What I Miss and What I Appreciate about Here

Our daughter Michelle said someone asked what we miss from home.  So I’ve compiled a list of things we miss from home and then things we appreciate about being here.  Pictures to follow.

I miss:

1.     Of course our family and friends!  So thankful for technology that allows us to stay in touch!

2.     Stores that keep things IN STOCK!!

3.     My good rubber spatulas (I only brought one and wish I would have brought more)

4.     My three huge freezers

5.     Being able to drive; traffic is crazy here so I remain the navigator

6.     The long summer evenings with daylight till 10 p.m. and twilight till almost 11 p.m.

7.     Working in my yard

8.     Being able to eat fruit and vegetables after just a cursory washing

9.     My fresh garden produce, especially tomatoes and green beans

10. Dry onion soup mix

11. 10 kg (22 lb) bags of flour and sugar

12. Cooling racks for hot cookies

13. Drinking potable water right out of the tap and from every tap in the house.

What I appreciate about here:

1.     The friendly, kind people

2.     The courteous drivers

3.     Being able to pay for things with our phones (it’s called M-Pesa)

4.     The green foliage and flowering trees

5.     The lovely flowering bougainvillea that is everywhere and in many colors

6.     The soft little beeps on the horn just to let you know they’re there

7.     The quick flash of car lights to let you know you can go first

8.     The lovely white smiles that beam out of dark faces

9.     The melodic song of the Robin-Chats that welcome the new day in the early morning (much like our own robins back home)

10. The many colorful, interesting birds

11. The zebras which have quickly become a favorite of mine

12. The high school students who look so professional in their white shirts and ties

13. The young school children in their school uniforms

14. The “no problem with waiting” attitude of most people

15. The lovely skirts and dresses that most women wear every day

16. The vigorous striding of the men, heads held high and arms swinging

17. The strength of the men as they push their loaded handcarts up and down hills

18. The interesting and colorful hair styles; women are constantly changing their braids and colors woven into the braids

19. I love associating with the wonderful missionaries, both black and white

20. And of course the members and those not of our faith – they are wonderful people!

These men dug this trench by hand all down the side of the wall and then across the lawn in the back.  All by hand with pick axes!  It reminded LeRon of when he dug all the footings for our shop way back when (when we were first married and he was younger than he is now!)

I was impressed with the hard physical labor Kenyans do here.  And we were also excited because this trench will hold the internet cable so we can get faster internet in the mission office.  That will be wonderful!

People carry all kinds of things on bicycles and motorbikes.  I once saw a couch strapped to the back of a motorbike!

They have all kinds of homemade brooms here.  With all the trees and plants, it's a low-cost alternative to buying brooms and they work just as well.

We often buy these tiny bananas that they call "sweet bananas".  Their long bananas look like the bananas we buy at home but they're not as sweet as ours are.  Our long bananas taste more like these little Kenyan sweet bananas.

The flowers and foliage are absolutely gorgeous!

We're here with our friend Moses whom we met while on one of our late afternoon walks.  Wonderful young man.

We introduced Moses to the missionaries, Elder Hales and Elder Wafula.

Now I'm at a little market, trying on a Kenya bracelet.  You have to slip it on with soap but since they don't have soap at the market, the girls used a plastic bag to put it on and take it off.  It took both of them to get it on me.  What will I do at home?

Aren't these girls lovely with their white smiles?

Now it's piano lesson time for Elder Wafula.  He's doing great!

Elder Hales and Elder Wafula are both taking piano lessons from Elder Torrie in our flat on Saturday evenings.

Elder Torrie loves to explain musical things to people.  Here he's entertaining Elder Hales during their piano lessons.

Aren't these the most interesting paintings?  Eric Mathenge paints black and whites as well as coloreds.  Very lovely.  I'm afraid I couldn't resist these paintings.  After all, I'm buying some as presents too.