jamesinsudan

The End

Well, since I'm now officially back from Sudan (for almost 3 weeks now) I've decided to retire the ole blog. I've started a new one, however, at jamesknowles.blogspot.com to chronicle all sorts of interesting American nonsense, beginning today. So look me up over there sometime, and thanks for sticking around to hear about the Sudan for the last year or so.

The End

Well, since I'm now officially back from Sudan (for almost 3 weeks now) I've decided to retire the ole blog. I've started a new one, however, at jamesknowles.blogspot.com to chronicle all sorts of interesting American nonsense, beginning today. So look me up over there sometime, and thanks for sticking around to hear about the Sudan for the last year or so.

Italia

Hey everyone. Haven't posted in awhile because I've been travelling so much lately, but I just wanted to say hello from Florence, Italy, where I'm staying for the next couple of days.

In the last two weeks, I've been in London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome with some friends, Carrie, Bethany and Eva, whose sites you can check out over to the right. We had some good times seeing a lot of very old stuff, since that's what Europe is all about.

Since I've been on my own, I've seen Pisa and Florence, and in a couple of days I move on to Bologna, Venice and Nice. Only 10 more days abroad, though, and then my time overseas is officially over when I get back to the States on the 28th.

Hope everyone's doing well, and I look forward to seeing you when I get home.

Alexandria

Since I was in Egypt for a week, I couldn't stay in one place, so I took the bus up to Alexandria. The Mediterranean was so blue and wonderful, and there was some pretty neat stuff to see there, including some awesome Indiana Jones-esque catacombs (no cameras allowed).

Here's the Biblioteca Alexandrina, an attempt to recreate the ancient library at Alexandria. This place is incredible!

This is the harbor in front of my hotel. That fort on the far side stands on the spot where the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, once stood.

Here I am at the reflecting pool in front of the library.

Egypt

So I was at the Sarit Centre (one of our Kenyan/Indian malls) a couple weeks ago, and they had a sign that said "Special! Egypt! $299!" Since I love signs with lots of exclamation marks, I thought, "Why not?" So I spent last week in Egypt. Neat.

Yup. They're big.

The obligatory me-on-a-camel-in-front-of-the-big-pointy-objects picture.

Me and Sphinxy (Me not pictured).

Russ Lee

All through the month of August, Christian singer Russ Lee and his family were in Kenya. This was part of his "I Will Go Tour," during which he will visit 6 continents and all 50 United States.

Russ and his family did a lot of cool stuff while they were here - they were up in Samburu where I was a couple months ago, and they worked with some church plants in the slums. Russ also did a concert at the Christian Union at Kenyatta University here in Nairobi (picture below).

Russ played for over 1,000 students, and 40 made professions of faith. Hopefully, the campus ministry will follow these up.

The really cool thing was that God has gifted this brother in amazing ways, and he is using them for ministry. Not to sell albums or to gain fame. For ministry. It was cool to see how God really worked through him to minister wherever he was in Kenya.

The 5 Best Sites I Visited Today

In honor of the ever-popular Internet, here are some sites that were just downright amusing or helpful during another long day at the office.

5. "Potty break mic snafu: CNN’s Phillips chats in the loo during Bush speech"

It appears Kyra Phillips forgot to shut off her mike when she went for a bathroom break during President Bush's Katrina anniversary speech. Looks like she'll have some explaining to do to her sister-in-law.

4. Free Derek Webb

I can't tell you how much I love this album, or how awesome it is that it'll be totally free as of tomorrow, but let me implore you to check it out.

3. Says-It.com

If you have time to kill, and a statement to make, this is the place to go. You can make your own seal, concert ticket, or even church sign (examples follow):

This is the best church sign I've ever seen, but I failed to take a picture. Now I can recapture the experience:

2. Angry Alien Productions

A classic which has expanded its catalogue of 30-second encapsulations of classic film reenacted by bunnnies. Good times.

1. The Purpose Driven Message Bible

And certainly the funniest site I've seen in awhile would have to be Sacred Sandwich's parody of Rick Warren and Eugene Peterson. How many of us are living out this translation of Acts 2?

Thika

Just up the road from Nairobi is a little town called Thika that has a couple of waterfalls. I decided to drive up there on Sunday and check things out. Somehow I blew right through the place, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. So the 70 km round trip became 150...it's not like there's a lot else to do around here.

Here I am in front of Thika Falls. It reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in that the water is the color of chocolate milk.

The second waterfall was difficult to find, which is weird, because waterfalls tend to be large and loud. I thought I had found it here, but it turned out to be the kiddy pool. Still, an awesome sight.

Finally, I came to the end of my journey. This is Chania Falls, with a little bridge over top that makes it rather picturesque. All in all, an interesting day. Especially when the guy doing the live music on the lawn did his "Barak Obama" impression. Classic.

Truck Full O' Sheep

'Nuff said.

Giraffes

This week, determined to not have another boring Saturday in Nairobi, I drove out to the suburbs to the Langata Giraffe Center where lots of white people come to line up and feed these ginormous beasts.

These are all reticulated giraffes, I think. Don't know what the difference is, really, but that's what the signs said.

Here I am feeding this big guy. Their tongues are ridiculously long and bendy. (And moist!)

And here's a sign from above the sink in the restroom. Note that "Love the environment as you love yourself" is apparently on par with "Do not leave water running from the taps." Helpful.

Circumcision

On my trip up to Maralal I got to take part in something pretty amazing. The rite of passage ritual of the Samburu people is that of circumcision. The young men are circumcised to mark their becoming Moran, or warriors. This ceremony only happens once every 10 years or so, with young men aged 12-21 taking part. It was incredible that it happened while I was there!

These are the young man, chanting and preparing for their circumcisions. The guys in black are the Moran-to-be and the ones in red are guys who are already Moran.

After the cutting (sorry, no pictures), the Morani drain blood from a cow for the guys to drink (for strength). They pierce the artery with an arrow (as pictured).