Wednesday, 7-29-09 Day 43

I slept horribly last night thanks to terrible nightmares. Not to mention, I kicked off my blankets and got into a few fights with the mosquito net. Jan and I were up around the same time. We packed up the few things that managed to escape the grasp of our suitcases, and were the first up to breakfast. We enjoyed our eggs, toast, sausage, beans, and coffee while observing the interactions between another groups of missionaries a few tables down. After the boys were all up at breakfast and had their food, we were able to talk t the missionaries. We found out that they were from south Carolina, and are just arriving for their mission.
It was a very quiet drive down to the Kisumu airport. Our flight leaves at 8:15 so we made sure we were there around 7. It was a pretty easy, in & out thing. Our flight was only 45 minutes long, after which we waited a half hour or so for some guy named Albert to show up and take us to our hotel. We loaded up the van with our luggage and spent another 45 minutes in total chaos trying to drive to get to our hotel. Imagine this- overcrowded streets, NO stoplights (and very few street signs), and a bunch of roundabouts that people will go the right AND wrong directions on. After reaching the calm of the storm that was our hotel, we met up with Judith’s sisters, Evelyn and Susan. They were very nice. I really am not in a “talk to people” kind of mood today, so I was pretty quiet for the duration of their visit. Evelyn and Susan ate lunch with our team. We had the displeasure of a very inattentive staff. It took us between 2 ½ and 3 hours to get through lunch- and a half hour of that was waiting to get our check! Jan told Jim about a letter that one of the kids had written to some of Jan’s students. The little girl talked about 2 visitors who “didn’t even stay a month! And the visitor’s names are Visitor Sharon and her Son”. The little girl was so serious in her letter, it was hilarious! When I get home, I’ll have to tell Sharon and Brad that people in Kenya think that Brad is Sharon’s son.
After lunch, our team laughed in the face of death by j-walking in heavy traffic to get to Tusker’s grocery. We had to get food for our flight to Dakar, because we were forewarned by Sharon and Brad that Dakar is a terrible airport filled with French-speaking American haters and no place to get food or drinks. We were in and out of Tusker’s fairly quickly. The team went back to their prospective rooms, and Jan and I enjoyed getting some down time before dinner. Mike, Mark, and Jim were all set to go to have coffee with the Kean’s, who are full time missionaries here in Nairobi. (If I didn’t mention it already, we are staying the night here in Nairobi before taking off to Dakar tomorrow.) Jan and I were given instructions that we were NOT to leave the hotel until Susan and Evelyn arrived to take us to dinner. I brought my deck of cards with me to the lobby. Jan and I chatted and people watched while I shuffled and re-shuffled my cards on the small table in front of us. An Indian businessman from Mumbai saw my deck of cards, and complimented my shuffling. He proceeded to teach Jan, me, and another gentleman guest in the lobby some card tricks and card games. We played cards and talked about ourselves for about 45 minutes. It was very entertaining to learn a thing or two from a self-proclaimed card master.
Susan and Evelyn arrived around six, and we proceeded to walk back to the Ambassador Hotel (where we ate lunch at) for dinner. I guess dinner is a much bigger event, because there was many more people, many more tables open, and infinitely better service! We all had samosas, chips, and icecream! Over dinner, we discussed things like the water shortage in Nairobi (they section off the city, and each section gets their water turned on only once a week.) politics, the President’s recent to Kenya, and our family lives. I showed them pictures of all the smiling faces I get to go home to, which they oohed & awed over, and we walked back to the Diplomat hotel, where we traded e-mail addresses and said our goodbyes.

Jan and I were in for quite a night- There are no mosquito nets in this room, and we’ve already seen bugs crawling around. This is not okay. And as a consequence of the water shortage, there is a sign that says to use the minimal water necessary. I can get over that, but I can’t get over the lack of a shower curtain (or any kind of covering) for the shower. This is definitely not ideal, but I guess this is what a mission trip is all about.
Jan gave me two Tylenol PM to help me sleep tonight. Goodnight!