John

Well, I call him Johana here, but that's the Swahili way to say John. Johana is my high school friend that I ran with.  I only get to see Johana occasionally now because he's away in boarding school, still in Narok, but he's not able to run at the track everyday anymore. Boarding school is the norm here, even for some elementary schools. We said goodbye to Johana in January and expected to see him again in April during his school break, but...

I happened to be walking home from church several weeks ago and had my camera with me and I saw a runner coming toward me...Not many people in Narok are runners--there might be 5 of us?? So, I wasn't completely surprised to find that it was Johana!

...there was a teacher's strike several weeks ago so Johana was out of school for a week and back home. So the Sunday he was home, several of us headed out to Maji Moto (hot springs) for church and since Johana was out of school and hadn't been to this "tourist attraction" in such a nearby town, he came along, too.

Johana, me, Shane and Alison at our co-worker Steve's house in Maji Moto.

Here are two Ashleighs (I guess I don't know how she'll spell it) but this is my namesake! Steve (my co-worker) & Elizabeth gave their baby the English name Ashley (or Ash-ee-lee as the Kenyans pronounce it!). Her Maasai name is Naminyak. I met her when she was 3 days old, so it's been fun to see her grow!

After church we dropped Johana off at his house just outside of Narok. Johana is one of 10 kids--we got to meet some of his siblings, nieces and nephews and his dad. We stopped for tea (I'm learning you can't really turn down chai when you visit someone's home no matter how much of a hurry you might think you are in!). Our stop at Johana's house was a nice closing to our day together.