Slip and Slide

Here is a new Christmastime tradition we never enjoyed in Illinois: slip-n-slide! One of the missionaries on our compound bought a big sheet of black plastic, they squirted some dish soap on it, turned on the sprinkler and - instant fun!

Nate got cold pretty quick and was a little apprehensive about everything, but Lexi absolutely loved it. She even let the older kids pull her down. She also got to wear her new swimming suit, because she has out grown her other one.

Isn't winter a great time of year!

Monkeynastix!

Lexi and Nate are enrolled in this really great class called "Monkeynastics." It is sort of a beginner gymnastics class, and the kids absolutely love it! One of our friends organized the class for teachers' families, and invited Nicole and the kids to be a part of it. There are actually two classes, one for younger kids (1-2) and one for older kids (3-5). It is an absolute blast to watch, and really well done. Every Tuesday, the Monkeynastics people (www.monkeynastix.biz) show up on campus and the kids come and do stretches, balancing activities, and coordination "stunts". They walk on balance beams, hop on and off of stools, and play with parachutes and flags.

The kids got some t-shirts, (Nate tries to wear his everyday) but believe it or not, we don't have a picture with the kids wearing them to class. Here are a few pictures of our favorite monkeys!

O Christmas Tree!

The Sprinkel family is getting excited about Christmas. We miss our decorations (and at times snow), but we are trying to keep some of our traditions alive. We bought a very small Christmas tree and some ornaments, and Nicole made us some stockings out of Maasai blankets. One of the missionaries loaned us some lights and a few decorations, so it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas (except for the extremely hot sunny days, absence of snow, palm trees, and banana plants).

Some of the stores have lights up. A few of them have large Santa Claus figures that sing (I think one of them was singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" the other day - which only makes sense here.) Everyone is starting to feel a little more festive, and we have been invited to more Christmas parties than we can possibly attend.
Grammy, Grandad and Uncle Matt are coming to visit in just a few days - we are incredibly excited about that. But mostly, we are glad to celebrate the fact that God loved us enough to come to earth, become one of us, so that we can have a loving relationship with Him!

Here are some pictures of us setting up the tree - Nate was more interested in a paper bag than decorating the tree.

Thankful

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Kenya. American Thanksgiving isn't a Kenyan holiday obviously, (although Obama Day???) so Thursday was a school day. We did have Friday off though. We had a big feast with the other AG missionaries here. There were about 80 people there, and we had a lot of fun with our "adopted" family.

Coming from Illinois, we enjoyed a few Thanksgiving "firsts".
1. It was the first Thanksgiving we celebrated outside of Illinois. (ok that one was obvious.)
2. It was the first Thanksgiving we celebrated outside under a big tent.
3. The first time we wore shorts, sunscreen, and bug spray on Thanksgiving day.
4. We also had a bonfire and marshmallows that night, that was a new tradition.

Several things were the same. We were surrounded by people we love and who love us back. We still missed all of our family back home, but we have really been embraced by so many people here. We are thankful for them every day. We also had way too much food, and left pretty stuffed. We played games, watched football, and snacked all day long.

Of course the most important part of the day hadn't changed either. We continue to be very thankful to God for His abundant blessings in our lives. We are healthy, safe, and thankful for each day that we have. None of those things are guarantees, and we truly are grateful.

Here are several pictures from our Thanksgiving Day.

Wrestling with the Man

There are a lot of new experiences we have had here in Kenya. It is nice to know that some things don't change. This week, Nate walked in with a popcorn bowl on his head. "Look Dad, I have a hat. I'm a man!" I put down what I was doing and complimented him on his head gear. Then he gave me a hat and made me put it on.
"We are mans, let's wrestle." So we did. There's nothing quite like wrestling someone who smells like butter and salt.
As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday (we don't get Thursday off, but Friday), I am so thankful that I get to be a dad. Much has changed, but the best part of my life has stayed the same: I still live with the best 3 people on the planet. What a gift from God they all are!
I look forward to teaching my son that it takes more than a popcorn bowl on your head to make you a man; but for now I am just going to enjoy wrestling with the "man".
Have a great Thanksgiving!

The Land of Coffee and Tea

Kenya produces a lot of coffee and tea, and we really enjoy both. There isn't a Starbucks here, but we do have Java House and Dormans. (In my opinion, both beat Starbucks hands down, and Dormans is by far the best - but it is a long way to travel for a great cup of coffee.)

One of the Kenyans on our compound has started roasting his own coffee. We just purchased a kilo from him, and it is really good - and very cheap. There is a big coffee field about half a mile from our house (as the Kite flies). We included a picture of it for you. Last week, the coffee plants all had pretty little white flowers that you could smell from the road (if the wind was blowing just right, and the lorry in front of you wasn't belching huge amounts of exhaust - so I only got to smell the plant once!).

