Italia!

Venice:

Something awesome I saw: My family! After not seeing them all summer, we all got to meet up in Venice. How cool is that? Venice! It is just a beautiful place. Glass blowing! This man made a horse out of glass in 50 seconds! Wow!

Something awesome I did: Gondola ride! This has been a longtime dream of mine! It was awesome except that our driver man was kind of a big dull dud. Didn't even matter though.

Something silly: the amount of maps it took for us to get to the restaurant we were looking for... not to mention getting back home.

Pisa:

Something awesome I saw: The craziest thing! There is a tower there that is legit leaning. I know it sounds made up, but for real it is.

Something awesome I did: Well I held up that tower that is leaning, just so it doesn't fall. Man am I tired.

Something silly: When my sister tried to push the tower over! who does that??

Lucca:

Something awesome I saw: the city that is old timey and walled in!

Something awesome I did: walked on those city walls and acted like soldiers.

Something silly: The way that I slept the entire way there and back and missed all the interesting things our guide was telling us. oops.

Florence:

Something awesome I saw: Some really awesome art including Michelangelo's David and the Medici tombs! Also we got to see what Tuscany is all about. I like that place :-).

Something awesome I did: Climbed to the top of the Duomo and got to see all of Florence from the sky!

Something silly: The mismatching fashion show my brother and I put on later that night. Hah

Rome:

Something awesome I saw: A lot of really old things, but my favorite was the Colosseum! Also we went to the Vatican which was pretty sweet. Sistine Chapel! It really is amazing. I was in shock.

Something awesome I did: learned all about the history of everything from my brother while wandering from extremely old thing to extremely old thing. Managed to take pictures of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and wall without getting in trouble! mwahahaha

Something silly: got locked behind a cage/gate type thingy in our apartment... eventually someone came and told us that we had to press a tiny hidden button on the wall. We are so smart. Also, Parthenon/Pantheon confusion. I'm still not sure which one we saw.

What Marchutz means to me...

Most of the blog thus far has been about sights, experiences, and laughs. It is hard for me to express in words the changes that have occurred in my heart, soul, and paintings… and that is the beauty of it. It is beyond words. So I would like to share with you something I wrote in my personal journal on the last day of class (only under the circumstances that you don’t make fun of me). You should know that before studying at Marchutz, my art was not personal, it was becoming forced, and the artist inside me was tired. I apologize in advance because this is a bit long, but it’s the only way I know how to share with you what Marchutz has done in my life. Read on if you wish.

22 July 2010

“Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see. But your soul you must keep totally free.” These lyrics from a song called Awake My Soul made me think about what exactly has happened to me here at Marchutz this summer. Do not be afraid to lend your eyes to someone or something, you may find yourself with an awakened soul:

As I was walking home from our last seminar, seeing, smelling, and feeling the life and spirit of Aix, my mind was spinning with everything we discussed. However, my thoughts were broken with emotions that I could not and cannot comprehend. It was a sort of deep sensation in my gut that was telling me that I am part of something huge and timeless. My head was filled with ideas, history, art, and how that all relates to tradition. But my heart was overflowing with love, colors, passion, and humbleness/respect for this enormous world of art that I have only just stepped into. Feeling overwhelmed and in awe of the tasks that lay before me, I found comfort in a passage from the text by T.S. Eliot that Alan read aloud in class. Maybe it was his soothing voice, the smell of the studio, or the faces of 6 incredible people looking back at me, but that passage really hit me… hard.

“No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone… You cannot value him alone; you must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead… what happens when a new work of art is created is something that happens simultaneously to all the works of art which preceded it. The existing monuments form an ideal order among themselves, which is modified by the introduction of the new (the really new) work of art among them. The existing order is complete before the new work arrives; for order to persist after the supervention of novelty, the whole existing order must be, if ever so slightly, altered; and so the relations, proportions, values, of each work of art toward the whole are readjusted; and this is conformity between the old and new… the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past.”

