Our American experience.

Lots of Father daughter time playing outdoor activities. 

 This has been such a unique Furlough from those we have had in the past. As always it is fascinating for me to hear my girls comments and reflections when experiencing America. Because I grew up here, I overlook the things that are surprising to them. I want to share them with you all.

Traffic lights and traffic signs. Which are appreciated and also are confusing to my girls. The positive part of them it that they are always obeyed, which brings order to the road compared to how chaotic and dangerous matatus are in Kenya(public transportation vehicles that are always in a rush defying the natural rules of the road). The confusing part is having to stop at a red light when there is not a car insight.

Along the same note my girls have expressed that everywhere we go feels far. Gtown is so small that any shop that we go to or any person we go to visit is usually 2 minutes away but no more than 10 minutes away. We are staying in Suffolk, Virginia right now which has a big land mass and it feels like it takes a long time to get to places. One of these reasons is all the traffic lights! When we are in Nairobi it can also take a long time to get to the destination but this is due to the bumper to bumper traffic. My daughters notice that we don't get stuck in traffic here and yet still spend time in the car so it baffles them.

Dogs can come in the house in America. My girls have noticed several of  their relatives that keep their dogs inside and have had to get used to this idea. In Kenya there are lots of stray dogs, which are walked past and overlooked. They often are skinny and mangy looking and apart of the scenery. We do have friends that keep dogs to guard their property at night, but for the most part in Gtown- dogs are looked upon as unclean animals. My kids are getting to experience  how common it is for cats and dogs to be both indoor and outside pets in the American culture. A few weeks ago Jason's brother came to visit and brought his small dog who was wearing an outfit and the girls giggled at seeing this for the first time.

Righteous brought up that she likes looking at people's houses when we are riding in the car. This statement makes so much sense to me because in Kenya, every house is surrounded by a high wall so you can never see any while driving around. I agree with her, that so many houses are beautiful to look at, some are old farm houses, some have big front porches, some have big trees lining the driveways and some have decorated front yard landscapes.

Samara has pointed out that many homes and yards have flags, which I never really noticed before. Lots of houses have flags by the front door that are decorated with a symbol for whatever holiday is coming up or season. Samara has seen small colored flags sticking up out of the ground to show the ending part of where a dogs shocked collar will go off (which is a whole nother conversation we had a discussion about). There are also small flags to show that there is an underground pipe or electrical wire. And still some others that mean keep off the grass because it was sprayed to kill weeds or bugs.

These girls are thrilled that mail comes everyday to the mailbox right at the house and you can get it immediately. In Kenya we go to the Post Office once a week to check for letters. If we get a package slip we have to wait in line and figure out what kind of duty taxes we need to pay in order to receive whatever box has come.

As always we enjoy all kinds of American foods. Sugary cereal and bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. We have been receiving free lunches from the local schools every weekday. Gogurts are a tasty treat for my daughters as well as fruit snacks, granola bars, and all sorts of chips. We can not get over how delicious icecream is with all the different flavors as well as ice pops and popsicles.

The microwave was almost set on fire this past week, by one of my girls. She quickly read the instructions on the back and saw 5 minutes and put in a Apple streusal breakfast bar. Minutes later smoke filled up the house and the plate that the  streusal was on was turned to black ashes. 5 minutes was for the oven not the microwave. She has learned a powerful lesson and will not make this mistake again.

When we passed a red hydrant on the side of the road, Samara made reference to it as the apparatus that dogs pee on. This is what she has seen in movies and she never knew it's real purpose. We explained that is for fighting off fires and not actually made for dogs.

It has been just over 2 months since we arrived so we still have around 4 months left here. Stay tuned for more stories of what we encounter in the USA.

What a blessing for all the room to run around.

Daddy joined the trampoline fun.

Just sitting and breathing the fresh air.

Some of the cousins came over to play.

The pony is fed leftover carrot sticks.

The cow also eats carrot sticks.

They have more than enough for their fill as you can see the ground.

Samara got to shop for her birthday meal with her Dad.

There have been lots of adventures in the Argo.

All the girls are in the processof learning to drive the golf cart.