Doxa in Kenya: First day in Kenya

Saturday, July 8, 2006. Nairobi

Today is my second day in Kenya. I was way too tired to write anything yesterday, but now I feel quite rested (although I'm not used to the bed, so my back and neck hurts).

So back to where I left off. I walked around the terminal in London to look for something to eat. I was carrying a huge backpack and a guitar (with a case that's 5 times as heavy as the guitar itself), so I had to walk slowly. Finally, I decided to eat at Garunkel's Restaurant. I had some eggs, sausage, bacon, mushroom, beans, fries, and tomato... They were quite terrible. The eggs (sort of sunny-side up) felt like plastic, the fries were cold, and they cost $14!! I was hungry, so I decided not to care so much... They brought some kind of condiment that looked like brownish vinegar with some gunk floating inside and smelled like urine, and since I touched it, my hands smelled like it for a while. Quite disgusting.

I began wondering around at the airport again, and I realized I could use one of those carts to push my backpack and guitar... Why didn't I think of that earlier? I was about to collapse from the weight. Then a girl walked by as she said to me, "You go to my sister's college!" And I saw a familiar face next to her. It was Karen from Crusade (I don't know her last name since I don't have access to internet right now and that means no facebook...). I don't think I've talked to her before, but it was really nice to see someone I could recognize. She was on her way to Uganda on a mission trip with a group from Davis Christian Fellowship, and I decided to hangout with her group for a while. Their flight was an hour before mine, so after they left, I began to wonder around again.

I wanted to check my e-mail, so I put my last 50 pence coin (about $1) in the internet kiosk... But it just ate my coin and didn't do anything but spit out three 1 pence coins... If only I had 2 more pence, I would have had another 50 pence to get 5 minutes of internet... But I didn't, so no internet for me in London.

Frustrated, I went back to the Quiet Room to recharge my laptop. I was super sleepy, but since I only had 1.5 hours till my flight and I didn't want to sleep through it, I decided to stay awake. I was even more frustrated when I found out later that my flight was delayed 1.5 hours...

I slept through most of the flight to Nairobi, and the plane arrived an hour behind schedule. Getting the visa was interesting. I filled out a brief application on the plane, and when I got to the customs booth, the guy hardly looked at my application before he stamped a visa on my passport. It was the most painless visa process ever.

Thankfully, both of my luggage came through in one piece. I was stopped for baggage check right before the exit, and was asked if I was carrying any gifts and such. The lady asked how much the guitar was, how long it was used, etc, but I didn't know because the guitar belonged to the church. She told me I'm supposed to pay a fee for bringing in expensive gifts, then I told her that I'm a missionary, and she just let me go. Apparently people give special favors to missionaries, such as discounts on plane tickets.

Pastor Kim was waiting right outside the gate with a sign that had my name in Korean. I felt bad because he had to wait for so long because of the delay. But I felt even worse when Pastor Kim told me that Pastor Moon had told him I was arriving on the 6th, not 7th, so he came to the airport the night before only to find out that I was coming the next morning. I did send him a carbon copy of a e-mail I sent to the missions headquarter, but I guess he missed the part that had my flight information. Pastor Kim was also 15min late to his lecture because of me...

Ok, I don't have enough time to write all the details now. But I'll go ahead an post this one.

To be continued...