Incidently, last week I saw a man urinating in the middle of the coffee field (no, I didn't get a picture. Yes, I really wanted to take one.) My first thought was, "You never see that in a Folger's commercial." By the way, did you enjoy your cup this morning?

The Kenyans take a chai (tea) break every day around 10.30 AM. They steep the tea in warm milk mixed with water. Then they add large amounts of sugar. It is one of my favorite things to drink, but we rarely make it at home.

It is ironic that most Kenyans, though surrounded by all of this fresh coffee, choose to drink instant coffee. Go figure. Next time you sit down to a cup of warm tea, think about us - there is a good chance it was picked here. Next time you enjoy a cup of coffee, think about the guy in the field!

You Just Make Me Tired All Over

I will try not to be too verbose on this blog, but I have tried, with great difficulty, to put these thoughts into words for a long time. I want to give you some impression of what it is like to live here. To some of you this will seem like an exaggeration. I am afraid I can't do justice to our emotions, but here goes. The short version is: tired. Living here makes me tired. For those of you who want more information, read on.

Every time we drive we are almost involved in some sort of accident either with another driver or a pedestrian. The circumstances vary all of the time, but every time we go anywhere we face a situation that could have been really bad. I am constantly on alert: "why is that car parked across the road, are they stuck or am I about to be carjacked? What should I do? Why is that car passing while going up a hill; how did they expect me to see them? Is that donkey cart broken, stopped, or just moving slowly? Why are these people walking down the middle of the highway at night with no road lights?" The list could go on for a long time. Driving anywhere is exhausting.

Grocery shopping is never the same experience twice. "What was it they said we could use instead of sour cream? Lala? Is that the stuff we need to run through cheese cloth?" The stores never have the same items in stock. You can buy something once, and not see it again for months. Some of the labels don't make sense. Sometimes you can't remember what the brand name is. All of the time you are trying to figure out how much something costs, but the exchange rate changes all of the time, so you are always doing math. Tiring.

Communication is of course a challenge. Most people speak English. Not all of the English is recognizable. Familiar words are pronounced so differently that you ask to have them repeated four or five times. The accents can be so strong that you never know what was just said to you, so you smile, say "thank you" and move on more confused than before. Smiling is universal, but it rarely answers specific questions. Kenyans tend to laugh when they are a little stressed or unsure of something. But when they start laughing at you, it makes you feel even more insecure (something they would never intentionally do).

You can drive across town to the closest ATM to get money, only to find out that it is broken. When you ask the Kenyans tell you that someone is coming to fix it, but that doesn't mean anything. They will never tell you "no"; so is someone coming in 15 minutes or 15 days. It is all the same.

Your kids don't like the de-worming medicine. Did they swallow enough, or did they spit out too much? Do we need to drive all the way back to the chemist to get another dose?

You get home after a tiring day, start supper but the power just went out, and the water isn't working. You call a pizza place only to find out the one close to you has decided not to deliver anymore, their other branch will, but only if you call before 3:00 PM (and that is to get it by 7:00 PM). The time is now 4:00 PM - just too late.

There is dust EVERYWHERE. You can't keep it out. Mopping the floors: daily. Washing the walls and windows at least weekly. Toys, clothes, beds, everything gets covered in red dust. Then it rains. No more dust for a couple of days, but the roads are flooded. You can't tell where the ditch is, the pot holes are moving, and everything is now muddy.

Here is the kicker. The people who you usually need to help you cope with life at its craziest are thousands of miles away. No hugs. No smiles. You are missing your support group. The people here, who have been through all of this before tell you, "This is normal, it will pass." You know that is true, but it doesn't make it easier at the moment. Basically, you are going through a grieving process, you eventually hit all of the stages. You know that what you need is to just interact with other people, but that involves getting up and going out of the house - both things take energy; and you just don't feel like you have it.

Then, someone asks "what did you do today?" The answer is: nothing. You waited in line, tried to communicate, didn't have a collision, and still feel like you accomplished nothing.

Don't get the wrong idea. We know that God wants us here, we know that He is good and loves us. We do like it here, we are just tired. And going to bed at 8:30 with your two-year-old and four-year-old makes you feel so old!

Road Update

It has been a busy week on our road. We have received several emails asking if our road was finished or not. It hadn't been touched - until this week.

On Monday, a big roller came out and rolled the side with all of the stones. We anticipated tarmac or something. I had wondered what would happen because a huge section of stone went missing a few weeks ago - maybe somebody had a building project going on - I don't know. Anyway, the roller was unperturbed by the missing section and just knocked the sharp edges down. Nothing else happened from Monday to Saturday.

