YES YES Y'ALL

SO, i have been catching some serious grief for the lack of a post in some time. I apologize, to be completely honest i don't particularly enjoy the process of writing about the things i'm experiencing, but once i'm done it feels great, and i know you guys wanna hear more, so here i am!
I have been here for two and a half weeks now, and things are really good! For those of you who dont know, i am staying with Mary (or mum as she is more commonly known...pretty much...everywhere) and there is another intern her at the moment named Yui from Japan. She's cool. She stays to herself most of the time, but lately has been making more noise and coming out of her shell! She works with 4 women in the new candle making project. Just briefly on the candle making project - i am not even involved really and it gives me headache, it has been so hard for these women to find a market for their candles, we got ripped off by the people who sold us the machine. They told us that we could get the KBS stamp (which is required to sell in the market) with the candles this machine produces, but that's completely untrue. So the women an Yui have been producing hundreds of useless candles. Although they burn well and look nice, they just aren't the right size or some BS like that. If you want candles, holler at me! that's enough on the candles!
I usually spend my days with mum... we start in the office and say whats up to the women in the sewing class, who are- Lucy, Hannah, Anne, Noleka, Beatrice and the teacher Violet. They are awesome! So much fun to be around and sometimes we don't get any further than this class, we just stay there and help where we can, and laugh with them! BUT most days after that we head out into the Mathare slum, and go looking for people who are affiliated with LPK (Living Positive Kenya). Mostly it's women who mum has heard through whatever source aren't feeling well, and need to see her and need to be prayed with / for. That's where i come in... seeing as i never fully understand their Kiswahili conversation (although i am getting much better) i just pray. Sometimes I will play with a child if there is one in the house. Eventually mum fills me in in English on what is going on, and we all pray together in English, and try to figure out what we can do to help.
From there we usually stop in at the LPK daycare and play with all the kids that are always eager to see there mzungu friend!
I don't really know what else to say... or how to describe the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit in this place. It brings me to my knees almost every day. peace.

HABARI

yoo

I think that this blog is going to get a lot harder that now I am no longer just cruising the green hills of Ireland...but thats OKAEYY.
SO, let me just tell you all that I actually got really nervous...when I was at Heathrow after saying an EPIC goodbye to ma and pa, I was slightly freeking out.
I think it was really just hitting me that I was about to get on a plane to go to Kenya for 2 months, SOLO. So I paced around the terminal contemplating not getting on the plane, or maybe faking some sort of sickness, or maybe just running out into London and never stopping. CRAZY RIGHT?!?!
So I sat down in some little bar inside heathrow terminal 4 - which is a very nice terminal by the way - ordered myself a pint of Stella and just calmed down a bit. it worked. I boarded the plane.
Horrible flight...cant sleep on planes to save my life.
Now this is the best part...as soon as we arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and I walked out the door, i was home. The smells, the sounds, everything was right again! Then I saw the immigration line, DAMN IT! But having been to Kenya before I knew that the huge line of people in the "other passport" line were weasting their time. I hopped in the line that said "East African Citizens Only" and cruised right on through to the luggage pickup area! beauty.
Now I'm here again. ZACH IS BACK! as all of the women at the project keep saying. It has been amazing reconnectiong with everyone and hanging out with the women and kids at the project and the daycare. Today, me, Lucy and Noleka (2 women from the sewing class) lugged 3 big pieces of plywood from the daycare up to the office - which is about a 10 minute walk up through the slum and then the market without a big piece of wood - and built a new wall to block the office from the people who live on the other side, then Lucy and I painted it a beautiful shade of blue...GOODTIMES!!
Thats it!
PEACE

ireland

hello all.
so i guess my status as a rookie blogger is showing, i havent updated in quite some time! sorry.
so since london my mom has arrived and the three of us are travelling around ireland.
I could take a few angles on how exactly this is going...in one hand it is amazing to have parents who love checking out pubs and cruising around ireland with nothing specific in mind!
On the other hand...NEVER TRAVEL EUROPE WITH YOU PARENTS!!
that is all i will say beacause i know eventually they will read this. haha.
For real tho we started in Dublin. It was amazing, we were there for 2 nights and had a blast..live irish music, lots of guiness and kilkenny. I made some friends and had some serious fun!! From there we started travelling south, stopped in Cork City which was kind of a wierd place. quiet. still pretty cool tho. Then we checked out the ring of kerry which was spectacular, the landscape is like nothing i have ever experienced! (pictures are coming soon!) Then we went to Killarney which was an awesome little town but it was the off season so there was nothing happening really..oh well!
Today me and my dad played golf at a place called Ballybunion...if u r a golfer look it up, UNBELIEVABLE!! From there we came to Galway which is a University town, and tonight was a great time! Started out in some little pub featuring some live music and ended up in another place with some newfound friends listening to a Latin set...COOL.
Tomorrow we are gonna check out a couple things here and then head back to Dublin 'til Saturday when we head our seperate ways...Kenya here I come!

peace.

hey everyone!
this is my first time every attempting a blog...so bare with me!
I'm in London, more specifically in Notting Hill sitting in a Starbucks. Joni Mitchel's "California" just came on, it made me think of my summer on Boys' Camp program. We listened to this song a lot. I miss those guys!!
I think wandering around the streets of London all by myself the past two days has been great...sometimes I wish I had someone to share the sights and sounds with, but that's alright. Anyways, I'm gonna go find some dinner and then meet my mom at Heathrow. peace.