Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

Sleeping on a train is much more romantic sounding than reality.  The constant jarring and bouncing can rock you into a slumber but quickly wake you into a state where you feel you are flying down the tracks at 200 MPH and ready to bounce off into the African wilderness.  The train also made many stops during the night for unknown reasons which cause us all to lay there waiting for the midnight banditos to come rob us.  Needless to say it wasn’t the most restful of nights.  However watching the sunrise over the African plains was quite beautiful.

Since there are 13 of us, at dinner I ended up being placed at a table with 3 other travelers.  One who was silently reading a book and the other two who did not speak English.  I guess the rest of the group thought this was not the environment I wanted to enjoy my meal so they convinced me to come up to an empty table which was next to the rest of the group and sit by Yvonne.  Once I moved however, a British man entered the dining car and seeing an empty seat at our table promptly joined us.  Abraham was his name – and talking was his game.  I spent the next hour chatting with this chap who needed to see a tailor for the missing button on the part of his shirt covering his belly… and to think that I could have enjoyed a quiet meal at the other table.  At least it was entertaining for the others observing from the other table.

Once we arrived in Mombasa and unloaded, we waited for our ride.  We had arranged to be picked up and stay at a Christian academy just south of the city.  We were prepared for some delay being in Kenya and all but after an hour we decided to take things into our own hands. 

First of which was having Charlotte earn some street money…

We have discovered that one of the key factors of any Kenyan experience is having a good driver.  We met Martin at the train station who ended up being a pastor who used to preach on the street.  Since we had abandoned out original plans we allowed Martin to suggest some alternatives for our day in Mombasa.  He told us of a place down the coast where we could stay fairly inexpensive – so off we went.  One of the first things we had to do was to cross the water by ferry.  We came upon a long line of cars which backed up for about a mile… not a problem for Martin.  He just jumped onto the makeshift side walk and drove up to the front of the line – shook hands with the attendant and placed us first in line… I don’t know, either Martin is a gift from God – or were in some deep trouble.

After crossing the ferry we headed down the coastal road.   Martin had a sunroof in his van which allowed some relief from the now hot/humid weather.

We drove for quite awhile before turning down a long dirt road.  Brad was in the front of the car desperately praying that this was not going to turn into something bad.  With each turn the road became longer and more rugged… wouldn’t a popular resort have a more improved road???? When all hope seemed to be lost one final turn brought us into a quaint resort on the beach. 

Some of the team went in to negotiate the price which did end up being very reasonable and slightly cheaper than what we were planning on.  The kids ended up in hotel rooms while the adults stayed in a 3 bedroom cottage straight out of Disney’s the Tiki Room.  Although it took most of the day to get the running water turned on, the team enjoyed relaxing and swimming in the Indian Ocean. 

By 8pm we all were ready for bed… and to just think that we get to go back on the train tomorrow.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Today we head into Nairobi to catch the Train to the coastal city of Mombasa.  The train will leave in the evening so we have some time to visit some of the local attractions.  Our first stop is to a large market place where local vendors can sell their goods… sell maybe the wrong word – how about manipulate people into spending more than they want on something they don’t need.

These guys were very skilled in their craft.  All of our team got the privilege of being several vendor’s “first customer of the new year” and receive a special “because you are my friend” discount.  There was no window shopping here – if you made eye contact with any vendor you were stuck in a negotiations process.  Nothing had a set price – they would bring out a pad of paper and write what the “normal” price was and then cross it out and say “NO”  then they would hand you the pad and have you write the price you wanted to pay down and hand it back – back and forth this would happen… not until you came to a price you wanted to pay but until you didn’t care how much money you gave them – you just wanted to end the conversation.  I guess if these guys ever want to come to the US they would have great success as Washington DC lobbyists.

Since Brad and Jen weren’t with us on our visit to Crescent Island we visited the Nairobi Game Park.  As we entered the park we were met by Josiah, a student intern to the park – or probably just a guy who bought the parks’ T-Shirt and saw a bunch of gullible “Monzungus” (White People).  It turns out we didn’t care if he was legit – at one of our first exhibits, the White Rhino, he pulled us aside and said – “We will just trespass quickly and take photo…”  The next thing we are doing is jumping the walking rail and going through the bushes to the back of the exhibit.  All of a sudden here we are face to face with the Rhino – with only a couple of strands of wire separating us. 

