Today has been on the more relaxing side of things. Let me explain. Kenya does not runs its schedule by time. It runs it by events. This is called "Kenyan time."
This morning I woke up, ate breakfast with some of the HEART staff, and jammed on my guitar while I waited from Kyndal and Katie, another intern and intern coordinator, to return from their Saturday morning Bible study. Then I had the privilege of a attending a international, Kenyan-style wedding! (The man is from Kenya and the woman from Rwanda.) It took place in a big church in the town of Karen, which is about an hour's drive from the HEART compound.
To give you perspective...we were informed that the wedding would run from 11am to 5pm. We knew we would not be able to stay the whole time due to our plans of hosting a party with some Kenyan friends, so we planned to leave around 2pm. (We were already feeling like party crashers since we weren't formally invited to the wedding.) But Lydia, friend of the bride who invited us, quickly reminded us that in Kenya, everyone is invited to a wedding. So, we arrived around 11:15am and waited for Lydia, who was caught in traffic. After about an hour of waiting on the church steps, Lydia arrived and we went into the wedding. It took about another half hour for the bride to arrive and the ceremony to begin. (And it took about half an hour for them to get down the aisle...no joke. Okay, maybe, not that long, but it was a very slow aisle walk.)
A Kenyan wedding is quite the celebration. There was singing, dancing, cheering, shouting, "amen"s, and Swahili praise songs. Strangers greeted me with smiles and handshakes. It was a beautiful celebration and both similar and very different from an American wedding. (Keep in mind, this was pretty upper-class for a Kenyan wedding.)
Today I have been encouraged by the joy of the Kenyan people. God is present here with them. Now I am looking forward to celebrating the American holiday "Fourth of July" with my friends here and some Kenyan friends.
God is teaching me patience and flexibility through the Kenyan culture.
Truly, truly...may all the peoples praise Him!
The LORD your God is with you,
ReplyDeletehe is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.
Zeph 3:17
I'm very much enjoying reading about your adventures so far. I especially like hearing about all the interesting differences between American culture and Kenyan culture. Keep the updates coming, sis!
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