On the ground

Tuesday morning, June 9, 2009
Heart Guest House, Nairobi, Kenya


Ok, it's 5:00 am, and I can't sleep. I slept three hours on the plane ride to Nairobi, and I guess my body just thought that was enough. I'm going to be dead tired tomorrow, but there's not much I can do about it. Gordon, lying in the bed next to mine is having the same problem. My biological clock is just telling me it's time to be awake. So rather than just lie here in
bed listening to the roosters crowing outside (yes, there areroosters), I might as well do something productive (like write a blog entry that I might post if I ever get an internet connection).

Our flights from Dallas to London, and then from London to Kenya seemed to take an eternity. Fortunately, British Airways really takes care of its passengers. They had a nice selection of in-flight movies to pass the time. I didn't want to spend too much time amusing myself, though, when I had so many other things to be doing (writing, learning sign language on my iPod, reading the excellent selection of emergent Christian books Hollye Conway requested). However, "Children of a Lesser God" just seemed to fit so well with some of the themes of our trip, I just had to see it.

During our layover in London, we just barely had time to hurry through Heathrow airport to make our connecting flight, and then, back on the plane again. I was going to watch some movies on the flight to Nairobi to help me stay awake, but I thought my video screen was broken. Mitchell showed me where the "on" button was about 30 minutes before we landed. Oh well, at least I got some good reading time on the flight.

Our arrival in Nairobi was pretty uneventful. We only lost two bags out of 40, and even those on our team who didn't already have visas got through customs pretty quickly. The airport, at least, was much more modern than I had expected, and so far I haven't yet had the
feeling "Oh my, this is a third world country!"

Larry Conway met us at the airport with three large vans (matatus) with Kenyan drivers, so we packed in and immediately started making our way to our luxurious accommodations. I don't even say that tongue-in-cheek, either. The guest house we are staying in while in Nairobi is *really* nice. Well, really nice for Kenya, I mean. Jerry said they wanted to put the easy part at the beginning of the trip this year to give us a chance to get over our jet lag. Anyway, it far surpasses all my expectations. There are some things that probably wouldn't fly at a five-star hotel in the states (well, okay, or a one-star hotel for that matter).

For instance, the manager of the place said that he was going to turn the water on for us for an hour tonight. Steve and Jerry explained to us that what he really meant was that he was going to turn the *hot* water on for us tonight for an hour, and then again in the morning from 5:30 to 8:30. Anyway, I ended up getting in the shower tonight somewhat after the one hour cutoff time for the hot water, and I fully expected a cold shower, which I got. What I did not expect though was for the water to stop entirely while I was taking a shower. When the man said he was going to turn on the water, he really meant he was going to turn on the water. Apparently, Nairobi is on water rationing right now due to the drought, and the way the city rations water is by shutting it off completely at certain times. Fortunately our very nice guest house keeps some large water tanks on the facility so that they can give us water at least on a limited basis (6-10am and 6-10pm).

"Oh well," I thought, "I guess that's the end of my shower". So I started doing my other getting-ready-for-bed chores like brushing my teeth. They had told us we weren't supposed to drink the tap water anyway, so it wasn't a big deal that I had no tap water for the teeth-brushing. This place supplies each room with a big 5-gallon jug of bottled water to compensate for the absence of potable water from the tap, so I had plenty of water to brush my teeth and get ready for bed.

Then I went to use the toilet. I flushed once and it didn't all go down, so I tried flushing again. But, of course, I soon realized (too late) that when the water is off you only get one flush, and I was going to need considerably more flushes than that. My four room-mates, Steven Greek, Mitchell, Zach, and Gordon, were all already asleep, so I had to resolve the problem alone. My first attempt was to perform another flush using bottled water. (Okay, I know that's
wasteful, but when you the toilet won't flush, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?) This solution involved wrestling the very heavy 5 gallon water jug out of its dispenser unit (by myself) and dumping it into the back of the toilet (while splashing it all over the bathroom in the process, of course). After all that, though, it still wouldn't flush completely.

So, how to rectify the situation? Well, maybe you could think of a better solution, but the only one I could come up with was to reach into the toilet bowl with my hand and scoop everything out into a plastic ziploc baggie. Ok, I know that sounds gross, but when the toilet won't flush (and you're sharing a room with four other guys) you do what you gotta do, right? So, after the dirty deed was done, my next reaction was to go wash my hands in the sink. Oops. Thwarted
again. No water except the big water bottle sitting next to the toilet. If I had any foresight I would have returned the (very heavy) water jug to its dispenser before I got my hands dirty, but as it was I had to pick the 5 gallon water jug up with my clean forearms, turn
it upside down, and manuever it back into the dispenser (while splashing water all over the bathroom again, of course).

Once I finished cleaning up the mess and finally crawled into bed, I wasn't there more than 2 minutes before Gordon got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. It was already too late before I could stop him. And I guess he just wasn't as conscientious (or stupid) as me because I certainly didn't hear any water sloshing noises coming from the bathroom when he finished.

Anyway, I didn't expect a flushing toilet in the first place, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that we had one. So, I don't know why I have to get so bent out of shape about the toilet not working. I should just be thankful that I didn't have to grab a flash-light and
head to a choo (outhouse).

I know it doesn't sound like it, but we actually did more tonight after we landed than just have memorable bathroom experiences. Hollye Conway had a nice snack of fruits and vegetables, cheeses and cake, waiting for us at the guest house when we arrived. We support some really wonderful
missionaries here in Nairobi, and I hope that we are able to convey to them during this trip how very much they are loved and appreciated.

Tomorrow, Larry is taking all of us to see one of the base camps at Eastleigh. A base camp is a big trash heap which the street kids call home, and we are going to get to meet some of the kids that Larry and Hollye love and work with. I'm so excited about meeting them, and I have so many questions about what their daily life is like. It probably isn't appropriate to ask most of my questions, so I might just need to pick Larry's brain on the way. I do want to do something
for them, though. Maybe I'll take my stash of granola bars and beef jerky with me to pass out to the kids. I'll certainly let you know how it turns out.

Lord, please continually remind me to rely on your providence at all times and in all places, and fill me with your joy even when my expectations go unmet. Minster to me through your precious children who live on the streets, and use us in whatever way you can find to bless and encourage them. Amen.