Day 2 - On Our Way to NV

I'll try to make this quick. I need to go to bed.

We had breakfast at Gracehouse in Nairobi. I ate an omelette, their version of bacon, potatoes, fresh fruit, and a random sausage that one group member decided had a "feathery" texture on the inside. It wasn't too bad with hot sauce.

The bus from Naomi's Village arrived to pick us up and we headed to exchange money and eat lunch at Java House. Java House is kind of a mixture of Starbucks, Panera Bread, and Steak and Shake. But they also had quesadillas. Very western style food, but very good.

Naomi's Village was around an hour or so away from Nairobi, so we had a bit of a drive. The driving. Oh dear lord. I was getting myself ready to see Jesus face to face. There seems to be no real driving laws in Kenya, only driving suggestions. Passing is the name of the game in Kenya. On the highway, some people drive 80KPH, and some people drive 30KPH. So there's a lot of passing. There's a lot of oncoming traffic. There's a lot of averting your eyes so you can't see what's happening. Need to pass someone even though a motorcycle is flying towards you from the other direction? No worries. The motorcycle will just move to the shoulder to let you get by. Want to pass a huge truck on switchback curves next to a steep embankment? Just do it! You'll probably be fine. As the trip went on, I started to understand their method of driving, and I was a little less scared. That first drive though was terrifying.

The other thing I noticed on the drive were the buildings and people. Along the road/highway, there was mile after mile of cinder block shacks people were selling things out of. Mostly they were selling the same things. Fruit, sodas, snacks. There were a few that sold cell phones, tires, drugs (pharmaceutical kind, I think), and other things that I would NEVER GO TO EVER. These were some seriously shady looking places. And everyone walks. And lots of people just sat next to the road doing nothing.

This was the first time I noticed the poverty that the majority of these people live in. I'm hesitant to comment too much on the living conditions I saw because I was only there for a week and a half. I don't know the ins and outs of Kenyan culture, and what life is really like. But from what I saw on the drive to NV, the living conditions for a bulk of these people make the American poverty line look appealing.

First Impressions of Naomi's Village

We pulled onto the property and I was amazed at how green everything was. Now, I think that they were coming out of their rainy season, but everything was so lush and green. It was really beautiful. And it sits on the valley floor surrounded by these sweet looking mountains that were all misty and stuff. It was like Lord of the Rings up in there.

We got situated in the guest house (which was fantastic) and settled in for our orientation. Bob and Julie Mendonsa - the CEOs and founders - walked us through all the basic rules and routines. They covered a lot of information, but I won't bore you with that.

We took a short tour of the grounds and got to see the kids for the first time. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and hesitant at first to engage with the kids. Part of it was a fear of not being understood or being able to understand them. Most speak English really well, but their accents make it difficult at first to understand them. I got used to the way they pronounce their vowel sounds pretty quickly though. I also learned to slow down and really pronounce my sounds clearly so they could understand. I didn't realize how quickly I speak and how many syllables I drop when I'm speaking with another Texan.

For dinner we had rice, beans, and cabbage. Hint: if you go to Kenya, learn to enjoy beans. It wasn't bad, and it filled me up pretty well. I had my first real interaction with a kid during dinner too. Kevin, the son of Bonface who is in charge of pastoral care, and I played a modified game of peekaboo in which he would hide his face in his sweater, then pop out, point at me and say "You!" To which I naturally responded, "No, you!" This went back and forth for a while until I conceded that indeed, it was me.

After dinner, we debriefed for the day and plotted out what we wanted devotions to look like for the week. Then I slept.

I won't post anymore this week since I won't have computer access. I'll continue next Saturday.

Ryan