So, as you are aware, I’ve already missed a post for this trip. I’m confident, however, that after I share with you the events from the last few days you will understand why.
We boarded the plane on Thursday (right? Wasn’t it Thursday that we left?). Once our plane was in the air, I’m convinced that we entered into some wierd time-space continuum where time simultaneously sped up and slowed down. The flight was around 18 hours (I think) with a stop in London as the half-way point. Here is where it get’s wierd. We left around 4:30 on Thursday, but then 9 hours later we end up in London, it’s the next morning, we jump on a second plane that was supposed to only be 9 hours, but we arrived in Nairobi at 10:00 pm friday night. What?! (Of course I understand the magic of Time Zones.). But, I was incredibly discoriented. I’m not sure if it was the fact that I slept through the second flight, or the fact that we seemed to transition from day to night without any notice, but by the time we landed I didn’t know what day it was, what time it was supposed to be. Wierd feeling.
But... after all of the time floating in the time-space continuum, we arrived safely in Nairobi and the Methodist Resort & Conference Center. The folks there were great!!! They quickly got us checked into our rooms, so we could grab a few hours sleep and then gave us a wonderful breakfast this morning before we hit the road for Maua.
Riding in the van from Nairobi to Maua was a trip. Traffic lights, lanes, no passing zones..... all suggestions to be taken lightly. Samson, our driver, is a champ! With only a few close calls, a stop at a Police check (more on that in a minute), and a long day, we arrived at Maua where we will be staying for the next few days as we work with the Clinic and build the AIDS Orphanage house.
On our way today, we stopped at a farm where we learned how importance agriculture is to the people of Kenya. Our host shared with us some of the advancements they are using to provide affordable options for farmers that will quickly produce profit as well as much needed commodities such as milk, fish, fruits & vegetables, and other livestock. It was a great afternoon.
All in all, we have received nothing but the warmest welcome from all we encounter. Even in what seemed to me to be an unlikely place. This brings me back to the stop at the Police Check. As best I could tell, the checks are placed at various locations along the road, and at each one vehicles are selected to pull over and checked to ensure the driver’s paperwork and license is all in order. We were one of the lucky ones at this stop.
I sensed Samson’s (our driver) anxiety rise just a bit with the stop. Perhaps I was reading into it.....I’m always a bit anxious when I get pulled over, even if it’s something as simple as a bust tail light. He produced his license and credentials to the Officer holding the assault rifle and we waited as he looked everything over. He eventually gave Samson some instructions to remember about maintaining his speed and gave the license and papers back to him.
I was sitting in the front passenger seat of the van, the side the officer was interacting with our driver from as this is all transpiring, not knowing exactly how to act. So , I did what I do best......I sat there awkwardly and silently hoping it would be over soon. As the officer returned the paperwork to Samson, he touched my arm and said, “veel-a-tome”
I didn’t know he was speaking to me, so I didn’t respond.....so he repeated: “veel-a-tome.”
At this point, it was clear he was speaking to me because he was standing there awkwardly waiting my response. Questions began to race throught my mind.
“What is he saying?”
“Was this one of the Swahili phrases I was to memorize for the trip and can’t remember”
So, I calmly responded, “I’m sorry?” He repeated, “veel-a-tom.”
I finally admitted defeat with myself and admitted to the officer that I had noi idea what that meant. So he said it slower. Isn’t that funny, when someone doesn’t understand what we are saying, we say it slower to help them as if it doesn’t feel like we are stuck in the most awkard round of “MadGab.”
“Feel at home.”
Oh!!! “Feel at home.” He was simply attempting to offer warm words of Welcome.... “Feel at home.”
While I already miss driving on the right side of the road, and good ol’ Texas iced tea, I can honestly say we have received the warmest welcome from all we have encountered. Tomorrow we will attend a worship service, present our check of donated money to provide a water well, and get some rest among other things before we begin our work projects on Monday. Stay turned!!!
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