Day 4 – Tim’s bag is found, so its 90 miles back to the airport.

Yea!!!  Tim’s bag has been found. A little damage we are told, and apparently there is a little issue of needing to address a customs issue for the Sonic Wall device Tim brought for Father JB, but Tim really needs a change of, uh, clothes, so we are grateful. Those of us around Tim maybe more so than Tim. J Unfortunately the roads are in much “better” condition coming from Nairobi than going to it. I don’t recall this “E ticket” ride when we first arrived and traveled to Nyeri. I think I’m at least two inches shorter now from bouncing up and down practically the entire way. Father JB is a very good driver, but I’m not sure that I agree with his philosophy that the bumpier the road, the faster we should go. Over 100 km/hr. That is about normal freeway speed for us back home, but these aren’t our freeways. I probably won’t quit complaining that our gas tax back home should  actually be used on fixing our “bad” roads, but these are something resembling more of an “after” picture from a B52 bombing run. If you wanted to connect the dots (pot holes), you would rarely have to draw a line longer than 5 feet. Amazing that cars last more than a couple years here. Or actually, maybe explains why they look like they do. 

Oh, we made an observation here regarding graffiti. We would show you pictures of the clever art work, but there is none. Anywhere. Cleanest city walls we have ever seen. The only sign “Polite Notice – No Posters”, and that’s all you ever see. Amazing. Along the drive to Nairobi, we were struck by the general way of life these people live every day. There may be areas in America that resemble this Spartan, minimalistic, shopping at Goodwill would be a dream, “life style”, but I have yet to see them in person. One gets the sense that survival is the theme of the day and it rarely changes. Except on Sunday when most still observe that day as the day of rest. I don’t think I could even work one day a week, resting for 6, and make it living the struggle commonplace in Nyeri and Kenya in general. And still such a happy people. They only got cell phones in this country 3 years ago, and almost no one has internet in their home, so certainly there is some value in an “ignorance is bliss” existence when it comes to the “luxuries” of the Western World, but as more of the West comes to Kenya, the separation between the “haves” and the “have nots” will certainly be a challenge for this government. For now though, it is quite an experience stepping into this time period. 

So we finally made it to the airport. And after being told to retrace our steps at least 5 times, “Tim only” was finally allowed to go claim his bag. Or what was supposed to resemble his bag. “Slightly damaged”?!

   Not only was the bag destroyed, many of the valuable items we brought for the kids were missing. So was one of Tim’s shoes. If anyone sees a one-legged man hopping away carrying an armload of Children’s gifts and wearing one new shoe, I bet he’s our guy. They didn’t steal the Sonic wall though, and after a valiant effort by Tim to argue that it was a donation to the Church (which it is!), he only had to pay a “50% duty”. Good thing it only cost USD $75……. (even better that they had no idea what is was and that it really was valued 20 times that amount….. but hey, after all it really was a donation). We definitely have to figure out how to get goods into the country going forward without paying a duty for donated items. We have a plan for that though……   Upon leaving the airport, Father JB allowed us to enjoy seeing some of the local “non-human” residents. (Although we could argue that they are all more human than that custom’s agent making Tim pay the duty….) Here are a few we met:    

It was quite an eye-opening experience, again, traveling through the region, seeing the lifestyle of this community. The pictures say more than we could, so let these speak for themselves: 

    Taking goods to market.    Arriving at market. Busy day at market.   Kenya Home Depot 

   Specialty ” Boutique” shops.  Rain or shine, waiting for the bus.

 ”Rolling backpacks in America?! How do they get through the mud?” Best behaved children we ever saw.

 All in all, certainly another “Blessed” day. “Asante sana” to all of you for your continued support and encouragement. It really is nice to know we are still connected to home. Oh, and father Juan, we are all keeping your Mom in our prayers. And you can really feel God in this place, so I’m sure he is listening. Aloha.