yet again i suck at blogging...gah i'm so annoying.

stuff has been beyond fabulous here. no al shabaab in nakuru, no illnesses, no complaints! not sure whether harry and laura have told people, but i'm officially staying a full extra month!!! it's so crazy because i'm technically supposed to fly back to the states today...wow. no offense to america, but i'm really thankful i extended my trip because there's still so much to learn at work and fun to have (both in and out of work). trying to blog about the past three weeks is almost impossible, but here are some highlights i suppose.

i keep meeting incredibly sweet people. the relationships are definitely my favorite part of this trip. my friend isabel is like my go-to and we run all over this town together. we've been so lucky to meet this really fun group of swedish kids, two adorable norwegian girls, and some fab kenyans. the people and hanging out with them for dinners and dancing at night has been by far my fave memories. nakuru is pretty small so like everyone knows each other so we normally see the same people out and stuff which makes this place feel like home!

in terms of work, things are great. the past two weekends i've been going to these things called "health action days" in rural areas where FAIR gives dewormer, vitamin a, vitamin d, and milk to hundreds of kids. they are SO fun to attend. the kids are so cute and playful and want to hold your hands alllll day. sometimes there's one little girl on each of your fingers. it's really adorable actually. the only thing that is painfully embarrassing is when all of the community caregivers have the kids form a circle around me and proceed to either force me to sing a song (alone) or jump rope (also alone)...in front of everyone. ugh kill me. it's SOOOO awkward, i always turn bright red and want to die. but other than that it's super fun.

one of the norwegian girls that we hang with turned 23 over the weekend so we went out to celebrate! it was so fun and i knew i had to work the next day but i just couldn't leave before midnight like i had planned! some of my coworkers were out that night too so i was like, okay if they can do it, i can do it. i can and i will get up at seven tomorrow... and as the hours ticked away i ended up getting home and going to bed at 4am. so literally we all came into work hungover and tired as hell and right when we saw the kids, everybody perked up in one second. crazy how you forget about silly things like being tired when you're with these kids that just want to snuggle you. and many of which don't have shoes or underwear...

so i'll be home the week before christmas! which means everyone will be getting african-themed christmas gifts. hope there aren't any objections, but if there are feel free to confront hehe :)

funnies:
-i bargain for watermelon every day. i wish i could do this when i get back...but a) watermelon won't be in season and b) i don't think kroger would be down with negotiating
-yesterday i saw 4 kids and a driver on a piki piki (motor bike). mothers in america would have cringed, but not here!
-since i'm not a huge fan of chai, and the kenyans drink it thrice a day, i enjoy bringing a cold diet coke to work for a little caffeine boost. this may seem harmless, but my boss and many of the other employees here hard-core hate on me for drinking soda in the morning. it's hilarious. one woman told me that drinking too much soda will make me a more violent individual HAHAHAH!
-just renewed my visa! i'm a registered alien in kenya!

i'll leave you with a quote from my friend philip: "i like american girls, they do what they want." thank you, philip and duh!

OH SHOOT WAIT one more hilarious thing. so one of my friends here is dating this guy that is the commanding chief of the nakuru police force. first and foremost, when i say dating i mean he's one of her boyfriends. she has quite a few :) anyway, he took us out to lunch the other day because we're always down for a free meal. so when my friend went to the bathroom, the policeman was like, "how old are you, valen" and i was like "22" and he asked me if i had any kids, to which i responded, "nope, i'm still young!" the policeman said, "you're not too young, i'll give you a baby to take home to america." AHHHHHHHH! WHAAT?!?! seriously i almost died laughing!!!!! how hilarious is it that a freaking police officer would say that to a girl that is like half his age. imagine! only in kenya. (*if you alarmed by this story, do not be. just take it for what it is worth: an example of the corruption and sexuality of the african population).