"What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything" - Pedro Arrupe
If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing (or at least not everything) would get done. This morning I woke up at 4:45 am to finish packing, eat breakfast, return items back to the main house, and say goodbye to the rest of the students. Father Stephen drove us to the small airport in Kisumu on his way to say mass at Maseno University. I feel like I was just at the Kisumu Airport for landing and should not be here already for departure. It is difficult not knowing exactly when I will be back next and if all of the people I have met will be here too when I do return one day. While waiting for our plane to arrive, I feel confident that I have changed as a person since I arrived in Kenya four weeks ago.
We flew an hour to Nairobi at which point we took a taxi to Steve Walsh's home. Steve is a PC alumnus from the Class of '89 who works for CRS and lives with his family (Eunice, Malachai, and Martina) in Nairobi. He graciously invited Julia and me to stay with him for the night in Nairobi. We went to a local restaurant called "The Garden" to eat nyama choma which is grilled meat. The outdoor restaurant had a trampoline to entertain many of the younger children! We had chicken, goat, secuma, ugali, tomatoes and onions. Delicious! We ate with just our fingers which is traditional. The waiters came around with soap and a basin of water both before and after eating. We talked with Steve and Eunice about many interesting topics ranging from life in Kenya, to Providence College, to advice for future careers. It was so nice to finally meet Steve after corresponding with him for the past 7 months. After growing up in Massachusetts and graduating from PC, he joined the Peace Corps and worked in various spots in Africa. He began working for Catholic Relief Services after the Peace Corps. He is working on the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative project that is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates. CRS is working to decrease the number of diseases that harm the cassava plants and help farmers plant cassava that contains certain genes that are disease resistant. Cassava is an integral crop to the daily diet of Kenyans. Eunice is from Tanzania. She used to study fashion design but now works for an IT company.
Steve brought us to the nearby market after lunch to look at some of the well known leather, jewelry, and glass shops. We went to a small art gallery that featured many modern, local African pieces. Once we arrived back at his apartment, he made us a pot of coffee in a beautiful tea set. I love the coffee here!! The coffee we drank is from Rwanda. I plan on bringing some of the "Doorman's Coffee" (the best brand here) home with me. For dinner, we had salad, peppers, goat cheese, pineapple, and chappatti with his family. The four of them are an awesome family. What an amazing connection we made of PC Friars uniting together and learning from each other on the other side of the world! As large as the world is, sometimes I cannot believe how small it really is. Truly amazing. After dinner, I read a few bed time stories to Martina who is 3. She read one book in Kiswahili, I read one in English, and Julia read one in French. Malachai, who is 10, goes to a French speaking school. The children are culturally immersed by knowing different languages. Malachai, Steve, Julia, and I went to the French Cultural Center in Nairobi to watch the World Cup Game at 9:30 pm since there was a large screen set up outside. It was exciting being in Africa during the World Cup and especially during this last game. The audience was split with fans cheering for the Netherlands and fans cheering for Spain. My thoughts and prayers are for the victims of the bombings in Uganda that happened during the 90th minute of the game. It was such terrible news to hear. Luckily, I was able to call home at a reasonable hour to wish my Dad a very Happy Birthday :)
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