A Glimpse of Kenya

My (Eric’s) biggest happiness this week is that seem to be recovering from a week of dysentery (which includes lots of diarrhea). And like most miserable experiences, it gave me some small insight to others’ misery. As I lay awake in bed chilling with a headache, I thought of just how unbelievably miserable it must be for the unfortunate in the hospital with meningitis or malaria that cause fever and headache so much worse than mine. But instead of two big warm blankets and a comfortable dark room, they are in a 65 degree ward with nothing more than one flimsy blanket, even flimsier nursing staff, a strange bed partner, and a room full of lights and noise. And yet they are so thankful that they are there and not dying at home like the ones that THEY call “unfortunate”.

I was on call last weekend, so I had my first days off this weekend. We went on a long hike around the area as we really haven't had the time or the bowel control to get off the compound yet. It has rained every day so far and will continue to do so, but the mornings are generally safe to hike without getting caught in the rain. I heard we are still in the snow phase at home, so I guess I certainly shouldn't complain about rain. As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our hike along with our traditional post-hike Fanta.

It is always the same when we go out in the beautiful Kenyan countryside. I can never get over how close the land must look just like it did thousands of years ago, before we started trashing the gift of our world in large scale. Instead of big smooth paved roads past strip malls, we hike down a 10 foot wide dirt path lined with acacia trees, birds, and friendly people. Through the trees you can see miles of green hills with crops and small thatched huts (although more are tin-roofed now). And the delays are good as we slow down many times to work our way through a herd of cattle being moved by their shepherd, to chat with the myriad of barefoot kids that scream hello and “what is your name”, and to cross some muddy spots (at least I hope that’s mud, but the cows were spending a lot of time there).

Julia and Nathan are still having a great time. I often complain that kids don’t want to play outside like we used to when we were kids. Now that we are here and our kids suddenly don’t want to spend any time inside, I have figured out that we just have too many fun toys in our house at home. I guess deep down I knew this before, but kids seem to have just about the same amount of fun in the long term with about whatever they have at their disposal. So it might as well be sticks and trees, because that is going to be better for them in the long run. Our empty Fanta bottles have truly been played with for hours at a time, longer than any toy I can think of at home.

But of course we can’t just say that about our kids. Today I got in the shower and soaped up. For some reason, at home I have been convinced to need separate soap for my body, my face, and my hair. Beside the fact that I don’t have enough hair to justify shampoo, my one bar of soap here in Kenya seems to work just as well as the three soaps I buy at home.

And of course, we can’t just say that about our soap.

Worst moves for the trip so far: 1. Eating whatever it was that had Shigella in it. 2. Watching Benji on our laptop tonight which had Julia weeping at length because she misses our dog, Furbie. 3. Yet to be determined, but may have to do with the fact that I don’t know what I ate that had Shigella in it.

Best moves so far: 1. Packing lots of Imodium. 2. Showing our kids a glimpse of how the majority of the world lives, that God cares for everyone the same, and that we can each try to make a small difference for the better. 3. Apple dumplings for desert tonight.

Thank you for all your emails, regular mail, thoughts, and prayers.

The Millers