Cooking in Africa!

I always thought I was decent cook…but little did I know that I was only pseudo-cooking until now ☺. Cooking in Africa is much different. I only have 2 gas burners, so I have to figure out how to make everything we want on those! (although I am considering buying a small oven … it kinda looks like a toaster oven… where you can fit one casserole dish in it).

Anyway… I’m learning, slowly but surely.

Here’s a woman at the school who sells fruits and vegetables. She buys them at the market, and then sells them a little higher here on campus. We call her Mama Flora (because she is the mother of Flora).


Here are some things that we have bought over these past few weeks…

A red pepper the size of Asante’s head (for about 40 schillings, or 60 cents):


An avocado almost as big as my head (okay, not really), but it’s big. It cost probably, like 10 schillings… or 16 cents:


And big fresh pineapples cost 30-40 cents here—we love them! We have been buying one a week to snack on during the day.

So far I’ve learned how to make homemade spaghetti sauce (from tomatoes!) and meatballs, chili (which wasn’t hard, but I did have to cook the kidney beans), oogali (which is a white bread that you make from just water and flour on the stove), hummus, and guacamole.

And here are some fun bonus pics of Asante: ☺

From Asante

So this is an update about me, Asante Samuel Malloy. My momma calls me Asante Sana a lot, and I hear “Asante!” being yelled all the time because it means “thank you” here in Kenya.
Here are a couple pics that mom took of me:
Here I’m sleeping, something I’ve done more of since I’ve gotten here. I normally take a short nap in the morning and then a longer one after lunch, and sometimes even a short one right before dinner!….

Here’s I am playing with some twine that dad gave me after he used to make a thingy for the mosquito net to go up into the air when mom and dad aren’t in bed…




And here I am playing with some of my friends. They’re really nice. They don’t come over as much now though, because they are all in school…


I am starting school on Monday at Pistis School right by my house. I get to go in the mornings 3 times per week for a few hours. I will be the youngest in my class, but they are very excited to have me there. I’m excited to be there as well because now I get to play with other kids and with some different toys!

I’m also learning some about language…I’m able to imitate my mom and dad when they say “baba” and “mama” and “papa” and “fafa”. I also like to copy my mom when she says “up” and “down” when my momma throws the ball up and down. I’m getting pretty good at saying “up.” I can also say “moo” when I’m playing with my toy cow.

I’m feeling more brave about walking around on the furniture. I’m not quite ready to walk by myself yet, but I’ll get there one day. Sometimes I stand by myself when I don’t realize it. But then mom or dad says, “Asante! You’re standing by yourself!” Then I get scared and grab on to something.

I also love to make my funny face all the time. And I clap a lot now. Mostly when I’m happy, but sometimes when I’m mad at mommy too.

And yesterday I ate a tortilla and some taco meat and drank from a sippee cup at our friend’s house. It was so tasty. I felt like a big boy.

P.S. Dad told me to say that he has some video coming soon!

Big, Exciting News

Today we got to see a bigger part of Nairobi, northern Nairobi to be exact. Why you ask? Well, we went to a medical location to get me checked out... and this is what we found:




And for those of you that found out about Asante on the BSU Spring Break Mission Trip....no, it's not a tumor :).

Baby Malloy is about 8 or 9 weeks along. I've been suffering from bouts of morning/all-day sickness, which has made things here a bit more challenging, but it's no where NEAR what it was last time, due to God's grace and more sleep/rest during the day.

If it's a girl we have our great girl name that we love love love. BUT, I think another boy name is going to be tricky. So if you have any suggestions, feel free to write them below. However, include the meanings of the name as well, as that is definitely important to us.

More Pictures!

Our lovely bathroom with the oh-so-cute shower curtain. So far I have successfully had one full warm shower. :)
another pic of our room (obviously our desk this time)...
me in our living area...
our dining part of our living area...
jake loves the brick and the tall ceiling... when we first got here we got someone to come in and take down 2 wasps nests!
Our refrigerator, which i'm quite happy about. We have a great amount of freezer space. Also, notice all the great pics of our friends and family!

A Few Pictures of our Home

Our bedroom ...
view of the kitchen...

Our view from our living room window, of the kids playing outside.
Our Dining Area
Another of our kitchen....
Asante's Bedroom...

The only rooms left to share are our bathroom and living room... i need to change the pics around before i post them, so this is until next time... :)