monday. august 1o 2oo9

go to aftanandsteven.blogspot.com to get updates. ::: :::

tuesday. april 14 2oo9

i miss you. ::: :::

saturday. april 11 2oo9

it's departure day =[ we had brunch at java. she had the fruit salad. it's an awesome fruit salad, except i can't eat over 90% of the fruit in the bowl. we took the day slowly to soak it all in and process being apart again. it's always bittersweet when this happens. being on different continents when you're engaged really really stinks! i'd lie if i said i'm not sad. i miss her. everything reminds me of her. sigh. please pray for us. it's a tough time. i want us both to enjoy these remaining two months in our respective countries. here's a picture of her plane i spotted from the parking lot. i waited to see her plane take off, but unfortunately i missed it b/c it flew over the opposite side of the airport. i miss you baby!!!! ::: :::

friday. april 1o 2oo9

this was the last full day she was here in kenya, so i didn't want to do anything planned. i just wanted us to relax and enjoy each other's company. so we spent 2.5hrs chilling out at java. she ordered pancakes, and i had a burrito. we got the best of both worlds. after a nice time spent relaxing, we went to nakumatt to pick up some last-minute salt&vinegar pringles and bags of cashew nuts. we spent a great deal of time trying to book her ticket to come back to kenya next school year. but in the end, it all worked out. i'm really excited about her coming and about us growing old together. i mean i've always been excited about her coming to kenya, but now that she has signed a contract and booked a ticket it makes things that much more real and closer. i dunno. i'm a weirdo. and of course the day would not be complete without homemade beef enchiladas with a side order of refried beans....Mmmmm. i'm totally saving some for later. it's soooooo delicious! check back on me in five years. i'm sure i'll be an obese man by then. i guess i'll have to move to the post position. no more guard for me. oh yea, we watched Out Of Africa while eating enchiladas. believe it or not, i've never seen it before. i think i enjoyed it mainly for it being a true story. it also helps that meryl streep is a great actress. * for the record, i do know that it's my dad's birthday a week from today. but for some reason, i bet i'm gonna forget =P ::: :::

thursday. april o9 2oo9

i found the elephant orphanage!!! the least they could do is put up a sign. it's kinda weird that it's a hidden touristy place. you'd think they'd put out a giant sign with an elephant on it. anyways, i've been to the orphanage before. it's cool to see baby elephants. you tend to forget that they started out that small. for me, the coolest part of this visit was the baby rhino. i didn't see this little guy when i came a couple years ago. this sucker was tiny!!! he's smaller than alot of dogs out there. he didn't have a horn yet, but his skin is like armor. that stuff is thick. after the orphanage, we went out to yaya to pick up some cushion covers for aftan's friend in korea. for some reason, i was really tired. so guys, you know how we have to find a place to sit every time we walk into a store with a girl? well, the stores we walked into didn't have any chairs hidden in a corner to sit in. so what did i do? i sat on the couch and chair displays in the display window. why not? i think it's free advertisement. when people walk by and notice how comfortable the chinese guy sitting on the couch is, i think they'll consider buying it. after i had a good rest on a couple displays, we headed out to toi market. it's always a nice place to just walk around and accidentally stumble across stuff. af tried on a couple shirts, but there wasn't anything that particularly stood out. every time i see shoes, the craving comes back, but i kept resisting. my girl is great. she urged me to get shoes that i really really want. so we headed out to junction where there is a Converse store that holds a pair of shoes that i've always walked by and glanced at but never bought. i was trying to be good by resisting, but she said i should get them. who am i to argue with my fiancee over a pair of shoes? =] so i got them. ol skool style, new school logo ::: :::

wednesday. april o8 2oo9

this day didn't turn out the way i had planned, but strangely enough i think we had a better time b/c of it. we attempted to check out the elephant orphanage. stupid me couldn't figure out where it was located. they don't exactly have a sign that says elephant orphanage, so we ended up in an interesting part of town. i think she enjoyed seeing a different part of nairobi. because that turned out to be a flop, i brought her over to this fabric store in karen. it's a nice place b/c you can pick out the fabric design you want and also choose the type of clothing you want made with it. she's having a dress/shirt made. i'd show you a picture, but it's currently in the process of being made. afterwards, we went apartment hunting. it turned out to be really fun. it's exciting to look for a new home together. i enjoyed it b/c i learned more about what she wants in an apartment, and now she knows more about the things i find a priority. we did find a place, but we're afraid it'd be taken by the time we come back next school year. right now, we're deciding on what to do about it. should i move into it now? it costs significantly more than what i'm paying now. i'd have to be very meticulous about my spending in order to live there. i guess it's back to bread and water if i decide to move in. sigh, i hate money. in the evening, aftan cooked up a mean lasagna. i forgot to take a picture of it after it was done, but man was it good! we still have tons of leftovers. it'll last me a few days after she leaves. i'm excited!!! to truly appreciate it, you gotta realize what i've been eating this past year. ok i know there are many of you out there who like korean food. i do too. but when the menu becomes mostly vegetables for days at a time, it gets kinda old. i'm from texas. i gotta have some meat. so when af comes along and makes me breaded chicken and lasagna, i get just alittle bit too excited. ::: :::

