Thursday, December 18, 2008

Robert had requested at least one morning of his usual breakfast in Broken Arrow, so I had brought blueberry muffin mix and baking cup papers.  Robert borrowed a muffin tin from his boss and went around the corner to buy some milk from a street vendor.  We thought we were all set until we realized that the oven in the apartment did not seem in the mood to attain the required 400 degrees.  We ended up baking the muffins under the broiler.  I was surprised when the muffins disappeared without a complaint as I knew they were not baked that well.  Robert and Patrick said I had made worse back in Broken Arrow!!!??

From Family Visit

Around 11 a.m., Robert’s boss appeared in a Volkswagen Golf to take us around for the day.  William is a charming 28 year-old who attends college part-time and works for African Evangelistic Enterprise full-time.  The first thing we wanted to do, of course, was see where Robert is spending the majority of his time during his year in Africa, the grounds of AEE.  After what seemed to me a harrowing drive through thick traffic, William made a hit with me by saying he wanted to buy us Americans a coke.  What a nice gesture!

AEE is located on a very pleasant expanse of grass with lots of colorful plants.  The office building looks kind of like a Midwestern ranch house, and then there are the two Quonset huts, one of which has been made into a dormitory.  Robert lives in one end of it, but he had forgotten the key to the door so we had to make do with peeking though the window.

From Family Visit

Since William was making a special effort to drive us around, we wanted to take him to lunch.  He suggested a restaurant called The Rusty Nail and our Midwestern minds conjured visions of horseshoes on the wall and peanuts underfoot.  However, the restaurant turned out to be one of the most charming spots in which I have ever dined.  Our table was on the verandah and the weather was perfect.  Stretching out in front of the restaurant was a large expanse of lawns, gardens, and exotic trees.  The whole meal was just a lovely occasion.

From Family Visit

If anyone asks me what my favorite movie is, I always respond Out of Africa.  I first saw the movie in 1987 while recovering from my broken right arm.  The story of Karen Blixen’s life has fascinated me since then.  Flash forward to 2008:  Robert decided to go to Kenya as a Young Adult Volunteer.  After about a month, he announced that he is living in Karen.  I immediately made the connection that the Karen he is mentioning must have something to do with Karen Blixen.

Somehow Tom, Patrick, and I were able to travel to Kenya to spend Christmas with Robert.  Seeing and being with Robert was of course my first priority for our time in Kenya, but I couldn’t resist the idea of actually seeing the location of the events which have interested me so much for so long.  So, of course, when Robert typed up his plan for our ten days in Kenya, he put Mom’s trip to Blixen museum at the top of the list.

After lunch, William drove us to the museum, and it was very satisfying to find that the house and grounds looked exactly as I had thought they would.  Apparently when the movie was made, the house was restored and has been maintained as part of the National Museum of Kenya.

From Family Visit

From Family Visit

Well, we're off to dinner and more Kenyan experiences.

Helen