A Day in the Life of Chelsey

Day 112: SUNDAY ! Church was soon and my parents had Mary and the other dresslady over for coffee. I had gotten ready and well, church came fast! We spent the morning doing that, then we were asked to lunch by Evans and Sophie. We walked down with them and little Lolly and ate there. We chatted and soon were out walking in the village and talking. Mom had to go back because of her neck, so we walked back and stayed there until around 4 30 . At 4 30 dad and I walked to the village to go to the "Crusade" they call it. There was music and dancing as there always is,and the whole time I had this little girl that is from the village following me. She always does , she is SO cute! Maybe around 2-3 years old. I picked her up and she fell asleep in my arms, drooling, nose running on me.. SO CUTE ! One of the girls had taken her back for a nap for a bit, then she actually came back running to me with a big smile! <3 I picked her up again and she just cuddled me while the music wen...

Day 111: Today was another day dealing with corruption ;). I woke up this morning later than usual since I did not sleep much the night before. Everything I heard I thought there was like someone outside or something.... I had eaten breakfast and my parents had gone next door, and I started to hear yelling. My first thoughts were "Oh what now.." I decided I would go next door and check it out, and YES I definitely remembered to lock the door so no thieves would come. As I was going outside the door my mom was coming in looking very frustrated. I asked her what's up and she said she just gave a speech to the entire high-school full of students. And now Dickson is upset with them because well , they are not very smart to go break into someone's house who is helping THEM out! :/ SO I went over and saw the whole school standing outside, getting lectured. I waited until it was done, spoke to dad and found out they have until 4pm or else the police are involved.  We went...

Day 110 : Today was another CRAZYYYY , TIRING day... To start off the day we had this lady who wanted to come pick our mangos. "That's great!!" we THOUGHT.  We just really want to get rid of them.. it causes a huge pain because so many people steal them, villagers, students, kids, EVERYONE!?! We had to watch her closely like.. 24/7 because she was a well... scammer.  We had her packing mangos all day, and we would watch to make sure she didn't take any extra. That took up a lot of the day. We had her finally packed up and we noticed she had an extra bag she had NOT paid for. Oh yay, more hassle along with her whining .. I usually wouldn't be rude, but when someone takes advantage of you time after time (Happens all the time here) You really get ticked off and you feel like they think you're stupid or something. I'm not.  She had originally agreed on a price, and then changed it to very low once she had packed all the mangos and was ready to leave, she had...

Day 109: Well today, actually is not an interesting day for readers... I spent the whole day doing homework, and then since mom's neck was hurting her,spent a bit of time with her. Otherwise, it was schooling. Day 108: Today we decided we would go to Voi to pick up the paint to paint the orphanage and school. We got out and got picked up and headed in! We had walked around Voi for some time to get some things and after went for lunch. Once we finished up what we needed we got picked up by  a car and went to go get the paint! As we were on our way, we got a call saying they were out of gas, so we had to travel back and forth looking for the right gas for the house! After sitting in the hot sun waiting we finally got some!! We headed back home and carried the paint to them ! Now we would have fresh looking buildings :) yay!! (You can imagine the dirt.. imagine it orange and everywhere on the old white buildings..) The rest of the day we had to do some mango stuff and sort them ...

Day 106:  I woke up this morning to........OUR WATER BACK. YAYYYYY ! Power still wasn't back, but oh well :)!  I spent the morning cleaning the house, my room, and etc. Around lunch time we got all ready, with bags and bags full of mango's.. and headed down to the village :). We decided we would give out mango's to the widowed single mothers, or anyone we felt to.  Along the way we handed some to one elderly lady that usually begs from us, and she seemed so happy :). As we kept walking we decided we would bring some to our friend in the market, and then down the road to another stand.We walked down the road and went to see James (One of the guys who always gives us things, and is very friendly) and we gave him some. There was some single/widowed mothers around and we gave them some as well. As we walked around to the market area there was Josiah and we gave him some . ( We usually buy from him and he usually is super friendly ) Next we went to our bread guy, WHO ACTUALLY...

