Kenyan Border Patrolling

The first night was spent at the Kilimanjaro Crane hotel and I actually got to sleep on a BED! It was incredible. I still wore ear plugs because there was a wedding going on in what sounded like our bathroom but other than that, I slept like a rock. We woke at dawn to see the sunrise over “Kili” but the powers that be decided it should look like Gorillas in the Mist instead. No snows of Kilimanjaro for these girls.

We hopped on the 11:30 shuttle back up to Arusha where we were greeted by Dami's family friends that were kind enough to let us crash their Sunday afternoon plans. “Auntie” Lola's son Olumide picked us up from the bus stop sounding like he had been hit by the very shuttle we came in on. Turns out he hadn't gotten to sleep until 6am the night before. I guess I was wrong in assuming Arusha didn't have much of a night life. NB: Auntie is a term of endearment in Nigeria for a woman older than you with whom you are acquainted. It was a nice evening spent relaxing with some tea watching silly Nigerian talk shows such as “Ladies Love Gisting” and the movie Clue.

Olu graciously gave us his bed for the night that he had freshly Febreezed upon our arrival. We woke up nice and early and caught the 8am shuttle back to Nairobi. The ride felt bumpier than the way down but there were quite a few open seats so overall it wasn't too bad. The stop at the border was probably the worst part. The line for arrivals on the Kenyan side was a mile long and there was only one gentleman at the window. By the time I finally got to the front of the line, he told me he would not give my passport back until I “told my friends to reform the line”. By that he meant, tell everyone in line from all over the world what to do. I did it, because I didn't have much of a choice but SB commented later how great it was that suddenly I was a part of the Kenyan border patrol.

And now we are back in Nairobi. I'm feeling quite comfortable now in our little neighborhood where at least things are a bit familiar. Oh yes, and I was convinced that I had picked up some sort of parasite in my tummy because I haven't been able to eat much since Wednesday. That was coincidentally the day I ate intestines that were wrinkled on one side with funny black bumps on the other. What was I thinking? Well, actually...I only ate one bite. So it couldn't be the intestines. But it could have been any number of other questionable meat dishes I've eaten over the past week. The point is I'm feeling pretty good right now. Whew.

And speaking of feeling good...my mom is doing great!!! I spoke to her after her surgery and all is well. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!