Another WJI Multimedia project

Here is another video project that I worked on at WJI. Check it out….its about homelessness

Memorial Day Bashing Around Town

On Memorial Day, Shasta and I went all over town. We started out heading from our Apartment towards Central Park. We headed to the Disney Store then American Girl Place. Lunch for me was a pretzel and ice cream from a vendor near Central Park. Then we took a subway back to the apartment, picked up our maps. Then we headed out on the subway to Coney Island. Coney Island was insane...so busy. The weather was beautiful too. Shasta and I went on the Cyclone...a 80 year old wooden rollercoaster. It was my first time on a rollercoaster...and hopefully my last. (My neck is killing me today). After a nice walk on the boardwalk, down to the beach, and into the water, we got Corn Dogs and Cotten Candy. Then we jumped back on the subway up to 8th street. Checked out the Washington Arch then wandered around Greenwich Village and Soho for a while. We had fries in Soho...how random. Then back to the apartment and a trip to Time Square to check out the Toys R Us store (I was looking for something for JED :). After that I went out with a couple of the guys to comedy club. Lots of fun but now its back to the classroom for four days.


Mom: Check it out...its the American Girl Place. Very fun.

American Girl Place, Disney Store, Coney Island Beach, Greenwich.

Toys R Us Times Square.

Some Clarification

My dad asked me what message I want to convey with my picture. Umm...good question. When I started taking the pictures I wanted something that looked really nice, showed off my new camera, all the books and work I have to do and my computer. Sadly my computer didn't make it in any of these pictures. I want the pic to show a bit of my personality, what I do, what I'm capable of with the camera (and Picasa). Of course on Facebook its also important that someone be able to figure out who I am...its always annoying to get a friend request from someone and the name is familiar but the picture is poor and you just can't quite remember where you know them from. So yeah...

Profile Pic Options

I'm trying to pick out a new picture for my Facebook profile (and having some fun with the new camera). Oh and notice in some of them the obvious procrastination....see those stacks of books and the computer? Thats what I'm supposed to be doing instead of taking self-portraits and posting them on my blog

So I'm played with the profile pics a little bit (Picasa is a wonderful free program) and here is the results for four of them. Tell me which you like best.

I like this one because you can see my whole face, and I'm almost smiling, but the camera is not as obvious.

I like this because you can see my face, it has personality, the camera is prominent but I'm not smiling at all (and I've been told before the first impression people get of me...I'm a smiley girl...others have referred to me as...the girl who smiles all the time)

I love black and white photos, I love the little mystery, but my face isn't showing very well.

Full shot of my face, little smile, camera hidden, odd pose, (I like that my hair style - which I LOVE - is fully visable in this one :).

So tell me what you think...or don't ;)

By the way I would love to know who reads my blog so as well as telling me which picture you like, I would really appreciate it if you dropped me a comment and let me know whose reading my blog.

More essays coming your way...tomorrow...I REALLY hope! I'm almost (ummm well 30 pages in one book and 85 in the other left to go) done with my reading.

A few pictures of my family

I was playing with my new camera this afternoon and I took a few pictures of my family.

Rebecca watch her dad do something

Amanda and Victoria

Alexandra posing for the camera

The family ( I think Gary is doing something to do with his bees)

My Walk

So I did what I said I was going to do to relieve my boredom. I walked down our road – took pics. Then I got a mat but there I was not brave enough to take pictures, I don't enjoy being stared at or asked for money. But I'm going to do it one of these days before I leave for America, even if it means telling people I'm writing a article about public transport (and no that's not a lie cause I'm writing one for an assignment for my correspondence course). Then I hung out at Nakumatt Karen (Nakumatt is like Walmart but more expensive and less extensive). I bought a newspaper and a coffee at a little coffee shop (David it was the closest to one of your mochas I've had in Kenya but still not so good). Then to my horror it started to rain. Sadly in my pictures you can't see what I'm wear but I was wear a sundress (as in spaghetti straps) with a tank top underneath and jean capris with Teva sandals. In Kenya when it rains its not like in America. In America if its warm out and it rains its still warm out, in Kenya if it rains, it doesn't matter what the weather was like 1 minute before the rain starts, when it rains it always gets cold. I was freezing, sitting outside at a table (with one of those little umbrella things over it) and the rain was blowing on me. My mocha helped a little bit but not much. Then my dad came but so did one of my friends – Viyerrah (the only pictures I have of him are from Msafara, I'll take some next time we hang out and post them). He's an intern at my church but is on loan to a sister church. He lives about 10 minutes from my house and we have been hanging out a couple of times a week. So after paying Dad 50 shilllings (75 cents) I convinced him to pick me up at the end of our road in about an hour. Viyerrah and I wandered around Nakumatt and talked before I got a Mat back home. Oh and Viyerrah loaned me his sweater so I was no longer freezing! It was a fun evening. Here are some pictures:

Going out our gate (Jed - my little brother is opening it for me

Our road/driveway

More of the boring dirt road (now since the rain its mud), pretty trees overhead though

Some kids chilling at the end of the driveway - "Mzungu tupige picha = Hey white girl, take our picture" Halafa "Anapiga picha ya kila kitu = later "She taking pictures of everything." I don't think they realized I understood as much swahili as I do.

I love that fact and I love smiling Kenyan children even when they make fun of me.

The signboard for our road. If you want to read a funny story by one of my friends about not being able to find my road check out http://joyinkenya.blogspot.com

Random picture of my foot walking down the dirt road

Waiting for a Mat - across the main road looking back up our road.

The main road, which you can't see but it full of potholes and patches (and this is in one of the upscale parts of Nairobi!)

Hope you've enjoyed my random pictures. More to come soon. I hope to document the next two weeks so that I have lots of pictures to take with me to the states. I've got to show off my new home right (I've got a couple thousand pictures from Londiani but only a few from Nairobi).

Having a Blast

Today was very fun. I had a small party at mom and dad's house. Basically it was to say thank you to the guys who became my friends during Msafara. 8 people came (out of the 9 I had invited) and we had lots of fun, eating, talking, looking at pictures, taking pictures, watching video clips, and generally hanging out. If any of you happen to read my blog – thanks so much for coming and making my day great. It meant a lot to me. Here are some pics from the day. I think you will agree that we had fun.

Gedion behaving like a five year old with Jed's bike and I joined right in as he "carried" me on the bike.

From left: Gedion, Njeri, Myself, and Ken

In the "tree house"

From left: Roselynn, Cornelia, Njeri, Myself, and Nancy

The Gang posing

Having fun with the camera

Clockwise from me: Roselynn, Nancy, Daniel, John, Njeri, Gedion, Cornelia and Ken

Such fun and such great friends!!

My Favorite Msafara Pic

White skin and a large camera - bad combination :) I was mobbed by about 50 children when we first reached one of the IDP camps.

By the way I want to post some pics that show what Msafara was all about - problem is...I'm still sorting through the 5500 good pictures taken!