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285/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today was kind of a repeat of yesterday. Wake up, coffee, pack, gym, lunch, pool, shower...then church, dinner and lounging around.

Amy and I took the bus to church by ourselves for the first time today. A bunch of guys were being obnoxious and talking about us. I know enough to tell, just wish I knew enough Swahili to turn around and catch them off guard. So, bus ride, not so fun.

At church the Chola kids hardly left our sight. I played restaurant/school/super heroes with Monje for 30 minutes. Shiro was hugging me at the end of the service when I felt her shaking. Poor thing couldn't stop crying, then Nzingo cried. I would have been a basket case if I wasn't being rushed to leave. I guess it's good that I kept it together. But I felt so sad leaving them. And knowing their parents are coming to the States the day after us...sheesh. I have no idea how they'll leave those kids without blubbering. Last year when we were leaving Shiro was the one who told me to come back again for longer. You just can't deny her.

Instead of a picture of crying kids, here's a nice view of the pool. The room I'm staying in is on the top floor, middle balcony. Currently relishing my last night in this comfy bed before the 24 hour travel time that looms. Hello, airport sleeping!

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284/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today was fairly uneventful but thoroughly enjoyable!

I woke up after a nice long sleep, made some coffee and eggs, read some of the parables in Mark, and then went off to the gym. Yesterday I ran to the gym and thought I'd die. Looks like I'm in trouble: I can now run for miles on the treadmill but am no longer good on the outside terrain. I was so upset yesterday that I ran extra hard and fast. Same today, only it wasn't so easy this time. Felt good to finish, though.

Did a bit of shopping after that since we're getting tired of trying to make meals from bananas, eggs, and peanut butter.

Made some soup and toast for lunch then went and laid by the pool with my iPod. It's summer here!

So then I showered, then I went and bought bags of coffee, then made spaghetti, then ate, then got picked up to go bowling!

There was a Halloween party at Village where we went to bowl. Imagine a million snotty high schools kids trying to impress each other. It was sickening. The worst part was finding girls doing shots of vodka in the bathroom and knowing that even if I told a manager, they wouldn't do anything about it. But aside from the rabid kids, we had so much fun bowling with some of our friends and the Chola kids. Duncan is such a great brother. He helped Monje bowl and here he's rejoicing with her even though she didn't knock any pins.

I did okay. Started strong with a spare and ended with two strikes in the last frame. The middle part...not so great.

So by the way, I'm out of battery for my camera and out of credit for Internet. So I'm blogging from my phone for awhile. Which will explain the odd, experimental editing with various iPhone apps. Bare with me.

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283/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Old, sad, malnourished dogs on the roads are tough to take in. But puppies?? Is there no justice? This one was the liveliest of all of them but was still terrified of me. Most dogs will at least sniff for food. Not this one. There was another puppy sleeping under the wheel of a tire, hardly able to move. Another lay dead on the sidewalk. I'm not an animal activist, exactly, but that will break your heart. Hoping someone will take this one in and give it a good life.

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282/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

This day finally came. The ultimate day of the trip. What we've been working towards all of this time. I was so nervous this morning! I don't like goodbyes because I feel like it's never enough. Even today, I wanted to hug all of the kids but we just couldn't do it. I wanted to talk to some of them one-on-one and tell them how much they mean to me, but I just had to wave and walk away.

We arrived around 9:30 this morning at Joy Springs. We brought Pastor Chola and Jerry, one of the awesome CMM staffers, with us. I told Rose and Charles we just wanted them to meet to have the connection, etc. And then we told them the main reason that we brought them - to help facilitate their new classroom building. We let them know that we raised $2,540 which should cover all of their expenses. I wish I could have filmed their reactions, it was almost shock. And then they jumped up and down and poured us tea!

They had opened all the partitians in the downstairs classrooms so the entire school could gather to send us off. Each class, from baby class to 7th, presented us with a song, poem, dance, or all three. Some of the classes wrote songs about us! Some wrote poems, complete with movements. Class 7 did a dance and the girls lined up and adorned Amy and I with bracelets and a necklace. We felt like queens. All of the teachers spoke and said their farewells. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much I absolutely could not believe how we were being honored.

