Kissi

We went on an all-day adventure to Kissi yesterday. That involved crossing the Kenyan border (where everyone is related to President Obama) and travel by a variety of transportation. We started in a taxi, continued in a bus, rode piki piki (motorcycles) and also used motato (a crowded van filled with commodities and people).

It was my first real look at Kenyan countryside, since I was a bit preoccupied during my initial trip in from the airport. We took our oldest Angel, William, with us. It was his first trip to Kissi, too, and we enjoyed sharing our comments about the sights.

Our final objective was to get to Nakumatt, a sort of Kenyan Wal-Mart, to get a few things not available to us in Tarime. We also wanted to price bedding items for the kids' Christmas presents.

At the entrance to Nakumatt, a statue of an elephant greets customers. The first floor is general household appliances, and food. We even got fresh veggie pizza at the bakery! It wasn't Pizza Hut, but it really hit the spot. I also picked up some cheese to avenge my craving for something different to eat.

Meanwhile, William priced bicycles. A quite conservative young man, he decided they were too expensive and he would just continue to walk. I went into Grandma mode when he said he wasn't hungry and insisted he choose something to eat and drink. What 19 year old isn't always hungry?! If there's such a thing as being too polite, William is just that.

We loaded our purchases on a bicycle at the border and walked to the motato. There the bickering over price began. My job during this procedure is to put on my teacher frown and pick up part of our purchases like I'm going to leave. I'm taking notes from Nate and Kate, however, so I'll be able to negotiate my way back to Nairobi when the time comes.

We were hydro-planing down the pavement accompanied by the stacatto beat of the driver's horn when a rear tire blew. We pulled over, a man went to the offending tire and managed to strip the loose rubber off. We went another quarter mile or so before the driver conceded the tire needed to be changed. They must have had a lot of practice because we were once again flying down the road in a matter of minutes.

We arrived in Tarime and were greeted by James, one of our favorite piki piki drivers who had supervised the repair of the mission house truck while we were gone. We got to see the kids at Angel House when we dropped off William, but it was getting dark when we got there.

It was good to be home at the mission house! I slept like a baby last night.
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