A Day in the Life of Chelsey

African Adventures, Day 20: Today I got to sleep in...WOW , I haven't done that in SO long. I did wake up about 5 times because of all the noise, and donkeys.......... I like waking up to the singing though :) It's very nice! Anyways, I got  up at 10 and then got ready because I had to go to an agriculture class they were starting up. It went until 12 40 And I had to take a lot of notes. I learnt more about gardens today and planting and nutrition than I ever have! We then headed back for lunch . After we ate I took a bit of time to relax, play some keyboard then go talk to one of the teachers because I will be typing up 17 different exams and will be starting that tomorrow. I had to hook up some things and will be getting papers tomorrow.  I got to see their "Kitchen" today... which is fire in a room where the put a huge pot. The walls are blackened from the smoke and the people cooking have to inhale the smoke. They crush the grain on the floor..and the sanitary th...

African Adventures, Day 19 : It was now Sunday and the day of church. ( I had not gone the week before because I was very sick) So it was my first week seeing everyone from the village come down. Church seemed very wild.. AND GREAT. (I love their music) The people sing and dance and teach you how. Everyone seems to know the songs! Except the Canadians ;).  Church seemed pretty long, but went well.   After church we ate then headed down to the village to go have a crusade.(There is one every week) That was the craziest thing yet.. and ask me in person and I will explain it all! Many things happened that I have NEVER seen and I was amazed.The day went fast and it gets dark early so we get tired a lot quicker. I had been very sleepy but we stay up and talk at night. ....But soon enough it is bed! The only problem is I wake up every night because I hear donkeys and cows  along with dogs, and elephants waking me up at night.. Oh but you can't get any better than the...

African Adventures,Day 18 : Saturday was an early morning and we had to get our things ready for the day. Sunblock,water, cameras, and money was on our list. We would be leaving to go on a Safari for the day then head to the Lodge for dinner. We got onto a Mattatu (Bus) to head to the lodge to then get in some vans that would be driving us around to see animals. We got there and we were greeted with some people giving us fresh juice and we were to wait until our vans arrived. When they did we decided where we would go and got on.  I was in an open roof one with Ben, Adam , and Carol.(A fun group :) ) We then headed out to where the animals would be. We saw some birds along the way, but the main part was the lions. We were up close to them and they have the right of way on the road so as we drove along we would be slowly driving behind the lions as they walked calmly down the road. (Hakuna Mattata ) They were extremely close to the vans. We then drove past them and saw MANY other a...

African Adventures, Day 17: It was now Friday and we were going to head into Voi to search around for some things. Go hunting for some gifts for the loved ones back home, and groceries (WATER),and other things for the house. (We had a lot stolen from it so we are trying to make up for it).. The day was a warm,warm day. The sweat rolled down our foreheads like rain running down a slanted roof. We did a lot of stand shopping(the little home-made things) and went into some markets and such. We drove around from spot to spot picking up things. I had stopped with my parents and bought some things for my friends and siblings and soon the day had ended and we were all tired . We headed back to bura to relax and unpack our groceries.

African Adventures, Day 16: Our last day of teaching was today.. Which was sort of a relief for us because we were all getting tired. We taught our classes then each one had our own class picture :) . I was the techie, and set up everything for every class on the computer so I was there for it all. Which meant... being surrounded after class because they want pictures with the white blondie! ..I got a bunch of pictures with them and soon the day was done. We all went back to eat then we would be heading over to their soccer(football) game to watch and cheer on the team with their new jersey's! :) We talked to a bunch of the students and my new friend Laurence told me some African jokes.. oh my..!! What great people are here and it'll be hard to leave them all.  The soccer game went good, although they play without shoes so my friend ben cut his foot open.. and badly! Not fun!  What a place this is!

African Adevntures, Day 15:      Today was just another routine day. Although my mom was sick, so I stayed with her for  bit then went over to the class.   I helped with the other classes before lunch then  went back home to eat. After lunch I went back to teach my class, and that went well.We taught about how we should ignore the negative words and judgments made on  us. Because many people believe the lies people say about them we did a few exercises and examples and the class went pretty fast.I have had people coming up to me asking me to teach them computer, so I will be starting  computer class soon after the group leaves. Tomorrow is our last day of teaching! Then, there's their first football(soccer) game later on ! 

African Adventures, Day 14:     Life is not always roses. But here for them, more than half of the time  is thorns until they are put in a place like this orphanage/school. They go through more than anyone could ever imagine. When I get back home and someone complains, it's going to make me upset. I just want to tell them to shut their mouths and be thankful they have water,food,a family, friends and are not living on the streets. We are on the edge now. The kids are bathing in swamp water and I have not showered in 3 days. It's tiring having the same food everyday, breakfast,lunch,supper.. But I don't care anymore. The food is not what's on my mind?? . . I'm sick still and I feel so emotional for all these kids. A little girl was crying today , and I just feel like crying from seeing them upset. The story behind of each and every one of these children are unbelievable. They have been to the fires and back again. And yet, there's so many spoiled rotten children...