Tonight, however, they delivered three big piles of stones to the other side of the road. I imagine they will begin making smaller stones this week. Maybe in a month or two we will have a finished road. Every time we leave the compound, Lexi asks, "Are we going on the bumpy road?" There are no other options.

Here are some new pictures for your enjoyment.

P.S. We have also had several emails from you "cheeky little blighters" regarding an update on the diarrhea...let's just say it is running along smoothly.

Obama Day

Kenya is incredibly excited today at the outcome of the US election. People have been celebrating everywhere. In fact, tomorrow has been declared a National holiday here in Kenya. No one (including yours truly) has to go to work or school in celebration of "Obama Day."
It is ironic to me that Americans do.

I believe that this probably marks the first time in history that one country is declaring the election results of another country a public holiday.

Kenyan's love holidays - and I can't fault them for that.

It is good for this country to celebrate the peaceful transition of power, and I am proud to say that Democracy works so well in my homeland.

There is a lot more that I would like to say, but won't. Instead I am going to enjoy the holiday with my family tomorrow. Cheers - to all of you who have to work tomorrow!

Water

Water has been a little scarce in parts of Kenya lately. Northern Kenya has been experiencing a pretty severe drought which unfortunately, is an almost annual occurrence there. Here in Nairobi, the city has been rationing water, just in case they need more. From what I have read there isn't a crisis yet, but there could be one soon.

So, from time to time, they turn off our water. On our compound, the longest we have gone is four days with no water coming in to our houses. Imagine turning on the faucet in your kitchen and nothing. We have a 200 gallon water tank in our attic and a 1000 gallon tank in the yard for back-up, but when the water is off we try to be extra careful. The rule here is "if it's brown flush it down; if it's yellow let it mellow."

The water we get in our faucet isn't safe to drink so we have to filter it. Sometimes it comes out smelling strongly of bleach, sometimes it is full of fine sand, sometimes quite dirty. When we wash our dishes, we then rinse them in bleach water to kill everything off. Our fresh fruit and vegetables get soaked in bleach water as well.

One of the problems is the the road workers. When they are thirsty, they dig up a water main near them, crack the pipe and fill their bottles. Then we have a bubbling hole in the road for a few weeks until someone patches it (usually with a strip of rubber - like a bicycle inner tube) and sometimes they even fill the hole back in after they fix the pipe.

It took us all a little while to get used to brushing our teeth with bottled water and not rinsing our toothbrushes in the faucet. We constantly have to remind the kids not to put bath water into their mouths (which is not a great habit anywhere.) And I think most of you would be surprised at how much water gets into your mouth when you shower.

We are thankful we have the water though, and a way to purify it. Most don't, and there is a lot of sickness that could be avoided as a result. When the water is on we try to remember to fill our bottles so we are prepared when the water is off. Next time you get a drink or flush a toilet (only your dog should associate these two things), remember to be thankful for some of the simple things you might take for granted.

Fall Party

We went to a "Hoe Down" the other day. It was an opportunity for some of us Americans to celebrate the season of Fall (even though here we are getting ready for Summer.)

We had a bonfire for hot dogs and marshmallows and some games with pumpkins for the kids. We enjoyed baked beans, potato salad, popcorn balls, watermelon, and caramel dip with apples (all things we really miss here.)

Lexi and Nate got to ride a horse, which was a really big deal. For a while they didn't even want to go near the horse. Nate formed a friendship with the Kenyan (something Nate is becoming very good at) who was leading the horse, and that man convinced Nate to give it a try. So when Jason turned around, there was his little boy riding the horse, all by himself. Daddy couldn't talk him into trying it, but the stranger could. When Lexi saw her little brother having fun, she decided she was brave enough to try it too. They got to ride the horse for about 5 minutes each.

After dinner there was square-dancing and a lot of laughter. It was nice to have hot dogs cooked on a bonfire, and to remember all of the fun we have had with all of you at this time of year. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the night.

Random Musings

Here are just a collection of random thoughts:

Two things I just can't stand about living in Kenya:
1. Two-ring binders. I have no idea where this idea came from, but it is terrible (I blame the British, but have no idea why). The paper rips out all of the time. Frustrating. I think Americans have a better idea with the three-ring binder.
2. Diarrhea. It comes and goes all the time (pun intended). Are you sick, is it something you ate, was it the water? Who knows. The nice thing here is you can take in a sample and get it checked out for about $5.00. Enough said.

