Kizimani / Judy's blog: Road Trip to Eldoret

So a brief catchup of yesterday – and yes, we closed the window and the fan kept us cool!

We left Kangundo with our usual large amount of luggage.

Some shots from along the road. A mix of storefronts along with roadside stands of fresh fruits and veggies and lumber and iron gates and charcoal and carwashes and turkeys and chickens and just about anything else you could want.

Miriam is greeted at our Nairobi hotel by her hotel contact. Greetings are effusive here and several of us were commenting today on how much we enjoy that. Miriam taught us a phrase of greeting to use while in Kangundo and I loved using it. So many times the people I said it to would totally light up and shake my hand vigorously. And just today, when I spoke a Swahili greeting to a woman on the road we were walking on, she grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a big hug. I confessed that it is about the only Swahili I know but she didn't care; she thought it was wonderful I attempted that much :-)

We arrived sometime around 10 a.m. and optimistically hoped we might get into our rooms right away. Tabitha, pictured above, was on it as was Michael, the front desk agent I'd worked with before when we all first checked in. But we did have to wait and wait and, as is typical, the "15 minutes" was more like 30 and then the "5 more minutes" was another 20 or so... We got about half our rooms and waited some more. Michael told me confidentially that they were doing something special with flowers in our room so when we finally got to them, this is what we found...

Lunch that day was with the graduating seniors of New Dawn High School, the school where we've done healing arts camps and have sponsored some students. It serves poor and impoverished students who live in slums nearby.

A former New Dawn student, Steve, is currently in baking school and created this cake for us, which was carefully cut so we all could have a piece.

We all walked to a viewpoint of the Nairobi skyline which most of these students have never seen, though most have lived in the city their whole lives. (And this is the prettiest I've ever seen that view! It's usually pretty smoggy.)

Now for a bit of randomness. Those who have traveled with me know that I'm always looking for cats to pet. This is the closest I've gotten so far...

One of our van drivers was super prepared for communication.

And I'm sure the mall we visited is exactly where Obama got his passport photo taken ;-)

The driver's ed car is sure to get everyone's attention. You can also see the maze of wires on the electrical pole.

Keeping up with family at home...

A travel tip: The electric wires are for heating the water as it arrives at the shower head. Touching them while the water is running is not advised. (No, I'm not speaking from personal experience.)

In our 8-hour road trip in vans today from Nairobi to Eldoret, we crossed the Equator. I'm posing with Steve (the cake baker) by the new sign.

We had chai at Lance & Lindsay Chamberlain's house – they have been here as missionaries for almost two years – and then went out to see all the animals. Who can resist a puppy?