Christmas in Kenya

Merry Christmas, Everyone!


It's been a busy, full, and blessed season on this side of the world. There has been much to miss and mourn, but I've been pleased to see the Lord fill in the holes that I'd felt so profoundly impacting the beginning of this Christmas season. I'm sad to be so far away from you all, but I'm also keenly aware that the Lord is pleased to have me here.



In the days between ending the semester of school and Christmas, I was thrilled to have a chance to get out of the house and see and do some things around Nairobi that we've been too busy with work to get out to experience. One day, Amy P, Joel, Jonathan and I headed out towards school to Karen to visit the national park's elephant orphanage. We messed up with the directions at first and overshot the park, but half an hour later, we arrived within the 11-noon window that the center is open to visitors. I'm including a photo from that day here, and I've included links at the bottom of this entry to more photos on Facebook if you care to see more of these adorable little guys. I couldn't strip the smile off of my face the entire time we were there. There were about seven orphaned baby elephants there, and to our surprise, a rare black rhino. The elephants jogged about playing with one another--one was really excited about a huge black inner tube--and wrestling in a mud bath as their caretakers looked on. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it.



Christmas Eve - I was an absolute emotional wreck last Wednesday. It was silly--I just couldn't seem to control myself. Anything and everything had me on the brink of tears. I was happy to have friends to spend the day with, and with the exception of my break in self-control (I opened two of the eight puffy envelope packages my family had sent as Christmas gifts--I'm so ashamed), I had done a fair job of keeping myself together. But later that evening, as we watched the Jim Carey version of The Grinch (definitely not as wonderful as the original) at Julie and Amy's apartment, Amy asked if I'd like to check my e-mail. I hadn't been able to check in several days, and so I hopped online and was pleased to see a message from my mom. But it wasn't good news. My mom had written to tell me about my grandma, whom we call "Nonnie," and some of the health troubles she's had since a recent voluntary surgery on her knee. I can't express the agony I felt in that moment (and still, even now, at this moment) to be so far away from the people I love. Things aren't going well. My Nonnie, who has lived with our family for the better part of my life, seems to be getting closer to going home to Jesus. I'll admit that I wasn't brave in the aftershock of reading that e-mail. My mom had done such a beautiful job of relaying the news and giving me the update, but I was beside myself with grief. The thought hit me in a stroke of anger with God--why does he have me here when I could be there? It killed me to think of all the time I'd missed with Nonnie, my dad's parents (who also live with my family), my parents, sister and brother. It was a difficult few hours until I got back to my empty apartment.*



When I arrived back home, all of my roommates were gone--Becca in the States, Amy in Kijabe with her family, and Jen out of town as well. Loneliness fell on me the instant I bolted the door and I rushed to my room to grab the international calling card my discipler, Kara, had insisted I purchase to talk to my family. I grabbed a box of tissues, changed into my pajamas, turned on a light in the living room, and dialed the number. When I heard my sister Leslie's voice on the other end of the phone, I knew before I said a word that the emotion would ooze out of every word I spoke. But over the next hour, as my sister passed her phone to my mom and then my dad and I listened to the joy and encouragement in their voices, I was pulled back up out of the pit again. I realized that I think I've cried a grand total of about six times over the past five months and that has just not filled my crying quota. I am absolutely one of those external processors who needs to wrestle with conflict and emotions with other people or else I drive myself crazy. It was so good to have a chance to replace that lonely void with a sense of peace and contentment. So, family, if you didn't know that day how much you helped me out, hopefully you know now.



Christmas Day - Well, obviously, if the house is empty when you go to bed, it'll probably be that way when you wake up. But the lonely little pity party I'd thrown myself the day before didn't continue that morning. I woke up, turned on the water heater to take a shower, and popped in It's a Wonderful Life as I sat under our two-foot-tall Christmas tree on the carpet in my jammies to open the rest of my Christmas packages from the States. I felt a little pathetic, but the promise of spending time with friends the rest of the day kept me in good spirits. Got some great stuff, too--books, sourpatch kids, The Office season four :), and an abundance of Sharpies and Expo markers.



Later that morning, we headed over to the Gibsons for Christmas brunch. Their little girls, Kayla and Emma, were excited about their toys and couldn't wait to show them off. It was nice to be with a family that morning. Kara had made a great breakfast and I tried the first eggnog, made by Eric, that I've ever actually liked. We took a family-style photo in front of their tree and fireplace, said goodbye, and headed off to our next stop--a WNS family's home.



