We Made It

We Made It 1-10-10
For the amount of time it took, I would say that we made it to Tumaini (pronounced Too – Mine –E) without much of a problem. From the time we left our house in Texas to our arrival in Nairobi took about 28 hours. It was another 3-hour ride to Tumaini the next day. It is about 5 a.m. (8p.m. Texas time) on our second morning at the home. Never really had “jet lag” before. I recommend a name change to “Jet Throws Your Body Into A Complete Tailspin Lag”, as it seems more apropos to me. I would consider requiring that it be written in all caps, rather than just initial caps, as well. I’ve been waking up between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. so far. Heather has been doing a little better, but not too much.

After our bags arrived at the airport, we hopped into a car with our driver, Francis. Francis would best be described as crazy nice. When he heard we were from Texas, he immediately proclaimed his love of Clint Eastwood movies, and his fear of snow. Heather in her fashion assuaged his concerns, telling him that it rarely snowed at our home in Texas. She then delved in the beauty of a fresh snow, and, after an evening snow, the miracle of waking up in a brand new world. Francis responded, “If I were to have to step in it, I think I would just die.” Interestingly, Francis was just the first of a number of Kenyans to reiterate this fear of snow. If only I could make it snow, I might rule all equatorial countries. Our first night was spent at Karen Kottage, just outside of Nairobi. If anyone every makes this trip, I highly recommend crashing there. This is a very nice family run bed and breakfast. I will be using the word “nice” and other iterations frequently throughout this writing. Most of our interaction was with the family’s son, Michael, a freshman at Oklahoma State University. Michael made the stay very easy and pleasant. The next morning, while I was inside reading, Heather wandered around the grounds. She came back in to tell me that she had just met very nice man name Tahnlee while walking around. Soon thereafter, Michael came over with breakfast, and we chatted awhile. Michael asked if any of his family had come by. Heather repeated her pleasant conversation but could not remember the name of the man she had spoken with. “His name begins with a T. Maybe Taylee, or Tahnlee?” Michael appeared confused, ”There is nobody that lives here with either of those names.” We bounced around other possible names for a bit. Finally, Michael figured it out. “I believe that you met my father Stanley!” Yes, we are both having some difficulty with the accent right now, but getting better every day. The next morning, we were to be picked up at 9:30 a.m. to begin the 3-hour drive to Tumaini. We were also introduced to the flexibility of the Kenyan schedule when our driver arrived at 11:30a.m. It is now 6:15a.m., and I am feeling a bit tired. I am going to try to grab some more sleep before we head to church.

Due to internet problems, I cannot get pictures to post. I will try again later.
Kris and Heather