Last night at Kenya Comfort

Note: I’ve had no internet for a day and a half… so was unable to post this last night. Here’s yesterday’s news... just a little late. Still waiting for Frank & Meg’s arrival!

Tonight is my last night at Kenya Comfort... while I still have two weeks left in Kenya, this seems like the beginning of the end. I don’t have too many sentimental attachments to this place (a little unusual for me)… the sporadic internet, lack of hot water and chronically clogged sink may have something to do with that. But I have been generally comfortable and felt safe and will miss the 5 a.m. chanting at a nearby mosque, the sounds of roosters throughout the day, and the laugher and chatter of the village below at night. I have loved the real noises of this place – they are not the result of a TV or radio… but are the genuine sounds of life.

So a final update on the village below. The Coke cooler chest has disappeared! In fact it was missing the morning following the day I had spotted it – really strange since I had both gone to bed quite last and gotten up quite early. I wondered if it had been moved inside the market during the night (can’t imagine how it fit through the doorway!), was stolen… or was just something I imagined. Now in place of the Coke cooler is a “new” white round plastic table and six white plastic chairs… a little outdoor café-look! The new bins for produce have been filled, people are eating and talking around the new table, and for the first time tonight, there were 3 lights in the market at night… up until tonight there have always been only two.

Funny thing about the two areas outside my window. The nicer apartment building to the right of the fence is landscaped with grass and flowers, has a paved parking lot and is filled with nice cars (Mercedes, SUVs)… however, I rarely see a person on that side of the wall. In contrast, the village on the left side of the wall is a bee-hive of activity – Mr. Clean was actually dancing today to Kiswahili music he was playing on the radio of a big gold Mercedes he was washing. The men at the pool hall started early today ( the pool hall actually just has a very limited framework of small trees that form the stick frame around it… there may or may not be plans to actually enclose the area… a silver tarp serves as the roof). I watched Mr. Clean go over to the pool hall frame and pull bark off the trees, which he then used to start a fire at his home… I guess it was like borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor, except that he didn’t ask permission! The market has a constant stream of visitors & customers and I have realized the area (around the corner from the market) where women sit each morning on the upholstered swivel stools to shred greens and sort beans & corn is actually a “restaurant”. Since I worked from home today, I could see people being arriving late morning to sit and eat at the big table. The contrast between the apartment house and the village is so stark…. affluence vs poverty … but the village seems so much more alive with people living, working and playing in the open and nearly on top of one another… and always noises, including a songs every night (perhaps signaling a last round of drinks before a little pub (just beyond the market) closes at night?). Like Dandora, I love the sense of community I see!

As I write, it’s Friday afternoon for Frank and Meg ; they should be in the air between Charlotte and Newark, where I think they’ll meet Jeanne… Peggy will join them in Amsterdam tomorrow morning… Kate and Dave are in Viet Nam, probably asleep in some rustic farm house tonight after their 8 mile hike; it's already Saturday in their world… Chrissy & Kris are finishing their Fridays at work and will begin a relaxing weekend after a teen devotional tonight… It’s approaching midnight for me in Nairobi…so many different places and times we live in. I’m so glad that at least Frank & I will be living in the same world by tomorrow night – and so glad that Heron Court has hot showers!