Arsenal vs. Liverpool

Last night we went to house 2 to watch the Arsenal vs. Liverpool game with the boys that didnt go anywhere for Christmas. I've always enjoyed futbol (soccer) and would watch a couple matches or read about the teams and players, but never got obsessed about it. Being around these kids, they want you to play with them and they're always talking about the games and the players, so needless to say I've become more invested...

Pato playing soccer...


This is Charles, he goes to Oasis everyday and is a neighbor of the house boys.


Keya


We thought elvis might not be the type to pose like the younger boys...turns out we were wrong, he's just more quiet about it...


Andrew and Keya


This is what happens when you ask Keya to take a picture...Allison even had him do it a second time with no luck...

Elvis and Moses


Justus and Moses


It was a really fun night just getting to hang out and watch the game. Elvis and I kept fighting over who was the better team. He's all for Manchester United and I'm for Arsenal. Granted I still am learning and he knows way more than I do, but he would get so worked up over anything I said, so after a while I just made things up to get him going. He would just keep say "Aye, Bwana...you know..." and then rant at me in Swahili...priceless.
Oh BTW Arsenal drew 1-1 after Adebayor got a red card. Oh well they're still better than Manu U

The Strongest Man in the World...

Last night I heard a ton of noise coming from Ayub's house on our compound...So I went to investigate and when I got to Ayub's house I found Ayub (basically our Kenyan dad) and Cleophas (our guard and friend) watching, what else but, WWE wrestling!

Apparently it's a regular saturday night even for these two, and I think I may have to join them, it was so much fun. Ayub didn't stop laughing and cheering on the wrestlers. He would say in his Kenyan accent " Wow! Look at this man, have you ever seen such a thing?" While everytime someone got hit, Cleophas would put his hands on his head, grab his hat, and say "A lalalalalala..."

Ayub's favorite part was when there was a "little person" wrestler. Apparently, he's never really seen one, let alone one who wrestles...I wish I could video Ayub's laugh and post it, it's one of my favorites and so contagious. It just makes you happy when you hear it. Oh Ayub...

Home

Today most of the house boys left to go home for Christmas. They have been talking about it for months, and truthfully we didn't know if it was going to happen because of money. Everything worked out and thanks to a bunch of donations to Oasis, they were able to go at the last minute.

Before they left Geoffrey had a talk with them about traveling, their "activities" at home, and when to be back. We heard that the boys didnt have bibles of their own and we found a huge box of them here at our house, so Allison, Chris, Andrew, and I decided this might be a good gift to give them before they left. We wrote their name, our favorite bible verse, and signed them



The boys in the office with their bibles...



So of coarse as we were saying goodbye we had to take as many pictures as possible...

Wiki & John


Evans & John


Dr. Stone



Esokon, Paul, and Bram before they headed to Lodwar


Evans


Bram



We said goodbye to the house boys and then this awesome photo shoot took place...



Mobsters...


They all wantedto see themselves, so they mobbed Alice


Our littlest ninja Kamao, hes got a wicked Praying Mantis...




Kamao was in rare form today


Seriously looks like an alien...


Cute Teresa


Ovito's brother Isaiah...


Simon


Andrew's workout


Hand check


Who knows...


After we walked into town to get the rest of the Christmas presents. Andrew and I wandered around the street to find some kids we know who hadn't come to Oasis and found these two at the kinyozi...

Yep, it's for real, the Pentagon opened a kinyozi in Kenya...some sort of under cover thing...

Bram wanted to look smart for the fam, and why not? He has 11 brothers and sisters waiting...This kid's 16! He looks like an old man...

Christmas Time is Here...

Yesterday and today Joseph, Andrew, Allison, and I went to town to start getting things for the Oasis Christmas celebration coming up on Tuesday...
We spent a good amount of time at Joseph's friend's store getting clothes for about 120 kids. Each kid will get a new pair of pants, a nice shirt, socks, and shoes...

The floor of the store was covered, you could barely see joseph's feet.





This is the crowd that began to gather because of all the "Mazungu's" in the shopping center...


Andrew looked like Santa Claus hauling out the bags of clothes...


We can't wait for Tuesday the kids are so excited for Christmas. I'm really thankfull to be here for it. I'm sad I can't be at home this time of year, but getting to see these kids on Christmas will make it more than worth it...
Also, to everyone who sent donations to Oasis for Christmas and to replace what was stolen in the boys homes, a huge THANK YOU for making it all possible, it couldn't have happened without your help...There will be more to show after Tuesdays party, we're keeping everything hidden for now:)

Wednesday at Oasis

This is what greeted us as we arrived to Oasis yesterday...When asked why he was wearing a band aide across his nose which rested in his actual eyeballs, he said, "It's my style." Oh, Steward how I love this kid... At least he has some I guess.



Kamao and James


Look how properly Donald eats, he looks like an old man the way he's sitting...too cute.


Celinah


Elizabeth


Proof there are cowboys in Kenya, and he's not the only one I've seen hanging around town...



And speaking of lunch, what better time than lunch to pull jiggers out of a little girls feet...poor thing

Safari Njema

We just got home from dropping Chris off at the airport. He's on the first leg of his trip home. Sadness, for us at least...Safari Njema Chris.

2nd to Last

Today is Chris' second to last day here in Kenya. He wanted to spend both today and tomorrow at Oasis with all the kids before he left.
It was a typical day with school and soccer, but when it came to craft time, all the kids made going away cards for him. It was ridiculously cute what they all wrote to him, Im sure he will post about it soon.
One of my best friends from America, Jason, called while we were at Oasis and a couple of the kids talked to him on the phone. It was awesome.
So here you go J some faces to put with the voices you heard.
First was Teresa. Shes so tiny and doesn't speak much English so I just had her and her group of friends talk to him in Swahili. Her tiny voice is the cutest thing I've ever heard.


Next was Steward, he has great English and I knew that with his personality he would be hilarious to talk to.


And finally cute Moses who asked Jason, "What time is it?" and when Jason said 4Am he told him "Aye bwana, thats too late, you should sleep." ha!


We are having one final dinner for Chris tonight with the people who work here at the house and some of Chris' closest friends, like Geoffrey, Olivia, James, Freda, and Richard...