I guess I should explain the title.

T. I. K.  This Is Kenya.

Whenever I ask Dave to explain the unexplainable whys of living in Kenya, that is always his response.  "T. I. K."

And that pretty much sums it all up.

 

Kenya is a changing country on the rise.  Kim and I have seen big changes just in the few years we've been visiting.  Around the cities, the highway system is becoming more and more efficient...

...but then I look out the side window and I will see people hauling water jugs on rickety donkey carts making their way in the slow lane (Kenyans drive on the left side of the road).  A huge divide between the "haves" and the "have nots."

T. I. K.

And then outside the cities many roads are like this...

T. I. K.

 

So many Kenyans unemployed and just trying to scrape out a meager living each day.  Much poverty everywhere...

T. I. K.

 

Always lots of people crammed into matatus (taxi mini-buses) that apparently believe that God is Good, trust in Jesus, and are headed to Canaan.  You'd have to have a strong faith to ride in one of those things...very unsafe for multiple reasons...

 

But certainly safer than the ever-present tuk-tuks, little 3-wheeled motorized rickshaws that are no match for the massive trucks that clog Kenya's highways.

T. I. K.

 

Thankfully, Dave has reliable transportation and we don't have to resort to matatus or tuk-tuks to get around.

 

We ventured into Nairobi a couple of times.  A Nairobi roundabout...

 

The first time was to worship at the Bells' church, OneTribe Church.

 

As its name suggests, it is very diverse with a faith family from all over the world.  We met inside this huge tent-like structure.

Our group...Jen and Dave (with a couple of their newest babies), Selah, and Ethan on the front row, Brea (hidden behind Dave's head!), Shirley, Bill, Kim, and me.  Cathy and Jon stayed back at MpM, recovering from their bout of food poisoning.

Quite a dynamic pastor...who is also a heart surgeon!

Contemporary worship music with a Swahili flair...

 

Not sure Ethan is buying what Bill is telling him...

During the service, the heavens opened and it POURED for several minutes but cleared up by the time we left.

 

Beautiful grounds around the OneTribe church...

 

Lunch at the mall food court where Brea totally impressed us with her chopstick skills...

 

Our second foray into Nairobi we went to the very modern Galleria mall for lunch at Java House (delicious...our fave!), grocery shopping...

...as well as picking up souvenirs from the Maasai Market there.

 

Such gorgeous colorful scarves and carvings...but not the kind of shopping I enjoy, as we were constantly followed and hawked by the shopkeepers.  I much prefer to browse in peace and without incessant hounding.

T. I. K.

That same day we were also on a mission into the Muslim section of the city to purchase camel milk for Shaddy, who has severe allergies.

Who knew there was such a thing as a "Camel Milk Shop"?

T. I. K.

 

Kenyan thriftiness and ingenuity...

T. I. K.

Kenya is such a juxtaposition of modern and primitive societies, one huge mixture of humanity from one extreme to the other.

T. I. K.

 

One afternoon Shirley and I accompanied Dave to a hospital in Kitengela to pick up an abandoned baby.

This is the main road to the hospital!

I wasn't allowed to photograph the hospital, but suffice it to say that it would come nowhere NEAR United States medical standards.  I mean, not even in the same ballpark...

Dave was told we were picking up a baby girl, but this little one was clearly a boy.  

T. I. K.

 

Later in the week, Dave took Brea and me to their nearby clinic for vaccinations for two of the babies.  Dave took these photos of us with the doctor in his office.

The doctor had US give the babies one of the oral vaccines...that was a first for me. 

And then he did the "dirty" work...using a very big long needle for such a tiny babe!  While the needles in the US have gotten much smaller and less invasive, the Kenyan medical providers still believe it has to go deep into the muscle to be effective.  OUCH!!!  And Baby Girl certainly let me know she was not happy about it.

T. I. K.

 

Bath time.

T. I. K.

Always about the water.  And I so take for granted that I simply turn the faucet and clean water comes out....

T. I. K.

We joked that by the time this man made it home, these poles will be half their starting length...

T. I. K.

Big new mall!!!  

T. I. K.

I doubt his family will be shopping there...

T. I. K.

In the Kitengela area near MpM, there are several cement plants.  

 

Pork chop, anyone?

T. I. K.

Or maybe you're in the market for a bed... 

...or a new dress?

T. I. K.

So many building projects begun and abandoned when the funds ran out...

T. I. K.

 

The slums are homes to millions of Kenyans...

 

...and then there are homes like this.

T. I. K.

Okay...I guess that's not so much different than in America, except I know our slums are not nearly that horrible.  

Never have seen this in downtown Indianapolis...

But...

T. I. K.

 

Gorgeous, lush countryside on our drive to Mt. Kenya...

T. I. K.

About halfway there, we encountered the hordes of locusts that are invading Kenya.  You can see them in the air...

Unreal!!!

 

The birds are loving the plentiful meals, but the locusts are devastating the countryside.

T. I. K.

 

Kenyans LOVE their car washes...this is one for executives...

T. I. K.

So many fruit and vegetable stands...I don't see how they can ever sell it all.

T. I. K.

 

Ugh...my stomach churns at the very thought of eating that meat....

Beautiful, hard-working people just trying to survive in difficult circumstances...

T. I. K.

Pretty sure this is a gross copyright infringement...not exactly the Disneyland of my experience.

Another one of those crazy, inexplicable, unexpected sights.

T. I. K.