I am in love with Kenya

How do you account for love at first sight? Kenya is a truly beautiful place, filled with amazingly charming people. Everyone says "Jambo" or "Welcome" and seems to mean it. We are staying at HEART which is a conference center for AIDS education and which also hosts other mission delegations, delicious meals and comfortable rooms for $35/night and their entire staff is lovely and very gracious.

Adjusting to the time change turned out to be easier than we expected. After yesterday, when there was a resounding crash when the whole bunch of us hit the wall about 3 pm, naps were indulged in and last night most of us slept pretty good. The attitude this morning around breakfast had improved at least 200%. I do feel like I have made the switch. We did stay up the entire first leg of the trip and then some were able to sleep the leg from Heathrow to Nairobi. (by the way, I tried to post here in Heathrow, and was shut out because the site was considered to be "porn-related"... I guess I have a rep -- please be sure to report me if you see porn any where around here!)

There is a very upbeat feeling in the capitol. The country elected a new president two years ago who is cleaning out corruption, has instituted free primary education and is planting beautiful bushes and flowers all over the city, which is actually pretty clean. They haven't done so well with exhaust, very smelly, but the city looks pretty good. I saw Maribou Storks, which have got to be some of the ugliest birds on the face of the earth. There were giraffes in the field next to the airport (a game preserve). It's quite a place.

We have been doing touristy things the last two days, shopping, went to a great cultural center show today with dancing, drumming and other local music and some of the best acrobats I have ever seen. Two of our group members including our pastor Kerry Decker got pulled into the dancing -- it was great blackmail material and good for a wonderful laugh. We also bought two televisions and two DVD players for Tumaini. Paul, who is the local manager of Tumaini, was deliriously happy and nearly popped out of his skin -- he is a delightful person and we enjoyed spending the afternoon with him. We have a driver of our van named Joseph who is amazingly skilled at navigating the crazy traffic -- it's all on the left hand side of the road and lots of traffic circles. I don't watch.

Tomorrow we're off to Masii, after church. We put the Memory Books together tonight and bought supplies today (markers etc.). For those of you who donated, we will be visiting homes this week to see where the money can be used and I will be posting a report when we get back. There is a chance that I will be able to do something from Machakos (next door town), but it is slim. Check this site about the middle of the week.

Love to all.

whooo what a day

Why is it that the last day before you go on vacation or a big trip everything falls apart? I thought I could avoid it but today at work was CRAAAAZZZZYYYY. Everyone was coming by to say good-bye, people were still giving me money (amazing), my boss was giving me things to do, I had letters to write and the computer letterhead was being really cranky, I had to fax a letter of recommendation to Oklahoma for a former foster parent who is going to social work school and I couldn't get it to go through, my In Box is too full, etc etc etc, you get the picture. Plus a never ending stream of phone calls for a variety of reasons from at least 10 different people.

I think things are under control, though, everything is going to be ok.

I don't know what else to do except pray. Everything is ready, now I am going to commit the whole thing to God. We leave for LAX at 3 pm tomorrow, plane at 8:50.

Love you all, I'm planning to try to write from Heathrow Airport in London. We'll see.

I'm going to miss my garden and my dogs. Everyone else can email me, they can't!

Sunday was significant

I realized Sunday that I have now let go of control over the trip. All wheels are in motion, bags are mostly packed, I have that tiny short list of "stuff" I still need (I had to pack to find out what it was), we were prayed over at church both in my women's Sunday School class (thank you Mary) and in the service. WE ARE READY...

Now for the really important decisions -- what reading material do I take on the plane, what snacks to pack, do I get an aisle seat? Can I get Internet access at Heathrow?

Also where are my life insurance policies, how will my family pay the bills if need be, what do I want done with what's left of me if something awful happens. I know it's morbid, but leaving Bill 12,000 miles behind made me think about a lot of things I needed to do to make sure he would be ok. Actually, I took care of most of this a couple of weeks ago, but it's still on my mind.

Laureen has finished the layout for the "Memory Book" pages and I think it's going to be just fine. I am praying that the children will enjoy the activity and that it will be something they will remember and treasure for a long time.

I saw Stanley at church and bid him godspeed, and said "See you in Nairobi!"

Whoo hoo! it's almost here....

photo trouble

After I posted last night, I spent about two hours trying to figure out how to put pictures on the blog while I am away from my own computer. No luck so far. I think I can probably upload them to another website and then insert the URL (I thought I could do this with the Kodak site but no dice). So right now I am not sure whether I will be able to post pictures or not.

What I might do is (if I can) download photos to a webhost and then tell everyone where they are.

If anyone reading this knows how to do this -- let me know!

jet lag management

Oh, the things that I am obsessed with right now. Once I got the itinerary from Laureen, I realized that not only are we in the air for nearly 19 hours, we have a long layover in London and lose 10 hours along the way (since we are going east). Basically, we switch night for day. I have trouble changing to Daylight Savings!

So. Since we are leaving about 9 pm Wednesday our time, that is nearly dawn in London. We are going to sleep late on Wednesday, and stay up all night (except maybe for a short nap). We get to London at 3:30 local time and then we will TRY to stay awake until we get on the plane to Nairobi. That is an overnight, arriving at 6:30 am. Then we stay up all day, until that night. This is supposed to help you make the switch easier. That's the theory. And you're supposed to do all this without caffeine!

Sure.

I can just hear Dr. Phil saying, "So how you think that's gonna work for ya?"