Day 105: Today was a great day. It was nice to have a break from chaos. We left early this morning for a church in the hills.  We were invited to a new church there, and so we got ready and went off on our way. We took a Mattatu up the hill and when we arrived we met up with Amos (The pastor) We walked  over to his house, and met up with a guy /amos' friend from the village who was also a singer. :) YAY  We chatted a bit, then walked down to the church. Once we arrived we were greeted by a bunch of cute kids. I was invited in and spent some time there with the kid, and taught them.  After I finished up, more people came in and we were greeted and seated ;) yeah I rhymed. It was nice, because the whole entire time they actually had translations for us unlike the church we usually go to! :D  It was nice to understand them ! They are so humble there. They made a drum out of a broken bucket, and some other little shakers out of wood and flattened bottle caps. I wou...

Day 104:  WELL ,WELL ,WELL....... Where to start. ;) So I woke up this morning later.. SCORE and soon had  to have to go to the mango orchard to  see the guy who says he is with a big company and wants to pick our mangos and buy some from us.  SO we go out and the guy had already started picking because my dad had talked to him and made a price range. Turns out the guy had given him a card, and was a salesman. Of course, mom with her instincts did not believe this guy was what he sad he was , with their big company and such. So her and I went over to the house with the guys card (which looked extremely beat up) and we looked up this company. It WAS real, but mom wanted to go deeper, she knew something was wrong here. She decided she would call the top guy of the company, and dig in on this guy who was claiming to work for them.. anyways , after a long talk the owner had said that guy had did fraud things under their name and they fired him a year...

Day 103:             Today was a nice, beautiful day off. We decided that we would try and get away from stress and escape for  a day! We packed out bathing suits, waited outside with little ali and Dickson and got on a tuktuk (Half motorcycle half... uh wagon?) We got in, and headed down the "road" ... bumpity bump bump.. look at us go ;) ! After slowly driving down the roads we eventually, after entering the game area arrived at the game lodge. We were going to go for a day where we can relax in the sun, in the quiet , go for a swim and have a nice lunch together.  We got out of the tuktuk to have some people greet us and laugh because you NEVER see white people in a tuktuk ;) Usually they are in their own little fancy Wzungu (Whitie) cars, or travel vans. (Of course, it's typical)        We got a resident price luckily, and went and ate. After eating we headed for the pool area, changed and slid inside the cool, (somewhat...

Day 102: It seems our days go so fast here! Wow! Well, to start off the day we had to get ready in  the late  morning to go to Voi.. because we planned on picking up paint to re-paint the orphanage and school. We got a car(For mom's injured neck) and  headed in. Once we got there we had spent hours, walking around, doing many things,buying things.. etc! We had been in Voi for quite some time and our last stop was the hardware store, for paint! We went over to see the ladies (Friends of my parents) there. Turns out the paint was accidently  sent to Mombasa, and they have to end it back.. but the paint came in, but not our order.. so we also have to come to voi ANOTHER day! Since the ladies were very unhappy with whoever they had sent the orders to, there was a lot of sorting out to do. Once we got the propane, and a few bags (Yes I said bags) of paint that they DID have we had to go back. Once we arrived home we had to un-pack, and after a hot day of searching for it...

Day 101: I woke up this morning to a normal morning.. Just the usual. Some mango picking, some school..etc. Around noon we decided we would go down to the village, because well.. I RECEIVED A PACKAGE FROM MHS :D Thanks guys :) We decided that we would take little Alli (5 year old malnourished little boy.. looks like 1 1/2 years maybe) down with us, so after he had gotten dressed, we brought him with us. We walked down and got the package, (which ended up costing 50$ ) and then as dad went back, he had  the package and we took alli to look in the market area for little shoes for him.  (Hi feet are soso tiny that we could not find any)  After we finished up we went back with alli, dropped him off and went to go to our gate and- it was locked.. we then had to go around to the main gate, and well..that was locked too! Adventure time! Now since no one was looking.. I decided I would climb the gate and get the keys from my dad. Seeing a this isn't an easy thing with ...