Three things I have learned about driving at night:
1. If you see just one light coming at you, don't assume it is a motorcycle.
2. If you see two lights coming at you, don't assume it is a car.
3. If you don't see any lights coming at you, don't assume there is nothing coming.
Generally we try to avoid driving at night. It isn't very safe, there are no lights and pedestrians everywhere. Not a fun scenario.

On the way to church today we finally felt like missionaries: In the back with our kids was a Bass guitar, an empty gas cannister, a box of Sunday School curriculum, a camera, a bag of tools, a stroller, a roll of toilet paper, and two extra missionary kids. It pays to be prepared!

Things we love in Kenya:
1. Little bananas.
2. Banana bread covered with Blue Band.
3. Pancakes cooked in Kimbo.
4. Ushindi soap, it gets everything out!
5. Dishes, fruits and vegetables soaked in Jik.
6. Fanta! (Black currant, citrus, and orange - all great.)
7. Potato crisps - Lay's aren't the best anymore.
8. Bartering at the market.
9. Nakumatt.
10. Our missionary family.

Things I try to remember everyday:
1. Never leave without kissing my wife goodbye - you just never know.
2. Take every opportunity to play with my kids.
3. Never trust a fart. (see above - things I can't stand #2).

Now the question is, what picture do I put with this blog?

Close call

This week we had a scary moment. One of our good friends and fellow missionaries was held up at gun point. He was stuck in a traffic jam (about 8 AM) and two guys ran up and stuck a gun to his head and took his money, phone, wedding ring and watch.
As they were leaving (about 20 feet away) the man with the gun turned, pointed the gun and fired at the missionary's head. Either God intervened or the man's aim was off, but the bullet dropped miraculously fast and hit the bottom of his car door, and didn't penetrate all the way through.
Uncle Steve is one of our favorite "uncles." We have given him several hugs since the event and he is still a little shook up. He has a great wife and 3 fantastic kids.
We thank God for his safety, and for keeping us safe as well. Nairobi is a dangerous city, but we trust in a Great God.

Getting ready for Summer

When we arrived in Nairobi in July it was really pretty chilly and wet. Now as the weather is getting colder back in Illinois, it is getting much warmer (and sometimes really hot) here in Kenya. The kids love being outside and there are a lot of kids on the compound for them to play with. The school where Jason teaches has a new pool that we can use on the weekends. We have had the sprinkler out, and of course there is always football.
Lexi has been learning to ride a bike (with training wheels) and has gotten pretty good at it. Both she and Nate love to go on walks looking for birds we haven't seen yet. (one of the missionaries on the compound is a pretty serious bird watcher and has both of the kids hooked.)
Jason is the only one of us who is likely to miss snow this year, but even he admits the weather is absolutely beautiful. (We did have a pretty serious hail storm a few weeks ago - which are apparently very rare in Nairobi - so for a few minutes it looked a little like snow had fallen.)
So, for the first time in our lives we are looking forward to applying sunblock in December!

Football

I (Jason) went to the Kenya vs Namibia football (in the States we call it soccer) game a week ago. I really enjoyed it. I still don't understand all of the rules, but it is a lot of fun to watch.

We arrived at the stadium about 4 hours early. We then had to sit on concrete slabs and wait until the teams came out to warm up (only about 3 hours). The concrete slabs once had chairs, but they were ripped out and thrown during a riot several years ago, so now there is only concrete slabs.

The stadium would probably hold 100,000 people (it is amazing how many people you can squeeze in when there are no chairs). I am not sure what the official capacity is or was. Anyway, they only sold about 50,000 tickets, so the people who had been waiting in line for hours to buy tickets (we purchased ours about 5 days in advance) were told the stadium was sold out. Then they started to riot outside the stadium, so the police started beating on people with sticks and using tear gas. I was glad of the hard concrete seat.

They only sold 50,000 tickets because that was the number the police felt they could handle if things got out of control.

The game was a lot of fun - well the last half was actually boring, no one scored. Kenya won, which was great. At the start of the game, I was told to watch out for "P-bombs." I asked what that was (I could only think A-bomb). What they meant was "pee bomb" apparently people in the upper stands fill empty cups with pee and launch them at people farther down. Luckily that didn't happen, but we did get hit with soda cans, beer cans and watter bottles. But that only happened when something great happened or when something bad happened.
The people across the stadium from us got upset and ripped apart a bench and started a fire in the stands.

All-in-all it was so much fun, and I would love to go to another game some time. Maybe next time if Kenya loses we can get tear-gassed!

Road Works Ahead!

They have started construction on part of our road (unfortunately, not the part that really needs it). The signs say "Road Works Ahead" or "Hakuna Njia" (no through way). It is really an amazing process, let me explain it through our eyes.

