mmmm smells like christmas!

I decided that a little "no bake" baking would help get me out of this little holiday depression. By "no bake" baking, I mean, since I don't have and oven, and making cookies in the jiko oven is easier said than done. I did all my cooking on the stove top.
 Its hard this time of year to be away from my family and friends back home. I will be climbing Mt. Kenya this year! Which is very exciting, but I still miss home. So I "baked" and I "baked".

I made Peanut Butter fudge, chocolate peanut butter fudge, chocolate covered pretzels, muddy buddy cookies, and attempted peanut brittle.
I found the muddy buddy recipe on pinterest (yes we even have pinterest in africa) They are store bought cookies, then you dip them in a chocolate, peanut butter, and margarine mixture, then throw them in a bag with powdered sugar and viola! and they are TAMU SANA! 

The fudge turned out great as well! Another pinterest find! just 2 cups of sugar and a little milk, bring to a boil and then add peanut butter and vanilla. I also added the cocoa powder! Another TAMU SANA!
The peanut brittle did not turn out as good as my grandmas, I tried 2 batches, but not a success. Still edible!
I made all this to give for gifts to my neighbors and friends!

I did attempt to make some nobake cookies, however I cut the sugar in half. well it turned into a bunch of yummy goo. Not gift worthy, well kibaibai took it upon himself to hop up onto the table and help himself, you know since they weren't gift worthy!
I hope he learned his lesson! I know I sure did. I never want to be up at midnight cleaning up his "runny" mess!

This will be my last post until after the holidays. I'm leaving Saturday to climb Mt. Kenya then we're heading to Lamu to ring in the New Year! So Kibaibai and I are sending Seasons Greetings from Kenya! 

World AIDS Day

I am now a world half marathoner,

Our runners representing Peace Corps!!!!

 having ran half marathons in the US and now in Kenya! Today I finished the Kisumu World AIDS Day half marathon! I took me 2 hours and 25 minutes, not my best time, however in America when you are running any race, they are for the most part well organized.  Well today, I ran along side matatus, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, cows and pigs. I ran through the slums and villages of Kisumu, on rocky uneven terrain. So for me .......... 2 hours and 25 minutes rocks! hahahha

It was fun to be involved in a  event thats here to help change the stigma of AIDS in Africa, and remind people that getting tested and protecting themselves is the only way to change the future and reduce the HIV rate in Africa. As of 2005 the HIV prevalence for adult men was 6.1% and 8% for adult women. Knowing their status will help prevent the spread of HIV to the partners. 

This event is sponsored by the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation. http://www.richardmbrodsky.org/

 has been running this event for around 30 years I think. He himself is HIV positive and very open about his status. By him being so involved in the community, he inspires not only us as Americans, to get involved, but it also inspires the Kenyans to get tested and know their status. 

A safe return

Just letting you know that I made it back. The trip went well. I almost got stuck sitting next to a screaming baby and a mother who didn't know what she was doing, thank god there were a few empty seats! I got an isle seat, with no one in the middle seat! Can you say lucky! Also the flight went straight from DC to Ethiopia only 11 hours!  no stop in Rome. Once I got to Nairobi, I went straight to the ATM, so I could afford a cab instead of dragging my huge bag and the enormous dog cage onto a bus. Well go figure, peace corps hadn't payed us yet, so there was NO money in my kenya account, I tried my credit card next, go figure it wouldn't allow a withdraw (my dad later told me they froze the account because there were suspicious withdraws at tj-max and a gas statin (yep that was me)) thank god they had the atm that takes my american atm card( which there are only a few in Kenya, cause its not a visa. ..... anyway I made it to the hotel (finally) Decided I would get up first thing in the morning to take a shuttle home, instead of going right away and getting home in the dark. The next morning I had to lug my stuff only 1 short block to catch the shuttle.  Welp, my dad had bought me a roller cart for the cage, well the cage was sitting on it off center, and walking that one block found to be a tricky task. The whole cart, dog cage, bag and all fell over twice on my walk to the ally where the shuttles are, then I had to maneuver it through tiny tight spaces, before finding an empty shuttle so I could snag the front 3 seats. I'm sure I looked like the crazy mzungu (white girl) hahaha 

   Once we were on the road there were absolutely NO problems. Since I bought all 3 seats I didn't have to worry about sitting next to any vomiting children, or stinky people. Once we arrived to my drive way ( about a 400 yard walk down a uneven dirt path) I was up for the challenge after deciding to wear my heavy bag and put my smaller one in the cage. It didn't go to bad, my neighbor girl helped me out half way through. 