What an experience which we thought couldn’t be topped.  Until we came to the Lions… The very same thing happened.  We go walking through a closed gate to a small path between the Lion cage and the Jaguar cage.  Here we are standing within a couple of feet of several lions with only a single chain link fence separating us.  I believe we have video footage of a sensitive moment between Charlotte and the male Lion.

As we are enjoying the Lions, we notice that our group is not alone.  Seems we left the gate open and now other people are streaming into the same area.  A bit concerned – we ask our guide if that is OK.  He shrugs and takes us out and then makes a call of his cell phone for someone else to take care of it – Hakuna Matata…

What could top being inches away from the king of the Jungle?  How about being able to enter the cage of the Cheetah?  Yep, our next stop we meet a guy who opens the cage for us to go inside and take photos with the cheetah and pet the animal.

We finally made it to the train station which looked had been around for quite some time. 

The actual train cars were straight out of the old movies.  15 hours in one of these bad boys… 

We were given 4 2^nd class rooms for the trip.  This meant spending the next chuck of our lives with 4 people inside a 8x7 rocking metal can.

After leaving the station, we were greeted by the police officers who would be riding the train with us.  Kevin gave us a rundown of the dangers of the “night thieves”  which I guess can acrobatically jump through an 18” window, slice through a screen mesh, steal your valuables and exit the moving train all without you waking up…  But he was there to keep us safe – and then he goes and hands his machine gun to Yvonne to hold…  Yep, this is Africa, should be a fun adventure.

Where in the World is...

Today was the last day for us to work on the house.   While we were gone, the local workers had finished all the framing and windows and we just needed to put the roof on and the siding.  Brad earned quite the accolades from the local skilled workers and forever more will be called Pastor Fundi.

The girls again set out to make another round of rocket stoves.  Once again they found themselves playing with mud – Charlotte decided she’d offer a mud facial to the team members.

The real big excitement came when Lunch was served.  It seems that during the morning time, Charlotte and Jen were befriended by a couple of the local children who wanted them to see their house… which was “just right up here.”  So off they went…

When we gathered everyone for lunch it became apparent of their absence.  I headed up the trail to take a look but gave up realizing that although Girls were smart enough to keep themselves out of harm – It was in their normal scope of operation to have gone too far and be gone too long without knowing it.

As I returned to camp, the status of their whereabouts became known to Brad who lovingly (as did the shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep, mind you) set out on his own rescue mission.  The next think I hear is Brad calling out for Jen and I look up to see – what can only be described as an angry gorilla racing back and forth beating his chest.  If they were not found quickly I feared King Kong would ravage jungle in search of his woman…  Just then, off in the distance Charlotte and Jen were prancing gingerly down the trail, hand in hand with some local children.   Jen, full of wisdom, kept the children close and even had Brad take a photo with them – see the gleam in his eye towards his wife?  Oh, and that’s Charlotte quietly exiting in the back… 

Once back at the house, the kids were busy creating wonderful balloon sculptures for all the kids.  They created flowers, elephants, castles, solar systems, and even the Mona Lisa.  Of course to the untrained eye, they all looked similarly close to a snake or a worm.

We were not able to get the house completed before having to leave but will be able to provide the funding for completion do be done after we left.

After getting cleaned up back at RVA, we headed down to some old friends of Brad and Jen who were doctors at the local hospital.  On the way back we were again graced by some monkeys in the trees.

In the evening the church had a men’s group meeting which the guys attended.  Brad again was able to share a challenging message and we were able to hear some pretty cool worship singing in Swahili.

This being New Year’s Eve… we all decided to headed to bed early.  We were tempted to stay up and experience some of the local festivities (fireworks which would be illegal in the US are quite rampant here) but we figure we can just celebrate with the rest of the US – tomorrow morning at 11am.  Besides, Brad was quite exhausted from all of his…events of the day.

Dishes and Undies

Today the local women of Kijabe had planned a women’s conference at the church for Yvonne and Jen to share at.  The girls all headed off to the church in the morning and the guys had time to trek back out to the project site to see what work had been done while we were away.  The Kenyan time table is quite different than the US – the women were told the conference would start at 9am… by 10:15 the ladies started to show up.  So basically it doesn’t really matter where you are – the world waits for the women... Yes, I said it.