tuesday. april o7 2oo9

this day started off with Fruity Pebbles and an omelette for me. she had herself a nutella/pb sandwich. after breakfast, we went to nakumatt to pick up more food. there was alot of cooking to be done in the near future. because i know how much she enjoyed reading about Karen Blixen and watching Out Of Africa, i took her to the Karen Blixen Museum. it is the actual house that she lived in while she was here in kenya. they preserved most of the house. there are things here and there that look like they were added for effect. but for the most part, the house is the same, and her land is huge! it was sad to see that they added an extension to her house. the extension was a gift shop!!! boo kenya boo! i'll stop talking now, and let you check out the pictures. our evening was filled with homemade mac & cheese and breaded chicken. we also love the film, Stranger Than Fiction. it was a good way to close out the day. i'm so thankful she can cook food that'll fatten me real good =] i enjoy the homemadeness of it all the most. i don't think i could ever pay for an omelette ever again. i love you babe!!! ::: :::

monday. april o6 2oo9

we like cereal and morning cartoons. so naturally we ate Golden Crisps and watched Family Guy when we got up. this is how you enjoy your vacation =] our going through a few episodes of Family Guy, we headed out to take care of some business. for lunch, we had indian food. we ordered butter chicken and tandoori chicken. if you haven't noticed already, most of the things i post about her trip here are food-related. it's probably b/c we love to eat a variety of ethnic foods. we get quite the wide range over here. so far, we've already had psuedo-chinese food, american (fruity pebbles, golden crisps, omelette), ethiopian food, and indian food. not many people can say they've eaten all that in the past 4 days. later on, we dropped by school to check out some stuff. in the process, af was handed a contract to sign for next year. we totally didn't expect that to happen. it's definitely a praise to have her join us at wns!!! there will be some hardships along the way, but i'm so happy that she'll be teaching here. after getting things taken care of at school, we went to junction for....Mzuri Monday Madness....or as jonathan likes to refer to it.....Mzungu Monday Madness. it's monday, and i always watch a movie at the theater on monday. it's just so hard for me to pass up a movie, hotdog, popcorn, and a bottled drink for $6 (the price went up =P) we joined some 9th grade boys for Monsters vs Aliens. the movie had a great cast, but i don't feel like they were utilized. there could've been sooooo many funnier lines. the storyline was too simple also. the only funny character was seth rogen. there was good animation and idea, but they could've done more with it. i give it * */2. ::: :::

sunday. april o5 2oo9

our day started out with a healthy bowl of Fruity Pebbles and a mushroom, tomato, cheese omelette...*drool* because it was her only sunday here, we had to check out Maasai market at yaya. we got some slingbags, earrings, and necklaces. it was great getting out in the sun. she had been in cold-weathered korea for so long that she really missed the sun. i still need me a good pair of sunglasses. you would think by now i'd get a pair, but i'm so picky when it comes to wearing stuff on my face. anyways, we headed over to Habesha for some ethiopian food in the evening. not everyone is a fan of ethiopian food, but af and i enjoy something simple as injera and shiro. it's probably the cheapest meal we've ever eaten, and we're always full afterwards. our night ended with Robin Hood: Men In Tights. mel brooks is hilarious!!! ::: :::

saturday. april o4 2oo9

it was her first full day back in kenya, and i could tell how excited she was to be here. we took it easy and ate at java at junction. then we picked up a necklace and earrings from kazuri. she was determined to cook up a storm on this trip, so we hit up nakumatt and bought a ton of stuff. this is probably irrelevant, but she brought her hard drive from her desktop. we were hoping to plug it into my external case and scan it for viruses. when she got here, i noticed the outlets on her hd were different from my ribbon plugs on my external. it's something i've never seen before. so we spent that afternoon searching around nairobi for anyone selling an external case with a matching plug. we came up empty-handed, but i'm still determined to find a case that fits. does anyone know what i'm talking about? if so, gimme some info on it. i'm guessing it's a newer design for hard drives. anyways, our night ended with an episode of How I Met Your Mother and Step Up 2. yes i know the movie isn't exactly oscar-winning, but hey the dancing is cool. i like moose. pop&lock is sick! ::: :::

friday. april o3 2oo9

in the morning, i proctored SAT's again, but this wasn't any ordinary friday. this was a special friday =] why you ask? well this was the day i left school early excitedly to drive to the airport. my baby decided to visit me for easter break...yay!!!! she's awesome!!! we had been waiting for three agonizing months to see each other. it sucks to be apart and engaged at the same time. i was happy to be reunited with my looooooooooove. i would tell you the story of picking her up from the airport, but i think i shall leave those unfortunate events of steven tso between me and my love. in the evening, aftan was gracious enough to join me and some of the teachers at a chinese restaurant called For You even though she was super tired. the end. ::: :::

thursday. april o2 2oo9

i proctored SAT's all morning. in the latter half of the day, the teachers were supposed to be working in their classrooms. i didn't have much to do, so i decided to go down to the chapel room and help out with this year's drama play. they will be performing the play, "The Man Who Came To Dinner". kate, the hs english teacher, is directing, and becca (11th grader) is assistant directing. we also have mr. bussell assisting b/c of his extensive background in acting. i figured i'd show up b/c i needed something to do. what i didn't know was that they'd end up using me as mr. whiteside in act II b/c the student was unable to come to rehearsal that day. it was fun, and time flew by quickly. i think the kids are gonna do great this year. many of them have matured as actors, and we have alot more experienced help. ::: :::

wednesday. april o1 2oo9

this week we had SAT's (stanford achievement tests), so our schedules on wed, thurs, and friday were halfdays. today was a fairly free day for me in the morning. i taught one algebra II class and coached volleyball in the afternoon. ::: :::