We went to church on Sunday and there was a large, five-foot tall pile of rocks (about the size of basketballs) in the middle of the road. When we got back from church there were three huge piles of rocks in the middle of the road. We weren't sure why at the time. (And I was starting to wonder if they were breeding). The power was out, and we were tired so we decided to go out to eat - a treat for us. When we returned, there were five large piles of rock in the middle of the road. (So far the breeding theory made the most sense - there are rocks everywhere here!).

I wish we had pictures of the piles, they are literally in the middle of the road, so here we are swerving around these huge piles of rock trying to avoid the 2 foot deep ditch - that is conveniently the width of a car tire.

The next day, when I went to school, there are about 10 men sitting in the road with hammers and chisels making the big rocks into piles of small rocks (about the size of baseballs). Then they line the small rocks up on the road. This went on all week. (I actually tried to get a picture of this, but they said I "had to pay them 500 shillings." Tomorrow I will go and negotiate the price and post a new picture.) Anyway, now two separate roads are half-way done, and driving is even more of an adventure because you have to wait until the cars coming are out of the way before you start down the good side of the road. Sometimes you start down the road, and someone comes at you anyway, and you sit there pointing at each other until someone backs into a driveway - the biggest car wins! Thankfully no one directs the traffic, or it would be really confusing. (Just trust us.)

Here is a picture of our half-done road. I have no idea when the other side will be started, or when the road will be completed - we are not holding our breath, but we will keep you posted.

While I was stuck waiting for a line of cars this morning, I was talking to the foreman? about how this process works in the States with big machines. He said he had seen them, but if he had them "those 10 men would be out of work." Sadly, it is also cheaper to pay those men (probably about $3/day) than to buy a heavy machine.

Nana

Last week my Grandma Tracy went home to be with the Lord. It was very difficult week for us to be away from the family we so greatly desired to see. In a sense, going back home will never be the same again. For my entire life, Nana has always been there. From skinned knees to broken hearts she has always been a source of unconditional love, band-aids, and kisses. She has been a constant in my life, and now she is not there.

It has been a long time since I have been able to crawl up into her lap for a book. But I have had the joy of watching my kids sit there listening to my favorite story, Suzie Squirrel, and everything was the same. I can remember talking her in to going down a curly slide just to hear her scream all the way down. I remember playing our favorite game “Mixing Match-ups” together, learning to play “Sorry” with her (It wasn’t until I was much older that I learned the real rules, in Grandma’s game everyone shared spaces, the Sorry cards didn’t mean anything, and everyone always won.), and doing so many puzzles. Yahtzee was of course the best, hoping the whole time Nana would roll a Yahtzee just to hear her scream.

I still think spending the night at Nana and Papa’s house is the best vacation, and even Nicole came to feel that way. When I was a kid, there were always pancakes for breakfast (and still no one can make them the same), and no matter how early you awoke, Nana could always be found in the kitchen sitting at the table in her bathrobe, reading her Bible and praying. Always.

She was one of the most incredible people I have ever known. She was the first person I ever knew to own their own computer. She even took classes to learn how to use it. On the other hand, I remember riding with her after she had just learned to drive. (She never got great at that. And to my horror I remember telling her as a little boy to “try not to hit anybody.”) She loved her family in a way I still don’t understand and can only try to emulate. She loved us in spite of our failings, and saw the good in everyone. I suspect that all of her grandchildren felt they were the most special when they were with her, I know I always did.

I have missed her terribly this week, but I will see her again. And the greatest part of that truth is that I will see her not as she was, but as she was meant to be. Nana wasn’t perfect (though in my mind she was close), and the last few years her body worked against her. She is not in pain anymore, she is not weak anymore, she is not suffering anymore. Nana is not just a pleasant memory, or a happy feeling. She is not some sort of strength that I carry with me. The moment she passed from this life she entered a life so much more real than this one. Death is not natural – it is one of the most unnatural things I know of. A person like Nana should just go on living, her spirit was so alive, it was just her body that was wearing out. She is in heaven, not because she was a good person or a great Grandma, but because she gave Jesus Christ control of her life.

I have always felt bad that my kids could never know the Nana that I know. She has been slow and sick for all of their lives. But someday, really in just a few years, they will get to see her again as well. People sometimes ask me as a pastor if people look the same in heaven. I don’t know, but I do know I would recognize my Nana anywhere, no matter what she looks like, and I look forward to seeing her again. Until then, Good-bye!

Teaching

I have been teaching now for three weeks. I really enjoy it, but find it very challenging. I have always admired teachers, but now have a much greater appreciation for what they do.

