Hi all! This is Aspen and today is my day as journal girl. Last night we did our home stays and it was an amazing learning experience for all of us. At my home stay I was with Zoe and we stayed with Purity. She had two kids Brenda and Terry. We interacted most with the kids because their English was better. They are taught in English at school, so it makes more sense. The biggest thing I took away from the home stay was how two completely different cultures can be so similar.
The next day we had the opportunity to go to church in the village. It started at 10 but once we got ready our host family hadn’t had time to get ready. They were working to make us breakfast and get their morning jobs done so we didn’t end up leaving until 11. Once we got to church it was all in Kimeru, the local language which everyone uses — along with Swahili and English! It was still a cool cultural experience. There was a lot of singing and laughing. After church we went back to KACH and there were new guests from Spain. It is much more crowded now but we are still loving it here at KACH. Before dinner there were a group of girls from a university who were very energetic. They brought a cake and they decided to take me up to front and feed me cake. It was definitely an interesting experience but I loved every minute of it.
After dinner we had another welcoming ceremony for the group from Spain. I learned how to do some of the dances they do in Kenya. I wouldn’t say I was good but I think I did a pretty good job. Overall this trip has been the best 13 days of my life. It is hard to even think about leaving. Mom and Dad, I want to come back next year!
Quotes about home stay:
“I learned a lot about the Kenyan lifestyle, and also got to make chapati!” -SF
“The homestay was so interesting because it allowed me to learn the actual day to day life of a Kenyan family.” -Eleanor
“It was such a cool experience to be hands-on and so immersed into a new culture. I will never forget it” -Penelope
“I feel that I adapted completely to the Kenyan culture. This experience changed my life in so many ways, and even moved me in the direction to become humble!” -Bri
“I felt like this was the perfect way to Immerse myself into the Kenyan culture. I had a wonderful host family that could not have been more welcoming. I hope to be able to reconnect with them again.” – Jobie
“I loved the family and I learned a lot about the Kenyan culture, and I can not thank them enough for teaching me how to make chapati!” – Zoe