Week 10: CourtTV, Indian Ocean, Mosquito Nets, and Kit Kat Chunky bars

11.21.2008


We woke at 6 AM Monday morning so we could be on the road by 6:45 to Mombasa which is a city/island on the Kenyan coast/Indian ocean.  It is an 8 hour drive from Nairobi so I read when we were on the good roads and thought/bounced about when we were on the not so good roads. 
We arrived at the ferry crossing to the island and as we sat in line they had a jumbo-tron showing CourtTV to the thousand plus people waiting for the ferry.  It was a police chase show and started out by saying random city, California.  The chase we saw consisted of police chasing a drunk man until he flipped his truck an impressive number of times.  The police asked, “how many beers have you had tonight,” to which the man replied, “I’m not a bear.”  No joke.  I’m not a fan of these shows to begin with, but I have never seen them though this lens before.  I sat there wondering what the Kenyans were thinking about the States right then…probably not the best thoughts.  I felt like saying out loud, “yeah, this is what we do in our free time.”  In my travels thus far I have found the statistic that the US’s biggest export is entertainment to be true.  When I was traveling from Botswana to Zambia last summer I remember watching The Fugitive on the bus and wondering what I would think about a country if this was the only piece of information I had.  It makes for an interesting country: lots of guns, helicopters, and killing.  Any who, the realization that a lot of people abroad who have never been to the States base their vision of what the States are off of our TV programs was a bit distressful.  So, as you are flipping through the channels tonight imagine what a country would look like if those programs were all you had from which to base your vision of an entire country. End Rantish.
We arrived at our destination and unloaded everything.  I passed out and slept the hardest I have in Kenya thus far.  I know at one point I woke up and tried to make my way to the bathroom, but couldn’t because something was holding me back…my mosquito net.  Whoops.  I don’t sleep under a mosquito net in Nairobi because the elevation is high so the temp. is lower equaling less Mosquitoes, but there are lots of mosquitoes here.  Realizing I had been defeated by a mosquito net was entertaining the next morning... 
Tuesday
The night we arrived, I kept asking where the Indian ocean was because I didn’t see it anywhere.  Welp, I woke up this morning, walked out of our room, and there it was!   
We are staying about 100 ft. or so from it.  In my life, I have encountered a few amazing sights like this and believe I prefer this route rather than getting to see everything as soon as I arrive.  You arrive in the dark then wake up the next morning and see all you couldn't see in all its glory.  It was quite an amazing moment I must say (so I said it (or wrote it) right there).
Our trip is the closing retreat for the Foxfires.  We have different guest speakers coming to talk to the Foxies and William, Mulinge, and I are leading some sessions about going back out into the world after living at AEE for a year as well.  Today, when we had devotion in the morning all of the Foxies were itching to go to the beach.  It reminded me at Dwight Mission when all the campers would change into their swim trunks for Bible Study because they knew swimming was next.  They might focus the first half of Bible Study, but for the last half they’re gone…completely.  That was our morning devotion time.
Wednesday
I woke up this morning to Cosmos standing up in bed next to me saying “HOW…DID…YOU…GET…IN…HERE!?!” and clapping his hands on mosquitoes at the top of our mosquito net.  He wasn’t yelling, but just asking the question quite literally in a thick Swahili accent.  He then made a “oo” sound whenever he clapped on a mosquito.  It was amusing. 
The only other time I’ve stayed on the ocean like this was on the Pacific in El Salvador for two days.  I like staying at a place right on the ocean rather than traveling to and fro.  If you become tired, you go lie down, when you get back up you just walk back out to the ocean.  I am reading a lot, thinking a lot, and looking at God’s beautiful creation a lot.  It’s not the same beach experience as other beaches which I’ve been to.  I guess no beach is like another, but this one is distinctly different.  I don’t think I can explain it in words…
It’s the Little Things
Items disappear from shopping centers in Kenya.  I fell in love with this candy bar here, a Kit Kat Chunky bar.  On days when I am in the office all day I will walk the 2 miles down to the corner and buy a Kit Kat Chunky bar and no matter how well the day is going it improves.  Well, about 2 weeks ago the Kit Kat Chunky bar just disappeared.  I checked every store I was in for the past 2 weeks, but to no avail.  “Goodbye my love!” –Dumb and Dumber quote- Then I came to Mombasa where they still have a plethora of them!  I bought 4 on Monday, but they’re gone now (in a better place).  I envision us stopping on the way home and me squandering all I have left on them…
That's beardvember week 3 with a Kit Kat Chunky bar.  I pray you all are well.  Have a great day!
RTQ

Posted by RTQ at 9:19 AM  

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