Loooooong Day

02/19/13
I've decided I should start writing earlier in the day because, by the time 18:30 (6:30pm) rolls around, I'm beat. Then arises the problem of forgetting what happened the day before. There is no way, however, I could forget my day yesterday.
It all started a few days ago when I asked Edith, the Social Worker, to take me along with her to court visits.
She came up to me yesterday morning around 9:00 and invited me to come with her to pick up a new baby for the halfway house. Neither of us knew anything about the baby until after we made the 1.5 hour drive to Naivasha to pick him or her up. We drove over multiple mountains and I caught a marvelous view of the Rift Valley. We drove past the Aberdares Mountains and finally, to Naivasha. The roads were torturous the entire way.

Side note:
I can't remember if I've described the driving here in Kenya. If I have already, well, here's another update.
Driving in Kenya is INSANE. It is mad. First of all, they drive on the left side of the road, which is enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Second of all, nobody wears seat belts. They might as well be fictional characters. Third-ly, People drive SO fast and pass each other. The quickly advancing oncoming traffic doesn't concern them as much as it concerns me. I've seen too many cars coming at me at full speed. All of this would be enough if it weren't for the conditions of the roads. Edith explained that the current president, who is up for re-election, must not live in Kenya, because there's no other way for him to ignore the road conditions. Drivers swerve around the many potholes or screech to a stop right in front of them.
By the time we got there, I, the hopeless American, was sick to my stomach. It might take me longer than four months to get used to the driving. Kenyan passengers seem to be immune.

But I digress. The baby turned out to be a little boy named Peter with the biggest eyes I have ever seen. He was confused and scared when we picked him up, which is completely understandable. The woman that brought him to us explained his situation. She told us that Peter's mother came to her one night asking for a meal. After eating her fill, the mother said she had an upset stomach. She went to use the bathroom and never came back. She left her child alone with a stranger who, thank goodness, called the child and gender deputes who then contacted the Nest. That is a common process for any child coming to the halfway house. Peter had no sigh on neglect or abuse. He appeared well fed. On the way to the court office, another ordeal in itself, Edith did something I've never seen before; she changes Peter's diaper on the seat of the moving van. Remember how I explained the road conditions? Yeah, I had to hold Peter's arms and head to keep him from rolling off the seat.

We finished the court procedure, completed all the paperwork -The Nest makes sure to tackle the process very throughly. We don't want to have an unhappy mother coming to us and saying we've stolen her baby- and arrived at the halfway house around 17:00. As we were about to leave the halfway house, a gaggle of locals jumped aboard the van to catch a ride with us to Limuru. Our other driver, also named Peter made quick time, but not before making a few pit stops. The larger of the two was to pick up 6 slabs of wood all longer than the van itself. We rode the rest of the way home with the back end of the van open and the 7 of us clinging to the slippery planks to keep them from falling out.
I made it home around 18:30 and crashed. I apologize for not writing sooner, but I couldn't find the energy to pick up my computer and turn it on.
Today, we are preparing to say goodbye to the Austrians. They leave on Thursday. It will be a bitter-sweet goodbye. They have made me promise to Skype them and keep them updated on the goings on here, but I think everyone will miss their presence.
We are cleaning the house today to make it look nice for the inevitable visitors who will be coming with Irene on Wednesday. It's hard to believe it's already been over a week since I've been at the Nest. The time has flown by. I go back to Nairobi for my days off starting thursday. I'm excited to see more of the city. I'll have to ask Frank to show me around when he has the time. There are apparently really cool markets in the city center on Saturday and Sunday. We are also taking a trip to the elephant orphanage. I'm so excited to see the little "tembo." I also will get to see Chloe this weekend. Yay! She's been in Kenya for a while working with YWAM. I am checking more and more things off my Kenyan "to do" list. I also would love to visit a slum. I've heard walking into the Kibera slum is like walking into a different world.
That's all I can say now. I'll have more to write later. As pooh bear would say: Ta-ta for now!!


tembo = elephant (in Kiswahili)