I'm in freakin Africa!

Who woulda thunk? Africa has been nothing like I thought it would be. Ok major differences, other than the obvious difference in pay from Americans to Kenyans, the driving is crazy! The only way to describe it is a combination of Grand Theft Auto, The Indiana Jones ride, and the Roger Rabbit ride. They have crazy buses called Matatus that drive all over the place filled way over capacity, even driving on the sidewalks to pass people. There are no traffic signals or stop signs except in the big city of Nairobi but everyone ignores them. We went to what is called the Nairobi trade fair or something like that, it's kinda like Folk Life, but Dad and I and Oprah and my mom rode......A CAMEL!!!! It actually was a lot smoother of a ride than you would think but I kept feeling like the seat that was strapped to the camel was going to slide off! The ATMs here only take out 20,000 shillings at a time, (80 shillings is 1 dollar so that would be like $150)and we only have one card with us to use, however we discovered that we could use the internet, transfer some money from my parents account to mine and we could use my card! WRONG!!! The atm ate my card!!! SOOOO mad! Anyways, the kids at the orphanage are adorable! There is a 2 year old named Dedan, he is SOOOO cute but according to Oprah never smiles and is always frowning and looking concerned, it probably doesn't help that he has had a sore on his two little toes for months now that have never been healed and only has flip flops to wear which don't help the healing process. My dad took it as his personal mission to get Dedan to smile, and after two days....HE DID! And what an adorable smile he had, and after smiling for about 2 minutes, the scowl returned (however not quite as serious). Our hosts are the Gitanga family and they are very gracious and kind. Another difference from the things you would imagine about Africa is that everyone has a mobile phone! Oprah's phone costs 3 shillings a minute to call the U.S! We found a movie store where they sell seasons of shows for......150 shillings each! We had to make sure that they worked and it ended up being that 2 of the 13 I bought didn't work but they let you take them back. (In case you were wondering I got Grey's Anatomy 1-6, Lost 1-4, and One Tree Hill 7) This sounds very selfish of me since we are here to help the orphanage but....really 150 shillings!!! I don't know who could pass up that kind of a deal! That is like $2 for a season! DO YOU BLAME ME!?!?! The kids at the orphanage are very loving, as soon as we get out of the car I have at least 6 kids holding my hands or giving me hugs, and they will stay like that as long as I'll let them. They like touching my white arms and making my hands caress their face, apparently white skin feels softer to them. They are very inquisitive and ask lots of questions. One boy asked me who ruled North America, another asked me if the guns in the terminator movies really can make guys fall from tall buildings, if Arnold Schwarzenegger (at first I thought they were asking me if I knew a "nigger" and was in complete shock and a state of awkwardness till I figured out what they really said) was President or a governor and if we have robots. They don't have TV's but they can watch them on the streets. They have little stands EVERYWHERE selling everything from clothes, fruit, rims, tires, "house women", they even have car washes (amusingly described as high pressure, but to my surprise it did look like they had a pressure wash machine). The cops in town are entertaining to see and stick out like sore thumbs to me because instead of a hat or a helmet they wear a baseball helmet with a huge star in the front. The salesman (called brokers) are VERY aggressive! Dragging you to see their stands, begging to ask how much money you have to make a deal with you. We went to a place called the Massai market (Massai being the tribal looking Africans that everyone probably imagines that everyone looks like here) and as soon as we walked through the gates we had at least 8 guys on each of us shoving their paintings or jewelry in our faces. It turns out that there is a lot more drama involved in Oprah's situation at the orphanage than any of us could have ever dreamed! Apparently us "Muzungu's" coming meant money was coming, and not even for the orphanage, but for the school that the kids go to (they gave us a tour of the school, showing how bad it was and at the end gave us envelopes with a list of projects they would like to do), the staff, the voluntary doctor who told Oprah he was doing everything for free gave Oprah a bill of all that he has done three days after we arrived. It is just horrible to see the corruption here, not only in Africa in general but even within the orphanage but Oprah has stood her ground and has been full of integrity and wisdom throughout the whole experience. Hopefully by the time we leave, the kids will have bunk beds (right now they have about 2 mattresses on the floor and 1 bed to room 8 kids), the Orphanage will be registered with the country, the rent on the orphanage will be caught up, the sewer will be fixed, the electricity will be turned on, the land for a new orphanage will be bought, the kids will have the clothes and food that they so desperately need, and the staff will be weeded out of the slimy scumbags who are trying to take advantage of Oprah! I'm sorry this has all been said so randomly but we are at an internet cafe where time is limited, the keyboard is sticking and the guy next to me wreaks of B.O. so you get what you get! We miss you all very much and I personally can't wait to come home and sleep in my own bed and eat good old American food!