To Western Kenya

This past week we took a long journey up to western Kenya. It was long because what I believe was only a 250 mile journey, took about 9 hours to complete. Here are the reasons why it was non fun: I had to sit in the middle, squished between Mari and Luiba and at times Larry also; I quickly got over that. I had diarrhea the whole day and night before and it also continued into our road trip. Mari was curled up in the corner of the seat practically dying from some similar sickness. I think the only way to use the breaks in the car was to slam them. Whoever constructed the roads in Kenya thought it would be a good idea to put surprise speed bumps, which are even more fun with breaks like the ones we had. It was hot. No one had to wear a seatbelt. 

 Here are some reasons why it was fun: Kenya is very beautiful. Sometimes its fun not to wear a seatbelt. We drove through beautiful forests, where you wouldn't even imagine you were in Africa. We passed through miles of towering acacia trees that were absolutely magnificent. We saw the Great Rift Valley. We saw Zebras. We saw Lake Naivash. I saw cabbages twice the size of my head. We drive through one of the world's smallest rain forests. We saw baboons. We saw baby baboons. We made it safely to Irwin's family's home just before dark.

 Now, despite have diarrhea throughout the three days and two nights of this mini vacation, I actually quite enjoyed myself. We had to pack a lot of activities in to a short period of time, and unfortunately spent a lot of time in the car, but it was still nice. We arrived at Irwin's brothers house on saturday evening where we met his family, ate dinner and prayed with them. I got to pet a baby cow, that was my highlight. After we left Irwin's brothers place, we set out on another bumpy road to Irwin's parents home which is in the middle of the village in Kakamega, after we arrived there we were able to shower and then they fed us second dinner. After dinner we walked in the dark across a yard sprinkled with cows to a house made of mud where we slept for the night. I loved the mud house. There is something that just feels nice about it, ironically a house made of mud feels very clean. I really loved waking up to all the cows, and the view of the African country side was just breathtaking. The air felt nice and clear, being so far away from Nairobi.

 Sunday morning we drove to Springs of Life Children's home where we met Ian and Betty White who single handedly fund their children's home. Ian and Betty along with the mothers love and take care of over 20 infants, They don't have a lot, but seeing what they do and how happy and healthy all their babies were was truly inspiring. And the babies were so precious, we even got to hold the tiniest preemie I've ever seen. After leaving the children's home we went to visit Luiba's parents where I tried sugar cane for the first time and Mari learned how to chop cabbage like a Kenyan woman. We didn't stay there long, we got back in the car and headed to the Crying Stone. We pulled over on the side of the road and about 5 little children acted as out tour-guides and took us through the hills to the giant Crying Stone, and it wasn't even crying. Then we headed home to Irwin's parents house. After a nice shower, and a good dinner that didn't stay long in my stomach, we headed to bed to get ready for an early morning and a long journey back to Nairobi. 

Monday evening after another 9 or 10 our journey and about the 4th day of continuous diarrhea, Mari and I arrived home and did our best not to die. We have now almost fully recovered and that is why I am now writing this.