Sunday, June 13th

This morning I woke up at 8:00 am after I slept very well. I took my first shower in 5 days since we were not able to shower on the hike! Hopefully I don't ever have to go that long without showering again! Unfortunately, the hot water tank for our shower is not working but the cold shower I took never felt so refreshing! The compound has a family of black and white dogs to keep away intruders.

Julia and I went to 10:00 am mass in the chapel which was celebrated by Father Bert. He is an American priest who visits for about 2 months every year. Even though the Church is now in Ordinary Time, he emphasized how all time is EXTRAordinary Time. At mass, there were about 60 people from the community packed into a tiny, simple chapel. Many members of the community are in the choir. The beautiful, lively songs they sang are mostly sung in English with a few in Swahili. Bongos drums and other instruments were used. The choir included everyone from infants to the elderly. Here at mass, the Eucharist is dipped into the Blood of Christ if you wish to receive the Blood of Christ rather than drinking from the chalice. Father Kevin introduced Julia and me to the congregation. We received a very warm welcome and met so many of the very kind people after mass.

After mass, we toured the rest of the fairly large living complex that is contained within the stone walls of the compound. There are guards that come from a tribe in Kenya that work here for safety. We were shown around the main house where there is a common room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms for the Friars. There is another building used for administrative offices and a quaint library. The property is beautiful. There are many trees ranging from mango to avocado to eucalyptus along with many birds and beautiful flowers. We then walked to the hospital on the other side of the compound that the Sisters of Hawthorne for patients with terminal illnesses. The home that they live in used to be the home of a wealthy Indian businessman who ran a transportation system in Kenya. The sisters have only been in Kisumu for a few years. The home that they provide for the patients is truly incredible. Most of the patients have lived in mud huts their whole lives and now are being cared for in their own beds in a house that is like a palace to most of them.

I had some downtime later on. Today was the first day I was able to get wireless. At 6:00 pm, we went to Vespers, Compline, and Intercessory Prayer in the chapel which lasted until 6:45 pm. We ate dinner with the Friars, novices, and postulates in the large dining room where we will be eating all of our meals. Everyone is very excited about the World Cup especially since many of the men studying to become Dominican Friars are from various countries in Africa that are competing. All of Africa has been inundated by the World Cup frenzy.