Four Blissful Years

We celebrated our 4th Anniversary on Wednesday by having dinner at a beach hotel followed by an evening of folding laundry and Arrested Development (a TV show we watch on our computer). We had COLD Cokes (rare for anything to be cold), the food was really good, and we had friends to share with (see last picture)! We are still so glad to be married to each other! We have become better through our marriage and our love has grown deeper. We were grateful to be able to go out and celebrate.

Emily was so excited to see the glasses they brought with our Cokes! Just like her Mom's glasses at home, it was a wonderful piece of familiarity!

Something interesting is that next to us there was a family with a little boy, who was probably 2 or 3 years old. They were sitting with two white women, one German and one translating, who had pictures of a little girl about the same age. The father showed the picture to the little boy and proudly said, "Look at this little girl, son, you're going to marry her!" Yep, they were arranging a marriage. Love was in the air! The little boy seemed more interested in the bouncy ball the German woman gave him.

Culture Shocked Mzungus

Our first word! Mzungu is the Swahili word for Englishman or white person. It is not a derogatory term and the Kenyans apparently like Mzungus. We certainly have experienced this "culture shock" that people talk about. Interestingly enough, although Emily and I have been to other countries that are not our own this is the first time we really felt culture shocked. Our first day in Kenya was a tough one. We were extremely tired, having only slept about 10 hours over the previous 3 days. We were surprised by the intense poverty that we saw all around us. The standard of living is very far below what we are all used to. The first two pictures below, for instance, appeared to us to be housing that perhaps the families built themselves; something fast and cheap that provides a roof a place to sleep. We later found out that these are actually rental units. While it is considered a slum, it is a nice slum because it has a nearby water supply, but no electricity or plumbing. This "development" is adjacent to the office where we work. There is no part of the city that we have seen that is void of filth and poverty.

Multiple families would live in what you can see below for about 2000 KSH/month (about $29 USD) per family.

I think that part of our shock also came from the preconceived notions that we had about Kenya being a very dangerous place. Because of this, when people stared at us, which they constantly do, we were unsure if they we just having a look at the rare mzungus, or deciding how they would rob us. While we are still cautious where we travel and are careful not to be out after dark, we have come to feel rather safe in our situation. People are generally friendly and a group of small children that live under a large tree near our building greet us home every day after work with, "Hi howa you?" and a collective "Welcome to Mombassa!!" while their mothers smile and wave to us.

The road from the Mombasa Airport.

Here is a very short clip of some sights and sounds of the taxi ride from the airport to our apartment.

Well...we tried to upload this video and after more than an hour it is not done and we have to leave our internet connection. We'll try again tomorrow!

Arriving In Kenya

After another long flight we landed in Nairobi at 7am. Our next flight left from the domestic airport across the street at 11am so we had some time to kill, but we were so tired we just wanted to get checked in and try to sleep some more. We got off the plane and paid for our visas - we heard we could have some trouble getting visas and getting through customs but they didn't check anything, they are so desperate for tourists they just took our money and stamped our passports. On the way across the street to the domestic airport there was a group of nice gentlemen to help us with our luggage. Although we kindly declined their services they grabbed our bags out of our hands and pulled them for the final 50 yards and then told us we had to pay them. Luckily for us the airport patrol came strolling by and they dropped our luggage and ran. A few of them were courageous enough to come back and get a few shillings out of us. The airport was a small building with no air conditioning (a luxury we would soon be entirely without) and a small snack bar. When we flew into Mombasa and got off the plane it felt 20 degrees hotter. The coastal humidity was thick and has taken some getting used to. An employee from the bank, Bernice, was waiting for us at the airport and took us home in a taxi. Bernice took us to the grocery store and then we came home and got settled in for our first night in Kenya.

Nairobi Airport

Leaving the Domestic Airport for Mombasa

Boarding the plane to Mombasa - our last flight!

Finally there!!