In the same way that I once misquoted Leo Marchutz… whoa! While struggling to fully understand this, I cannot ignore the image created of art in its entirety as a single work of art. Lets just go ahead and assume that this single work of art is a painting… it would eternally bear a sign that said “caution wet paint”. It always has been and will always be in progress. Each work of art that is created is another stroke of paint on the canvas of this rich history. It is not isolated in its time or separated by its style. It more than interacts with the already painted strokes; it alters them. You may ask yourself how adding a mark can possibly change the existing ones… to that I say that those previous strokes exist, yet cannot achieve their full potential without the relationships that form upon their interaction with even the newest additions.

Alan and John perpetually stress the idea of working the canvas as a whole and bringing the painting up as a whole with each stroke intentional in describing its relationship to the others. The image by Eliot has allowed me to see that the same concept applies to so many things: an individual painting, a body of work, art as a whole, and even life itself.

The Marchutz School has opened my eyes to the immensity and vastness of art, all while making it tangible and personal. John and Alan have not only taught me the importance of each and every stroke on the canvas of my paintings, but have guided my heart and soul to see the world as a whole, and place my mark with purpose exactly where it belongs on the canvas of the world… wherever that may be.

I cannot help but picture life as a painting. Each one of us has our stroke of paint to place. We do not always know where to place it, what color to make it, or how it could possibly make a difference. But if this summer has taught me nothing else, it is that the mark itself is not the essential part; it is its relationship among the strokes that makes it a necessary part of the whole.

The bottom line is, whatever it is that you do and love… leave your mark and make it count. While each individual stroke may seem small and insignificant, it is forever bound by the power of its relationships with others. Dedicate yourself to something and find just the right value, just the right hue, and just the right placement. Leave your mark on the canvas of life and know that it (in combination with those that have come before you and those yet to come) will make something beautiful. In that I find comfort.

Paris and Beyond

Hello Friends!

The last few weeks have been full of art, travel, friends, and extreme amounts of fun!

Great successes in Paris:

-Visit to the Louvre

-Lots of free candy from the desk of our hotel :-)

-Eiffel Tower

-Mime training

-Orangerie and Marmottan museums (Monet)

-No one passed out

-Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur

-Riding the metro like pros

Great non-successes in Paris:

-Finding our hotel initially

-Knowing how to use the lights in the hotel

-Refusing to pay 3 cents for a bag at the grocery store... lots to carry

-Nearly being kidnapped by the moroccan man who offered me a ride on his moped

-Eating too many cookies in bed all night

-Convincing our waiter we spoke french

Fun things we maybe shouldn't have done in Aix recently but did anyway:

-Run through all the fountains!

-Made fun of John and Alan (our teachers) endlessly at our show.

-Bought so many clothes that our suitcases wouldn't close.

-Eaten so much gelato that our tummies hurt

-Stayed up so late and gotten up so early

-Gone with Philippe (random french dude) in his car to go swimming at the barrage where it is prohibited to swim.

Things I learned about fountains:

-Some are deeper than others

-Some are way colder than others

-Sometimes dogs bathe in them

-Sometimes people do too

-If you drop your camera in one, it will stop working...

Best pick up attempts while in France:

-I was running to meet my friends, and a guy started running alongside me... he asked me if I was running after his heart (in french). I said no, but he continued to run with me saying, I wish you were coming for my heart, you wouldn't have to run. We ran together for a while hah.

-At the music festival a large african man came up to my friends and I and demanded "dance with me" in french of course. We really had no choice. He ended up going on stage and dancing there a bit later.

-I was walking to meet my friends and passed a guy who was saying something to me in french over and over again. I couldn't figure out what he was saying so just kept walking. When I finally figured out what he was saying, I started smiling because I was proud of my comprehension... turns out he was asking me to smile. He was happy to see when i eventually did and told me the world was much nicer that way. It was actually a bit sweet.

-At the beach, three guys sat down behind us. They tried saying hi to us in every language until they heard us speak english and we were busted. They then continued to say every english phrase they knew. It was hilarious!

