Adjusting to Life in Kenya, Especially Nairobi!

As the saints say here in Kenya, Bwana Asa Feway, sema tena Bwana Asa Feway. Praise the Lord, say it again, Praise the Lord! Our day Thursday into Nairobi was more than adventure and a bit difficult but full of blessings. As we expected our paper work was not finished but that was not a surprise as everything takes time here in Kenya. What was a surprise was a bit of the difficulty of our morning. Our poor driver was pulled over by the police multiple times, set up and they were demanding a bribe. Because we (Matt and I) would not pay the bribe ($3) it caused more problems and was soaking up an incredible amount time. Our driver was given permission to take us to our next stop and then return as they had his paper work. Unfortunately our driver was very upset and began to drive unsafely, just missing a matatu (bus) and because he was on his cell phone while driving (also a no no here in Kenya) he sped away from the police man in the intersection who proceeded to bang his baton on the back of the car. (Praise the Lord KG was asleep at this point!) We proceeded downtown into heavy traffic and our driver pulled out into the oncoming lane and just as I said to please slow down, to calm down and not worry about things, and to remember that we had KG in the car, he pulled backed over into the correct lane and swiped another car. It was a small fender bender but here in Kenya you negotiate right then and there and even pay. So needless to say we were ready to get out of the whole situation especially as a stranger hoped into the car to negotioate. My amazing, wise husband got on the phone and called a brother in the Lord who has been helping us shop for cars and asked if he could come and get us. In a matter of 2o minutes her was there. We thanked our driver and paid him for his services that far and joined our friend. That was a blessing in itself. We were quite a sight as we walked down the downtown street near the Hilton, with KG in her front pack, our backpacks and Matt carrying KG's car seat. Everyone asked if we needed a taxi and everyone stared. It was funny. (Later not at the time.)
We were so grateful that the Lord kept us calm, safe and that we were able to get another ride as we had so much to do that day and didn't have time for negotiations, and bribes. After an American lunch (Java!) and a reprieve and a surprise meeting with a fellow missionary Paul Cowley, we headed back out into traffic and to AIM where we checked on the vehicle we are looking at. The vehicle checked out really well and were able to use it for our ride home (our friend John drove and Matt drove it once we were out of the crazy traffic.) More to come on the vehicle, but please pray for us in this HUGE decision. We were so thankful to the Lord for sustaining us especially through the two hours of thick traffic and fumes, for His safety and protection, for a sweet meeting with an incredible woman named Maureen who is going to help us with the vehicle, paper work, work permit, etc, and for the people the Lord brought us to that day. We didn't arrive home until after 7:30 that night and that was after another adventure at a Nakumat (grocery store) where I picked up a new item that was on the shelf but they couldn't get it into the system. :) After 20 minutes of waiting and causing a long cue they said, not today. :0 I had to laugh especially after the day we had had. We were are so grateful for our sweet refugee at lanugae school where we can rest and gear up for more of the adventures to come. :) Our hearts our blessed as we say, "Haraka, Haraka, Heyna Baraka," Hurry, Hurry no blessing, and "Everything, can't be easy." It was also so fun to be able to debrief and laugh over stories with our housemates. They had gone to see a doctor since Noelle is pregnant and the first thing the doctor asked was, "What is the problem?" You have to laugh. :) Thank you for your prayers and for laughing with us in our adventures. We love you all!
Peg for The P3

Adjusting to a new life

As one could imagine, there are many things, on many levels, that require adjustments in our way of living here in Kenya. The past two weeks of living here we have had our share of laughs, tears, stories, miracles, and more. It's hard to encapsulate everything into a few short stories, but I will try my best to share the highlights. After getting over jetlag (which took somewhere from a couple days to the first week) we ventured into new territory by moving into the language school about 45min drive from town (about $26 to take a taxi one way). Although we have visited Kenya many times, this was the first time for the P3 to be "on their own". We arrived at the school in time to say good-bye to the staff here for the weekend, and then it was just us (and a guard who would come just for the night time too). Some funny things that we noticed right away were the 'non-osha' stairs that have a big heart on them ("whoever built this house did it with love" we'd joke). A leaky faucet in the downstairs bathroom that during the course of the next week I (matt) tried to fix but ended up braking completely and almost flooding the downstairs entryway (I'm glad someone was there who knew how to turn off the water to that side of the house... and I'm also grateful that the floors are just cement... not a bit of water damage). Peg and I also had to adjust to being back in a classroom. Our first day met us with great anxiety, as every word was spoken in Kiswahili and we had no idea what was going on or how to follow along or what to do. (Later on we found out that it was a weekly, every Monday, morning devotion and worship time for the staff and students, of which there were a total of 10 of us in the room that morning). So once that time was over, Peg and I were to start our class, which was much more doable with interaction, note-taking, and the whole bit. While we are in classes in the morning, Joyce, our house-help, is taking care of Kenya Grace. We've noticed that this has been quite an adjustment for her too, as she has grown accustomed to having both mommy & daddy around all the time over the past month... and now she has neither of us for about 4 hours.

Now that our first week of classes has finished, and we are coming up on the second week of being in country, we are finding that the adjustments are less noticeable. For example, today Friday) the electricity went off in our morning class around 9am (of course everything continues without a blink) and didn't come back on till about 6pm this evening. (Even for Kenya that is a long time to be without power... especially in the middle of the day, but it didn't seem to be too hard for us to find ways around using power, and doing just fine without it).

Probably one of the hardest adjustments for us as a family is not being near family and friends back at home (whether that be in Cali or MI). Even the first week we were here we were able to have constant good-speed internet (I say "good" because it is way faster than the dial-up modem, but still pretty slow compared to U.S. standards) which allowed us to read and write email easily, and post things on our blog and facebook. But now at school internet is sketchy (and at dial-up speeds of less than 1kb per second) and works sometimes and not others. Also, for the past 6 months we have been living in community at people’s houses (even before that for a year next to close friends) which had provided a certain way of functioning that made us feel like family was always with us. To transition out of that and within a week of being here to be just the three of us in a Huge house out in the country... well you can imagine that the emotional adjustment has not been easy. But by God's grace, your prayers, and some time to go by, we are adjusting well. We are also finding daily blessings all around us, the weather, the people, the family time, etc.

I'm sure that we still have many adjustments to go through over the next few weeks, months and even this first year, but I know God will lead us through it. I'll end with a verse God gave me a couple days ago that really helped me. Psalm 139:9-10, "If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."(NIV) God reminded me through that verse that He is in control, that He is guiding us, and He is holding us tight! Bwana Asafiwe! (Praise the Lord!)
- Matt - for the P3

Doing Well

Just a quick update while we have Internet for a few minutes....we are doing well. Been so busy unpacking and stocking our house for living. Had a quiet and blessed weekend just the three of us and some very fun times of laughter. We went for a walk around our school area and met lots of locals who loved that KG said hello and waved with both hands. We also went to church today at Living waters and enjoyed seeing some kenyan friends, followed by lunch with Vicky another special missionary friend and got to snuggle with her son. We are taking advantage of being in town and getting our shopping done for the week as well as picking up the rest of our things at Ed and Kelli's. We are tired but enjoying setting up are new home. We are all fighting aliments to some degree, teeth, bug bites, stomache, but overall we are doing really well. God is so faithful and loving on us and blessing us left and right. We feel the best during this transition when we are with the local people. :) After all that is why we are here, so that makes sense. Thank you for all your prayers! We love you and will write more after this week of school!
Peg for The P3