Time Running Short

Note: Oops – the last blog on rabies should have been dated March 19 not Feb.

Mar 21st, 2009 – Yesterday was 5 weeks from when we will be putting our feet back onto US soil. I’m sure that time will fly by. Even now I’m thinking that is not enough time to send get all the little things we have procrastinating to do done – but that’s only because I know I’ll procrastinate some more and probably not end up doing most of them anyway. Good intentions and 100 shillings will get you an espresso at the café in Kisumu.

Joyce and I are slowly working on preparing for our exit. We are trying to get in a few more visits with our kids of Mbita. This is limited to Saturdays as the kids are in school and we are helping at school. Sunday is a personal time day at Steve and Judi’s so we try not to visit the kids on that day. It seems if we say we will be paying a visit, they will come and find us if we are not there soon enough. Had 3 greet us this morning here just as we were deciding whether to go then or wait a little while longer. We left then. We walked back down to mazugu beach by the parish. Joyce and I took a bit of a stealth route to the dock so as not to attract the attention of other kids. We sent one of the ones that met us on the road (3 more joined us on the way as they were also coming to find out why we were so late) to round up the other kids and bring them down.

After an hour or so of swimming we sent the kids on home so Joyce and I could go organize all the belongings that we left at the parish when we went to Tanzania without a curious audience. I’ve been living on the clothes that I packed into one medium size duffle bag over 5 weeks ago. The only thing I’ve picked up at the parish was my laptop and another tee-shirt. And I still have more clothes than probably 75% of residence of Mbita.

We sorted items into categories of coming home with us, go to Kisumu for the nursery school or orphanage, for the local pre-school, items Steve and Judi might be able to use and items for the Polytechnic. I had been afraid of how much we’d have to tote back home with us knowing we had 2 Action Packer bins, 4 suitcases, and full laundry bag and some misc stuff waiting for us to determine what to do with. I think of that the 2 bins and the largest suitcase are going to be all we’ll need to carry our possessions home. This includes the souvenirs we have collected. I should say others have collected since I have accumulated very few because I did not want to have to deal with getting them back home. Also Ash and Trav took almost all of the ones we accumulated during the Mombasa / Tanzania safari (in this context just meaning a trip, not a wild animal seeing trip).

We had told the kids once we were done with our work we’d stop by to see them again before we went back to our house. I guess we took to long again as only a couple were around and 7 of them greeted us back at the Cochran’s (that’s Steve and Judi). They had been there for about 45 minutes already. We let them stay a little longer than sent them on their way home.

For the curious here is what we are all currently up to.

Ashley and Travis are actually back in the states. They landed Friday and were being pampered by Aunt Suzie and Uncle Doug. Ashley was looking forward to using a blow drier for the first time in 3 ½ months and being able to drink Northwest beer soon. Soon because after taking the de-worming medicine you are suppose to wait 3 days before having alcohol or dairy products. Not sure if they’ve taken the bilharzias (sp??) med yet to kill the fun loving little parasite we probably all picked up swimming in Lake Victoria. I’m trying to decide when I’m going to take my doses (we all got the meds as a precaution because they are so friken cheap here.) so as not to have to wait to long to have some good ice cream on my return home. The biggest obstacle is that you are supposed to wait 21 days after last contact for the bilharzias meds. Anyway I’m off topic. Ash and Trav are anxious to see their dog Kevin who should be showing up today along with Travis’ parents. They have already seen Mormor and hope to have a chance to see my parents also. I believe they fly out Sunday to go back to Colorado and start work on Monday. Silly kids.

Morgan is in Kisumu working with Elizabeth and hanging out with her and Kelsey. She is doing whatever Elizabeth needs her to do in her work with the Kiwanis’ preschool and an orphanage she is working at. Oww the chameleon that lives in Steve and Judi’s veranda (a snooty name for their enclosed patio) is walking around on the window screens --- news flash this aside is interrupted to go help Joyce off the floor, she just passed out. That’s what lack of water and not enough food will do for you here in the heat of Africa. She says she is fine, she thinks it was a soft landing on the concrete floor. She called me after she had come to. She thinks she even had some of those twitching things you get as you come around. She said the floor was actually nice and cool. She went to sit on the couch and I got you some water and apple wedges and peanut butter. She looks to be fine --- like they do with their I’m Cool walk and funny 3 toed feet. Okay back to Morgan. We’ve talked with her a couple times and she seems to be really enjoying her time there and being around the people she is working with. She’s currently staying with Kelsey and her boyfriend.

Nick is in Nairobi living at a hostel in a 4 x 6 tent he bought. He’s about a 20 minute walk from the middle of downtown. His a few irons in the fire. Helping a local with a fundraising event that is coming up later this month. He met a girl at the hostel that is working on a project in the Kibira slums. She’s going to be teaching the kids basketball and then they will have a fund raising basketball game. She is also making a documentary of it. His friend Sally happens to be in Nairobi now for a job at a deaf school. SO he seems to be happy about being there.

Joyce and I are in Mbita, out home away from home. We are working at Christ Gift Academy pre-school and primary school. Joyce is helping with the lower grades – the pre-school age up to the grade 2s. She is doing crafts, tutoring math, leading songs and many other fun activities. She is really eating it up and loving to have something to do every day and a schedule to do it by, even though the schedule is quite dynamic. I’m working in the back office getting in some good computing time. Trying to simplify a few of their Excel lists and make them a little more friendly to us. Even getting to do some accounting work and got a wireless network set up for them last week. I even took a step out of my comfort zone and taught the grade 5 kids their CRE (Christian Religion Education). Went well and they even responded to my questions. They are into the sports (soccer, volleyball and netball) playoffs moving up from locals to provincial to nationals. Rather than the winning team moving on (which is hard to determine with the funky, inconsistent bracketing they use) they pick the best players for all the teams and make all-star teams at each level to move on. I think CGA only has one student left still playing on the boy’s soccer team and the district level coming up this week.

Well the pizza is in the oven – yeah really, Judi is definitely spoiling us with food – and I going to try and get a shower before sitting down.

Reporting from Mbita,
Paul