We had such a wonderful time while Jack and Kerry were here. We were able to show them our lives and how we have been living it the past 4 months now, wow 4 months. We definitely were spoiled a bit with the candies, goodies, and trinkets our families brought us, along with the outings. We were a bit overwhelmed when they unpacked their suitcases and showed us the treasures inside their luggage. It has been so nice to be able to enjoy a sour strawberry candy strip, some See's peanut brittle, powerbars, or some gummy worms. It may seem strange but during these past four months we have learned how to live without these luxuries. Don't get us wrong, we're really happy to have these things, but it feels weird to eat a delicious candy while we hide in our room then sneak back outside to the children who don't have these sweeties. These candies have alone made us realize how lucky we are back in the states.
The presence of Jack and Kerry has been so refreshing to our relationship as well. Jokingly Jack and Kerry had told us during the two weeks they were here, that this is the longest they have been together since they got married 33 years ago today (happy anniversary you two!). They have never spent 24 hours a day together for this amount of time and that made us laugh, mostly due to the fact that we've been spending 24 hours everyday together for over 4 months. We do realize we need to have our alone time but we are reassured about each other due to the fact knowing we can spend so much time together and still have a smile on our faces when we see each other for the first time everyday.
The same day Kerry and Jack left, our buddies from Belgium (Gil and Nils) left also. Our other volunteer friend Maria will be leaving in 8 days from today. Soon Katie and myself will be the only two volunteers, as oppose to the other 6 who were here when we arrived. We have learned so much from each one of them, we have learned more about other cultures, and have learned more how we want to live our lives. In July there will be two new girls from Slovakia and we are excited to be the "vets" around here where we can help guide them to their new home.
In a little over than a month my mom, Anita, and her boyfriend Martin will be coming to visit. We remember when Kerry, Katie's mom, would send us emails titled "39 days and counting until we're in Africa!". It's amazing to think they've been gone for a few days already. Sometimes time here goes by very slow, in the case of Kerry's email, time flies by.
The one thing we noticed the most with Kerry and Jack being here is how important family is to us and the relationships with the ones we loves are the true treasures in life (even though candy can feel that way at times). How do I say this... If, whomever is reading this may miss Katie and I in anyway, we probably miss you twice as much. We miss all our friends/family, everyone's particular self, habits, jokes, mannerisms, being, and just whomever you are to us. We still enjoy it here but can't wait to get home to hear everyone's stories while we have been on different continents.
Patrick
These are a couple more pictures from Jack and Kerry's trip in Africa...
Katie while we're walking to our tent at Acacia Camp in Masai Mara
I believe this is the sunrise during our first morning on the safari.
Jack and Kerry with some twiga running in the back
Ok quick story...
This is Fr. John Roche SDB, Pat's teacher/friend from St. John Bosco High School. Fr. John is the person who was the link to get us to Nairobi. When Pat graduated from SJB H.S. in 2004, Fr. John also left to study in Rome. While in Rome he met another Salesian priest who was studying with him, Fr. Sebastian Kol of DBYES in Nairobi. (Of course Br. Al was the one who organized everything) but Fr. John contacted Fr. Sebastian about Katie and I possibly doing some volunteering in his center. Fr. Sebastian Kol then contacted Fr. Sebastian Chriyath of Bosco Boys who lives down the road from his center. Bada Bing Bada Boom, we're here... Well Fr. John was suggested, by Fr. Sebastian Kol, to be the guest speaker for a convention in Tanzania for the Salesians of Eastern Africa. On June 10th, Fr. John arrived at the airport in Nairobi, spent one day, then flew off to Tanzania (the country directly south of Kenya). This is a picture of me and Fr. John at the airport in Nairobi. He will be coming back to Nairobi in a few days for a 4 day visit, then back to Berkeley where he is a professor at UC Berkeley.
Katie and Pat at a restaurant called "?Que Pasa?" in the area called Karen in the city of Nairobi.
A dinner with Gil and Nils... (from left to right: Gil, Jack, Nils, Katie, Patrick)
One night Jack, Kerry, and Katie prepared a wonderful dinner at the girl volunteer home. Our friend Susan joined us and we had a really fun night eating pasta, salad, wine, and See's chocolates for dessert.
The four of us went on a tour of DBYES (Don Bosco Youth Educational Services), the center ran by Fr. Sebastian Kol. In the background you can see a bit of the construction they are doing at that center. It is a retreat center and the new building structure will include 50 new rooms (which can house up to around 300 people), two large multi-purpose rooms, and a new kitchen facility. Fr. Sebastian's dream is to house retreat groups from all over the world to give them a "true African experience".
We went out to dinner one night with Susan (left) and Maria (right) at a nice Indian restaurant down the road from Bosco Boys.
Guess which one's me...ha
This is Bosco Boys basketball team in a tournament at Bosco Boys Town (another Salesian Technical school down the road). We are considered a primary (elementary) school and we played against two clubs teams, a high school, and we eventually lost in the finals versus a university team (by one basket! ah! it's ok though, the Lakers won... but watch out for the Clippers next year ;). We ended up playing four games (each an hour) and it was exhausting but was fun to be in competition with the boys and other people affiliated with Bosco Boys. It was a really fun day.
This is a picture of Jack, Kerry, and Fr. Makarios at the Langata school. I think I have written before about Langata, but it's a school down the road where the children are first put into. If they perform well, adhere to the rules, and begin their rehabilitation process well then they are brought over to Bosco Boys. The boys at Langata are the ones right off the street, may be more difficult at times, but are very sweet and fun. There is a new building going up as well at this center (one of our first posts we wrote about the breaking of ground there, it's amazing to see two stories now). For some reason they are holding a German flag, I don't know why, but Mr. Kurt Brown (Katie's younger sister's boyfriend) we thought of you. So... Hi Kurt. Thanks for your message by the way.
This is a picture of the four of us the night before Jack and Kerry's departure with some of our buddies at Bosco Boys.
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