord, through these teens.

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The monkeys still fascinate me- I think I talked in my previous post about the troop that came through my front yard. I’ve been seeing more and more as I move around campus. There are two kinds, Sikes and Colobus. Neither of those names are likely spelled right, but hey, it’s fine. The Sikes are mischievous and will shove children off of the playground for their turn to play, or run through your house, defecating and stealing your food. The Colobus are majestic and aloof. They mind their own business perched in the trees with their gorgeous long haired white tails offsetting the darker shorter fur on their bodies. I’ve enjoyed looking at all of the birds around, and listening to their calls. Some birds have vibrant green bodies, others have orange beaks! Some sound like our Michigan morning doves, others look almost just like a robin! Then there’s the freaky large ones with huge curved beaks and long chicken feet that look nothing like a cross between a pelican and a crow.

New students came on campus yesterday, and returning students arrive today! There was definitely a buzz of excitement in the air as teachers (myself included) let new families on tours around campus! It was fun to meet them, and encouraging to reassure their parents of the love and care we as a staff have towards their children. It felt a little like the first day of summer camp.

I’ve found an un-running buddy! I like to run, but I’m very slow, and I haven’t been running consistently for quite some time. I heard there were lots of runners on campus, so I got excited to potentially join them! “Oh yeah… I ran to Old Kijabe and back… that’s a five mile loop though, so be ready.” Be ready… FOR HILLS! I’m still adjusting to the elevation (or maybe I’m just out of shape, but we’ll blame it on the elevation) so five miles of hills does NOT sound fun. I’m not the ultra-marathon type, so it was really fun to be chatting with a friend and discover we both want to run, but feel highly intimidated by the “real” runners on campus- thus begins our partnership! We ran on and off for about a half hour this morning… one of my favorite ways to start my day!

The Not So Good…

Food is really stressful. No, not eating. I love eating, but figuring out new habits and rhythms of how to coordinate my grocery shopping. These are the options I’ve learned about so far…

• Order veggies for delivery! Fill out a spreadsheet by Monday at noon for veggies to be delivered on Thursday… or Friday, I get the feeling you never quite know. But make sure you know what you’re ordering, because most things you choose in quantities of kg (about 2.2 lbs), and you might be surprised by the amounts.!
• Order meat from the German Butcher! If you can interpret German descriptions for the meats… delivery comes once a month.
• Order all things dairy from Brown’s cheese! A little more pricey- but SO worth it! Also, once a month (I think…)
• Order chicken from Chicken Peter! Delivers, every other week (I think…). Also comes in kilos, but in one giant bag. Be prepared for tendons and potentially remnants of entrails. You’ll have to process it when it comes.
• Milk, you can get from the Cafo. Take your container, label it, put it on the shelf and pick it up after lunch. But only on Mondays or Thursdays, during vac, but when students come, everyday.
• The arcade on campus has a few things… but you can only go from 10-12:30 (or something like that) on specific days of the week. They have cheese and eggs. Also soda and ice-cream, but that’s mainly for the students.
• Order grocery delivery from Chandarana! Delivery happens about every other week. Place your order by walking through the giant spreadsheet.
• Go to the Dukas! A short 15 minute walk will bring me to a small hole in the wall store with many of the essentials. Next door, I can pick up fresh veggies. I’ve opted for this route so far, since it’s simple and kind of a one-stop-shop, even though the options are limited.
• Of course, you can always drive to Nairobi where they have CarreFour (think French WalMart), but an hour and a half is a long ways to go for groceries, so stock up while you can!

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It feels like a lot to juggle, and is hard since things are prices SO differently than they are in the states. I’m not talking exchange rate, that’s really easy. One shilling is almost one penny, so when something is 1000 /= (shillings) it’s about 10 bucks. I’m talking, you want cream cheese? Okay, eight dollars…. but an avocado? Ten cents. I’ve been told it’s really easy to live frugally if you pay attention, and really easy to justify the splurge on the expensive things if you’re not careful. Again, it’ll just take time to work it all out.

