Today I finally had the chance to help with a house mudding!!  I enjoyed the day so much!  So far, I've always been busy teaching when the opportunity came up, so this time it was great to be on summer vacation! We were planning to head out promptly at eight this morning, but unfortunately the Patrol decided not to cooperate and insisted that it wasn't in the mood to haul six of us girls plus Joseph and Becky out toward the Nandi Hills.  No, actually, there seems to be a fuel leakage problem and maybe some other issues as well.  Ranjit, our mechanic, has been spending a hefty amount of time under the hood, building a relationship with the occupants that inhabit the space there, but apparently, it's a one-sided friendship.  So.... we waited for quite a bit while Joseph did his best to fix the Patrol's stubborn attitude.  Eventually, even Steve came to see what he could do, and it was decided that the Patrol would stay here in the compound and we would head out in one of the old vans.  Eric and Jessica are from Oroba church, so we again went jostling around and through the many potholes and bumps on the notoriously rough Miwani Road until at long last we finally "reached."  After stepping inside to pray a blessing over the dala and to sit a while, we headed outside to begin carrying water while the men started their work.    

Ready to begin! 

Pumping water... lots of it...

Carrying water "the Kenyan way"

 After a bit, Valerie and I jumped in to start mixing mud with our feet.  It was thick and goopy and sticky and rather slippery as well.  It was also exceptionally fun.  We stomped and pranced around in our miry puddle and became slightly splattered and quite, quite joyous.  It's also an efficient and entertaining exercise to work out your leg muscles! 

Mixing mud with our feet...

Before we could start slapping mud into the frame, we were ushered back inside to eat nyoyo.  We washed it down with good strong lemongrass tea and impatiently waited for the signal that it was permissible for us to head back outside.  We were given instructions by a few old mamas and then we began to enthusiastically "mud away."  There was a lot of laughter on our side of the house as our wall grew higher and higher.  A few of us were a bit skeptical that our section was a tad inferior to the native's handiwork beside us, but they kindly waved aside our doubts and jovially told us that we were doing a fine job.   

Teresa (left)... Becky (R) 

Stacy & Lynnae ~ hard at it!

The men carried mud for us and kept us supplied so that we could keep working.

Our happy crew who had the most fun of all:) 

Working hard and laughing harder with Valerie (one of the WATER girls)

Almost finished for today!

A few of the neighbor children...

The completed project ~ finished for today, that is...

In several weeks, after the mud has dried they will put another layer on both sides of the wall and then again another layer later, mixed with cow dung. 

While the cooks were finishing lunch preparations, we had a spur of the moment Bible study in the brand new house, then ate a hurried lunch and rushed home so the WATER girls could finish packing and prepare to head back home to the states.  This evening, Rhoda, Stacy, and I took them to the airport and dropped them off and then headed back for a wonderful supper at Stacy's house.  The power was off part of the evening, so we some rather dark, sweltering moments, but now the electricity is back on and we have FANS and lights and internet once again...and I am SO thankful! What are you grateful for today?

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."             -William Arthur Ward