Arrivals and Departures

I’m feeling a little guilty for not blogging yesterday, so this will be two days worth.  Sunday, we worshiped with the Mbuvi’s and Coulstons at the Kamulu Church of Christ, which is always a fun experience.  After lunch we set out for Nairobi one more time to check into our hotel for the evening, Grace House, and prepare for the medical team’s arrival.  Next to the Grace House is Yaya Center, a small upscale mall.  As we pulled into the parking lot I saw what I most feared, another “market day.”  At these nightmarish events, vendors selling all manner of African curios line up in stalls and beg you to, “please sir, just look here.”  I HATE these things, and of course, Susie and Maureen LOVE them. 

We have already purchased every possible kind of souvenir; soapstone, jewelry, textiles, etc.  We have so much that I really fear for getting it all home because of airline weight limits.  Susie is undeterred.  She blazes a path through the merchants, leaving them dazed and bewildered.  They are no match for her superior negotiating skills and endless patience.  I am dying.  Finally, Francis and I convince the women to come in for dinner, and on the way into the mall, Susie calls out, “Just one more!” We wait for 10 or 15 minutes and I have had enough, I’m going out to retrieve my bride.  We found them haggling a man over a hand carved mahogany end table.  Susie says, “Maureen really wants this one, she’s got him down to 4,000ksh.”  Finally when the deal is struck, Maureen turns to Susie and says, “There, I got it for you.  Pay the man.”  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Not only is it expensive, it weighs 30 pounds!  How will we ever get this home?  My pleas fall on deaf ears; I am outnumbered and outclassed.   Agggh.

After dinner, we dropped Susie and Maureen at the hotel and went to retrieve the medical team from the airport.  We waited outside the baggage claim until almost everyone had cleared out, and still there was no team.  Finally, I caught sight of them trailing a load of bags, all there save one, Leslie Doke’s.  After filling the missing bag report, we were ready to head out when a man came down the hall trailing the missing bag.  He had taken it all the way home and discovered it was the wrong bag and brought it straight back to the airport.  What luck!  So we loaded it all and sped away, for some much deserved rest.

This morning we parted with Francis, who took a mutatu back to Kamulu, and met up with Addington, our driver for the week.  We’ve used Addington before when we needed more than one vehicle, and we know him to be reliable.  Today, he drove us to Eldoret where we will be based for the next five days.  We will be providing basic medical and dental care to our orphanages and feeding stations at Kapsabet, Ngenymesut and the surrounding area.  The team consists of Ben and Leslie Doke, Brad and Deborah Sears, and Cherie Creech.  So here we sit at the beautiful Sirikwa Hotel, under the same roof with the US ambassador to Kenya, who arrived at the same time we did.  Pretty cool.  Tomorrow we get started with Kapsabet Orphanage.

Medical Team Arrives