-Large moroccan man told me I was beautiful and wanted to take a picture with me. I said no to that, so he asked me about a ride on his moped. My instinct said AWESOME but then I decided that was a bad idea, so I declined. All this time he had taken my hand to shake it and never giave it back... awkward.

The final week at Marchutz was a blast. I realized that thus far I have failed to even touch on how much my time here in Aix and with Marchutz has changed me... and in such huge ways. I will think on how to express that and get back to you. Until then.

Culture week

Definition of culture week: learn, see, do, and experience as many aspects of french culture as possible in one week. Where shall I begin...

Cassis: adorable little beach town where we had a hilarious conversation with some french guys who were throwing together some english sentences that didn't make much sense.

Cezanne field trip: going around Aix looking at all the places Cezanne painted... awesome!

Opera: Don Giovanni in an outdoor courtyard theater in Aix which was gorgeous!

Music festival in Arles: Awesome concert in the ancient amphitheater where we rocked out to Salif Keita, a great African band.

Bastille Day: French independence day (le quatorze juillet)! Music in the streets and fireworks from the huge fountain in town!

Countryside: Went way out into farmville to paint... wheat fields + mount st victoire= the ultimate french painting

Places I fell asleep other than my bed:

-The beach in Cassis

-The opera... not my fault, it was 1 am, the opera was in italian with french subtitles

-In the car on the way too and on the way back from the music festival

-During seminar

Language confusions:

-What food was intended for dinner, and what was being saved for a party... oops

-How to say fireworks in french

-numbers... especially after 70

-J'ai fini = I am finished... Je suis fini= I am dead

-38 degrees Celsius is hard to understand in Fahrenheit

Culture week will come to a close with my trip to Paris this weekend! See ya on the flip side

Lots of laughs

Lately I've just been hanging out in France. I've been doing a lot of painting, a lot of listening and trying to understand french, a lot of gelato eating, and I traveled to Nice for the weekend. Here are some things I would like to share with you.

Things that made me scream and then become embarrassed:
-One day we were leaving school and it started raining, we were talking to the very nice janitor and then it thundered and I screamed.
-I was running around a corner at the top of the Chateau in Nice and there was a pigeon hiding in a small nook on the mountain. It jumped (flew) out at me and hit me and the guy next to me. I screamed and so did that guy, although I think he only did because I did.
-I was walking past a clown/balloon making guy wearing a sequins blazer... I smiled at him, and then once he was out of my vision, he jumped out at me, stabbed me with his balloon sword, and made a really loud squeaking noise. I screamed. He laughed... and so did everyone in the area.
-Lynn and I were wandering around Nice taking pictures, we heard a horn and turned and saw that we were standing right on the tram tracks... obviously I screamed.

Things that made me laugh A LOT:
-Macaroon making with no measuring utensils or a working oven... microwave mush isn't as good as a macaroon.
-My host mom was tipsy from one glass of wine and told me I was too pretty to be single.
-My teacher, Alan looked at my painting and said “Aubrey, you are a wild thing aren’t you?”
-My host mom told her son if he walked as far as I do everyday he would look more like George Clooney.
-I was standing with my friends, and people kept stepping in the fountain by accident and freaking out! too funny!
-The french word for waffle is gaufre and Lynn has been wanting one for a long time. Every time she says it I think of gofers. We finally went to the stand last night and I couldn't take it. I was just laughing about the thought of buying a gofer. The nice man at the stand thought I was laughing at him, and then he finally asked me why I was laughing... I then tried to explain to him what a gofer was (in french). It involved strange faces and noises. He finally understood and started laughing too... then he pretended to cover a gofer in chocolate and sell it to me. I nearly died laughing. We are friends now, although we successfully exchanged zero actual words.
-An old man on boardwalk that Lynn and I met... we will call him Elu. He was some sort of singer/mime/comedian/grandpa. He was very friendly and we talked to him for about an hour and a half.
-The lady who kept trying to direct us to the beach when that was not where we wanted to go... she was complete with hand motions.

