Monday, June 20, 2011

Meet Zenia

Zelda the Zebra Stories




Hi! Guess who I am. My name is Zenia the little Zebra. That’s me in the picture. Zelda is my Grandmother. I love to play with her and then she gives me a snack. We eat grass, it’s so good. She said I could tell you the next stories about the adventures of Pa and Gema. I guess you already know they lost their suitcases at the airport. Wow! They didn’t have any clean clothes for 5 days. But today they are soooo happy because a friend of George got their bags for them.



But that’s not what I wanted to tell you about today. I want to tell you all about your Kenya Kousin, Michelle. She has grown up a lot since Pa and Gema saw her last year. But when they got to her house she recognized them right away. She gave them lots of hugs and kisses. She is still giving them lots of hugs and kisses all the time. Pa and Gema are happy because it helps them not to miss you too bad. They hope you have village grandpa’s and grandma’s to hug and kiss you too. But there are none like you anywhere in the world and they love you the most.



Let me tell you about Michelle, your Kenya Kousin. She is a big girl and she’s 2 ½ years old. She laughs a lot and it is so funny when she talks because she speaks English AND Swahili!! She says, “how war you?” all day long. We are teaching her more English so we can talk to her and she is teaching us Swahili. Like “Habari gani”. That means how are you in Swahili. She likes to eat. This morning when Gema was making egg sandwiches for breakfast Kenya Kousin Michelle came into the kitchen. Gema gave her a piece of cheese and her eyes, got REAL big and she said “ummmmmmmm!!”  Then her mother, Nellie told Gema she has never had cheese in her whole life! She usually eats porridge for breakfast. That’s a hot cereal like oatmeal and cream of wheat. It’s made with whole grains and it’s very healthy. When you get sick it’s good for adults too because it has lots of vitamins.



Saturday they went shopping with George, Miss Yahshannah, Papa Tabach, and Chloe to get groceries and things.  Since they walked a lot and were tired and hungry they decided to eat at a restaurant. They ate nyama choma, kuku, that’s grilled meat, chicken in Swahili, and fried potatoes with spinach and tomatoes. It was sooo good! But then a cute little cat came up beside them and looked very hungry. She looked at them and politely asked if she could eat our left overs. So Pa gave her some of his kuku. After saying, “asante sana”, that’s thank you in Swahili, she licked her wiskers and left.



Sunday they went to the gathering and some kids sang and danced for them. Pa talked to the people and they were so glad to see each other because it has been a long time since they saw each other.
They went home and got some rest. They pray for you every night when they go to bed. Do you pray for them?



Kwa heri  for now. That’s goodbye in Swahili.
Oh I almost forgot.  Twitter says, “Jambo!”. That means “Hi!”

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Beginning

Hi there kids remember me?

My name is Zelda the Zebra and the little guy on my very beautiful back is my friend Twitter.  How are all you guys doing? Do you miss Pa and Grandma? Well they miss you. 

They told Twitter and me that they missed you so much that we should write you and let you know how their trip is going. So me and Twitter are going to write you each week and tell you about what’s happening with them and us!

Do you remember Wednesday morning when they left the Village?  They took two cars. The first papa Nathanael drove, the other Miss Marlene and Miss Faith drove. Pa, grandma, and papa Tabach rode in papa Nathanael’s car and Miss Yashanah and Chloe rode in the other one. They all talked, laughed and had a great ride to the Memphis Airport.

When they got to the airport they decided to get some lunch while they waited for their plane to take off for Chicago. Here is a picture of them waiting for their plane after lunch.



Sometimes when you have to fly in an airplane you spend more time waiting for it to take off than you do when you’re riding in it. When they finally arrived in Chicago guess what they did?  They had to wait again and eat some dinner. 

Below is a picture of them waiting ….again.





Finally they got on another airplane and flew through the night and across the ocean to Turkey. After another little wait in the Istanbul Airport they got in one more airplane and took off for Africa. Unfortunately though, only half of their suitcases went with them. Someone forgot to put them on the plane!


Well, after a lot of waiting, flying and trying to sleep in an uncomfortable seat, they finally arrived at the Kenyan Airport. That’s when they found out about the suitcases. They were not very happy. They looked all over the airport and couldn’t find them. So they got to wait some more at the airport to find out what to do about the missing suitcases. They were getting very sleepy and Pa said ...a little grumpy.  After what seemed to them a very long time they left the baggage area and guess what they saw?



A very tired and excited George asking where are the rest of your suitcases?  So they explained to George about the missing suitcases and how tired they were. George took them right away to a hotel in Nairobi and they all fell fast asleep.

The next morning they all got up, and had a wonderful  Kenyan breakfast. Then  all of them headed out for George’s house in Nakuru. On the way out of Nairobi they saw some of Tweeter’s cousins the big African Storks in the trees above the crowded streets of Nairobi. They also had to stop for the president of Kenya to go by.



When they got in the country they saw baboons everywhere. They were sitting beside the road eating nasty things and begging for food. They have no manners at all. Disgusting!



Finally everyone pulled into George’s house in Nakuru and started fixing up their rooms. They told us it was good to finally be with their Nakuru family. After a good night sleep it was up for grocery shopping with a short stop for some chai tea and some Stony soft drinks.



That’s all for now. I'll write again soon....

Oh! Twitter reminded me to tell you that if you wanted to say something to any of the travelers, ask your mommies to show you how to leave a comment.

Well…. Kwa heri! That’s how we say goodbye here in Kenya.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Zelda the Zebra

Hello dear grandchildren,


My name is Zelda and I'm a Zebra! The bird on my back is my good friend Tweeter. Me and Tweeter are so happy you let your grandparents come here and visit us in Africa. We have lots of children just like you over here and they are so happy you are sharing your Grandpa and Grandma (Gema.)


Me and Tweeter are going to be writing to you each and every week telling you stories about what your grandparents are doing and seeing each day. There will be stories about our animal friends and stories of the children living in Nakuru stories too. We will try to send you pictures and videos of all the happens during the next 3 months. It will be so exciting! So get your mommies to check my blog so you don't miss anything.


Well, me and tweeter got to go but you'll be hearing from us soon.
Kwa heri.... That's the way we say good bye here in Kenya. Oh by the way, here are some pictures of my friends. Bye Bye.