Thursday in Nairobi

I don't know if you will be able to open the pht.xx photos or not (the backspace on this computer is kaput!). Remember we are in Kenya!! Have a happy day wherever you are!! It is warm and bright blue skies , very nice here!

Feb 15…for blog

First calamity of the day…misplaced my boarding passes!! After going through my two carry on bags with multiple pockets, zippers and compartments, I walked back to security. I had left them in the tray. They said they had paged but Amber and I were so absorbed in the search that we didn’t hear the call. But all was fine. I thought I would get a sandwich so I ordered a steakburger lettuce wrap. I was thinking a wrap as in a tortilla around the meat but it was literally a lettuce wrap steakburger!!..

Flight from Indy to NYC uneventful but not a very smooth landing. Had to think of Capt. Sullenberger as we descended over the bay. We deplaned, had a long, long walk and then stairs with our bags. My hand luggage probably weighs 40 lbs. total. The layover was five hours. We saw lots of styling gals with spike heels and way out fashion. And then folks set to travel…like me and Amber in our casual togs. Sight of all sights….as we waited, there was a woman coloring another woman’s hair…this is the truth!! Amber went to investigate. Oh this is going to be a great trip!!

Eight hours to Amsterdam…tired. Walked the airport a bit. We were able to get online at a free spot for a few minutes. We went to get on the next flight…the line was so long!! This plane was lots bigger…over 400 people. We met a couple of young girls on their way to a medical internship for 6 weeks. They had received NO cultural training so in the 20 minutes in line, I tried to be helpful.  I cannot imagine coming with a leader who just said “ask someone”. He is interested in the medical research and left them pretty much on their own.  Also saw Nancy McCormack who is going to meet Karen Bauer’s work team (this is relevant to my Quaker readers.) This flight was also eight hours but felt much much longer. As Amber said when we finally arrived, “the last three hours were brutal!!) We made  our way off the plane to exchange money, buy a SIM card for the cell phone, go through immigration, collect our bags (everything was there!!!) and find the courtesy van ($20 each) to the Hilton. Amber asked about the free wifi in the lobby which was advertised. She was told that internet is $50/day or $11/hour…no free in the lobby. When she reminded of their advertising, the reply was “others have told us that too”. So we will look for an internet café where the charge is 3/₌ per   minute or approximately $2.25/hour. We settled in our room, made a few phone calls and crashed!!  (midnight Kenya time….4 pm Indiana time—but we’d had a hard 30 hours!)

Thursday, Feb 17, was a fruitful day. We slept late but managed to get to breakfast before they closed the buffet at 10:30 am.  The porter gave us a Nairobi map and called a taxi for us.  We went first to the Giraffe Center.

 After that Kizuri Beads, a favorite place of mine. We saw the pottery and the bead process….from clay to fired to painted and fired to stringing the beads to the showroom floor. This is a wonderful industry that employs over 350 people and has a top quality product sold all over the world!! Every bead is hand crafted.

The taxi driver dropped us at the Catholic Bookstore. We bought some cards and postcards and walked back to the hotel…only six blocks or so. When we arrived, my friend Noah was waiting for our 4 pm appointment. We had a good chat and then Patrick, friend of Shirley Hoy, came to pick up some books she had sent him. By now it is nearly 7 pm. We have had a full day and the rain has begun. We only had a snack in the afternoon but will have supper and sleep well!!

(Because of the internet issues, I will take a flashdrive to the cybercafé and hope that everything transfers. Please be patient with me if it does not.)