Rosslyn Academy has students from 38 countries attending (we just added a student from Trinidad & Tobago this Thursday!). It is a Christian school though there are students from several religious backgrounds that attend. A little over half of the students are Missionary Kids, several students have parents working at different embassies or for the UN.

It is fascinating to see the different cultures the students come from, and a challenge for me teaching kids who don't know English as their first language. This semester I am teaching New Testament, World Religions and Personal Conditioning (I know, crazy since I am so obviously not personally conditioned!)

The school has the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. It is simply unbelievable, and pictures probably wouldn't do it justice. Here is a link to the school's website where they have a new panoramic picture: http://www.rosslynacademy.com/facilities_hs.html

The picture is just of the High School, but the Elementary and Middle Schools are just as great! The school sits on what was formerly a coffee plantation and like everything else is surrounded by a high wall and gates for security.

We have fallen in love with the students, and really enjoy the extra time we get to interact with them. It is exciting to present Christ in a cross-cultural environment, and to simply show His love to this great group of people!

Happy Birthday, Lexi

Alexis turned four this month. We had a cake that Nicole made, and some presents that we had brought with us just for the celebration.

Missionary Kids call other missionaries "uncle" or "aunt". It helps them keep a sense of extended family. We had about 35 "uncles and aunts" and their families join us for the party. We all had a small piece of cake and ice cream.

We invited all the missionaries because we wanted the day to be extra-special since she misses her family in the States. We were pleasantly surprised when they all showed up.

Here are a few pictures of the birthday girl. Hope you enjoy!

A Roundabout Way to Travel

I thought we would give you an update on the driving. I am doing much better, and starting to enjoy it. We have slowly started to take new routes and experience new roads. I won't have mastered the city in a year, but I hope to be able to go where we want without having to rely on others sometime soon.
I have been through enough roundabouts to understand how they should work. But they don't really work here, the drivers are way to aggressive. On my way to the school I drive over 19 speed humps (as they are called here). This number is somewhat approximate as the road we live on is one continuous series of potholes it is sometimes hard to tell where the speed humps are on our road. I generally pass at least 5 men "using the bushes", 3 men selling newspapers on the side of the road, 1 roundabout, 2 security gates/road blocks (I am not one hundred percent sure of their purpose.), and at least 5 heavily armed military personnel (these are a new addition and may be the subject of a future post).
When an oncoming car "flashes" their lights at you, they mean for you to get out of their way. Very few drivers use their turn signals to indicate their intention to turn, instead it usually means they want you to pass them (or overtake them which is how they say it.).
I have a copy of the rules of the road (or the Highway Code), it is very funny reading, so many misspellings and the rules are worded so interesting I thought I would share some of it with you.
The Traffic Behind You
1. If you are a driver and you want to move off, or reverse or open your door, look round and make sure that no one is about to overtake you and that there are no children or obstructions in the behind area near your front or back.
2. If a driver, look in your driving mirror before you signal, change course, overtake, turn or stop.
Driving along
1. Do not drive nose to tail when on open road.
2. Do not kiss other vehicles. It is not necessary to annoy other motorists with this illegal driving style.
3. Do not accelerate when being overtaken. This is a common mistake. Avoid it.
When you qualify as a driver do not:
1. Overtake a long queue of vehicles outright annoying to the other motorists.
2. Repair a broken down vehicle on the road - Push it out of the road.
3. Insult other motorists with obscene gestures i.e. asking them to drive over your car.
8. As a matatu tout assist your driver to change lanes using your hand and leg.
9. Flash lights menacingly on to the oncoming vehicle.
16. Change lanes by using a warning finger outside the drivers window.
22. Knock down gates in estates, lamp posts on the road or other traffic signs.

Except the last one, I see these things happen every day. And to be honest I have overtaken a long queue of vehicles myself. (As well as flashed my lights once or twice). When in Rome....
Here are the rules of the road I have learned;
1. He who hesitates is stuck there a really long time. So get your nose out there and let the people behind you figure it out.
2. Do not make eye contact with someone trying get through a jammed intersection. Otherwise they will assume you are hesitating. Just look straight ahead and don't stop moving.
3. The person driving the biggest vehicle wins.

Here is a picture of "Uncle Kevin's Car" as Lexi and Nate call it. It is what we are driving. Nicole might start driving next Sunday. Sundays are good days to learn, very little traffic from vehicles or pedestrians. Also on top is a picture of some cows we had to stop for on our way home.

