the real world?

So the last few weeks have been totally consumed by work. I love what I'm doing, but it is a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week job. The way things are done here is so much slower and less productive than I'm used to. We had a meeting every day last week with each zone we operate in. Each meeting was supposed to start at 2pm. NOT ONE meeting started before 3:30... not one! Time is so not a factor here and it's extremely frustrating.

I just got back this morning from a workshop in Nairobi. It was for a select group of sports and development organizations that have been identified by the Dutch government to participate in creating a program to allocate funds the Dutch have available. It was a great two days and I met other really interesting people. There are so many great organizations here and it definitely inspired me to try and do even more.

The soccer team I am sponsoring played in an open tournament last weekend. They were definitely the youngest team, being all under the age of 16 but they played well and really held their own. People around town are starting to talk about them and complement their efforts and motivation... so nice to see! It's crazy how these kids play in tournaments against all these other teams and at the end of the day, the other players will go home to their houses/families/meals/bed, while my team all lives on the streets... pretty unbelievable huh?

I have met some more Americans who are living here in Kisumu as part of a program similar to the one I did in 2007. It's so nice to have more American friends and be able to speak normally and talk about stuff from home. I miss that so much.

Let's see if I can recount some recent awkward moments...

1. A man in the matatu this morning introduced himself to me and shook my hand but did that wierd thing where he tickled my palm with his middle finger while he was shaking my hand...

2. As I was riding in a matatu last week, I was sitting next to the driver in the front seat and he's muttering to himself "where are the keys?" We were driving around town with no keys in the ignition (?!?!) but finally we stopped and he found the keys under the seat.

3. I went to the movies last week with some friends because they have a special on Tuesday nights where you get a hot dog, soda, popcorn and ticket for 4 dollars. the power went off three times during the movie and we were the only ones there

So many other funny/crazy things happen and I will have to start writing them down so I can share.

There has been some big new the last few weeks in Kenya with the fire at a downtown supermarket in Nairobi. I man I know was killed in that. Also the tanker which overturned and then exploded killing like 120 people last week. Lots of sad new here...

Yet, things with me are good. Keep the updates coming. I will be waking up in the middle of the night to watch the Carolina Duke game tonight which will HOPEFULLY be aired. GO HEELS!