What made it so great was that we had our turn afterwards. I played some songs on the guitar for them and Amy and I both spoke a little bit. We gave away the art awards and we played a final round of Super Bible Olympics, Class 6 vs. Class 7. All along we were SURE that Class 6 would win. But Class 7 stayed ahead the entire time and some of the kids started crying. The Class 6 prefect, Chris, cried while he recited one of the verses. I felt SO SAD for them because they are all so bright and studied so hard. I made it up to Chris later by asking him to tell me all 27 books of the New Testament, knowing he could do it. He did, and he did it perfectly as he held back tears. When he finished the kids erupted and Charles, the pastor and founder of the school, threw Chris over his shoulders, spun him around, cheered, and set him down with 200 shillings from his wallet. I hope Chris went home happy. I can't get that image of his tears out of my head.

We gave the Class 7 winners the new Bibles, wrapped up like packages. They were so excited and carried them with pride.

To close, Amy passed out thank-you cards to all the teachers and finally we gave roses to Rose and Charles, along with a card and a blessing of about $200. Rose told us she'd never received flowers before. Later, when they had us over at their house for lunch (she served us a feast!), they told us that they were meant to leave today to minister in a town 300 km away. Yesterday they paid their teachers staff and were left wondering how they would finance their travel expenses. Today, God provided.

I tell you, they were so excited all day. We had so many wonderful conversations about the Lord's provision and timing. I am so tired right now that the screen is swirling. Any writing techniques are out the window - I'm not even trying to keep your attention. More so listing the amazing things that happened. I have so many more stories just from today but seriously...swirling screen is scaring me. Here are a few pictures of the kids presenting. I got most of it on video so will be sure to share highlights later on.

If you gave or if you prayed or if you just followed a long...thank you. You have blessed many generations. And you have an invitation to come and see the difference you've made anytime.


Baby class about to sing for us! I'm sure they were very confused. But they were cute!


Class 4. One of the girls passed me a package with two pieces of cake inside. Later Amy and I opened it and found a sweet, greasy note stuck underneath the cake.


Our favorite, Class 6. These four kids wrote and performed a poem about us. Chris is the little one with the tie!


Rose dancing with Cynthia and the Class 6 girls.


This is just a fraction of the crowd. They were packed in there but we all had so much fun.

I really hope to share more about this day when I can be more coherent. I don't want to short change one of the best of the 365 days, it just wouldn't be fair. But for now just believe me when I say it was absolutely, completely amazing and...at the risk of sounding cliche...pretty life-changing.

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281/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

This time the baby isn't naked. Yay!

I'll have to make this fast, though. If I look at her too long I'll just lose it. Amy and I walked to New Life Home today to see our babies one more time. We waited not so patiently for them to wake up and as soon as Dorothy came out, I made a beeline for her. Sorry to the other cute babies, but she and I have this connection now.

I don't know what it is, and I won't look too much into it, but she would not stop looking at me. No matter her position, she'd turn around and just look at me, mouth wide open. I fed her and she starred at me the entire time she took her bottle. She was so happy. She's looking bigger, right? Her cheeks are swelling up. She drank her entire bottle for me which is great considering the first time I tried to feed her on the way back from the hospital.

It's sad, but I hope I never see her again. I hope she gets adopted by an incredible family. I teared up looking at her and thinking of her 20-year-old mother. How....you know what, I won't even get into it. Let's just say, you can't not love her.

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280/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today was our last day teaching at Joy Springs. We still have a big presentation day on Thursday, which makes me feel all kinds of knots in my stomach, aka, I'm gonna bawl, but today was our last "real" day. At the end of a really fun really productive class with the 6th graders a few girls came up and gave Amy and I these beaded rings that they made.

Honestly? I could have died right there. I dare you to give me a better gift.

There is a problem, however. It's that I do really badly with rings. I always lost them as a kid and I haven't worn one since. This summer someone gave me a ring that had an elephant on it and the next day my mom found it in the garbage disposal. How will I ever take care of this ring strung together by a thread?

Today Amy and I bought Bibles for prizes for some of our kids. They are really cool hard cover ones with the Old and New Testament. Most of the kids, if they have Bibles, have only NT's and they are tattered, coverless, sad looking things. We wrote notes on the insides to the kids. We don't know yet who will get them, so it's exciting. We wrote something different in each one.

We are also giving away awards for top boy and girl in each art class. We bought them drawing books, colored pencils, and mathematical sets - a tin box with rulers, a pencil, and a sharpener. Those are very popular here. And they cost less than a dollar. We've wrapped up each gift and I'm SO excited. I don't know if any of these kids have ever opened up a package.

