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| mowing the lawn |
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| avocados anyone? |
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| worms in a mango tree. edible? YUM! Morrice says they are |
Monday, May 30, 2011
May 30 2011
To answer a couple of questions;
It is hot but not excessively so because we are on the equator. The altitude of 3900 feet helps and the lake helps to temper the heat. We sleep with a fan on at night and a mosquito net over us. By American standards a lot of the people here are in poverty. In Kisumu we have seen a lot more people riding bicycles than we did in Nairobi. There are also a lot of motorcycles. We are in the Spring rainy season and it rains in the late afternoon or early evening several times a week. As Bob used to say "A frog strangling rock rolling downpour." In Idaho we get a flash and then a clap of thunder. Here the lightning seems to flash all around us and the thunder is constant without much letup between claps.
Monday, May 23, 2011
A few Pictures from our Mission
Our district at the MTC
Big 747 waiting to take us to London where we change to a plane for Nairobi
The "nest". apartments for senior couples
Our nice little blue truck without any dents....yet
A diversion off from the main road. Yes there is a speed bump in front of us
We aren't in Idaho anymore
In the "nest" in Nairobi
Our living room in Kisumu
The office in Kisumu
Our Kisumu home. The church classrooms are on the second floor and the chapel is open air on the third floor
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May 17 2011 update
Monday morning we flew out to Dallas-Fort Worth where Sister Jorgensen said she would claim to be with "this elderly gentleman who needs directions". She didn't have to say that as I asked directions.....a lot. Finally we got on our airplane after we found the right gate and waited for several hours and ate some overpriced airport food.
On to London.
Nine long hours of trying to get some sleep and visiting the bathroom in a British Airways 747 brought us to London. We got off of the plane, caught a shuttle went up and down a bunch of escalators asked a lot of directions, went through security until we got to the British Airways desk and asked which gate to go to. Our plane was delayed for "minor repairs". Finally after an hour delay we were escorted down an escalator (which Sister Jorgensen hates) out to a bus which took us around the airport where we climbed up steps to board our 777.
Nairobi bound.
We had another long stint in an airplane and approximately nine hours later we landed in Nairobi. Most of our luggage didn't. We checked with the luggage desk where we were informed that three of our bags were still in London. Fortunately we had enough in carry on bags. Elder and Sister Nevins were there to fetch us in their truck. We were taken to the "Nest", an apartment complex where the senior couples stay. We were shown into an empty flat where they had thoughtfully stocked some provisions for us. We went to the Nevins flat where she fed us cream of vegetable soup and we could decompress for a few minutes then back to our flat for a hot shower and bed.
Wednesday morning jet-lagged and somewhat overwhelmed we went to the Church Offices and met other couples. Wednesday evening it was back to the airport to claim our bags. Thursday we started the driving lessons....
Traffic is horrible, people drive on the wrong side of the road and crowd in, What? Drive on the left? After a couple of lessons I was back in our flat a nervous wreck. I don't know what madman thought up "roundabouts". Elder Tuttle was going to take me out again but I was so exhausted and nervous that my vertigo had really kicked in and I was sick. That night we went to dinner with all of the senior couples who were in town, President Broadbent and Elder Watson of the Seventy. We went to the best hotel in Nairobi to the restaurant. Definitely not McDonalds. Friday we met with President Broadbent where we had an interview and he gave us a Priesthood Blessing. Then we picked up our truck and had another driving lesson all of the way back to the flat.
Elder and Sister Beecher were assigned to escort us to Kisumu Saturday morning. Elder and Sister Tuttle also were heading to Kisumu so we sort of made a caravan. The Tuttles had to get to the Kisumu airport and so left us behind. The road wasn't tooo bad, traffic wasn't toooo bad as long as you just looked out for the Matutus (think square early Dodge type minivans) and big trucks. There is some really beautiful scenery as you drive along the edge of the Great Rift Valley. Sister Jorgensen seen some of it, I didn't. White knuckles and keep up with Elder Beecher. We reached the junction and turned on the road to Kisumu. much narrower and a lot rougher with potholes that would make Texas jealous. We drove through a construction site of really narrow and rough road. There were speed bumps in that too. They really love speed bumps here and I guarantee that they will slow you down. It was really hair raising meeting big trucks or trying to pass them without falling off the pavement. It could be anywhere from a few inches to almost two feet from the pavement to the dirt along side of it. They roll trucks and buses that get to close to the edge all of the time. I kept expecting to put blue paint on one of them as we passed.
The matatus charge by the person and the distance driven and are one of the main means for the people to get around. They drive crazy and I have seen very few that didn't have dents somewhere including on the top. They dodge in and out and pass where no one should. They will have people hanging out of them although they are supposed to have no more than fourteen passengers.
Kisumu.
