MY VISIT WITH DEJAN

MY VISIT WITH DEJAN DAY 2

      Today is the second day of my visit with Dejan. We were talking about currency exchange, and how we were glad that we didn't loose anything over currency exchange, since we were both in America, and speak English. He needs a bigger fleet of trucks for his company, and he is dreaming BIG!

      Even though he speaks English, I thought I might want to know his original language, Croatian, which sounds a lot like Russian.
So, here are a few words that I found:

1. hi : bok
2. where is the bathroom : Gdje je zahod
3. how are you? : kako ste?
4. my name is... : moje ime ja...
5. my : moje
6. trucks : kamioni
7. drive : voziti
8. speak : govoriti
9. croatia : Hrvatska
10. peace on earth : mir na zemlji

MY VISIT WITH KIMANI MARUGE DAY 5

      Today is the fifth day of my visit with Kimani Maruge. Today, I will be touring his village. The first thing that I notice is the big farm, filled with stuff like cabbage, lettuce, beans, and corn. After that, we pass some kids playing volleyball, but it is a little different from our way, because it is less organized, without teams and rules. It actually seems kind of fun.

        It is very hot in Kenya, I'd say about 79 degrees, but I'm not quite sure how hot, since there are no thermometers. It is very humid, so hard to beat the heat. I'd also say that it looks kind of like it may rain tomorrow, which will be good for the crops, I guess.

The dirt roads, though, yikes! I'd hate to fall down...

    

       There are lots of houses in small clusters, but no electricity! The one thing that I like most is that the houses are a mix of palm fronds and plaster, with modern tools on the shelves, along with 100 year old pots. It is pretty shady, but there aren't too many places to sit in the shade. What a nice place to be, but what would I do without my computer, Mini-Max-the-Mac?

The kids around here are very playful (without video games) and have never even seen a camera! So when I took a picture of one of them, and showed him, there was a mob scene of kids that wanted their picture taken. Today was very fun. The kids were very friendly, and made me feel great.

MY VISIT WITH DEJAN

      Today, I am going to visit my Kiva fundee, Dejan, from Croatia who lives in Miami, Florida. I am taking United to MIA, which is Miami International Airport. It will be very crowded there, since it is an international airport. and I will be there tomorrow, the 17'th.

MY VISIT WITH KIMANI MARUGE DAY 1

Today, I flew to Eldoret, Kenya to visit Kimani Maruge from the movie The First Grader. During the ride, as I looked out the window, I noticed that the houses were getting smaller and more run-down by the mile, with a small group of houses that I had assumed were a town, but how would I know? I also saw a few cars (not very many).

          Once I landed, it was very dry and hot, so I took a very old taxi that smelled.... um... well-used to where Maruge was and I could hear some sort of ceremony- is a celebrity in Maruge's village? I thought; but NO, they were welcoming ME! After the ceremony, there was a HUGE feast, with thousands of foods that tasted great, although now I only remember the Ugali (rice) and the Mendazi (donuts) specifically. What a warm welcome!

MY VISIT WITH KIMANI MARUGE DAY 4

Today, I slept in until lunch, when I smelled the chicken stew that Maruge was cooking. I woke up to see that nobody was there, so I went to check the neighborhood's shared kitchen, which was close enough to the window for me to smell it by my bed, and I found Maruge tending to a big clay pot over a fire, full of vegetables that he had grown on his garden. I could hear the fire crackling, and smell the chicken, which afterwards tasted a little salty, with a bit of onion. One thing that was hard for me was that I had to eat with my hands. Since he gave me food, it means that he is a caring man.

MY VISIT WITH KIMANI MARUGE DAY 3

      Today is the third day of my visit with Maruge. I was at his school, where the kids sit at benches that all face the board. Everyone must value school, because they all wore the same well-groomed blue and grey uniforms, were polite to the teachers, paid attention (as opposed to good old USA), and brought all their materials. Maruge fit in with the uniform and behavior, although he was a little big, and an adult. It smelled very dusty, and the teacher spoke in some weird emotionless tone, but I was just thinking about getting back to this blog.

     Now I see that he is not lonely, although he still sits by himself during recess, and has many friends at school, like most of the students and the teachers. He is a special friend with the student that he helped write the number five.

    Even though some of the kids still think he is an oddball, he is happy to be at school, because he is learning to read.