We also did something with the kids today for those of you who gave to them. I want to tell you how cool it is, but you'll just have to trust me for now.

You want to know something I've learned since I've been here? It's about helping. I think helping is the most non-stressful, fun, easy, enjoyable thing you can ever do while still reaping a huge reward. I mean, think about it. Money, success, power, all of those are great rewards, but they take a lot of hard work. The reward here just feels SO good but what's even cooler is that it's no work at all. Helping in itself feels like a reward. It feels like an honor to serve. And I'm not saying that as a sweet, Christian, all-I-want-is-for-everyone-else-to-be-happy type girl. I'm not that good. I'm saying that from my down-to-earth, realist, even pessimistic side. We can all do something, at no great cost, and gain something even greater from it.

Like, for example, this ring.

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279/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Cop-out photo? Maybe.

Today we woke up to take Amy straight to the hospital. While we were waiting for Pastor Chola to pick us up we started playing cards and I asked Amy if she actually felt like she still needed to go to the hospital because she seemed to be doing pretty good. We decided to hold off on the hospital and later in the day she ACTUALLY said, "I feel 100% better." So YAY!!! Thanks to everyone for the prayers, e-mails, everything. Now just pray that it wasn't viral (read: infectious) because that could be bad news if it moves on to me just in time for our flight. Or if it moves on to the Brickman's because they've been so nice to host us, they don't need to get sick.

I went with Pastor Chola to pick up our stuff from his apartment. We have so much stuff, plus all of our kid's supplies that we carried home for the weekend. It was insane. Definitely planning to lighten the load before we go. Other than that we spent the day working and preparing for the rest of the week!

Anyway, this picture is of the floor at the Brickman's place. In all honesty, I like it. So there.

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278/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Besides the fact that Amy is dealing with malaria, I had a pretty good day. Slept in, had some pancakes and eggs, watched some TV, and best of all, went to the gym. By myself. It was the first time in three months that I went anywhere by myself. There were a few guys at the gym but they left shortly after I got there and i had the whooooole place to myself. Granted, I only used the treadmill and the cycling machine, but it was awesome. That's the view from the treadmill up there. The African breeze coming in makes me feel like I can run for hours. I don't, but I'm sure I could.

After the gym I stopped by Java House for a cappuccino and had an interesting conversation with a waiter who, despite the crazy busy crowd, found the time to follow me around, ask how the gym was, if I was trying to drop weight, and tell me that I already have a good figure. So, I definitely could have given him the cold shoulder, but with all the endorphins flowing, and remembering how that would NEVER happen to me in America, I smiled and thanked him. And he made sure I got my cappuccino even though I'm pretty sure that wasn't his job.


Walking home.


Just me and my coffee :)

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277/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

This is a doctor's office in Nairobi. Amy and I went here yesterday and they told her that they think it's malaria. Since then, even with the meds, her pain has not gotten any better. She has a throbbing headache and is throwing up. We're believing for relief to come soon but are going to probably go to the hospital tomorrow. Please pray that she can kick this SOON!

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276/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today we finally had our long overdue field day at KKV.

The first time we tried, I threw up all day.

The second time we tried, we didn't have a vehicle to get us there.

The third time we tried, Amy had splitting headaches and nausea.

The third time was today, actually. Her head hurt so bad that she was tearing up on the field, but she stayed there until the very last minute.

Then she crashed on the couch while I rubbed paces. Which is Kenyan for erased work books that the kids reuse for school.

Then we had spaghetti, but Amy just had a little. It started raining which is GREAT because they really need water out at KKV. The breeze was so nice and the sound of the storm was pretty cool, especially when the power went out. We finished dinner and played games by candle light. Then we drove over to the Brickman's. Amy is still feeling really terrible so please pray for her. We are going to the hospital in the morning. I think...we are both going to be tested for malaria. I mean, just in case. All part of the experience, right?

Anyway, here are some pictures from the field day. It was a little stressful and I'm going to be hoarse, I'm sure. Even though I had a whistle (yep), I found myself yelling over and over and over and over...


Drill Srgt. Brittany, getting the kids warmed up.


It's out of focus but it makes me laugh so much! He was running to tag the next runner.


Race time.


Egg toss gone bad...