Lexi and Nate

We continue to adjust to life in Kenya. There are still days when we wake up and wish we were home in the States. There are other days when we are thrilled and excited to be here. Lexi and Nate go through the same things, but generally they are happy to be where Mom and Dad are.
This week, Winter stopped and Summer came. The Kenyan sun can be VERY warm.
Nate loves to be outside in the nice weather. He loves to attack the bushes/flowering shrubs in our front yard with sticks that he finds. He continues to carry his McQueen car almost everywhere, and likes to walk around the compound. After a couple of run-ins with safari ants, he is quick to shout when any kind of bugs are walking on him. He is taking no more chances with those! He wears his rain boots outside much of the time (like the Kenyans on the compound).
Lexi had a picnic outside under one of the trees in our yard. She used some of the big leaves as plates. She has a friend on the compound, and asks every day if she can go to Melia's house. They play very well together. She likes to go to market and loves to look at clothes (no surprise there). She loves the flowers everywhere and picks them at every opportunity (though she misses dandelions!).
They still help with little chores, enjoy having their own rooms, and watching movies - when the power is on. Both of them have started to enjoy chai (tea break) with some of the Kenyans on the compound. Lexi and Nate eat bananas while the others drink tea. They LOVE eating cheese-puff like things that are very cheap here and taste like styrofoam.
They miss all of you and pray for you.

Trees

I think all of you got the email regarding our Avocado tree. Thank you for all of the recipes we received from you. Hopefully we will be able to try all of them out before we turn green. The tree (we will post a picture of it here) continues to produce Avocados like crazy, unfortunately they are all coming at once so we will have to give most of them away (good news for Nicole, Lexi and Nate since they don't really like them. Jason on the other hand enjoys them plain.)

In addition we also have a few banana plants that have a few bananas on them right now and a pomegranate tree that is almost ready for us to eat off of. There are also several mango trees on the compound.

Lexi and Jason are in love with Passion fruit juice and drink it all the time. But as far as we know there isn't a passion fruit plant anywhere near us. But we haven't given up hope! Enjoy the pictures of the plants and trees in our yard! We also have a picture of our Siamese-banana

In The Dark

Well, we experienced our first somewhat long (for us) power outage. It was about four and a half hours. It really wasn't bad until 5:00 when I wanted to cook dinner. Luckily we have a gas stove (we are the only people on the compound with a gas stove). So I made tacos in the dark because our kitchen does not have a window to the outside. Jason lit a candle for me and when i thought the meat was done I had to take it to our dining room (where we had very big windows) to check if all the meat really was cooked. Then we invited some of our neighbors over to eat (because they couldn't cook.) So we had an impromptu party.

It is very cold here (50-60 degrees). I am always cold so yesterday I decided to make a fire which helped and I will probably make another fire today.

The kids are doing well. Lexi and I started school. While Nate is taking his nap and after Lexi rests for a while we have our own small room and we work on some preschool workbooks I brought. The kids both got to run errands separately with Jason yesterday. Lexi went to the school and to the Massai Market and Nate went to the grocery store (at the busy time).

Safe and Secure

We live on a compound with other AG missionaries. Most Kenyans are kind, peaceful, and enjoy joking (at least they enjoy laughing at me when I joke with them - they could just be laughing at me. Although they don't really get sarcasm.) However, crime is a huge problem here. The point is, we are surrounded by high walls with electric razor wire and guards who work here. We have bars on every window and several locks on each door. Inside the house we have inside doors that we lock at night as well. We also have an alarm system inside that we actually tested.

Tonight we aren't quite as secure as usual because I locked the keys inside the house. Another missionary helped me (actually he did everything and I just held the flashlight) break into the house so we could get inside. So a bottom section of the door (a beautiful solid mahogany door) was chipped off so we could get around the handle.

Tomorrow I get to talk to one of the Fundi's (skilled craftsman) and see what it will cost me to fix it. No worries, the deadbolt on the door still works and the outer metal door still locks, so we are still almost as safe as we were before.

Really, security anywhere is an illusion. Ultimately we only trust God to keep us safe, or to help us get through the times when bad things happen. Thankfully we serve a trustworthy God!

So, Jason made a big mistake (though all the missionaries here have told us not to worry, everyone has done something just like it.) Tomorrow we will also get some extra keys made.

Nicole has also made a mistake though. She plugged in a 110 vacuum cleaner into a 220 outlet, and learned an important lesson: Just because you can plug something in, doesn't mean you should! We will also be replacing that! (though there is a chance we can get it repaired, we are just waiting to hear from the owners of the vacuum.)

Love you all, and wanted to remind you of just how human we are!

Bovines, Bugs, and Birds

First, here is a picture of Nicole and the kids outside of our house.

Now get ready for a very random post about random things in Kenya.

