Yesterday Steph, Alison, Melanie and I went to a restaurant for lunch, one that we've never eaten at before. We sat down and ordered a round of Coca Cola's. After we sat there for what seemed like a long time, we finally flagged down the waitress and asked for a menu. After waiting another long while, we flagged her down again and asked if we could order, which we did, though she seemed reluctant to listen to what we had to say. After waiting for forever for our food, she then came over to tell us "it is finished." We didn't know what she meant at first, but as she held out her hands, shook her head and kept repeating "it is finished", we finally figured out that we were not going to be served. How ironic as I looked around at other patrons sitting in front of their freshly-cooked, steaming plate of food that was just delivered to their table. We walked out of the restaurant baffled and agreed we had just been discriminated against. So, we walked across the street to our normal hangout to receive the quick service we were used to. While we are used to the staring, whispering, and feeling like complete oddballs because of the color of our skin and the difference in our dress, this was a first!

Yesterday was the first time it rained heavily here in Ngong. The dusty, dirt alleys and roadsides turned to a thick mud. As we walked home in the evening, the soles of our hiking shoes collected more and more mud as we inched along, trying not to fall. We laughed as our shoes became increasingly heavy with the thick load of mud. It made me miss our sidewalks back home!

Because of the heavy rains, the electric went out last night. Minus a bucket shower in the dark bathroom lit only by my headlamp, this slight inconvenience actually created a wonderful evening of conversation among Steph, Grace, Stanley, Brian and I. Usually we eat dinner in the Family Room with the TV turned on to the news channel, only to be turned off for the few minutes while we pray before we begin eating. Instead of listening to the events that occurred around the country during the day, we chatted all evening until we went to bed. I asked Grace about her childhood, family, and then asked her to tell us about her sermon that she preached on Sunday. The topic was about pursuing your dream, which I was able to relate to especially because I am in the midst of pursuing mine right now! I asked about the Maasai tradition of extending their earlobes, which led to a very interesting conversation. Apparently the boys are entered into manhood by being circumcised in their early teen years, which is performed with a dull knife in a river early in the morning when it is the coldest (their form of anesthesia). The boys are forbidden to cry or else they will not be a true man. After I told her that circumcision is done to newborns in America, not when the boys are old enough to remember, we concluded that African men are much more "manly" than American men! Haha. After the boys are welcomed into manhood, they begin the process of extending their earlobes. Grace then asked Brian and Stanley to tell us about their experience, which they did, but I could tell they felt a little funny talking about it! Unlike the Maasai tradition, they went to a hospital which is now common because of the high rate of infection. The whole evening was very educational, all thanks to the loss of electricity!