So ... usually I would not complain about a bug, UNLESS it was a really gross spider.. ;) BUT I just find it so hard to live with well, an ant farm in the house, bugs in the flour, and well.. COCKROACHES HIDING WHO KNOWS WHERE. I feel like I could even be sleeping next to one ;) OUUU  isn't that a wonderful thought :) I am just so happy that in Canada we don't have termites, cockroaches etc in the house! If I even leave my cup out for 10 minutes with juice or something in it... If I go to pick it up again I will be drinking a delicious cup full of ants. These tiny ones too that you cannot escape.  We never really realize JUST how lucky we are until well, we are halfway across the world and cannot enjoy a cup of tea and set it down without digesting some ants at the same time. I guess I just miss not having it, I miss a lot of things! But it sure seems like these bugs are out to get us. >:) I really can put up with a lot more here, but that's just the tiniest thing on my ...

Day 100 everyone :) !! Today was  a pretty productive day actually. I woke up early, and did a bit of reading. Mom an I decided we would try and bake some cookies.. so we spent awhile baking some peanut butter cookies..SAY WHAAAATT?! After we baked them up, we decided we would go bring one to Ali, since he is the only orphan not at school during the day. We went over, and he enjoyed it so much that he picked the crumbs off himself and ate them... wow so cute <3 I went back to the house and got some crayons and a book for him to colour in and him and I and my mom coloured. My mom went back to the house and got a book and we read to him. He has progressed so much now he even mocks little sounds. If I meow like a kitty , he will too! SOSO cute :)   After a bit I had to go back for lunch. We went back and ate then decided we would go pick some of the mangos (that were still good but the wind blew off the trees) for the kids. We did that for a bit and then went back to wash the...

Day 99 : Today I had well.. schoolwork for most of the day! Just trying to pass :D Yay.. ... I spent some of the day with the kids, playing, and the other half working . My parents and I walked down to the village late in the day and went for a nice walk together. ahhaah nice?! We had little girls following us, while giggling because we are white, and people just laughing because we are actually getting exercise. It can be a pain, just being laughed at because we are white. (I understand the whole racism from back in the olden days MUCH MORE now.) Once we got back we cleaned up, and before we knew it , it was dark! Now it is time for bed at last! :) My internet is currently out though.. I am just writing this and saving it. (How it usually works) Day 98: Sunday morning , and well church once again :) Such a crazy church, it makes it fun. I usually find it hard to sit through  a dull church and not be sleepy, or lose attention.. but this one is so loud and crazy that I ca...

Day 97: Today is another cooking day for us. AND AN EXTREMELY BUSY DAY FOR MY DAD! The well guys are coming and fixing the well for us :D While we also have some other plumbers , workers for the gardens, and  an electrician coming to do work for the orphanage as well. WOWZA. Busy !  As the well guys came we had to go over, help out, and we played with the kids a bit. After , we went back to the house and since I found some lemons growing, I decided I would make a glazed lemon cake. I also found the best recipe ever for it! As I spent hours on that, mom was making more jam, and dad was talking to the well guys. After it was in the oven, I brought some mangos over for the kids (so cute) and then went back. The cake turned out to be the best recipe I had EVER used :D So good!  The day seemed to pass quickly, and before I knew it , it was dark and we were all finally relaxing after  a full day. Day 96: It is now Friday  and I spent the morning on schoo...

Day 95: Today mom and I decided we were going to pick up all the good mangos that had fallen off of the ground. We walked around under.. who knows how many trees and got BAGS AND BAGS full of mangos! We (me carrying because of mom's neck)would bring them to the house, and back for another, house and back.. ETCETCETC...! We had around 10 big bags full. But we had not done all the trees and this was only the beginning!  After we decided we would stop for the day, we brought all of the mangos inside and washed them all. We then had a few bags or oranges as well and rbought them over to the kids. (WERE THEY EVER HAPPY :) ) We  went back and peeled,cut, and made some mango jam. By the end of the day our house was smelling to the extreme of mangos!  Yum :)! My hands were as well..! By the time we finished for the day.. it was night time and ready for bed! Day 94: Today I decided that I would conquer the Mango thieves. ahahahhahhaha I guess.... ;) I woke up in the morni...

Day 93: I woke up extremely early this morning. . YAY (Not..) ;) Today is the day we have to go travel to Mombasa to get our Visas renewed. We had to get up early, and wait for a guy to come pick us up. By the time he actually arrived we had been waiting outside for him for some time. We had even gotten to greet the kids as the little ones walk to school. David (the driver) had finally came and we got in the car. We drove for well... (2-3 hours ) to Mombasa. Once we arrived after all the crazy driving, crazy so called "roads" and .. well crazy drivers.. we had come in on the time of traffic going nuts! oh yay! BUT.. to make things even better, he had drove on the wrong side of the road or something? And the police stopped the vehicle because they had seen that there was white people in it. (Usually they wouldn't even bother stopping him) and the police officer was trying to get a bribe. (OF COURSE)  David asked for some money from my dad.. and (my dad not really.. but ...

