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!