Spaghetti in Dagoretti

Before I disseminate my life, here's important information:

To Mail Me Anything:

Benedictine Fathers
Amani Conference Centre
P.O. Box 32101-00600
Nairobi - Kenya

To Donate Anything To My Mission:

Write a check out to: The Southern Benedictine Society. Then write "BVC - Harris" in the comment section. Then mail it to:

Southern Benedictine Society
100 belmont mount holly road
Belmont, NC 28012

OK. That was important. Now, what did I do this past week?!?!

Last Thursday and Friday, I just went into the daily grind teaching at St. Benedict's. St. Maurus was closed on Thursday afternoon through Friday for Hero's Day. I didn't know Kenya had heroes nor do I know who any of them are!

Saturday is where my fun started! I got invited by one the member's of the parish here to come and hangout with the high school youth on Saturday. We played a soccer tournament, sack races, volleyball, relays, etc. It was epic, and I got fried. As in sunburn. It was my first African sunburn! My team finished second. we had two draws in the soccer tournament that were killer. Then I went back to the crib for some refreshment, and, while I was there, the girls called and said the convent next door had some sisters driving to Karen and they were just about to leave. Now, I had planned on going to Karen on Sunday, but I couldn't pass up a free ride. So in about 3 minutes flat, I got my stuff together. Ran out to meet the van just in time. I'll tell you what. those sisters are so funny. I had a great time on the ride over to Karen. I learned 11 names that day! I can't quite put them to faces but I know the names!

On Sunday, I finally conceded and went to the giraffe center with the girls. It turned out to be a really small facility, but it was still pretty fun. We fed a few of the giraffes. They have wicked* long tongues, and they're really slobbery. They attendants also said that we had to be careful because sometimes the giraffes head butt people. That would have been pretty darn funny.

Monday, I went to Dagoretti with the girls. They spend their Mondays and Thursdays there. It was a really good time. Most of the morning was spent with the babies in the nursery. I've never really been known to be all about babies or anything, but man I had a good time with the little ones. We picked them up and just hung out and then later we fed them. Really cool experience. We spent the afternoon with the abandoned and orphaned children at the center. They were fun, but a couple of the kids were really annoying. I guess no parents isn't fun. Then we got taken to a multi-sensory room. Pretty cool. I basically got a massage from one of the workers there by way of one of those big exercise balls. That was different.

Tuesday, I brought the girls back with me to Nairobi in time to make it to Drawing at 11. I think the girls liked it. Then we spent a little time at P.E. where the kids jumped all over everybody and experimented with everyone's hair. It was pretty great. Then I took them on the long walk to the Mogra Rescue Center so that Miss Anne Trufant would kill Kate for not going to see it. We had a good time touring around it, and they gave us tea which was great. That night we watched Good Will Hunting. Kate hadn't see it in awhile and Caitlin had NEVER seen it. So of course we had to watch it.

Wednesday was a big day. I took the girls into Mathare. We went by St. Maurus school for the handicapped. The girls were a big hit with one of the Down syndrome kids named Joseph. He was hugging everyone like crazy. Then I took them to the Mogra Star Academy. They were so thrilled to have us that they gave us a full school tour. We stepped into like half the classes and the kids would sing us a song and then we'd introduce ourselves. It was pretty epic. Finally, I took the girls into The Street Children Project. Mike was working on the garden with Vinny and a couple of the boys. Then with the Mathare tour finished, I took the girls into downtown Nairobi to catch the matatu home, but not before we stopped at a burger joint where there was a buy one burger get one free deal going on. The girls split the deal. I had two burgers. Glorious! Then I went back to Amani and I passed oooouuuttt. Man that was a busy couple of days.

Today, we took it easy. Just a normal day at the office: Drawing and St. Maurus. Tomorrow I'm considering a similar schedule with possibly a quick trip next door to the convent at some point.

Extraneous thoughts:

Sister Lois at the convent is a very cool person. She lingers and she talks a lot, but she's so loving and if you give her words a chance they just might bring forward a sense of wisdom you were looking for. On Sunday night, she came into the guest house at the convent and sang us a song in Kiswahili. Then she explained the song to us, and it was a simple song about how one day we will find a place where no evil things can come. The song states that we may even look for those things, but they won't be there. It's a safe place surrounded in good. Most people like to think of heaven as up in the clouds with singing or a big friends and family gathering. I think it's possible to over think that stuff though. You start wondering about whether all your friends and family will be there or whether you'll actually enjoy sitting on your butt singing and playing the lute. In simple terms though, I'd like to think that heaven is just a simply good place. Not easy to over think. Just a good place. It's a calming thought.

Sorry for the lack of pictures this time around, my internet situation has changed. I'm working on a data plan now, so uploading pictures will take up too much data at the moment. I'm looking at strategies for later though. Don't worry! Remember donation details and mailing address are at the top! Stay Tuned!!!!

-Harris Moriarty

*denotes spending way too much time with Caitlin O'Malley