I still can't believe that at 11 am we had a big Christmas brunch and then we headed straight to another family's home for lunch. Thankfully, when we arrived, Sue (our middle school English teacher) hadn't quite finished her turkey, and so the huge group of us (maybe 15 in all), sat around chatting in the living room and in their small backyard. Sue and Joe's daughters, Anna and Kate, are both students of mine, and so it was fun to get to catch up with them and hear about their breaks. Dinner was great--turkey, potatoes, veggies, pumpkin... And because the family is originally from Australia, we were introduced to Christmas pudding--which was really tasty.



After our lunch, Jonathan, Joel and I headed to Prestige Plaza to take advantage of the free Internet in the food court to talk to our families. I was thrilled to have a chance to talk to my family via Skype--and finally getting the webcams up and running seemed to be a novelty as well. About half-way through my chat with my family, three little boys approached me from behind and stood there, looking into my computer screen at the video feed of my family. I hadn't realized their presence until I noticed a funny look in my sister's face and I turned around to see them all standing there. My sweet family laughed and smiled and waved into the camera saying, "Merry Christmas!" as the little boys stood gaping at my laptop. I took out my headphones and held them up to their ears, saying, "That is my family in America. They want to say 'Merry Christmas' to you." The boys listened, one after the other, and smiled and returned the greeting. They stayed there for a while and when I asked them where their family was, they replied that they were at home. It was well past dark and so I realized that the little boys were there to beg. It's a truly devastating reality here--and I hate passing over these kids and telling them "no." But the truth is, so I've heard, that a lot of these kids will be sent out by adults to beg and bring them back any money they receive, which then goes towards purchasing drugs and other non-essentials for their "patrons." It's really terrible. And while my friends told me afterwards that I should have just told them to go away instead of letting them stand there for so long, it broke my heart to think of being cruel on Christmas. I hope those little guys had a lovely Christmas and that my fears had no foundation--I hate to think of them going home to nothing.



December 26-28 - Camping at Hell's Gate National Park


The day after Christmas, seven of us (Jen, Brenton, Amy P, Julie, Jonathan, Joel, and I) packed up our things and headed out to camp at Hell's Gate National Park near Naivasha, about two hours outside of Nairobi. Now, I've been camping a few times before, and I've been a camp counselor, but my family wasn't really the pack-up-a-tent-and-rough-it kind of group. So I was excited for a relatively new experience. Brenton is actually interviewing for positions to manage safari lodges and has long dreamed of becoming a professional safari guide, and so I realized quickly that we were totally lucky to have this guy along. He and Jen knew exactly what to pack, how to cook campfire meals, where to go and what to do, and how to keep the notorious Hell's Gate baboons away from our campsite.



The first night, we selected a spot and set up camp and enjoyed Brenton's famous campfire kebabs and hot chocolate and hung out around our campfire until we all got sleepy. Falling asleep to the sounds of zebras munching on nearby grass was a total thrill. The next morning, Brenton and Jen slaved over french toast (I had no idea people could eat so well while camping) and jumped into cars to drive around the park. Hell's Gate is an absolutely magnificent place. I was awestruck by the grandeur of the place--the massive plains filled with herds of zebra, gazelle, impala, and the occasional warthog and giraffe, and the towering structures of rock carved out of the hillsides. We eventually drove to the gorge--the main hiking attraction of the park. To give you a sense of how awesome this place was, over the course of several hours, I took about 200 photos. Completely amazing. We hiked and climbed our way through the gorge, a waterfall, and along and through the river, and at every turn I found something completely new and beautiful and striking. I always loved hiking through Hocking Hills in southern Ohio with my family, but I've got to say, this place totally has Ohio beat. The summit of our hike led us to a series of hot springs, all steaming and smelling of sulphur. By the time we finished our trek back up the river, we were all pretty tired out. What an experience.




I was happy to have a few days to relax, enjoy the company of friends, get caught up on reading for school (I'm finishing up Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe right now--great book), and see some pretty incredible things. It was a nice way to get my mind off of being "alone" for the holidays. And, all over again, I'm feeling completely amazed at God's grace and blessings as He allows me to enjoy this incredible place.



Merry Christmas to you all. I pray that you feel as blessed as I do this holiday season.



Kate

• Photos of my apartment, Lukenya, Mombasa, and Paradise Lost on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268180&l=b8ff9&id=7703460
• Photos of the Nairobi National Park elephant orphanage: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268183&l=02fc0&id=7703460
• Photos of Hell's Gate National Park: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268186&l=b8492&id=7703460

*I hope you know, Nonnie, how much I love and miss you. I am praying for you--that you get better, if that's the Lord's will, and that you experience peace and contentment and that you are fully aware of how much you are loved and treasured by the people you've touched throughout your life. I wish that I could be at home with you right now--I'd give you a huge hug and we'd sit and have a chat. "Rejoice"...and keep running the race. Love you.