Random Thoughts of a Girl in Nairobi

    2nd Timothy 3:16-17  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NKJV)    I came across this verse as I was doing my morning Quiet time. I'm currently reading one chapter a day, going from one New Testament book to the other. I started with Romans a few months ago and I'm currently on 2nd Timothy. As of now, my plan is to go to the end of the New testament, then go back to the gospels before starting the Old Testament. A bit unorthodox, I know but it works for me. But I digress.    So I came across this verse this morning and then it struck a thought! I googled the NIV version of the same verse for the sake of comparison and it says this: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, c...

For part 1 click here   You learn... 1. How to be an expert at speaking your mother-tongue, if you have one... Especially when it comes to discussing cab fares and the prices of things. In my case,  that would be Swahili. The locals keep doing the same to you anyway, whether intentional or not. 2. Being away from home takes the concept of budgeting to a whole new level. You actually have a cash limit and it's not like mom or dad can just bail you out whenever like they do back home. You actually have to think about ATMs that accept visa or Mastercard, Western union , Moneygram and the transaction charges charged by each.  Therefore that automatically means that you have to spend your cash in more sensible ways so that you only use the above services when absolutely necessary. 3. It brings new meaning to being an adult. Where to spend the night,  where to eat,  how to get your laundry done, what to do if you get sick, what cab service to...

Rating: 5 stars Target audience: Young adult and adult    This is the kind of book that you have a love-hate relationship with. You will love it because of the amazing and unpredictable storyline and the way the writer handles his sentences; with a flourish. The story sucks you in and leaves you a bundle of nerves at times. You go through all kinds of stages from outrage to pleasant surprise. I mean, what are you supposed to do when you encounter passages like: A mother's advice to her daughter A middle-aged man defending his decision to marry a newly orphaned 16-year old girl At the labour ward    But you might hate it because it shows you just how ignorant you are of certain world events, despite all the fanfare about information being at our fingertips. Today we know more about the Kardashians than we do about what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is really about! And though this book is fiction we've heard reports of some o...

   No amount of Google-searching and receiving pep-talks could possibly prepare one to deal with every single aspect of being in a country that is not your own. I've been here almost a week and this is what I've experienced so far. Some of it funny, some of it irritating and some of it down-right weird! I'll let you judge for yourself: 1. People being fascinated with my hair.   Braids are totally normal at home but here, I'm almost losing count of how many people looks at as and go, 'Wow, I like your hair!'. And then they want to touch it, and ask if we do it like that every day, and how we wash it.    Hi, my name is Val. Just your friendly neighbourhood red-head! :-) 2. Being called 'maam'.   It's almost like I took a trip to the sixties! 3. Shots of tea.   I ordered a cup of tea and it came in well a shot-cup. There's no other way to describe it. Then we asked if they had big cups and they said no. So naturally, ...