The rain keeps moving forward in the forecast. I don't know whether to believe that thing or not. I think I'll try another weather service. I wonder if the Kenyan weathermen are any better at predicting than our guys.

I am almost packed. How's that for a little OCD....?

rain?

The 15 day forecast is starting to show some blue sky about half way through the second week. Oh joy!

I really don't care as long as it doesn't rain 24/7.

Of course, more rain means more bugs, as in more mosquitos as in more malaria exposure -- those of you who have read this entire blog know how I feel about parasites....ewwww! Maybe I need two bottles of bug repellent. It's not very hot right now, however, so I don't know if maybe that will keep them down a little. Where ARE my malaria pills? Bed nets are our friends.

It also means more green, more birds and more wildlife..

One week from tomorrow!

peace

I have come nearly to the end of my multitude of lists, recopied, scratched out, reorganized, redone, retyped and torn up. All that remains is to find a little gift for my kids in Masii and put it all in suitcases. I have everything I need and I have been overwhelmed this past week by the generosity and kindness of my friends and family. Everyday, I hear from another one who either says they will pray for us or sends a check or both. I value the prayers as much as the money. We will be blessed by this trip no matter what happens. Rain, shine or earthquake (do they have earthquakes in Kenya? - I don't care...I'm not afraid of no stinkin' earthquake! we from California! )

After consultation with Stanley, we have discovered that the mission in Masii does not have a television or a boombox of any kind and they have been renting them for each VBS. This is a way that we can really leave something that they will be able to use, so we will shop in Nairobi before we go to Masii. This doesn't mean that we can't meet other needs. After all, there are 12 people going and most of us have love gifts that we are carrying with us to be used as we are led to.

Tonight, I received a text message from a friend of my daughter's who calls me Momma Jean who says "let's get together this week, I have goat-buying money!"

Tyler, you are my favorite "adopted" son.

There is going to be a goat in Kenya named the "Ice Man."

rain

I knew it was probably going to be rainy while we were in Kenya, but the reality of it set in today. I looked at the 15 day forecast, rain, rain, rain, rain.

I am hoping it is not SOLID rain. I'm ok with showers with a break here and there.

Well, not much I can do about it, is there? I am taking something waterproof to throw over everything and it won't be very cold. I am flexible! The last Beatitude - "Blessed are the Flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape!" I think Jesus would like it....

We're so used to being dry in southern California!

We had a wonderful Easter service today at Pathway with many visitors, great music and a great sermon. After a sad weekend for some personal reasons, it lightened me up considerably.

Thank you, friends.

a kenya letter from Helen

These pictures are from the last trip our church made to Masii -- I love these little boys.

Today we received a letter from Helen Waila, who is the therapist/social worker for the Tumaini organization in Masii. I had written her last week about our Memory Book idea and encouraged her input. She knows all the kids and knows which ones will be helped by this project. She was encouraging and had a few suggestions for changes (Laureen and I had asked her to review the pages) and I found out some more about our kids. I had been under the impression that most were full orphans with no mother or father (both of our kids do not have either mother or father) but apparently some still have their mothers -- that was good news to me, but many of the mothers are still HIV+. I imagine I will find out more about their reality and their stories when I arrive. Those of us going have discussed not attempting to do things our way except to share fun with the kids (games and so on). I learned in Chile and Peru when we lived there that even though we will be very welcome, it is still their culture and not ours. I am going to learn, and maybe share, but only teach where it is wanted. I do not want to impose.

I asked Stanley at the dinner last week about greetings and who greets whom. He tells me that the older person always greets the younger person, so that we will need to speak to the children first. He also told me what to say, it sounded like "Huacha" and then the other person replies "Ahh" -- I'll see how close I get and if anybody understands me! Good things most of the kids speak some English too! People shake hands and adults do not kiss or hug in public. Adult friends of the same sex hold hands while they walk, and married people do not show affection in public! The children are shy at first but quickly become friendly. So much to think about.

I am starting to get scattered again. Only 12 days left!

I need to make a list. My primary coping skill....

My laundry room is almost done. One less thing to worry about.

April is HERE

18 days to Kenya.

Packing is starting. Friends who have children they sponsor are asking us about taking gifts. My dear friend Laureen (partner in "crime" and plots) is not feeling well but is going to go on the trip anyway. She has a great attitude and we will just slow down for her. The whole pace of life is much different there anyway, so, no worries! We'll pick her up and carry her if we need to. She must go. She who must be obeyed has spoken. (ha)

Today was spent starting to get my affairs in order. After all, I am going many many miles way aways far away -- that part is just starting to sink in - an 18 hour plane trip. I have trouble flying to Boston. oooohhhhh. My friend Janice gave me some good advice -- she washes her face and brushes her teeth when it is time to "go to sleep" on the plane, she says that sticking to her regular routine helps her settle down -- Makes sense to me. I am listening to all advice and am currently doing research on avoiding jet lag -- actually, not being able to sleep is my biggest worry.

I re-wrote my list this morning. Not so bad. I will accomplish a few things every day, and what doesn't get done, doesn't get done.

We had another beautiful day here -- I spent some time unloading the wonderful load of horse compost from June and discovered the culprits who have been eating my lettuce -- little house sparrows! bird nets were quickly installed to foil the little boogers. They sit on the edge of the garden box and have lunch! Also the paint and linoleum for the laundry room have been picked out -- more progress!

Right now I am counting everything as progress! Now if I can just make sense of my camera, I will be fine.