May 8

Happy Mothers day to my lovely mother!
Sorry I didn’t actually send this last night (or this morning,
depending on what time zone you are in). the internet gets SUPER slow
at night.
Yesterday we went out on the town!  To get to the “town” we had to
take a “taxi” which is actually a mini van type vehicle with four rows
of seats and as many people as possible jammed in. For 500 shillings
(the equivalent of 25 cents) they will drive you just about anywhere
you want to go, which sounds awesome, right? In many ways it is
awesome, but in others it is not. For example, there are many many
MANY people crammed next to you and they don’t usually have, shall we
say, the same hygiene standards that I am accustomed to.  Also, the
drivers are CRAZY, weaving in and out of traffic and passing
constantly. It’s funny because, as I mentioned before, most of the
culture seems much slower and laid back than America, but that
apparently doesn’t apply to driving. As soon as they get in a car,
they are determined to arrive at their destination AS FAST AS HUMANLY
POSSIBLE.
       While in the city we went to a market, which was just like you would
picture it: tons of tents everywhere with goods galore. You will be
proud to know that I am getting the hang of haggling. I bought some
sunglasses (because I forgot mine, whoops) and the guy said I could
have them for 8,000, but I successfully got it down to 5000. Boo yah.
Also, the pineapple here is like heaven. Almost literally. I am sure
this pineapple will be in heaven.
       At one point walking around we got tired and sat on a curb and just
watched people. This tiny little kid (his dad said he was 2, but I
have been told by several people that their child was 2 when it was
obviously not true. Maybe that’s just the age they use) came up to us,
as friendly as can be, laughing and high fiving us. His dad asked if
he could take the kid’s picture with us, which was fun. Then we asked
the dad what the kids name was and he said Robot. Robot? Seriously?
Hahahhahahahahahahaha
Today we went to church for the first time. We had to take the cab
there (awesome). I was surprised by how similar it is to US church.
They even encouraged the congregation to go to institute so they could
meet their eternal companion, hahaha. But seriously, I guess I had
this preconceived notion that the church would somehow be not as
advanced as it is in the United States. Like, I knew their testimonies
would probably be super strong, but I guess I assumed lessons would be
simpler and stuff. But I was completely wrong. The people here are so
very knowledgeable, especially of the scriptures. And everything is
organized so well. There are no pianos, so the conductor sings the first line of the song so that we
all get the tune and key.  Instead of prelude music, the ward choir
came early and sang hymns.  Candace, tell your friend that I met 4
missionaries and they are all nice.  It was really fun because
everyone was so excited to see us there and came up to shake our
hands. Plus, there were many adorable babies. They have a ward FHE
tomorrow, so hopefully we can go to that.
Thank you guys so much for sending me emails! I get ridiculously happy
when I know what is going on in your lives.  I am also glad I got to
talk to half of you, but sad that I missed out on the other half. I am
also sad that I missed eggs Benedict. That will have to be something
that is repeated.
Love you guys so so so much!