it's april!

My weekend was pretty relaxed. Friday I slept in and came into the city for drumming, and then met Jenna and Whitney. We went to a bar and had a beer , then went back to Whitney’s (YWCA) and had dinner. I ended up sleeping there, and the next morning Whitney and I went to meet Jenna in Karen to go to the giraffe center where you can feed giraffes. She said to call once we got there, so we caught the bus, rode for about 45 minutes, and called her, but no answer. Eventually she texted us saying she couldn’t come because she had to stay home. Her family’s friend was beaten to death by her husband, who paid off the police and then fled to his home village, and the family wanted Jenna there for their day of mourning when friends and extended family were coming over. So that is really sad, and we are going to do the giraffes another time. On the way home on the matatu, for a while we were the only two on it, and the guy working on it asked us if we had ever heard of Jesus Christ, and why we hadn’t accepted him into our hearts. I wondered why he just assumed we hadn’t. Do I look like I haven’t accepted Jesus Christ into my heart? Was it the American accent? Anyway, we got to listen to him preach to us for abut 20 minutes about how great Jesus Christ is.
I went home for a few hours Saturday afternoon, then came back to the YWCA and hung out with Whitney and my cousins. It’s nice being with them, and being in a full house, especially one full of women : ) They are pretty funny and range in ages from 18 to 23. The ones who are home now (one is in boarding school and two are in college abroad) are Michelle, Rhoda, Dolly, and Cheryl. When I am there, I sleep in the girls’ room which is one room with two sets of bunk beds, and I sort of feel like I am in the Brady Bunch : )
At about 11 we went out to this club called Carnivore, which is either the “best” or “biggest” club in all of Africa. I can’t remember…maybe both? They were having some huge event sponsored by Coke and MTV, where they had 10 famous African rappers and singers performing. There was an outdoor stage, lots of lights and cameras, and a HUGE extremely energetic crowd. It was really fun to be there, and these performers must have been pretty famous because the crowd (including Michelle and Dolly) were going crazy and screaming. I think it was like the equivalent to a Justin Timberlake (+9 other MTV stars) concert in the U.S. We were there until about 2:30, spending a lot of time fighting off overly-touchy men, and then we left to go to another club. We danced there until 4:30am. When we got home the birds were chirping…a sign that it was definitely time for sleep. As tiring as going out to these clubs is, it is actually really refreshing and recharges my good feelings about being here. I was sitting in this club at 4am thinking, “wow I really like it here”, after a week of no classes and being bored and frustrated. And this is coming from someone who would choose playing scrabble on a Saturday night over going out dancing back in the U.S. It is just really nice to be able to hang out with people and have fun, after a long week.
Sunday I hung out at the cousins house and watched TV and read. I came home later that afternoon and walked next to two women who were talking and laughing. Something in one of the women’s hand caught my eye, and it turned out to be a live chicken that she was holding by the wings. It was just sitting there, being carried, not struggling at all. It was really interesting to see. I just wanted to share that mental image.
When I got home I hung out with Chipa, who hasn’t been feeling well because of a recent operation. It was nice to see him up though and laughing. We watched two of our favorite TV shows, Nanny 911 and Judging Amy. I am really catching up on years of TV that I haven’t watched. Who knew these shows could be so entertaining?