Day 90: Satuday , Saturday... Back to business! Which means we have to get supplies for gardening.. etc etc. Today we had to get things for the garden, get some tubing.. etc. I spent the day with my mom though, just cooking and cleaning :) We made some supper, some sweets, and all day in the kitchen! We spent a bit of time with the kids, but other than that just a casual lady's day. Day 89: By now it's Friday and we are back. I woke up this morning and well... did school work! I did this until about 2 and then decided I would eat something! WEOO EXCITING! After eating I went over with the kids and played with them until church. We went into church at around 4 and then after played again with the kids. After awhile we  went back and decided to relax a bit .. (Sort of...)

Day 87: Today most of the orphans are now back in school . With everyone back, only a few are here now during the day until lunch, when the young ones walk back from school. I woke up , did some schooling , and then walked outside to the orphanage. Mom and I had to get some things so we walked down to the village . Once we finished up there we headed back and by then most of the kids were back. We played with them for a bit, but then went back to the house to cook up dinner and clean up. By supper time we had Dickson come to our house with a bunch of the kids. And we were wondering why.. Hmmm! Turns out they had been stealing Mangos from our own land, the neighbors and some of the villagers. We made sure they were dealt with and had to make them apologize to the people. Turns out some of the villagers are now cutting holes in our fence and stealing mangos too , just to sell. OH YAY :D after the discipline was done, we decided it was time to turn in and head for our rooms and soon bed....

Day 85: I woke up this morning early and got all -packed up . We were to be heading out to the bus station to go back to bura. Our taxi arrived , we packed our things in, said our goodbyes and headed out.We got to the bus station and had to wait for the bus to come since we were early. As soon as the bus arrived we packed our things on and went on. From that point on... well it was driving!! (Practically all day) We stopped once, bathroom break.. (More like hole in the ground break) and then headed back onto the bus :).  Once we reached voi we had to get off on the side of the highway and find a drive back home. We waited for about an hour for a drive, and our driver guy was not in town so we had to find another guy at a gas station to get us. We had to squeeze in his car though because it was very full, so once we got to voi we had to get a bigger car to fit us, our belongings, and some water jugs inside. We went into one of the little markets and got some things then.. headed for...

Day 83: This morning we woke up for church. We got ready and soon headed out. We arrived a bit early  so we waited outside.. And strangely I actually got cold? Anywho,we went inside for church and it went on until around lunch. (I believe it is a missionary church.. BUT SO MANY WHITE PEOPLE!?) After church we went to a store and got some milk, then headed back for lunch. We got back and hung out for a bit waiting for lunch. We ate , and soon after lunch mom and I went for a walk down the road with one of The Sheppards (Last name) dogs. The looks we got as people saw us walk the dogs were pretty amusing! It is strange to actually see some roads without garbage on the side! Once we got back we waited a bit, and got ready to go for a swim. We put our bathing suits on, and went to the pool. MAN OH MAN , I must be used to the weather. It was freezing!!  We swam for a bit and soon we were cold and ready to get out. We have been just relaxing since we have gotten back, ate dinner an...

Day 82: I woke up early this morning to go pack up. (Barely awake,Zombie style).. We had to clean up everything and make sure we didn't leave anything behind. Once we were all done we locked up and signed out of the apartment place. We waited for our drive (Dad's cousin-in law ) to come get us. He arrived and we all got in and headed over to his house. Once we got there we put our things away and all packed in their van. (My parents, Jennifer and Jason and their son , their parents who are visiting , and I.) We then headed over to the shopping centre there and split up for a bit to do our business. We then went to another place and ate. ( We had to get some things too, and you must understand how long it takes) We got back  mom and I had accidently fallen asleep because we were up late the night before, and a few hours  later woke up. We  hung out and ate dinner, then chatted for a bit... The rest of the evening we talked, watched some tv together. (Besides mom and ...