Haraka Haraka Haina Baraka is a saying that our Kiswahili teacher, Jacken, says quite often to us in class. It means “Hurry Hurry has no Blessings. At times, we feel like he is going at lightning speed in spite of that quote! We arrived at the Consolata Language Centre in Nairobi on January 11th and within a few hours of Fr. David dropping us off we were in class! Before Fr. David left, Wes asked him if he was coming back for Parent’s Day…Fr. David laughed! We have just completed our third week of school and have a couple of more months to go. Learning a new language has had its challenges and there have been days we wonder if we will ever get to that point where we can carry on a fluid conversation in Kiswahili but we trust we will get there. Besides the two of us, we have four others in our class including Fr. Philip from the Philippines, Susan from New Jersey, and Francis and Megan who are both from Maryland. Fr. Philip is with the Don Bosco Order while Susan, Francis and Megan are Maryknoll Lay Missioners and will be heading to Mombasa when they are done with language school. They all come from different walks of life and so it has been interesting and fun getting to know them. We do apologize for not getting a blog done until now as we didn’t have Wi-Fi at first and when we did, not able to get on the internet and finally we must say that Kiswahili has pretty much taken over our lives…we haven’t studied this much since college! The Language Centre is run by the Institute of the Consolata Missionaries with its principal objective being to facilitate language learning and cultural immersion for missionaries and other people coming to Kenya as well as those going to foreign lands. At this Centre, which is dedicated to Our Lady of Consolata, they teach over ten different languages including English, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Kiswahili, French, and Portuguese to name a few. On these same grounds is the Consolata Seminary and Institute of Philosophy. With all these programs, we have met people coming from different parts of the world speaking different languages and this has made for a wonderful experience. There is a saying by Ludwig Wittgenstein posted outside on the grounds that states “The Limit of My Language Is the Limit of My World”. A number of these young men who are in the seminary and some women (mostly religious) are going out into the world to work as a missionary and they need to learn English (or another language) just as we are trying to learn Kiswahili. At break time they come to you to try and speak English as they are struggling as much to learn English as we are are trying to learn Kiswahili…in case you are wondering our class of six has the oldest students! We rise around 5:30 am to get ready for daily Mass and afterwards go to breakfast and then to class for four hours. In the afternoon we study and try to take a break away from studying by walking the grounds here around the complex. Our meals are eaten with the priests and we have come to look forward to those times as the conversations with them have been fun, engaging, and educational. We get insight on politics here in Kenya and the world, culture, religion, history, etc. These men are very educated and knowledgeable about many things and they offer much insight and wisdom for reflection. The grounds here include a small shamba (farm) where they grow their own vegetables as well as milk a few cows and raise pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, fish, etc. Almost everything we eat is fresh from the shamba! It is greatly encouraged that one goes out and talks with the people that work on the shamba and to engage in Kiswahili with them as much as one is able to. Because they know we are here to learn language, they are very patient and willing to teach us a few words and how to use them in sentences. The other day, to get a break from studying, we went to the shamba and watched Bahita milk the four cows…by hand! It is amazing to see their practice of conservation and utilizing everything from using all the animal wastes for the bio-digester (produces the gas to cook meals) and also to use as fertilizer for the shamba while some of the animals are fed the unusable parts of the vegetables. They are very resourceful and not much of anything goes to waste. It may be a week or more before we post again but until then we are doing fine and know we keep you in our prayers and ask you to do the same. Our Lady of Consolation is found everywhere on pictures to statues in the buildings, courtyard, church, chapel, classrooms, our room, etc. What a wonderful intercessor we have in our Blessed Mother and one that seems very appropriate for us as we strive to learn a new language. Mungu Awabariki! Check out more photos at: