feature book review, part one of many

I am not your typical Bible reader (not that there is a definition of a typical Bible reader) and I will admit that I have never read the text as a whole. My readings have been limited to hopping around. I’ve read and studied books and chapters as they appear as allusions in other artworks. Nevertheless, my opinion is that it is one of the most enthralling manuscripts ever published. Here is where my inner and outer nerd thumps its little heart: it is quite possibly the product of the greatest (and shoddiest) editorial effort of all time. There are multiple authors, multiple editors, multiple translations, ghost writing, lost pieces, found pieces and canonization (i.e. a big whopper in history). It is an anthology at heart with indelible and honorable scratches, cuts, dings and bruises: marks of survival to modern day. If its stories and letters accomplish anything across religious lines and levels of devotion, they are undoubtedly the calling to action of a person in flawed world, then and now. I found this anecdote to be intimately appropriate for my head space and life space, playing third-world world activist for now...with the notion of possibly becoming a lawyer one day (from my boy Isaiah, 58):

⁶ Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

¹¹ The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Very good stuff for my current sun-scorched home, right?

I cannot express sufficient gratitude for the support and encouragement I have received from so many of you and from so many unexpected places as I turn one big step across the ocean into many small steps towards a special kind of justice here in Nakuru.

The only wealth is to be thankful...

tnick

one and two and three and four and get those sit-ups right and...

As some of you know, I have decided to take up an exercise routine in my free time. Downtime in a third-world country is a bad thing. You (well, I) start planning, rationalizing, philosophizing, and thinking: what am I going to be doing in 12 months? what would a salad taste like right now? where could I find a cold Belgian? when was the last time I was in shape?

All of this exercising business began yesterday. At around 6:00 in the evening I head to the school compound to go for a jog. There are three downsides. 1) All the villagers and children on their way to the well are thinking, “Who is that crazy white girl in the green pants running in circles uphill both ways in a maze of rocks, dirt, holes, and animal droppings?” They wave and half-smile politely. 2) I now get to think about how shockingly unfit I am, not aided in the least by this altitude. 3) After I pat myself on the butt for completing one-half of a lap longer than yesterday (yes, pathetic), I remember that I get to climb that killer-steep hill back to my accommodations! Very tragic, huh?

I complain, but really though, you cannot beat evening jogs during Rift Valley sunsets with a light breeze…until you find yourself downwind from the outhouses to knock you back into reality. :)

Here is to me becoming super trim on my journey to becoming marathoner…or just a miler...here, here!

With love to you from this beautiful place,

tnick

home in the strangest places, part two

As part of Monday morning assembly, the boys were sternly warned (and openly in front of the whole school) that they were not using the bathrooms properly. Please imagine this in an accent: “You are not going in the hole. It is a shame.” Boys will be boys…in bathrooms…no matter where on this globe they are or what human waste receptacle is at their disposal.

home in the strangest places

Short and sweet, a few observations for today:

The ride from Nairobi to Nakuru is always interesting, marked by the random police, military, and highway patrol traffic stops. Really, we were stopped just to say, “What’s up?” Who would have thought that Weezy and Beyoncé would be advertising here alongside Man U and Nivea Cream for stretch marks?

I exploded a bottle of Coke Light in what I thought was the refrigerator, but was actually the freezer—a glass bottle. That is about standard, right Dad?

There is an entire line of cookies, crackers and candies named Tiffany, shipped from the UAE. And a Wool-Matt (say it fast enough, maybe with a foreign accent, and what do you think it sounds like?). And Reuben (for any of you that know him or any of the GTF group that met him) is a radio DJ on the weekends, which is entirely hilarious.

Send me the good vibes across the ocean…

tnick

hello, old friend

Okay, so I know I am really horrible at this. It has been a week and a half and I have not written one word...sigh. 1. I really hate Google's blogging program. 2. It is impossible to post photographs with the speed of the Internet here and how old the computers are...and I would rather you 'see' than 'read.' 3. So much happens here in a week! A sampling: we disbursed approximately 600 pairs of shoes to current and graduated students, a women's sewing co-op was developed and has churned out b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l handmade goods for sale, the orphans moved into their home at which point I cried...heavily, running water is now moving through five faucets in the dining hall, I ran into a 5-inch toad on the way to the bathroom at 2:00 in the morning, and I learned all about the unique {and frustrating} relationship between information and power here.

Thank you for the profound love you have sent across the ocean; I eagerly and patiently work through my attempt to connect to dial-up every late night for that reason.

In conclusion: I am alive, just slow and less efficient than many of you remember when it comes to completing this kind of task. Kenya makes you lose your sense of urgency... :) And because this program will not recognize the enter button, therefore eliminating my signature line: love to you, with more to come soon, from tnick.