Things that weren’t so funny at the time, but are now:
-Lynn and I almost missed our train to Nice.
-When Lynn passed out after dinner in Nice (don’t worry she is fine now).
-When our bus driver started going the wrong way.

Other things I did or learned:
-Laughing obnoxiously on the train can lead to new friends
-It is difficult to rent French bikes
-How to work the bus/tram system in Nice
-Don’t assume people don’t speak English when you are talking about potentially embarrassing things on the train
-People in Nice are extremely nice... haha no pun intended
-People know you are American when you know all the words to Outkast songs and sing them loudly
-Painting in the landscape is extremely fun, but the time constraint is stressful
-Lots of color theory
-Eating hot crepes in the sun is a bad idea
-I paint differently in France
-Christophe Mae is my new favorite french musician
-I‘m really lucky to be here, and have made some great friends

Next thing on the to do list... run through all the fountains in Aix :-)

p.s. this blog is reminding me of the book of lists created by room 214 and friends.

...list to come... strange pick up attempts.

...and the livin' is easy

Things that I find confusing:

- The post office! The confusing ticket machine, 10 different lines, flashing numbers, oh my!

- What exactly should be said when someone says "ça va?" to you, nearly any response is suitable it seems.

- When dogs poop in the street or on the sidewalk.

- What is ratatouille?

- Most irregular french verbs.

- How heavy a kilo is... the whole metric system actually.

- How a macaroon is different from a standard cookie.

Thing I've learned:

- How hard Vincent Van Gogh's life was. All he wanted was someone to love, but he died an early death after suffering many years with mental illness and what is thought to be epilepsy.

- Van Gogh was a genius who made about a billion masterpieces in only about 8 years.

- Not to walk on the cobblestone after it has been washed... very slippery!

- Painting from nature is harder than it looks!

- How easy it is to nap in the park...

- There is a light inside the apartment door to help you get to the next door that turns off automatically!!!!

- Southern France gets HOT in the summer.

- Marseille is much bigger than Aix, especially when walking to the beach.

- Traffic round-abouts are easier for cars, but tricky for walkers!

- Sun burn is real.

- Chevre (goat cheese) is the bomb!

- It is better to play soccer with the little boys in the street than to be on time to class.

Things I will be experiencing soon:

- Painting in the countryside... tomorrow!

- A random french play we decided to read instead of going to french class :-) (Don't worry, I was just auditing the class anyway)

- Nice, this weekend with Lynnie-Pooh

- Paris for 3 days with Sarah and Lynn

- French sale season

- Nutella banana crepe... sounds like heaven

J'aime Aix

Painting:

-It is crazy to think that I am in France and I am painting... life is so so good. Literally my dreams come true.

-We get to class, take our paints and easels outside, paint, eat lunch, paint, and talk about art.

-My teachers both like the way I paint and one of them said "They sure know how to grow 'em at Truman State"... I'm pretty sure that's a good thing?

-I love to paint.

La Fête de la Musique:

-Literally translated... the party of the music.

-Basically it is a huge festival where all sort of people play all sorts of music on the streets all night long. Every corner or every street has someone playing their music. It is to celebrate the longest day of the year and happens all across France and some other countries! So much fun.

-I learned a new sweet line dance from a drunk old French man.

-Lots of fun was had in the streets of Aix

Other things I like:

-When people continue conversations with me in french, meaning I'm not extremely terrible.

-Seeing people carry dogs on mopeds

-Nutella and the panda container it came in!

-The other student from a different program who lives here for this week, Katie.

-Some sort of zucchini, cheese, ham dinner I had the other night.

-Watching the world cup in Europe where people care

-How much people here love the book Le Petit Prince (they have him painted on walls and ceilings and stuff)

-The big yellow hat that I bought.

-The idea that you guys are still reading this :-)

Until next time

My first week here...