These were the last two young girls in the egg toss. There was a lot of pressure on them.


They won!

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275/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

I'll miss this sight. Since I'm not a real teacher I'm allowed to tell the whole world that I have a favorite class and it's THIS one. These kids are simply the best.

Here they are working on the still life in our makeshift display that did in fact crash eventually. That was a pretty big racket. Especially when the rest of the school is doing exams and you can see the class below you through the slats of the floor. Wups.

One of the things that I won't miss is being perpetually dirty. Even my clean clothes are not clean because they were washed, then left in a bucket all day, then hung out to dry...in the rain. So my "fresh" smell is also my "sour milk" smell. Which is sort of interesting, because I did drink sour milk from a box the other day.

I miss milk that you buy in the refrigerator section, not off a shelf by the dry goods.

I miss my dog.

But I look at this picture and I miss Africa, even though I'm still here. Oooooooh, life.

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274/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Last year before I left for Africa I had an awesome going away party by the girls at City Church. We had the best ever Brooklyn pizza and good things to drink. And apples with an assorted variety of peanut butter. We also played picture phone, and I had my first ride on a Vespa courtesy of the awesome Karla.



They gave me this journal for my trip. I love journals and I love getting them. I don't know the last time that I bought my own - I always seem to get them as gifts, which makes them any better! This one is great because I love trees and I love the people that gave it to me.



I used it last year and packed it right away for this year's trip. I haven't filled it yet so the exciting part is knowing that I get to use it again, in this country or another.

I miss you girls but I have the best reminder of you every day!

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273/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

This is late because I ran out of internet credit yesterday. Sorry....

I snapped this with my phone during art class at Joy Springs. We were doing still life and this was the set up. Some of the kids were very, very literal, some copied my example on the board, complete with the arrow I used to show which direction the light was coming from, some drew the apple as big as the bottle, and some actually did very well.

Yesterday was a good day. We now have $1,846 to build the classroom. I think $2,000 is just around the corner. I just LOVE doing impossible things!

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272/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Here I am at one of the most beautiful golf clubs in the world, or something. It's called Windsor Golf and Country Club and it's just down the street from KKV, where we were volunteering this morning. We had to stop by to look into wedding packages for Faustin's brother. I decided that if I have to post my picture today since it's the 18th, I'd like to have a pretty background! It really was nice there. It looked like a castle and the food was beautiful! Also, everyone there was super rich. We just walked through and they treated us like queens. So crazy that it's just down the street form KKV, an orphanage housing almost 60 kids, facing a water shortage. Oh, the juxtaposition of it all.

For my 25 9/12th birthday won't you consider giving to Joy Springs: Project 8?? :)

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271/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Nzingo, right before she passed out on the couch.

This day was pretty great. I woke up early at the Brickmans, read some e-mails, looked at the pictures from my sister's birthday party, read the recap of the Rangers game (OMGGGGGG), and then woke up Amy because I was bored. And my computer died. And I wanted to go to the gym. So we walked over and it was a beautiful day and I had a pretty great work out, then we walked back and the best thing ever happened.

Twyla said, "Oh just in time! Brunch is almost ready!"

BRUNCH!!

You guys, I LOVE brunch. It's the best meal with brinner coming in a close second. With all my endorphins I was freaking out. We had PANCAKES and EGGS with good stuff in them. Hot, all you can eat pancakes. They were wonderful. Don't you dare take pancakes for granted. And I had juice and a cappuccino and let me tell you, it was just heaven.

We finished up a game of Phase 10 in the afternoon at it pretty much came down to the last round. It was a good game.

Then we got on the bus and went to church then piled home in the Chola's little car.

Just had dinner and I skipped the chicken necks this time but I still went for the chocolate stash after because just seeing a chicken neck was enough for me to feel like I deserved chocolate.

Two weeks from now I'm going to be packing to leave. I'm anxious to get home but want to make these last days count. I keep daydreaming about being home and I know it's so important to just be where I am. Especially if where I am is in Africa!! Seriously need to kick that habit.

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270/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Today we finally had the chance to go back to Joy Divine Boys Home. It's one of my favorite places to visit. The boys that live there are such sweet, hard working kids. They all come to our church and they all attend our teen camp. Fred, who started the home, is just a few years older than me. He's doing an awesome thing for these boys, but they run on little funds in the middle of one of Nairobi's slums.