Elder and Sister Beecher led us to our flat down another narrow potholed road. We made lunch and then looked over our new domicile. It used to be a big colonial house once. It is three stories with our flat on the ground floor, a few other class rooms and a clerks office. It surrounds a patio on three sides with a high concrete wall across the back. The second floor has class rooms and the branch president's office. The upper floor is a big covered open air chapel which the birds can fly through. It is a pleasant place to go in the evenings when a cool breeze blows through. The electric is antiquated with only one outlet per room. The plumbing isn't much better. The hot water heater quit and was never replaced. It sits up on a shelf in the main bathroom. There is an electric heater in the shower head so we can have a warm shower. We have little geckos that run around in here too. They keep the bugs eaten. We still have cockroaches anyway. The appliances are Barbie Doll, that is small. No way to roast a twenty pound turkey even if you could get one.
Elder and Sister Fox who were here before us were really organized with the kitchen drawers laid out in regimental order. Elder Larsen said that Elder Fox was compulsive-obsessive and insisted the chairs be stacked exactly five high. He was ex-military. They left a book with directions to the different places we have to go with the distances in kilometers right down to tenths in places. I am very glad for that since the maps don't do justice to the places and many little villages don't seem to have names on signs. Most large towns don't have signs for that matter. There are no house numbers on any of the buildings. I asked "How do the fire trucks find you in an emergency?" No fire trucks!
The Beechers stayed with us Saturday night, Sunday night and left Monday afternoon to go to an appointment in Eldoret. They are stationed in Kitale. Before they left they helped us drive around to get a little familiar with the town and where to find the post office, banks and shopping stores. Nakumatt is the Kenyan version of Walmart. I drew out KS40000 before we left Nairobi. That is forty thousand Kenyan shillings, approximately five hundred dollars American. 85 to 1 exchange. Very few businesses use take credit or debit cards and no one takes checks.. Everything is "go to ATM get cash and pay at company." We were warned by the Fox's to pay the water bill early or stand in line a long time.
Saturday we met some of the members and President Okila. They are a very warm welcoming people. The website said that they speak English. They speak British with a Swahili accent and I have a very hard time
understanding them. I should have listened when everyone told me to get a hearing aid.
We had to go to the phone company office to get our internet hooked up. KES7000. It worked for about half an hour and quit. We spent most of today getting it going again with another scary drive downtown. Quit again but came back on after a couple hours. The power goes off for a little while everyday too.
Here we have matatus and tuk tuks. Tuk tuks are little three wheeled taxis. There a lot of motorcycles and bicycles. The motorcycles do not drive with lights on during the day and dodge in and out worse than matatus. I am afraid of hitting one since they blend in with the bicycles.
Now it is time to sign off. We will get pictures posted when I learn how, again. Elder Jorgensen
On to London.
Nine long hours of trying to get some sleep and visiting the bathroom in a British Airways 747 brought us to London. We got off of the plane, caught a shuttle went up and down a bunch of escalators asked a lot of directions, went through security until we got to the British Airways desk and asked which gate to go to. Our plane was delayed for "minor repairs". Finally after an hour delay we were escorted down an escalator (which Sister Jorgensen hates) out to a bus which took us around the airport where we climbed up steps to board our 777.
Nairobi bound.
We had another long stint in an airplane and approximately nine hours later we landed in Nairobi. Most of our luggage didn't. We checked with the luggage desk where we were informed that three of our bags were still in London. Fortunately we had enough in carry on bags. Elder and Sister Nevins were there to fetch us in their truck. We were taken to the "Nest", an apartment complex where the senior couples stay. We were shown into an empty flat where they had thoughtfully stocked some provisions for us. We went to the Nevins flat where she fed us cream of vegetable soup and we could decompress for a few minutes then back to our flat for a hot shower and bed.
Wednesday morning jet-lagged and somewhat overwhelmed we went to the Church Offices and met other couples. Wednesday evening it was back to the airport to claim our bags. Thursday we started the driving lessons....
Traffic is horrible, people drive on the wrong side of the road and crowd in, What? Drive on the left? After a couple of lessons I was back in our flat a nervous wreck. I don't know what madman thought up "roundabouts". Elder Tuttle was going to take me out again but I was so exhausted and nervous that my vertigo had really kicked in and I was sick. That night we went to dinner with all of the senior couples who were in town, President Broadbent and Elder Watson of the Seventy. We went to the best hotel in Nairobi to the restaurant. Definitely not McDonalds. Friday we met with President Broadbent where we had an interview and he gave us a Priesthood Blessing. Then we picked up our truck and had another driving lesson all of the way back to the flat.
