Baby Steve Has More Hair Than My Dad

I’m back at school after spending five full days in Kisumu, Lwanda, and Matongo. I traveled with my good friend and roommate, Raija. Her family stays in Kisumu and in a rural area called Matongo, so I spent a lot of time with her at her home. I also visited Martin and Syprose and baby Stephen Otieno Arogo. Four of their other six kids are living at home at this time, so it was nice to see them too, especially because we are the same age. Steve and Syprose both seem to be doing well. Martin and Syprose are happy parents! They would sometimes call Steve “Lora’s Dad” in Swahili and tell me to greet my “dad.” At home in Lwanda, I spent lots of time talking with George and his new wife Lizzy. I got to spend an afternoon with a good friend of mine called Patrick. It was a relaxing week, filled with lots of laughter and chapati. Raija and I carried back with us sweet potates, avocados, pineapples, and matoke (green bananas, PICTURED ABOVE), which are very cheap and plentiful on that side of Kenya. Fortunetly for me, all of those are my favorite foods, and I don’t know what I’ll do in the U.S. when I have to pay $1.50 for an avocado that I can buy in Kenya for 10 cents.

Here on campus, I washed my clothes this morning, then prepared a nice lunch of rice, vegetables, and green grams (they’re like lentils). I’ll go to soccer this afternoon, and spend time with friends in the evening.