Before I left the States there was a chance that we might be able to set up sponsorships for these boys. I decided to work off that chance and gather some information today.


Interviewing Emmanuel.


Amy took so AMAZING pictures of the boys.

After coming back and having some lunch (tuna salad sandwiches....how I miss those!), Amy, Sarah, and I walked over to Toi Market to shop the second-hand side-of-the-road shops for some dresses. Sarah was on a mission.


Amy and Sarah found a few things. I bought a banana.

For dinner we went out to an Italian restaurant. Everything was outside and they brought a portable fireplace thing to keep us heated. The atmosphere was so cool. I had a salad with chicken, mangos, strawberries, walnuts, and raspberry vinaigrette. Amy and I split tiramisu for dessert. My body is seriously lacking vegetables. I normally get an apple and a banana a day, but veggies are hard to come by.

Besides waking up to the tragedy of yesterdays Ranger game, it was a pretty good day.

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269/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Okay let's just get through this. It's past midnight and the only photo I took today was this one: a quick snapshot on Photo Booth to send to Lauren who wanted a closer look at my ear piercings. It wasn't meant to be seen by anyone else, certainly not on my blog. I did other things today, like went to Kings Kids Village and spent the afternoon with Sarah. But Lauren said that my parents weren't even convinced that I really got new holes in my ears. Which explains the lack of comments and emails that I expected from my mother.

Anyway, wonder what she'll say when I post the pictures from the even sketchier tattoo parlor?

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268/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

It's hard to get a picture of Joy Springs in it's entirety. Here you can see one side of the school and the steps that go up to the office and the classrooms for standards 5, 6 and 7. Just below me is another row of classes. I wish there were a way to show you how small this place is that serves as a school for 450 kids.

There is a chance that you are not on my e-mail list or one of my facebook friends. If that's the case, maybe be happy, because I've taken to sending out regular updates with pictures and videos in efforts to raise $3,000 in 3 weeks and to provide a new classroom for these kids. In January the new term starts and they'll need a classroom for the 7th graders going on to 8th grade. We're calling it JOY SPRINGS: PROJECT 8.

Watch these videos and meet some of the kids. You'll be happy you did.





So far we have $311! Click the PayPal button on the right to help out.

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267/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

In keeping with the spirit of doing things spur of the moment, today I bought flowers. It's one of my favorite spur of the moment things to do and bonus, it doesn't hurt.

Two dozen red roses for $2! They look really pretty in black and white, don't you think?

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266/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Just a couple things. First - they like me!! I don't think "brown noser" is in the Kenyan dictionary, so Lydia ain't lying.

Second, Amy needed some more holes in her body.


The sepia-tone is to highlight the dinginess, though I do wish you could see the bright pink of the scarf on Mariam's head. This was the mirror she used to make sure the dots were in the right place as we sat in a room/kitchen/closet the back of the Chemist.


One and two! Amy got her hair all African-ied, too.

So anyway, I guess the combination of living with someone with 7 or so piercings and cheap prices (200 shillings, about $2.50) just really got to me. Because next thing I knew, I was freaking out in the chair.


Yeah, freaking out.


And doing breathing exercises.


Before I let Mariam punch two holes in my ears.

And I know people say this, but it totally didn't hurt! That much! After that I was on such an adrenaline rush and I took it straight to the gym.

I think every body should go for some spur of the moment hole punches to the ear.

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265/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Bet you never saw a dog with a warm (read: fresh) chicken head in its mouth.

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264/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Dear Lauren, for your birthday I got you Monje, Nzingo, and some spaghetti!


So, this is my sister, Lauren.


Today is 10-10-10...


and she is turning 22.


Normally, if I were home, I’d find old embarrassing pictures from her childhood. And there are many.


So it’s probably a good thing I’m in Africa. I can only pull from the photos I already have saved on my computer.


As you can see, Lauren and I have a lot in common.


I’m really sad that I can’t be with her on her birthday. I’m sure we’d do something exciting together.


Like...go out for ice cream?


Anyway, Lauren is such a good sister. She came to visit me in Nashville and New York and we made some of my favorite memories.


Lauren, I miss you so much!


And I hope you and your alter ego, Loquacious, had an awesome time at your party last night.


I can’t wait to see you when I get back.

Happy birthday to my beautiful, kind, hilarious, weird, dumb, crazy, wild, smart, lovey sister. I love you!!