Today I had to wait for about five minutes while a small herd of cows slowly moved out of the road. The man herding them seemed in no more of a hurry than the cows. I am not sure what the cows were eating in the middle of the road as it is just dust, but they certainly were in no hurry to find greener pastures - like the side of the road out of my way. A funny site in a city of 2 million people.

Nate and I had a run-in with safari ants on Saturday. Safari is Swahili for journey or travel. The ants just kind of keep moving in a thick, straight line from who knows where to somewhere else. I found out first hand that it is best to let them be as they have a terrible bite. They sort of dig into your skin a little, which would be really interesting to watch if it weren't for the pain. Nicole stripped Nate's pants off and brushed them off of him, I ran inside to do the same; though I thought about "dropping my drawers" in the out of doors as well!! The gentleman who takes care of the yard told me I should avoid those ants. We have given the backyard a break since then.

We have two to three birds (I think they are ibises) they are a little larger than a chicken and sound as loud as a semi, and about as pleasant to the ear. They generally wake us up each morning. I actually kind of enjoy them, but seem to be the only person living on this compound who feels that way. I will try to get a picture of them for all of you, and post it here.

That is about all the news of animals in and around the house. Well, actually we have several geckos that live in the house and there is a guard dog named Buster who likes to hang out around our house during the evening when he is let out. He desperately misses his real family who are back in the States, and Lexi and Nate give him lots of attention as they miss Emma. So it is a win-win situation for everyone.

Driving!!!

I drove today. It was a little harrowing, but nobody was injured! YEAH!!!

The roads here are very narrow, a little wider than one lane back in the States. Many of them are in terrible condition. It is difficult to describe them, it would be smoother driving through a field. There are potholes everywhere, some of them almost a foot deep and very wide. The parking spots are almost the same width as the car, but just a little smaller (or so they seem).

Driving on the right side is also a challenge. Everything is on the other side. You shift gears with your left hand - I tried to shift my door handle (the right side) many times today. The turn signal and windshield wipers are also reversed. Most of the time today I signaled a turn by turning on my windshield wipers. So far I have only made one other driver visably angry with me. I am sure that will change!

Actually we did pretty well. The car is very wide, (I imagine driving a tank feels the same way, or maybe a battleship) the roads are very narrow and there are pedestrians EVERYWHERE. I learned that Kenya leads the world in automobile fatalities most of them are pedestrians. They have no experience with how long it takes a car to brake, so they simply step right out in front of you.

Night driving is the craziest. There are hardly any lights anywhere, and there are still so many people walking, you don't see them until right up on them. But we are learning.

Lexi said, "Do you know why it is so bumpy here? Because of the huge rocks everywhere." Nicole and I agreed. Nicole didn't want to try driving today. She also decided that she prefers riding in the back between the kids to riding on the passenger side. That way she doesn't know how close we are to people, the side of the road, sidewalks, etc. Lexi asked why she was sitting on "Daddy's side of the car but not driving" I told her I would love to switch sides with Mommy. Mommy said no - but she will eventually.

The missionary who road with us the first time to give us directions said, "See, it only took you 12 minutes to get here." It seemed like 3 hours! Oh well, trial by fire. For the record, people who are thinking in one time zone should probably not be driving in another.

More musings to come I am sure.

We made it! Now what do we do?

We arrived safely in Nairobi at about 9 PM local time. The kids did great on the planes and the layover in London. It took us an hour to get through immigration and customs. There were no problems, the line just goes slowly. Actually, a gentleman took pity on our kids and moved us to a different line (one for people coming from other African countries) and we were able to get our visas there. Then we collected our luggage, tipped the man who helped us find it all and went to customs. God must have given us favor with her as well because she looked at the kids and said "Welcome to Kenya" and we were done. She didn't even have us open one of our 9 cases. So we exited the airport, were greeted by the other missionaries (who were beginning to think we missed our flight) and made it home.

We are experiencing a great deal of jet-lag, and the tiredness is slowing us down. We have a beautiful home here and are trying to unpack and move in. The other missionaries on the compound have been very helpful but we have loads to learn still. (Though we just learned how to wash our dishes and rinse with bleach so we are getting there.)

Lexi and Nate are excited about their new rooms. Lexi's is pink with polka-dots - just perfect for her. Nate's is really cool to, but harder to explain. (He has yet to actually sleep in it).

We are going to try driving today and shopping after we exchange our money. Hopefully by our next post we will be unpacked.

One more day!

Well, we are leaving for Kenya the day after tomorrow. We have one day left to spend with family, finish packing, and continue stressing out.

We are full of mixed emotions.

The purpose of this blog is to let our friends and family hear about our lives in Kenya at their leisure. It is our goal to post at least once a week.

So enjoy safari to Kenya through our eyes!