Budgeting is stressing me out. I’ve always been very strict in my budgeting-nerd alert, I actually enjoy it. I’ve never used credit cards, keeping track of my purchases on debit- but so many things here run on credit. Buy lunch at the cafo? Goes on your account. Eggs from the arcade? Account. Lights? Water? other utilities? Account. I know it’ll just take some time, monitor costs for a couple of months and I’ll know how to allocate my budget, but it is weird not knowing what my living expenses are yet.

School starts on Monday! I am so excited. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “So are you going to do Fire Fridays?!?! How about Morbid Mondays?” Apparently, the previous Chem teacher was legendary- telling science safety horror stories on Mondays, and blowing things up on Fridays. “You’ve got big shoes to fill.” I keep hearing over and over. I’ll never fill his, so really, I just have to bring my own. Mine might be bright blue with a three inch heel, but ya know what? He could never fill those, even if he tried! It’s easy to tell myself not to feel inferior or be apprehensive about stepping into his classroom, but another thing altogether to actually trust that God is in control and that HE brought me here, not to be Mr. Milligan, but to be me.

Speaking of shoes- it feels dumb to admit, but I had quite the collection of shoes at home, and I miss them. I unpacked and then sat back and pondered. Hm. I thought I brought more than that with me… interesting. Same goes for work shirts. As my former roommate said, “You got yourself a capsule wardrobe and it wasn’t even on purpose!” Nope. It wasn’t. But it too will grow. Also- I had to use one of those shoes to kill my own spider. It was stressful. I cried. I also give you permission to judge me. He was the size of a daddy long leg, but, juicy and fat. Way worse. This is him squished. I had to commemorate it as I was so proud of myself.

Reality

So to answer the question, “It looks good, but is that the real story?” I would say yes. It is. I live in the most beautiful place in the world. I have been meeting amazing people who have been so supportive and so encouraging. I’ve been able to chat on the phone with my mom and sister pretty regularly, which I did in Michigan too. I do miss some things, while I’m intruiged by new things popping up all around. Change and transition isn’t easy, and can never be perfect. I remember feeling apprehensive and unnerved when I moved from Grand Rapids to Southfield. I remember being stressed about having to feed myself three times a day-I’d come from my mom’s house, college caf, and working in a restaurant with open access to a personal cook & discounted food! I spent hours pouring over my new budget with my new paycheck, making room for rent, utilities, gas and groceries. I remember not knowing how to dress myself for a professional setting job, and I remember being terrified about not knowing how to make new friends and establish community.

It’s amazing, four years later, new place, new country, new continent, but the struggles and stressors are EXACTLY the same. Food, budget, clothing, and friends. I’m reminded of Matthew 6:28-29,

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

While I’ve been fretting over food or clothing, the Lord in his grace has been quitely pointing out many different birds. He cares for them! While these things in my life are real, so is the care of my Lord for me. It took time to work out each of those things in Southfield, a place that is now home in my heart. A place where I now have favorite restaurants, grocery store patterns, budgeting habits, strong church community and friends that have become family. None of that happened in a day, and none of it happened on the same day, it just slowly, day by day, became normal. It will be the same here. There are good days, there are hard days. There are good moments, there are hard moments. Yet through it all, God is the one feeding, clothing, providing for EVERY need I have, before I even know they are there.

Prayer Points

• Please continue to pray my transition! Specifically for some of the things mentioned above 🙂
• Please pray for my students coming today, for safety in travel and excited hearts for a new year!
• Please pray for teachers as we start school on Monday!
  
  
• Not related at to my ministry or the stuff above, but please pray for my sister, my brother in law, and his friends. My brother in law is a Marine, currently in the middle east on deployment. Many of his friends (some of whom I know personally) from a different unit are in Kabul, Afghanistan at the airport assisting with the evacuation efforts. Please pray for their safety, and for comfort and peace for their families in light of the bombing that happened there this past Thursday, as well as for the Lord’s hand to be present and evident as the implications of recent events continue to unfold. There are so many other needs for prayer in Afghanistan but this is my specific request of where my family is personally involved.