Weekend in Nairobi

     Midday Saturday we rented a car and driver and set out for Nairobi. Bill has a couple of friends who live there and they were anxious to see us. So to best describe our weekend, I will write about the highpoints, and the not so highpoints.

*Highpoints*
     Bill's friends were very good to us during our stay. We had time to simply relax, chat and enjoy each other's company. Since everyone has married and had children since last meeting, we had the oppotunity to meet wives and children as well. The kids enjoyed having other children to play with and I had an opportunity to eat some traditional food. We also had the chance to attend church together and experience the vibrancy and life of praise and worship. (And also somehow the preacher seemed to get through most of the bible in one sermon, or so it seemed!)
     We also had a chance to go to the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, where you can feed giraffes from your hand (or mouth, if you like to be slobbered on). Although not a huge place, it was a good stop to enjoy Saturday afternoon. The kids both managed to get the giraffe to eat from their hands, and they had a chance to pet her too.
     Sunday afternoon we had the chance to eat American-style at a Pizza place and Jack and Ella were thrilled to eat something familiar. We also had a chance to stop at the grocery store (Nakumatt) which tends to carry imported goods that are familiar to us. We stocked up on things that we had overlooked or can't get here in Kijabe (such as fresh milk - the shelf life milk isn't cutting it for the kids. Doable, but not my fav either).

*Lowpoints*
     I'm pretty sure I'm content to not wander far from Kijabe again until we take a Safari trip at the end of the month. We spent INSANE amounts of time in the car and the kids grew tired of it quickly. Driving in Nairobi is not very fun. Traffic is awful - very few lights (the ones that are there don't seem to be noticed anyway) and rules are not enforced unless there is an accident. So it is pretty chaotic, with lots of rulebreaking. And the sheer amount of traffic is just unreal. Unfortunately all of our stops on Saturday (Giraffe Center, meet a friend in Westlands then drive back to other friends house) were all the complete opposite sides of town from one another. The kids let us know quickly and continuously how miserable they were. I can't blame them - it was quite a bit more than we had bargained for.
     Kenyan culture and American kids don't always mix. So as you probably know, our kids like to eat at a certain time, sleep at a certain time, etc - they enjoy somewhat of a schedule. Well, let's just say schedules don't really happen where we are right now. Everything takes a bit longer, eating a few hours late is no big deal, etc. It was a hard weekend on the kids in that respect - the amount of flexibility required of them was a bit much and they were over the edge. 

*Overall assessment*
     We need to be a bit smarter about any other trips we take into Nairobi. We need to stay in a more accessible part of town and not try to get to so many places. We need to do our best to plan what we can before we go and not leave so much up in the air until we get there.
     It was good to meet Bill's friends, and I'm hoping that we can get them down to Kijabe so we can enjoy their company on "our turf" so to speak. It was good to go, but it is good to be back at our apartment in Kijabe!