African Adventures, Day 13 :         I woke up in the morning ready for yet another day. I had to teach later on but , to my joy , the sickness had come back. I felt like being so lazy, and other than that.. Our water is so low now. I have stopped showering because we can't afford to waste the water. So most of the day was spent lazing around with a bad belly and dizziness.      The day seemed to pass slowly to me, but it went. Later on my parents and I walked down to the village hoping to find the booth where they make clothing. As we wandered around we found one, but not the one we were hoping for. We left the lady and went into the market to take a look and noticed that they just have liquor on the shelves. We talked to the lady for a bit then left and headed back to our home. (On the way we noticed the awkward glares) As we arrived back home it got later and we ate then headed over to take the Jersey's that were sent from...

African Adventures , Day 12... (The beginning of today):   Today has not started so well.. I woke up and showered, getting ready for church. But it seems like my dad and I have not eaten something great, and we are both sick.. OH JOY. :/ Not just any sickness either..  We can hear the music next door but can't leave. I have to perform again in the village at 4.. so I better get better by then! We'll see. ( I did get better afterall) And I went down to the village, performed with our dancers and sang with Ben and Adam and they wanted us to do our song twice.. SO WE DID :) And it went soo well! I then talked to all the people in the village for awhile and played the piano with the african band. And after a bit we headed back. We then went into the church hall and got all set up for the first ceremony of graduation for highschool in all of Kenya. (And also the first at heartbeat) The people were so excited there was so much screaming, yelling, breakdancing and singing! I had b...

African Adventures, Day 11 :     The day that we would perform in the village had came. We had a van come to pick us up to go to the mountains and look around there. We drove up the steep mountains and the view was incredible , we saw a some runners having a race up there as well as a soccer(football) field.. That's normal, but in the middle of the soccer field was a donkey. We see goats tied up everywhere we go as well as cows. We went to  a couple stores there and bought some things to bring home. We then drove down the mountains back to the village and arrived home around 1 . Adam, Ben and I then headed to the studio once again to practice a few times before we would be going down to the village.  After we finished we went to my house to wait for a bit since we only had to go down at 4 .  The time passed quickly and we all walked down, there was music before us and I had to talk for  a bit to the villagers but then it was our turn. We performed and it ...

African Adventures, Day 10 :  Friday had finally came and the water tank that Moncton High School bought had arrived . I videoed it for my school and watched them put it in. They would be using it to water the plants for food since there's drought. I had gone back to the class to watch the lessons , then  back for lunch ( We have had the same food a lot) and then back to teach. The same routine as usual, I went to the studio to practice for hours, back for supper , then the studio again. Friday night we had church again and  then we went back to the house and jammed out on my piano  with the group and sang. We talked for awhile then headed to bed .

 African Adventures, Day 9 :      As the routine of teaching went on I chilled in the back with the young kids. I had a tiny 5 year old on my lap ( He looks as though he is 1 or 2 because his mom did not take care of him well enough so he is very VERY malnourished and has worms).. I cuddled the little boy because he never gets that type of love. I guess he was like the little girl was with my mom and did not want to leave my lap.. because he peed ALL over me. I felt the warmth and got a little grossed, but since he did want to leave I did not make him, he was too cute! I sat there uncomfortably for a bit, then... it happened again.. ARE YOU KIDDING?!.. And again about 10 minutes later.. he did not want to leave, I felt so sad for the poor boy. I sat there again ..wet and full of a malnourished boys' pee... oh but guess what, to my joy.. He peed on me for the 3rd time. By then the kids around him noticed and took him off me. He was not happy, so I let him back on. A...

African Adventures, Day 8 :    Wednesday had quickly come and we had to teach later in the day but in the morning we started our adventures in heading into Voi (The town where we would get groceries and such). We had to catch the Matatu (Bus/Van) which would bring us into town. Since they do not have strict laws like us we fit 25 people inside of a 12 passenger van.  I had to sit on my mom  while others squeezed into any space they could.. Although, as we got near the city there are more vehicle check men so we had to empty out some people. The ride was bumpy and luckily on the ceiling there is cushion so my head does not get to beat up. We got out of the tight fit van and headed to  the shops. We had to order the water tank(Thank you MHS !) and get a stick for internet and other things..(Toilet seat, soap, broom,knives) We stopped to look at material to cover their foam beds in the orphanage (So bed wetters do not have to sleep in their own pee every night..h...