It has been absolutely lovely in Aix. I've only been here for about a week, but its starting to feel like home already. Here's what's been going on:

Monday-

Went to orientation at the school... finally english speaking people! I met two girls, Lynn and Sarah, who are both in painting with me, they are both really nice and I think we will get along great!

Tuesday-

Classes begin! I have french at the Aix centre and then the art classes are at a different school called Marchutz. After french, John, one of the Marchutz teachers walked with us out to the school. It is a beautiful walk that takes about a half hour. It will be even nicer when it is not raining :). Alan and John are my art teachers. Both are very nice, encouraging, and funny!

Wednesday-

Classes: and then Lynn, Sarah and I walked around the city for a long time seeing what there is to see. Everything is gorgeous in Aix.

At night: I went to see a french movie with Lynn, Sarah, and another girl names Libby. I think the movie was cute... I didn't understand most of it, but the people behind me thought it was pretty funny.

Thursday-

Classes: We learned how to set up out easels (which is harder than it sounds) and are preparing to start painting on Monday! YAY. We went with John to the art supply store which was full of paint and brushes and all sorts of fun french things!

At night: Sarah and I went to a pub, ate dessert, and watched France lose terribly in the world cup. We were joined by a random french guy who was very nice. He got progressively more drunk as the game went on so we refused to give him our phone numbers when he asked... but we learned a lot about France and Les Bleus (the team) from him.

Friday-

We had our first field trip. We went to the villages of Luberon, Gordes, and Roussillon. All three are absolutely beautiful. We saw where Albert Camus is burried, cliffs of ochre, and the hills and fields of southern France... no words can describe how lovely it is here. After, a bunch of us went out for someone's birthday. Lynn and I drank wine by the fountain... it was pleasant.

Saturday-

Lynn, Sarah, and I hike up Mount St Victoire which is located just east of Aix. It is gorgeous! It was about 2 hours to the top and it was very very windy. We were exhausted, but the top was worth it! The way down was much quicker until we ended up not on the path anymore and got to make a new one. At night, we went out to eat at a fondu place where we were really confused and made the owners laugh at us.

Sunday-

Lynn and I went to church in the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix. It is ancient! I was very confused the whole time a) because I've never been to Catholic mass before, so didn't really know what to do and b) I don't know very much french... or latin for that matter. After that, Sarah, Lynn, and I took the bus to Marseille. We walked all around, saw the Mediterranean and enjoyed the very windy day!

Things I've learned:

-Seafood isn't so bad if you don't know you're eating it.

-Goat cheese rules!

-Cars do not stop for you

-Gelato is the best thing ever

-French guys are very forward when they like you

-Allez Les Bleus! (this is useful during the world cup)

-When your host family asks you about the weather in Chicago, it is weird to tell them about your hobbies

Traditions that have been started:

-Baguette and fruit and cheese for lunch

-Daily french time between us girls, forcing us to speak french with each other

-Saturday night date night where we pick a restaurant to eat out at

-Cherry pit spitting contests all over France... Marchutz, Aix, Gordes, from the top of Mount Saint Victoire so far

Now it is almost time for dinner and homework. Sorry this is so long.

Painting begins tomorrow... for real this time!

Le premier week-end en France!

Hello friends!

I made it to france after several plane rides... all went smooth until our plane from Dublin to Marseilles somehow had damage to the door, so we had to get inspected and okayed by the official plane people in order to go ahead... turns out this takes about 2 hours.

Madame Perrier met me at the airport and informed me that we would be traveling to an island for a birthday celebration. I didn't really know what that meant, but I like islands so I figured it couldn't be too bad. I slept the entire way there in the car, and when we got there I learned that there were 150 people at this beautiful resort for Vincent's (I don't know him either, don't worry) 60th birthday. This was all really exciting and all especially because none of them spoke much english and I don't speak much french. Luckily there were some kids around my age who I hung out with. All in all the weekend was filled with music, fancy food, boats, and enough french to make my head hurt.

