We landed in Nairobi, Kenya this morning at 5:56 a.m. As the sun rose, the plane decended. Everything went smoothly as we applied for visas, grabbed our luggage, and slipped through customs without drawing attention to ourselves. Ruthie's dad was waiting for us with a huge grin, friendly wave, and embracing hug. As we walked out of the airport, I was overwhelmed with familiarity - although never having been in Kenya, it was like India in so many ways. Everything from the toilets to the open-air atmosphere of the buildings, the palm trees to the crazy traffic was reminiscent of my other foreign country visit.
We hopped into the vehicle and headed out. One thing that takes getting used to is that traffic is reversed from America. Everyone drives on the left. And they are crazy drivers. After having the craziness of Indian traffic, I was prepared for Kenyan traffic. In fact, in many ways, Kenyan drivers are much safer. However, there really are no rules that are followed. You make your own speed, your own lanes, your own mergings. The difficult thing about driving in Kenya are the incessant jams; pile-ups at the round-abouts where literally no one moves for 10 minutes or more. And as you sit idling, hawkers approach your car offering goods - including pirated dvds, signs, newspapers, cowboy hats, and peanuts.
The compound where Ruthie's family lives is like a family of neighbors. I have met so many "aunts" and "uncles" already. After a year away, it was like a huge family reunion for Ruthie. Students at Evangel who I knew were MKs from Kenya literally live next-door.
Once at her house, we had a late breakfast (10 a.m.; haha!) of delicious muffins, fruit, and coffee. I received the tour of the house, and we both took much-needed and anticipated showers. After traveling for two days straight, it was certainly wonderful to be clean again :)
Our plans today are not settled, but I think we're headed to a place where the Lowenbergs like to go walking. The goal is to stay awake all day so that we can have our internal clocks regulate to Kenyan time as fast as possible. It's going to be difficult after having had so little sleep the last two days, but we're going to try. Tomorrow we head out to an awesome resort with the Pennington's. Getting excited!!!
Oh, and one last funny/not-so-funny moment of today. When I pulled my suitcase off the conveyor at the airport, I noticed some liquid soap on the outside corner. However, I really didn't think much about it. But when we got to Ruthie's house and opened it, we found a lovely soapy pink mess awaiting us. Ruthie had put some things in my suitcase because her's was over the weight limit in the States. Apparently, they had inspected my suitcase and didn't seal her shampoo back in the bag and the lid exploded. So, nearly everything in my suitcase needs washed. Haha! Fortunately, there's a washing machine here :) Life never is boring!
1 comment:
"Her's". Yep. You are tired. :)
Post a Comment