Africa Soil
We have arrived! We arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, December 29 at 11:30 p.m. Nairobi time.
It was a long journey. We left Nashville on Monday at 10:40 a.m. central time. We journeyed from Nashville to Newark, Newark to Brussels, and Brussels to Nairobi. It was 2 a.m. on Wednesday when we were able to get to bed. However, I was up at 6 a.m. next morning! (I won’t testify for Carla either way!)
Carla and I began the next day getting things settled into the apartment. The apartment or flat is located on the back edge of the ANU property. It is on the third floor and was used for Work and Witness teams, but since the University has not had many teams visiting recently, we were allowed to stay here. We are pleased.
The back veranda overlooks a river and gorge. The opposite side of the gorge unfolds into beautiful pastoral land which sheep, goats, and cattle use for grazing.
On our first morning here, I was rewarded with the sight of about thirty to forty baboons playing just over the fence from our backyard. Although, they fought/played fiercely and made quite a racket, Carla had little interest in them at 7 a.m. Let me quickly clarify that I did not try to arouse her interest at that hour! When I mentioned it to her later, she mumbled something about “jet lag.”
In the days since, she and I have been working on the apartment to make it more livable. We have made some shopping trips to purchase some very needed items for the home. While it came equipped with some silverware, dishes, pots and pans, we had to buy several things like a clothes iron, mop, broom, buckets, etc. We also had to buy groceries.
Shopping is always an experience in a different country. Oftentimes, it is difficult to calculate the exchange rate. Missionaries know about “sticker shock” as they compare prices in the country of service with the country of origin. Converting from pounds to kilos can be quite challenging. The type of food available is different.
Despite the many differences, we have found Nairobi to be much more advanced than Kigali was when we left there in 2005. We are grateful for all that God has allowed us to have. We are grateful to missionary friends who have shown us around in the past few days, helping us to get acclimated.
One of the reasons we have been working so frantically is because on Monday morning, Carla and I will report to duty. We have meetings to attend. We need to get oriented to campus life and our responsibilities. We have a lot to learn!
One missionary couple gave us a tour of the campus on Friday. We were grateful to see firsthand how the university has grown. God has been blessing. We are excited about the future that God has in store for us here! Thank you for your prayers for us!
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