waDAda!

Heyo,
I hope everyone back home is doing well and staying warm. Things here the past 6 weeks have been great. I've been having a lot of fun running the PE program at Hamomi. My kids are getting so strong and love showing off their muscles after I make them do push ups. They love Ultimate Frisbee and it can get pretty intense when myself and some of the other teachers decide to join in. We have quite the rivalry going.
Hamomi has grown a lot already this year. The excellent KCPE results got a lot of attention and many parents in the area brought their kids to Hamomi because it definitely rocks the house. I've had a lot of fun getting to know the new kids as well as hanging out with the old ones. January also brought my first observation/participation in Hamomi's weekly debates. A few of the teachers organize it every week and it's very formal. They have a Speaker of the House and whenever he/she calls on someone to speak, they say "Thank you Mr. Speaker sir/Mrs. Speaker madam, and all the rest of the members of parliament." Some of the older kids get really into it and it is a blast to watch.
In other exciting Hamomi news, at the beginning of February we took the first class of graduates to secondary school. I got to be a parent for the day and take Hilary Hampha to Nkubu High School right outside of Meru. It was a pretty awesome day. He was visibly excited and looked so smart in his new uniform. I really felt like a proud mom and got a little choked up when I had to say goodbye. All 6 boys have now been in school for a few weeks and I'm anxious to hear how everything is going. Again, we're all so proud!
At the end of January, my parents came to visit and it was a very busy but excellent 9 days. I gave them about 24 hours to recover from their flight halfway around the world before we headed west to Maasai Mara for safari. And I was right, the rain made the Mara so green, totally opposite from the dry, dusty Mara I saw when I went back in October. We saw tons of animals, but the highlights for me were seeing 7 lion cubs with their mothers and having an 8 ton bull elephant not necessarily charge us, but walk towards our van with definite purpose in its step. A little scary, but very exciting. After two days there, we returned to Nairobi and I took them to visit Hamomi. Not that I was at all surprised, but it was an excellent visit. All the teachers and students were happy to meet my parents and see where this crazy mzungu comes from. I can't speak directly for my parents, but I feel like they have a much better understanding of why I love this place so much after visiting Hamomi. From there we had a nice lunch of nyama choma, then visited my friend Ryan's school in Kibera. It was a nice afternoon and my parents got to see more of my day-to-day life here.
That night we took a bus to Mombasa on the coast. We stayed in a gorgeous little cottage right on the beach and spent the next 2 days relaxing, reading, swimming, walking in the Indian Ocean and, of course, playing Bananagrams. It was lovely. Once we got back from Mombasa, I took them to Machakos to visit my host family from last time. They all loved each other and it was really great for me to be able to finally introduce them, as they have all heard a ton about each other. The whole Mutuku clan was there, Faith came in from Nairobi and Victor came back from boarding school. It was a really wonderful afternoon as my two families finally became one. The only thing missing was Emily! That night we had an awesome meal at Carnivore and the next day I really got to practice my bargaining skills at the Maasai Market. All in all, it was a wonderful trip and I was really happy to be able to show my parents this country which has become such a huge part of my life. Ann and Jimbo, thanks for making the trip!
KSLP also received some pretty exciting news a few weeks ago-MSID (the program I studied abroad through) and the University of Minnesota are going to make a major donation to us which will put us at our first target amount. That means that in the next few weeks, our first shipment of books will be on their way to Kenya! After all of the work we have put in, this is a pretty exciting time for us and I'd like to thank everyone that has supported us over the past 2 years. Love you all!
In other news, I booked my flight out of Kenya yesterday. On March 15th, I'm heading to Thailand to meet up and travel with my good friend Cengiz. He lives and teaches there right now and has an exciting few weeks planned for when I'm there. Although I definitely have mixed feelings about leaving here, I couldn't be more excited to see and explore a part of the world I've never been to.
So, I've been keeping pretty busy. Aside from everything I already talked about, I've gone to a rugby match, had a few nights out on Nairobi, finished several books, made Valentine's Day cards with the kids at school (which resulted in quite a bit of glue and glitter in my hair), met some of the new MSIDers, and overall just enjoyed my life here. It's hard to believe that I only have a month left, but I've got some fun things planned and I intend to make the most of it.
Thanks for reading my mini-novel, I miss you guys and will see many of you soon! Take care and again, stay warm!
Peace and Love, Hannah