African Adventures , Day 7 :   It was now Tuesday and today was the beginning of our early mornings. We woke up and  ate some toast, and headed right our the door. We went along the path to the other side of the fence to the orphanage and went inside to start our teaching lessons. There are 4 everyday for 8 days and each one is an hour and a half long. We have started a lesson called "Light up your world". We encourage the kids in starting their dreams and we teach them that they can change others worlds and are never too young to do so.  We play a game and have reviews everyday which I do, and they students respect you very well. For the the rest of the day while the others in the group teach their "Periods" (as we call it home) we sit in the back with the younger children who watch and help out.. while we had children on our laps my mom got peed on because the little girl was enjoying cuddling her so much she did not want to get up to go to the bathroom. When it...

 African Adventures, Day 6 :      Today was the day that I would finally take my last flight. I would be heading to my new home atlast! I had to wake up at 5:30 AM to get everything ready and packed in the van to go get the rest of the group from their hotel. We looked around to make sure we did not leave anything  behind and then got in the van. We arrived at the group's hotel  and packed EVERYONE'S things into another van which would drive our things down as we flew. We headed to the airport and then  weighed everyone and waited. As we waited the crew at the airport for missionaries started a church.. IN THE AIRPORT.. It sort of surprised us all but we went along with it. Our flight had arrived and we all got onto our small plane and buckled up. As we got higher and higher in the air  I could see the people and cars getting smaller  like little ants. The sight was tremendous. I could see animals on the ground because we got lower to the g...

      African Adventures , Day 5 :   (I finally have internet so here is ALL my updates :) )   It was Sunday and we were still at my cousins house . We had woken up early to go to their church, which surprisingly was not an African church. Instead, it was mainly full of people who have moved to Kenya to help others and missionaries like my family.  Right after church we had to go to 4 different malls* to go get things for our new house which we would move into on Monday. We loaded up on so much stuff because there are many needs for the orphanage..  After the malls I spent half the night packing while my dad went to go pick the rest of the group up from the airport because they had just arrived. (We left 4 days earlier than them and would be dropping them at their hotel down the road.) Nearly every mall we went to had security who would ask to check your vehicle for bombs or weapons. They did this because there has been con...

              African Adventures, Day 4 : I have to admit, it makes me quite mad that there's so many over weight people from EATING in the world, yet here there's people STARVING to death . The worst part is that many people do not seem to even care, or notice. And other times when they do notice, they don't think they can help. We have people wasting money, water, food, EVERYTHING.. and people are trying to sell what they can just to survive. They use bark to brush their teeth, and most people only own like one outfit, if any.A lot of things over here are very corrupt, yet everything is so beautiful. I see dead dogs on the side of the road everywhere, and other animals. There's garbage burning all over the side of the roads, and the smell in the air is a combination of burning garbage, diesel, and sweaty people.  The people here have so little, yet are so loving.Some people back home have so much, yet.... are so.. well , rude! Not every person ...

           African Adventures, Day 3 : I am still trying to get used to the time difference here. Whenever I am online and want to talk to someone from back home they are always at school, or sleeping. I forget that they are not at my time frame , so that really sucks. When it is bedtime here I am not really tired, but during the day I seem to be. After awhile I will be used to it I know, but it's a little difficult now. I had to wake up a little earlier this morning to go see some orphan elephants. We got all ready, ate our  breakfast (WITH FRESH FRUIT) and headed out. It's gloomier today though and we could tell it was going to rain again. We traveled through the crazy traffic and made our way out towards where the elephants are held.  The mud there was thick and the elephants loved it. They came out of the wild and went to drink milk. All of the ones I saw were saved from being killed or dying. They were so cute and friendly ! I never thought ...

            African Adventures , Day 2 : Today I got to sleep in.. and oh was it ever great! Jetleg is getting to us a little since the tiime difference is 6 hours ahead. After a nice shower the night before and a long sleep, I was ready for the day to begin. Breakfast was fresh fruit. The fruit is so much better than Canada's. Finally, no more plane food! We spent the day mainly shopping. We needed a few things before we go to our home on Monday. We got phones to call back home, and some nice fresh fruit.. love it. As we walked down town I felt like all eyes were on us. Some think we look silly , others love the blonde hair on a white girl.. I just felt  a little uncomfortable with it all, but it's how things work here. The poverty is so sad. Children  on the streets, women  and men trying to sell things to get money to feed their family, all sorts of things. Yet , we have so much. The air is not clear and fresh. When you take a deep breat...

         African Adventures, Day 1 : Saying Good-Bye's was hard. Everytime I thought of the people back home it was difficult to think I would be gone so long away from them. Although it was hard, the excitement was overwhelming! Our first flight from the Moncton airport was late..Ohhh.. the adventure begins! The first flight I sat next to a stranger in a small space. The plane was small and the space was tight. I had a window seat luckily  , so I could see the view. Leaving was interesting, I looked out of the window to see the beautiful colour of the trees. I then realized how wonderful things were made. The red, yellow, and orange leaves blended well and were such a incredible sight. Without even realizing until after, I sat the whole flight just looking out the window of the plane, wondering what to expect. My mind scurried from subject to subject, running through my head like  a river. The days before leaving I was a little upset to leave all of m...