May 22, 2004

Nairobi, Kenya 

Hello,

I am currently in Nairobi, Kenya Africa. I live about 45 minutes from Nairobi in a small little town where Maxwell Adventist Academy is located.

I am the assistant elementary teacher, which was the job that I applied for. Then many things happened during the first week of school, and we were short on staff, so I volunteered to be the Spanish teacher in the academy. Also, I serve as the librarian. I have branched out and the Lord has given me the wisdom to be able to do all kinds of things.

Africa is so beautiful!  The Lord has allowed me to go to Dar Es Salaam Tanzania and visit with some friends for 10 days. That was nice. I also went to Arusha Tanzania for a day. I went to Mombassa for 7 days, and the beach there was great. It was amazing, I did not want to leave. I also went to Zanzibar, which is another island. That was great as well! The natives were really nice and things were very cheap, compared to Nairobi. It was like being in heaven.

The Indian Ocean is the best there is. The water is so warm and so clear and a beautiful aqua color. It’s so nice. Recently, I went to Masi Mara, Samburu, Amabeli and those are all game parks where you see animals in the wild. It is so much fun.  I’ve seen just about everything from cheetahs, to lions, to wildebeests. I think that it is so sad that we have animals in cages in the States, when all the poor animals want to do is live their lives and be free. I went to Mt. Keya- actually I climbed it!! It was the most challenging, awesome, craziest thing I’ve done. I went all the way to the top of Point Lanana. It was a great experience.

I have to tell you about the food here!  There is Ugali, which is an African food, but I honestly don’t like it. I’m very picky with food, but I still try it. Chapatis are one of my favorite, which is like a flour tortilla. Passion fruit juice is my favorite drink now, and I had never tasted it until I got here. Oh, the avocados are really big compared to the States. They are about the size of a grapefruit or bigger, and they are so cheap. –like $0.15-$0.20  American cents for one.

Another thing that I love to eat is Masala chips, they are like fries with Masal which is a curry type of thing. It’s good.  I’ve tried a lot of Indian food since there is a large Indian population here.

I love to watch the Masi dances, they are so cool. It’s a group of men and they chant and dance and they take turns jumping and whoever jumps the highest is “declared the best” or something like that. It’s really neat.

I have learned so many things here that it would take and entire novel for me to write them all, but let me tell you a few. I have learned to be extremely patient. I’ve learned to be happy with what I have, and that no mater where you are, you can serve God.  I’ve learned that you may live in a shack that is 5 ft by 5 ft, and have no shoes and only 2 pairs of clothing and be the happiest person, I’ve learned that it’s better to give than to receive.

I’ve learned that besides God, family is the most important thing. I’ve learned many more things. The best part of being here was that the Lord opened my eyes to many things that I was blinded to before and I’ve learned to appreciate the little things more. The most challenging part was to have so many obligations and no social live what so ever. We only get to go to town once a week on Monday afternoons, and the kids are always around our house 24/7 and there is no privacy and that was a challenge for me.  

I have been very busy and things here are crazy. Right now, I’m excited and sad, because I will be leaving in13 days to go back to the States. It has been a long 11 months here in Africa.

Much love,

Liz Martinez

Maxwell Adventist Academy,  Kenya