During the conference they handed out dish towels and ladies underwear.  They had been collecting them for quite awhile before the trip and ended up with some quite shocking sizes.  Brad had picked out a pair to complete his Superman outfit which he proudly wore to breakfast.  Unfortunately he kept us from capturing them moment with a bunch of doctrinal mumbo jumbo – however the image is forever burned into the teams memories.  Maybe that is the reason the counseling center was created.

Meanwhile the guys had to head back to the house we were building to deliver the meat for our meal – the next day.  This meant throwing a frozen piece of meat into a back pack and delivering it to a home without any capabilities of refrigeration… and tomorrow we will feast.   Oh well, as they say here… Hakuna Matata.  Along the way the boys found a chameleon which occupied them most of the day.  We also discovered that most Kenyans are afraid of these creatures – not sure why, but maybe it has to do with the fact that with all the dangerous driving conditions, any reminder of GIECO car insurance is quite terrifying.

Along the walk back we came across some local ladies cutting grass for their animals.  Brad observed the size of the bundles they had created and decided to see what it was like to carry such a load.  Once he was able to get it on his back and around his head – he lasted about 8 seconds before starting the universal man cry of help – the forced smile and crackle of laughter. 

Of course the ladies loaded up and started to head down the train tracks without much effort…  If an NFL recruit ever made it down this way I think they’d find several worthy candidates.

To help out with the women’s conference, the guys showed up at lunch to serve the ladies the food.  Seems it was pretty rare for the women of Kenya to see men doing kitchen work – not that they saw us doing much work anyway. 

The real test was doing dishes from the 130 women… it took us about an hour of searching before we realized there wasn’t a commercial dishwasher to run them through – and the only way to heat up water was over an open fire.  After 2 hours of work, we decided it would have been better to just go down the street to the town center and pay a few hundred schillings to some people to do the work for us.

That evening we had the privilege to attend the JAM (Jesus and Me) meeting for the local youth.  Charlotte sang and Brad taught… but really the highlight of the evening was the dancing.  Guess Kenyan’s aren’t Baptists…

Party Like its 1995

I awoke this morning with a strange woman beside me.  Seems overnight my wife had a botox injection into her lower lip.  She is really starting to believe she is Kenyan - even if it means having to sunburn your lips.  I never have been worried about her leaving me for another man – but another country?  Please pray that my wife will refrain from continuing this adulterous affair.

We have noticed our team is starting to feel the effects of different sleeping conditions, hauling heavy bags everywhere we go, as well as the constant jarring in all of our excursions in the vehicles.  Next time I think we’ll have to have part of our trip sponsored by the National Chiropractor Association.  I’m sure they will generate much business from us once we return.  It is a daily occurrence to see our team members sprawled out on the floor with another member doing a rendition of Lord of the Dance on their back.  I think the theme song for our trip will be John Mellencamp’s “Hurt So Good”

We left the Mennonite guest house and headed back to Kibera for the Christmas Party.  The Bell’s were ready to jump right in – especially Brad.

When we arrived back at the school all the kids were sitting inside their building and we had a chance to sing, perform some skits and Brad shared a gospel message.

It wasn’t long before all of our team had at least one or two children on their lap.

Afterward we headed outside for some more games (luckily it wasn’t the 60 minutes again) and a couple of more skits which was fun for me to narrate since I was able to make the other team members do whatever I asked.  Brad certainly got a bit too comfortable as the role of Goliath and I’m not sure if he’ll ever take off the armor again – Jen thinks he’s hot.

It took a bit of logistical magic to set up feeding the 400 kids.  Needless to say we had purchased 400 plates and quickly realized that it wasn’t going to be enough.  All in all I think we ended up close to 600 people we feed. 

Since our time was beginning to become short before we needed to leave we then needed to transition into passing out the gifts we had brought.  Unfortunately this did not go as smoothly as the food handout.  Several of us ended up in the back room with hundreds of kids trying to press into us without an additional exit.  Needless to say, from an Emergency Responder – the circumstances were deteriorating quickly.  We hope things worked better once we left.

We arrived back in Kijabe and celebrated Julianne’s 14^th birthday with some cake and ice-cream.  After that we had a short debrief over the events of the day and settled down for the night.