Elder and Sister Beecher were assigned to escort us to Kisumu Saturday morning. Elder and Sister Tuttle also were heading to Kisumu so we sort of made a caravan. The Tuttles had to get to the Kisumu airport and so left us behind. The road wasn't tooo bad, traffic wasn't toooo bad as long as you just looked out for the Matutus (think square early Dodge type minivans) and big trucks. There is some really beautiful scenery as you drive along the edge of the Great Rift Valley. Sister Jorgensen seen some of it, I didn't. White knuckles and keep up with Elder Beecher. We reached the junction and turned on the road to Kisumu. much narrower and a lot rougher with potholes that would make Texas jealous. We drove through a construction site of really narrow and rough road. There were speed bumps in that too. They really love speed bumps here and I guarantee that they will slow you down. It was really hair raising meeting big trucks or trying to pass them without falling off the pavement. It could be anywhere from a few inches to almost two feet from the pavement to the dirt along side of it. They roll trucks and buses that get to close to the edge all of the time. I kept expecting to put blue paint on one of them as we passed.
The matatus charge by the person and the distance driven and are one of the main means for the people to get around. They drive crazy and I have seen very few that didn't have dents somewhere including on the top. They dodge in and out and pass where no one should. They will have people hanging out of them although they are supposed to have no more than fourteen passengers.
Kisumu.
Elder and Sister Beecher led us to our flat down another narrow potholed road. We made lunch and then looked over our new domicile. It used to be a big colonial house once. It is three stories with our flat on the ground floor, a few other class rooms and a clerks office. It surrounds a patio on three sides with a high concrete wall across the back. The second floor has class rooms and the branch president's office. The upper floor is a big covered open air chapel which the birds can fly through. It is a pleasant place to go in the evenings when a cool breeze blows through. The electric is antiquated with only one outlet per room. The plumbing isn't much better. The hot water heater quit and was never replaced. It sits up on a shelf in the main bathroom. There is an electric heater in the shower head so we can have a warm shower. We have little geckos that run around in here too. They keep the bugs eaten. We still have cockroaches anyway. The appliances are Barbie Doll, that is small. No way to roast a twenty pound turkey even if you could get one.
Elder and Sister Fox who were here before us were really organized with the kitchen drawers laid out in regimental order. Elder Larsen said that Elder Fox was compulsive-obsessive and insisted the chairs be stacked exactly five high. He was ex-military. They left a book with directions to the different places we have to go with the distances in kilometers right down to tenths in places. I am very glad for that since the maps don't do justice to the places and many little villages don't seem to have names on signs. Most large towns don't have signs for that matter. There are no house numbers on any of the buildings. I asked "How do the fire trucks find you in an emergency?" No fire trucks!
The Beechers stayed with us Saturday night, Sunday night and left Monday afternoon to go to an appointment in Eldoret. They are stationed in Kitale. Before they left they helped us drive around to get a little familiar with the town and where to find the post office, banks and shopping stores. Nakumatt is the Kenyan version of Walmart. I drew out KS40000 before we left Nairobi. That is forty thousand Kenyan shillings, approximately five hundred dollars American. 85 to 1 exchange. Very few businesses use take credit or debit cards and no one takes checks.. Everything is "go to ATM get cash and pay at company." We were warned by the Fox's to pay the water bill early or stand in line a long time.
Saturday we met some of the members and President Okila. They are a very warm welcoming people. The website said that they speak English. They speak British with a Swahili accent and I have a very hard time
understanding them. I should have listened when everyone told me to get a hearing aid.
We had to go to the phone company office to get our internet hooked up. KES7000. It worked for about half an hour and quit. We spent most of today getting it going again with another scary drive downtown. Quit again but came back on after a couple hours. The power goes off for a little while everyday too.
Here we have matatus and tuk tuks. Tuk tuks are little three wheeled taxis. There a lot of motorcycles and bicycles. The motorcycles do not drive with lights on during the day and dodge in and out worse than matatus. I am afraid of hitting one since they blend in with the bicycles.
Now it is time to sign off. We will get pictures posted when I learn how, again. Elder Jorgensen
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Off to Kenya, May 8 2011
We spent last Sunday night with our friends Dwayne and Vicki Morrison who had graciously volunteered their extra bedroom since Alex and Brent had moved into our house. They made sure we go to the airport in plenty of time. Our friends the Nelson's were there to see us off which surprised us. That was quite early to get up to be there for us. The plane left a few minutes early and with a good tailwind arrived at the Salt Lake airport fifteen minutes early. We recovered our baggage and set down for the wait for our shuttle to the MTC in Provo. The shuttle arrived twenty minutes early and we were off. We got to the MTC where the driver accidently gave us a bag that wasn't ours which I returned to the security guard. We went to the orientation meeting and then to lunch and then settled in for a week of intense training. We survived the week of training, got our last hepatitis shot and our malaria pills which we started on Saturday. We fly out tomorrow morning for our long trip to Kenya. Sister Jorgensen seems to be having a negative reaction to the pills already. She may have to change to a different kind.
Elder Jorgensen
Elder Jorgensen
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