Kenya Part 3: Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, a colleague and friend of mine, Father Thomas, invited us to his mother's home for dinner.  Father Thomas wouldn't be there himself as he lives in the States, but Kenyans are very hospitable and we were excited to meet his family.  So after attending the friendly Mountview Ward of the LDS church in Nairobi, Father Thomas' brother, Joseph, and his family picked us up and began driving us to the homestead, two hours away from the city.  About half-an-hour out, the car was unable to accelerate and we had to return to the city for another car.  (Note: an African adventure is never complete without a car breaking down multiple times, so this was par for the course.)  In a friend's smaller car, we shoved six of us in and began driving again.

This seems like an appropriate time to tell you that every moment of time that I spent in a car in Kenya, I literally assumed that it would be my last moment of life.  I have never before been so assured that my death was imminent.  Here are some factors that contributed to my fear:

• Although technically Kenyans are supposed to drive on the left hand side of the road, this is only done about 40% of the time.  The majority of the time is spent passing another vehicle.  And even if you aren't overtaking another vehicle, you will probably want to eventually, so you might as well drive on the right hand side for convenience.
• If you are passing another vehicle and a car is approaching you head on, you don't need to move back into your lane until it is 1 to 5 feet away from colliding with you.
• If there are any speed limits posted, don't waste your time reading them.  You must drive as fast as your car can go at all times.
• Since you are supposed to drive fast, huge unmarked speed bumps will appear out of nowhere to let you know if there is a town up ahead at some point.
• Due to CONSTANT potholes everywhere outside of the city, you must zig-zag back and forth across the road to avoid the biggest ones.  Even though the traffic coming the opposite direction is doing the same thing, do not slow down or show fear to the oncoming cars.  It does not matter if you are on "their" side of the road, just focus on the next big hole.
• At night, you must turn on your brights at all times, since there are no street lamps.  Also because the others are blinding you from seeing anything ahead, you might as well blind them, too.
• Signal with your right and left blinkers at least every two minutes, even if you don't know why you are doing it.
• Do not worry about the fact that there is a constant stream of pedestrians on the "side" of the road at all times, even in the middle of nowhere.  You can't see them at night and they can't see you (thanks to the brights), so you might as well pretend that they aren't there until you feel a bump (although you'll probably just assume that bump was another pothole).
• If your gas/"petrol" light comes on, it really isn't that urgent.  It doesn't matter if the next gas station is more than an hour away or that that very station is out of petrol and the following one is another 30 minutes drive from there.  Surely, one of the pedestrians you almost hit will be willing to help you out for the night.  The constant threat of carjackings certainly shouldn't sway you to fill your tank before a long journey.
• Due to some current issues with Somalia, you encounter police road blocks every 20-30 minutes to inspect your car and send you through a zig-zag of barricades just for fun. 
• Not only does Kenya make the Top 20 list of countries with the highest traffic death rates, but traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for tourists visiting Kenya.

Okay, sorry for the long list, but it was quite therapeutic to type that out.  I think I am now over the trauma I experienced... and I am alive!  Now, all that being said, I am not referring specifically to our driver this day.  He was just driving like everyone else there and actually the most stressful drive was the next day with a different driver, but that's for another post.  Back to Easter Sunday....

Once we made it to Mama Joseph's house, Father Thomas' two brothers showed us the beautiful property that was recently purchased for Touch a Life Africa Mission, not far from the homestead.  This is the road right next to the property.

This photo was taken after the car got stuck on the side of the road, but before the front driver's door was bent all the way backward!  When trying to get the car out of the ditch, the open door got stuck while the car kept moving backward.  It was a full-on Tommy Boy gas station scene and we can't believe the door didn't fall all the way off!

Upon our return to the homestead, we exchanged gifts (notice my lovely wrap skirt and Jason's handsome Kenyan attire).  We ate a delicious dinner and sat in the dark room talking for hours.  Actually, I should say listening, since we didn't understand most of the Kikuyu being spoken.  As awkward as that should have been, Jason and I both savored every moment of the culture we were enveloped in.  In fact, that day was our 6th anniversary - very romantic to be in a room of strangers that don't speak your language, right?  But Jason passed Husband Africa Test #1 (Appreciate culture and people, even when it puts you out of your comfort zone) and he enjoyed it as much as I did.  I always knew we were meant to be together.  :)