Sunday, November 13, 2011
My internet has been spotty again, so I haven’t posted for a few days. I ran out of internet time on my modem stick tonight, so I’ll have to buy more time and post this tomorrow. I’m just writing this as a Word document now. (It didn't work on Monday, either, so I'm now posting on Tuesday.)
Diane arrived safe and sound on Thursday, so I’ve been busy with her. I took her over to visit Grace and the kids Thursday night (partly just to keep her awake), and we had a fun time playing and dancing around in their little house. Friday, we hired a tuktuk and tried to check out the orphanage close to my house, but we couldn’t find any adults. Tomorrow, we’re going to ride my school bus down to the road that leads to the orphanage and walk the rest of the way. Hopefully, we’ll be able to connect with someone to see if there is anything we can volunteer to do there.
Saturday, we got up early and took a taxi into Mombasa at 8:00. The ferry line was non-existent (which never happens!), so we got across about 40 mins. early to meet Bro. and Sis. Scott. Our taxi driver, Charles, suggested that he walk with us through the park that’s by the channel for the ferry. That’s where I went with Grace and Samuel, and it was a very nice walk. We saw a ship from Japan that dredges the channel about once every ten years to get rid of things that would eventually block passage for the boats. I thought that was pretty cool that we got to see it. Apparently, the ship travels all around the world doing this.
We met the Scotts at 9:30 and drove to Chumgamway where we went to the Akamba Woodcarving Shop. We saw all kinds of different items being carved out of various kinds of wood and went shopping in their main shop. It was absolutely stifling in the shop, but it was a really fun excursion for us.
The finished products in the store.
We then drove to Ft. Jesus. The Scotts wanted us to go to a restaurant in the area, but we ended up walking for about an hour in a huge circle through a labyrinth of streets only to end up where we started without coming to the restaurant. They’d never been where we walked, and honestly it was a bit scary. It was predominantly Muslim, and Sis. Scott said there were many Somalis there. When we got back to the car, Bro. Scott asked someone if they knew where the restaurant “with a fish hanging over the door” was. He didn’t remember the name. The man knew exactly where it was, and in less than 5 mins., we were at the restaurant – VERY hot and sweaty!
I had spent practically all my cash at the wood shop, so the first thing I did was ask if they took Visa or MasterCard. He said they took Visa. I was relieved, because I only had Ksh150 left! We ordered lunch. I had red snapper, boiled vegetables, and rice. It was all very good. When we went to pay, everyone put their money in except me. We were going to put the whole thing on my Visa card. Well, I took it up to the cashier only to be told their machine was down, so we couldn’t pay with a card! I had to borrow money from Diane to come up with enough to pay my bill. We had actually tried earlier to get money from an ATM, but it wouldn’t accept my debit card. I’m so used to having everything work in the USA. I always have some cash, a debit card, my checkbook, and several credit cards that work. It’s not a problem. Here, however, you just never know for sure who will take what, or if it will even work when they say it will.
After lunch, we shopped for only a few minutes, then walked over to Ft. Jesus. Diane and I had planned on going through it, but finding the restaurant and waiting forever for our lunch, we ran out of time. I took a few pictures, however. We caught our taxi back at the ferry and arrived home around 5:30. It was a long, hot day, but really fun.
Today, we went to church, and Diane really enjoyed it. The first time I went, there were only two of us who were Caucasian, and two white missionaries. Today, there were 10 of us, plus the missionaries. All but two of us could somehow be connected back to Louis. After next Sunday, there will only be one again besides the two elders.
Back row: Elder Belyejusa, Me, Kenneth, Caroline
Front row: Kenneth's kids - Jessica, Esmiraldah, Keccy, and Lillah
I had my second “driver’s ed” class today and drove part-way home from church. Diane was nervous, as were many others in the car. I noticed Kenneth didn’t have his seatbelt on and asked him to put it on. He teasingly said, “No, I want to be able to get out of the car as fast as possible if I need to!” He actually said I was a good driver. I’m nervous that I won’t know how to drive on the “wrong side” of the road when we get to So. Africa, so I need to practice here while I have a tutor.
Our hot water pipe broke Thursday night. Luckily, Diane had had a chance to shower once before it broke. My ascari, David, had to turn the water off and on for us from the water tower so we could do our dishes and get ready for bed. Friday morning, a guy was supposed to come fix the pipe at 8:00 AM. He didn’t show. Then he said it would be 2:00. Again, he didn’t show. We left around 3:00 and he came sometime after that only to say he would have to come back Sat. at 9:00 AM. He never came back. Luckily, Samuel ended up getting out of bed for us at 10:30 PM Friday night to come figure out what he could do to help us get water. We hadn’t had any all day! He filled up several big buckets and an empty water jug. I don’t know what he did, but we ended up having cold running water. Thank goodness, or we would have gone 3 days without water! I guess it’s back to cold showers again, but at least we HAVE a shower.
Tomorrow, Henry, Louis’ very tall Maasai ascari, has arranged to do a Maasai dance for us with several of his friends. I have been telling him for a long time I love the Maasai and love to watch them dance, and would he please dance for me sometime? I’m very excited for that and for Diane to see it. Now, Louis has decided to turn the dance into a sort of farewell party for everyone because by the time Diane and I leave on Nov. 23, all the Americans will have left Shamba la Salama until next January. It should be a most enjoyable evening.
Kadi
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