there's a first time for everything...

Well, it's Brittany here! Or Brita...or here in Kenya, I'm called "Britain." It's Sunday night right now and we are wrapping up the birthday party for one of Pastor Euticauls' sons, Jeff, who turned 8 yesterday. I tried to figure out what to write about for this first blog of mine, so I thought I would talk about some of my "firsts" that I've had since I've been here:

First day of school: Chrissy, Stephanie, and I taught at Lucky Shamir Junior School on Wednesday and Friday, and went to this HUGE competition of dancing, singing, poetry, and instruments on Thursday. It was so crazy because you just kind of get thrown into the lesson at wherever the teacher left off! No preparation at all! It's all pretty simple though and all of the kids speak English as well as Swahili. The kids absolutely LOVE us and I'm pretty sure I got harassed and stalked in the schoolyard by the "baby class" which are 3 and 4 year olds! It was quite funny. I taught class 2 and class 3 (2nd grade and 3rd grade). The kids here are so respectful, standing up and greeting you as you enter the class, and being so attentive and eager to learn and hear what you have to say...from experience, I can say that most American kids are the complete opposite! Some things that I took notice of in the schools are that all of the kids have small notebooks of paper wrapped in newspaper as a cover but share ragged textbooks, 1 for every 3 or 4 kids. They all share pencils, rulers, erasers, razor blades (yes, they use razorblades to sharpen their pencils), and share a small table as a desk with each row packed to the max. It's such a stark contrast from American schools where we each have our own space/desk, our own box of pencils, erasers, crayons, etc., our own notebooks with paper that we'll throw away if we mess up ONE word, etc. It has made me see how much we take for granted so many small things in America. I had some really fun times with the kids teaching them how to play hangman and duck, duck, goose and making kites from newspaper, string, and sticks. Tomorrow, Steph and I will start at a new school for the week while Chrissy (known as Christine here) will travel to a deaf school out of town for the week.

First meal in Africa: A bit similar to Brazil, I must say...rice, beans, vegetables, fruit, and meat. That's pretty much every meal. It's real good though...when we have a nice cold Coke, it tops it off!

First African wedding: Holy Cow! You haven't lived until you've sat through an all day wedding! The wedding was supposed to start at 10am so that's when we got dropped off. Pastor Euti didn't get there until like 12:30pm and he arrived with the wedding party! So here, they live off of "African time" which means if something starts at 10, it won't start until 11:30 or 12! So the wedding didn't officially start until like 1 or 1:15 and we finally left at 5:30pm! People we breaking out the newspapers and cd players during the wedding! It's much more like a church service though, with dancing, singing, shouting, etc. Not formal at all!

First Sunday in Africa: This morning we went to church at like 8:15 and Chrissy, Steph, and I taught the youth sunday school class. Then we went to the young adult sunday school class taught by our friend Joab, then went to the service which lasted from 10:30 until almost 2:00! It was definately different but awesome to be a part of worshiping God with another people group.

First week's highlights and funniest moments:

• "How do you feed it in space?" - this was what a British mother said in the DC airport before the flight to London...she was referring to how to feed her baby on the airplane!


• Teaching the kids at the apartment some card games like Go Fish and Spoons.


• Joe, Euti's oldest son, escorts us to school sometimes......and he's only 9! It's crazy that they won't let us walk anywhere by ourselves but they'll let us walk with a 9 year old as an escort!


• As most of you know, I don't like eggs...well, I had to eat them TWICE one day this week...I can definately stomach it, but it sure isn't my preference!


• Got to experience the "matatos" which are the public transportation vans/buses. We got on one the other day and it was like the ghetto club on wheels! It had a tv in it with rap videos and the loudest speakers ever! It was so funny we had to video it...hopefully you'll get to see it one day!


• First experience with Wheatabix....CHRISSY'S FAVORITE CEREAL! Chrissy told me that it's so disgusting, you just have to love it...so I had it at the bed and breakfast we stayed at the other night and it's everything I could've ever hoped for....it's this chunk of wheat cereal that once you add milk, it soaks it all up and instantly becomes like frosted mini wheats that's been sitting in the milk for 30 mintues....and of course it didn't have frosting. Chrissy and I will be sure to bring some back for you to try!


• Seeing a carful of young mzungu guys (white guys) as they pulled up beside us. Chrissy called it to our attention, and we all began freaking out...Steph so eloquently waved her hand out the window as if to give a "mating call." You can tell that the two of them have been out of the country for a month!


• We found a baby frog in our living room last night after my first rain in Africa!
• Today after church, as we were leaving, I asked Chrissy and Steph if we could go to Zaxby's for lunch and it was just pure torture to us to crave it and not get to go! So we started naming stuff we missed/wanted like Santa Fe, a salad with ranch dressing, some PICKLES (no, I have not had any since I've been here....I'm dying inside!), Chickfila, etc.

The pictures up top are of the beloved Wheatabix cereal, Euti's kids and some neighborhood kids hanging out with us in the apartment, and my 2nd grade class at Lucky Shamir.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and for keeping up to date with what is going on on this side of the world! We are looking forward to what God will continue to do through us here so please keep us all in your prayers! Check back soon for more updates! We love you all!

~Britain :)