And finally I was home!!!!!! Nothing like arriving home to a happy face! Kibaibai was ecstatic that I was home. Of course I was so happy to see him too! 

I emptied my bags, put everything away and snuggled up with kibaibai for an afternoon nap. 

On Saturday I woke up bright and early to attempt my first run back in Kenya. It went as good as I thought it would (horrible!) but after eating american food non stop, and breathing in good ol Ohio oxygen for 2 weeks, I expected a rough first run. 

 I cleaned a little, washed Kibaibai (he certainly needed it) and walked to Turbo, to get some veggies and eggs. I decided to walk home too, I needed the exercise and a tan! 2 weeks in Ohio and I was as pale as if I had never been to Africa! I got home and fell asleep, I ended up taking a 5 hour nap! Got up around dinner time, made dinner and went to bed by 9 and slept straight through the night! Hello Jetlag...........

Now I'm getting back into the groove. I finished cleaning today (Sunday) and getting other stuff around the house done. It feels good to be back, but I am definitely missing everybody back home! These next 9 months will fly by! 

time flies when you're havin fun

Well I only have a day and a half left here in America. Then back to Kenya for 9 more months. I want to thank everyone who made it out to my open house yesterday, especaially my mom and dad for having a party for me! It feels so good to know that you all are thinking about me! And an extra big thank you for all those who helped pay for my MT. Kenya climb! I promise I will take lots of pictures!

But this trip would not have been complete without the time I got to spend with the best friends and family a girl could ask for!

I had a great weekend with my best friends, including lots of wine, hot tub, and a hummer limo! Talk about showin the love! Thanks girls!!!!! xoxoxo

Also my aunts and uncles and grandparents that came out for our Thanksgiving, thank you sooooo much for coming!

I have eatin everything on my list of foods that I have missed while being in Kenya, this including but not limited to : pizza, subway, taco bell, mexican, slow roasted home cooked meals, moose tracks ice cream, dietses ice crea, and oh so much more!

I had a great trip, but am definitely ready to get back to kenya......

 I miss this guy
 

and the slow simple life in Kenya.

Good bye America! See you in 9 months!

Last post till Im in the US of A!

I had an awesome day, ok lets be honest, I've had an awesome past couple of days.  Since Im leaving for home soon (only for a visit) I have not been working here. Instead I've been spending my days with my 2 favorite families, and it has been so comforting.
 Yesterday I taught mama kosi and her sisters how to bake a cake, I was supposed to teach mama jemeili too, but ran out of time so I baked her one this morning. They loved learning how to bake! We also used food coloring to make the cake a red a blue swirl. They wanted to make it for their guests that they were having today.
So today (this morning actually) I went over to help prepare the food. I showed them that I am the master at rolling out chapati ;)
I felt so great to get to help out and be treated like family instead of a guest.  When I visit most people here in Kenya, I have to sit (usually alone) in the sitting room, while they prepare the food or chai for me. But with mama kosi's family and mama jemili's family, they put me in the kitchen and don't act like i'm fragile. Still they are impressed when I know how to prepare some traditional food.
So we cooked all morning chapati, rice, ugali, kuku (which I actually didn't kill) and fried potatoes. It was a feast, and the whole family was there, along with some other visitors.
They never did serve the cake we baked yesterday however. I wonder if they thought there wouldn't be enough for everyone, or...... they wanted to save it for themselves :)
Probably a little of both, the cake did turn out kind of small.  Obviously here we bake the cake from scratch and not from a box. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, but the cake never seems to rise, it always turns out flat and dense........ Grandma I'm coming for you for tips personally! hahaha
Other than that, I've been also spending alot of time with Kibaibai, I sure will miss him, while I'm gone :(

A few pictures from halloween

Just some animals at the watering hole

Our zoo, or safari, from left : Lindsay-Cheetah, Me- Giraffe, Andrea- Zebra, and Breezie- Lion 

Well I am back from Halloweening at the beach. I had a great time with great friends! Now only a few days at site before I am headed back to the U S of A!!!!! whooop whooop whooop... It's hard to express my excitement through typing,  but just so you know, I am VERY excited!
This morning I went for a run. After 5 days of not sleeping, not running, and probably having a little to much fun, I thought the run would not go well.  After 2 miles I turned around to head home, and a kalingen runner came up behind me ( i usually see a lot of runners in the morning) Anyway, I finished my last 2 miles at his pace! I was pretty impressed that I could keep up. Obviously I was a lot more tired than he was, he said he'd see me tomorrow.....we will see. hhahaha .
I'm mostly getting stuff done to go home, so there is not a lot going on this week. I probably won't up date again till I get back from America, unless I get bored at home...... which I'm not expecting that to happen.