After this I returned to Aix with Mme Perrier and her boyfriend Chrisophe. They showed me around Aix a little bit. Today we had orientation at the school. It was fun meeting people that I will be here with. They all seem very nice. The art instructor told us all about Paul Cézanne and where he painted and how our painting school is connected with him. It is so exciting to be here! Tomorrow morning at 8:30 I have french class, and then the 4 other art students along with the teacher and I will walk to the studio and begin learning!

This weekend I:

-asked for help from more strangers than ever before in my life (if you know me well, you know how I hate to do this)

-ate more seafood than I have eaten my whole life

-drank more alcohol that I have my entire life combined

-kissed more people on the cheek than you could imagine

-was unaware when people were speaking to me... oops

-harpooned more fish than would normally be expected

Gotta go eat dinner! I will let you know if painting in France is as magical as it sounds :-)

Leaving for France in 2 days!

Who: Me! (And no one else who I know)

What: Study abroad!! Painting, drawing, and french

Where: Aix-en-provence (in the south)... according to the tourist website it is the "city of water and art" could that sound any more wonderful??

When: SOON! I leave on Friday for 6 weeks

Why: Because I've always dreamed of painting in France...

How: My sense of adventure led me to this awesome opportunity and with the help of my parent's its become a reality!

To do still:

-pack

-learn french

Kenya Finale

Day 13+: Nairobi and travel

Saw: Nairobi at day time. Amsterdam by air. Detroit for a long time. Kansas City and the Maynards. The kind and familiar Megabus. Union station. Parents! Train to Schaumburg. Home sweet home!

Learned: Bartering can be fun if you laugh at yourself and hold hands with a friend the whole time. Bartering away your watch is a bad thing when you need to meet your group and have no clue what time it is. Riding (or surfing) the tram at the Detroit airport back and forth can kill a good 45 minutes or so.

Laughed: I dropped my malaria pill and it flew away from me and landed underneath the man behind me on the plane's foot. He thought I was strange and tried to charge me $10 for it... jokester.

That concludes my day by day re-cap. Here are some other things that maybe I forgot, or didn't quite fit into one of the categories.

-Kenyans as a people are extra sweet and loving.

-Donkeys sound scary at night, but they do not charge your tent no matter how sure you are that that is what's happening.

-Chapati is the best food ever.

-Time is not an issue. There is no hurry in Kenya.

-So much can be said with a smile and laughter.

-The way the sunlight hits the African land is gorgeous, someday I will go back and paint for as long as the sun is up... someday.

-The children are inspiring in their eagerness to learn, their unshakable faith, their joyous spirits, and their ability to love unconditionally.

This trip has taught me so many things that are impossible to express in a blog.

The earth is huge, Africa is massive, the plains are great, mountains are tall, people are many, animals are endless, but we are unified under the same sky, stars, and creator. This has been a trip of humbleness for me. I am but one small person witnessing the beauty and love of everything around me. It has changed my life and I can not wait to see my sisters and brothers of Elangata again... until then, they will remain in my heart.

Kenya Part 3

Day 8- Last day at Elangata (Friday)

Saw: Members of my team give short sermons to the students. Kids running after our vans and waving goodbye as we unwillingly left.

Learned: How difficult it is to say goodbye to a class full of students who have shown you nothing but love and blessings.

Laughed: Tried to teach hundreds of kids to stand up and sit down at the proper time during Hallelujah/Praise Yee the Lord. Another bumpy ride through the African bush

will always bring laughter to my face.

Day 9- Africa Hope, Narok

Saw: The faces of many Kenyans staring at the large group of mzungos (white people) roaming around the city of Narok.

Learned: It only takes about a half hour for 15 people to move some dirt around. Making sloppy-joes with none of the right ingredients can be really fun and still taste okay.

Laughed: Participating in the completion of a crossword after consuming large amounts of coffee magnifies my stuttering and difficulty with spelling. A small child walked up to me in Narok and called me fatty... thanks kid.

Day 10- Day with University students

Saw: The liveliest, most exciting church service in the world.

