(the road conditions on our way to the airport, before the severe weather...eek!)
Once in the airport, we began to notice the fatigued and irritated travelers that surrounded us. Each person with a look of despair on their faces. Several flights had been delayed or cancelled due to the snowfall. I hurried to the nearest digital display and studied the flight arrival/departure board only to see that my flight was the ONLY flight that had not yet been delayed or cancelled due to the weather. So, we waited until there was about an hour before my flight, for me to enter the security line. Five minutes before my venture to the security line, my family and I had a long group hug, with several tears following. As I said my final good-byes, we looked at the digital board....DELTA FLIGHT DELAYED...so, we returned back to our seats, wiping off the fresh tears from our cheeks and began to laugh, as we realized we were going to spend another two hours together in the lobby of the airport.
(delayed and cancelled flight times...eventually the entire board was red)
Dad, and I took a nice stroll around the perimeter of the lobby, and took in the sights of some interesting people watching. When we returned to where Maureen and Mom were seated, we hugged and cried one more time. As I was walking toward the security line, we noticed the flight had been delayed, yet again. Thus, I would have missed my connecting flight in Detroit. So, we again, dried our fresh tears from our cheeks, and laughed as we headed, together, to the Delta desk to re-plan my departure. The next flight available out of Indianapolis to Nairobi was for Wednesday, January 08. So, we collected my bags, and took another 1 hour journey home at about 20 mph on 465 in the blizzardous weather.
(a lonesome plane at a gate, covered in snow)
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were spent in the house with my family. Work and school were cancelled for my parents and my sister due to the hazardous weather, and bone chilling negative temperatures. Our days and nights were spent with wine and catching up on Dexter season 4. I somewhat wished I could have seen more friends in those two extra days, but understand the emotional drainage of saying good-byes.
(Gabe and Bluedog enjoying some of the snowfall, before the temperatures dropped to the negatives)
(on our street, the beautiful sun amongst the snow covered trees)
Wednesday, I completed some final packing and adding some random items to my luggage. Maureen rushed home after her morning courses and brought home Wendy's spicy chicken sandwiches for Gabe, Maureen, and me. Normally, I do not eat fast food, but this delectable treat for some reason was what I craved most when I was in Kenya last. So, it was a wonderful departing meal.
Travel to Nairobi was pretty uneventful. On my flight to Detroit, I sat next to a man from Mauritania, and after an hour long conversation, he invited me to visit him there...we will see....(I somehow have managed to have several flights where older men have given me their business cards and requested to meet up at a later juncture). My flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi, I sat next to an 83 year old nun. Her mannerisms reminded my of my grandmother, so it was comforting to sit next to her. Once in Nairobi, we were all shuffled into shuttles and through various rooms to collect visa information. I stood by the baggage carousel for about 2 hours, waiting for my luggage. I found one piece of luggage that had been checked in Indianapolis..."my other luggage MUST be there,"I thought. There were approximately 45 people with distraught looks of disbelief as we lustingly peered into the entrance of the carousel, waiting for our rogue bags....only no more bags appeared through the entrance. After waiting another 30 minutes in line to file paperwork to retrieve the bags, I slowly and somewhat somberly headed through customs and out toward the exit. I thought "surely, my driver has left me" since it took another 3 hours after my flight landed to exit the premises. But, my driver was there, waiting patiently in the front row with my name displayed!
I was extremely anxious to get to the hotel that night. Not only was I tired, and ready for a horizontal body position to drain my swollen and throbbing feet from the pooled blood after sitting for 20 hours...but I also had Willianne and her family staying in the room right next to mine. This greeting was long over due, as it had been 1.5 years since I had seen them. It was after midnight, Nairobi time, so I was expecting the children to be in bed. However, as soon as I walked into my room, the Mwendwa family was standing in the corridor, all with giant smiles on their faces! I gave each one a long hug as we laughed in excitement and relief of being reunited, at last.
(The excited Mwendwa family at 1AM, waiting up to greet their Mzungu Carole)
The Mwednwas and I stayed up for about another 2 hours, talking and catching up. Unfortunately, the majority of their presents were in the suitcases that somehow disappeared in transit, so I was not able to give the kids their harmonicas, recorders, books, stickers, and for Willianne, a smart phone. But, they didn't seem to care about the missing presents, they were just excited I was there with them and that I put them up in a nice hotel for the next two nights!
Friday morning, Willianne, Faith, Enock and I hit the continental breakfast, HARD! I was so hungry, at that time, so we smashed some food and made some plans to get some errands finished in Nairobi. I had to find an ATM in order to pay for various items throughout the day, and also get some cash for Eldoret, in case I needed to buy more items. After trying out several ATMS, which all had denied my card, we found one that worked! WHEW! I was scared that I would have no way of accessing Kenyan Shillings for the year, which would have been awful. We then headed to a couple of Safaricoms to find a micro SIM to fit my iphone, so that I would have an active Kenyan mobile line. None of them had the micro SIM, so we got into a taxi in front of our hotel, the Country Lodge, and headed to a nearby mall/Nakumat for a bigger Safaricom center. After successfully finding a SIM with Safaricom "The Better Option" (or so their logo says), Willianne and I decided to take the kids to the Giraffe Sanctuary in Karen district. Karen district is a beautiful oasis in Nairobi, it is situated just outside of Nairobi Center and is considered the art district, where plenty of wazungu (white people) live. The drive through Karen is beautiful, as each street is lined with large cement walls to protect compounds and houses, the plants have found a way to seep through cracks and fold over the tops of the compound walls, for a burst of sunlight and I think to welcome travelers along the road.
(The lush and beautiful trees and plants in Karen district)
At the giraffe sanctuary, Enock and Faith were so excited, they rushed toward the tree house where the giraffes lean their necks and heads through a window to have people feed them pellets. Once Enock got to the top of the steps and realized how close and how LARGE the giraffes were, he quickly turned back in fear and screamed for his mother. Willianne just laughed and picked him up and inched toward the giraffe, named Stacy. Enock was NOT having it! Faith was also a bit timid once we got to the top of the tree house to feed the giraffes, but eventually warmed up and tried feeding Stacy.
(The twigga, Stacy)
(Willianne and Enock, at the Giraffe sanctuary)
(Faith, Enock, and their mzungu)
(Enock and his mzungu)
(Stacy, the twigga...sup?)
After the giraffe sanctuary, Willianne and I had some time at the hotel to go over some computer basics. I gave my old Macbook to her to use for her computer courses she has been taking. Since Macs and PCs aren't always compatible, I hope this gift is useful and does not seem like a burden more than a help.
Friday night, Willianne's sister, Winnies, and Ben came to the hotel, with kuku stew (chicken stew) and chapati that they had made for me. The Mwendwas had purchased a chicken from when they were up country the week prior, and had been waiting to slaughter it and cook it for me (a HUGE gift from this family to me). We ate in the Mwednwa's family size room, and enjoyed watching a few minutes of Puss in Boots, a cartoon that had been on the television. We shared a few laughs and reminisced of my previous visit to their household and how I would always yell "HAPANA" (Go away!!! or F*&^ off!) to any man that was trying to solicit me in the streets of Mlolongo. Apparently, my assertiveness with the use of the word was hilarious to the whole family! After a couple more hours of laughing and talking, we decided to head to bed, as I had a driver coming at 5:30AM to pick me up for the airport so I could head to Eldoret in the morning. It was a sad goodbye, as our time together was so short, and we are not sure when we will see one another again, but I know we will make frequent visits to either Nairobi or Eldoret.
Nice to hear you're doing so well. Thanks for the great pictures. We miss you in CHSR!
ReplyDelete:)
Janet