Day 5 “Sister…you promote me!”

We woke up early again to our favorite rooster who begins crowing at around 430am and doesn’t stop till around 630am. We ate breakfast as usual made some oatmeal and toast with fresh squeezed juice and Kenyan tea, which is a very big custom here. Everyone who had been spending the night and working with us slowly trickled down along with Matt and Bob. It was Sunday so we all decided to go to the church across the street from daystar. It was very large and very wealthy for a church here in Nairobi. I enjoyed hearing the worship and the message was about resting in the Lord when you are tired and worn out. This was very appropriate given our journey thus far. Also, Kuria (one of the hope with borders treasurers here in Africa) came with his wife, Namoi to meet us after church. It was great to see him and meet her for the first time.

Then after a 2 hour service we invited Kuria and Naomi to the house and rushed home so that we could give Matt and enjoyable day before he returned home. We tried to catch the elephant orphanage that is open to the public from 11am to noon; however, there was a marathon going on so once again traffic was horrific! A 15min drive turned into an hour and 15min and we made it to the orphanage at 1205, so we were unable to see the elephants. From there we were all going to eat together but with traffic the way that it was and the laundry list of things for Rachel and I to do before the rest of the team came we had to split up. Curia dropped Rachel and I off at the Yaya Market to get some things that we needed and the rest of them went on a short Safari in Nairobi National Park.
We entered the Yaya market and were overwhelmed with the assortment of goods available in the open market that is held every Sunday till 5pm. However, before we went shopping we decided to eat at the wonderful restaurants inside the building. Rachel and I ate at this small café that had the best sandwiches I’ve had here yet. Afterwards we ventured out to the open market outside in the blazing sun. It was amazing, so many different carvings, beaded necklaces, boutiques (cloth with painted pictures), key chains, clothes, shoes….anything you can think of. The craftsmanship was astounding and we spent more than 3 hours just looking around and buying some stuff. The craziest thing about the market was that everywhere you turn there was someone saying, “Sister, you promote me.” This means please come to my shop and buy some of my items. At one point we had more than 10 vendors surround Rachel and I to persuade us to come to their shop. Although we lost each other many times amongst the hustle and bustle we managed to not only get out alive but with many beautiful gifts for ourselves and our families. We also stopped at the market to get some much needed shampoo. Yesterday we had bought some but accidently bought two conditioners instead of any shampoo. Therefore, we were very excited. We took the Citi Hoppa (a bus or a larger version of a Matatu) back to Daystar which was a short ride for 20 schillings each. Unfortunately, when we got home we realized that we had left our shampoo on the Citi Hoppa! We then came just in time to let Bob in to get his stuff to go to the airport. Also, after being in the hot sun we decided to take a much needed nap. When we got up it was too late for us to go to the internet café alone because it was getting dark. Therefore, we waited for the rest of the group to return.



Once the rest of the team returned and Matt packed for his trip back home, Rachel and I got dropped off at the Nakumatt to get Shampoo (finally) and get on the internet. I tried my best to upload the pictures; however, it did not work. Therefore, I will be uploading the pictures tomorrow and updating the blog. Everyone then met us at the Nakumatt and we went to eat again at Zinc, where we knew the food would be amazing. We all ate and reflected on our journey so far and I realized how much of a family we already were. I can’t wait for the rest of the team to come and join us!
When we got home it was late around 9pm, and we stayed up for a while so that Gilo and Peter could show us how to play a game with cards that they knew how. It was a version of slap jack, kind of, but took a long time to play. It was a lot of fun and for all the work we had done so far it was a nice relaxing time. We then went to bed tired and ready for the next day, whatever it may bring.