Learned: How fun it is to run around a church shouting for Jesus and how refreshing an energetic church service can be.

Laughed: When playing volleyball with Kenyan college students using a soccer ball and wearing a skirt. The guy I ate lunch with told me he liked the movie Home Alone.

Day 11- Working at Africa Hope

Saw: A man cut 2x4's straight from a tree freehand with a chainsaw. Impressive.

Learned: That it takes 2 people to carry 1 piece of wood up a mountain. If you nap on a corduroy pillow, you will get lines on your face and your friends will make fun of you.

Laughed: A bird with red eyes got into one of our rooms and gave my friend Chelsey quite a scare. Also, it requires about 20 minutes and two people... one with a towel and the other with the curtain as a guide to get the bird to go out the window.

Day 12- MAASAI MARA

Saw: On our safari we saw ALL THE ANIMALS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM... or so I like to believe. This includes lions, hippos, buffalo, elephants, ostriches, a rhino, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, GAZELLE (so graceful, just like me... hah), warthogs (pumba!), colorful birds, and everything else beautiful in the world. No joke. Africa rules.

Learned: That seeing a wild lion in the beautiful african plain nearly brings me to tears. The many ways Africa Hope helps the people of Kenya and how sponsoring a project or a student can change lives.

Laughed: While waiting to get into the mara, we were being heckled by women trying to sell things. We bartered one of them down to a good price for 2 bracelets. One of them broke about 1 minute later and the woman just looked at us and laughed... cruel, yet funny.

Kenya Part 2

Day 4- First day at Elangata

Saw: The most adorable school assembly where they rose the Kenyan flag and sang some songs, the only part I understood was "I love you Jesus, you are my savior"

Learned: There are 65 students in class 6 (the class I would be helping with all week). Also, I will never beat a Kenyan at duck-duck-goose, no matter how old they are. Many tests that teachers are supposed to give their students are faultily translated, so my teacher (William) had me look over the english tests.

Laughed: Trying to explain how to play elbow tag to a hundred kids who don't speak much english is a task. Once they got it, we all had a blast!

Day 5- Elangata day 2

Saw: The school and villages from the top of Mount Elangata (which was the steepest hike I've ever been a part of).

Learned: Small children are fascinated with white skin and want to hold your hand forever. They do not understand hair on our arms, and they can not comprehend how cold snow is.

Laughed: While helping with science class, I was asked to get the "duster" I didn't know what that meant, and by the time I figured out that it was the chalkboard eraser, I had already picked up a rock. The students thought this was hilarious and we all had a good laugh about it.

Day 6- Wednesday of Elangata

Saw: A Maasai village, including adorable children, women bagging corn, new born goats, and a snake!

Learned: English language articles are very difficult to explain. Washing your hair in the river is very entertaining to the Maasai people (none of them have hair). CHAPATI IS DELICIOUS (it is a very yummy type of flatbread that Jackson (our translator/new best friend) taught me how to make). William would be gone the rest of the week, leaving me in charge of the class.

Laughed: A 2nd grade girl named Timon thought that I was going to die because I was bleeding. She walked me back to my tent holding my hand so that she knew that I got there okay... I must seem pretty frail. At night, we went to the school to help students with their homework, but Jen and I got stumped by some word problems (mostly myself)... college student fail.

Day 7- Teaching/Hanging out with students

Saw: 65 students silently working on their swahili lesson, despite the lack of teacher... amazing. A real live Kenyan track practice where the students ran in sweaters and sandals (or barefoot) and were still faster than lightening.

Learned: Kenyans love Barack Obama and firmly believe that he was born in Kenya. Teaching 6th graders who are so smart and eager to learn is difficult because they know when you are wrong and/or making things up.

Laughed: After class, we taught many of the students some english slang such as: what's up dude? yep, nope, and cool. They caught on very quickly. We told them that dude means friend and one boy wrote me a note that he signed "your dude, Stephan". Too cute.

This is a picture of some of the students in our classroom (I am the one in the middle in the red).