Day One in Kenya

We arrived incredibly excited and tired to Jomo Kenyatta Airport around 7:30pm last night (7 hours ahead of nyc)! We were so grateful to be greeted by our friend Pat, who had come to pick us up and take us to her place. Though exhausted, we were giddy to finally be here and were staring out the window like little kids the whole ride home. We sat around and chatted with Pat, her husband Daudi, and Njeri (her good friend/"daughter") and ate some money mangos. Shortly after, we could keep our eyes open no longer, and went to bed. aahhhh.

Anyway, we slept forever, not waking up until 10:30am! We were happy to have slept so long so that our jet lag might not be so bad, but were a bit frustrated because we were looking forward to going to a 10am churh service at which Njeri was singing. Luckily, however, there was another service at noon so we got to attend and hear her band perform.

It was an interesting and fun service...the music was great and we even had to stand to be recognized as guests! After much singing and individual prayer, the pastor finally addressed the congregation for a short while. (English is national language so no prob's understanding anything). His message was short so that he could introduce another pastor to give the sermon...ironically, an American guy. He gave an interesting presentation (powerpoint included...with video clips from LesMiserables) that focused on ways that Kenyans need to love one another as God loves, so that the country might begin to combat violence that is so prevelant in the country. It was a good message, and conveyed well, but as two Americans, it felt a little strange to be sitting in a chuch filled with Kenyan parishioners, listening to a lecture about how to bring about change in Kenya from an American missionary. Pat and Njeri said they enjoyed the sermon as we discussed it over lunch, and we did too, it just felt kind of weird. Nonetheless, attending an uplifting service with beautiful singing on a beautiful day was really a nice way to begin our trip.

We hopped in a matatu (taxi-vans into which many many people pile) and then another, to head to a great resturant for lunch that was walking distance from the festival we were going to dip into. The festival was a Hay Festival (it was a literary festival to celebrate reading for fun and for local writers to share their work...harvesting literature, hense "hay festival"). The festival involved a bunch of tents showcasing local art and writing with people milling around and having some drinks.

Then, on center stage, Story Moja (One Story) began. There was a comedic emcee who did his short funny productions before introducing each short story writer. It was the short story finals and the six finalists presented their work. Many of them were quite good, and it was really nice to sit outside in the 78 degree weather and listen to people tell stories. We loved it. The girl who won was a high school student (her story may not have gotten our vote though!) and it was cute to watch all of her friends freak out and wipe their tears of excitement as their friend's name was called as the winner, which earned her a trip to the UK for their upcoming story telling festival!

We got back into the matatus (40 bop, the slang for shillings...exchange rate currently is 7.6 to 1 USD) and headed back home. We are here in this little internet cafe now, just below Pat's flat, getting ready to head up for a homecooked meal.

Today was a great way to start the trip! We are feeling so lucky and grateful and happy to be here. We hope you are all well, too. Keep reading!