Our New Stomping Grounds

Yesterday marked a week at Tenwek, and I think we are all pretty adjusted to our temporary new place and new life. I thought for this post I would share about getting to Tenwek and post some pictures to show where we are living for the next 8 weeks. Tenwek is about a four hour drive from Nairobi. Before we left though, we stocked up on groceries at a store called Nakumatt (basically a one stop shop).

Shopping in Nairobi

We  bought our cleaning supplies, pantry staples, and splurged on a few American items like ketchup and Tabasco sauce. We made the tough decision to not buy any meat or cheese, so we are mostly vegetarian for the next few months. If you look closely at that picture, Elijah and I are matching. That's why Nate took this picture. It was coincidental, not planned.

During the drive, Elijah kept entertained with a box of foil and a box of cling wrap.

Who Needs Toys?

The drive was absolutely beautiful. We drove down into the Rift Valley, across, and back  up. We saw a lot of cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys...and a couple zebra. I believe most of the wild game are down in Tanzania right now, but hopefully they will migrate back up before the end of our time here.

Descending into the Valley

In the Valley

Once we arrived to Tenwek, we saw the hospital and the Tenwek compound where the long-term, short-term, residents, and other local staff live. Outside of the hospital/living compound, there are some dukas (produce stands/mini-"shops"). And while we have been able to find more than I thought here, it is still very limited (hence, why we shopped in Nairobi). Ok, so enough typing. How about some pictures?

Our House

View From the Back Porch

Beautiful Plants Everywhere

Kitchen

Dining and Living Room

Our Room

Elijah's Room

So, Elijah is only pretending to be alseep in that picture. He has his own room which is wonderful, and someone here let us borrow a pack n play. He LOVES his mosquito net. When he wakes up in the morning or after nap, I usually find him standing up and pushing the net out to watch it fall back in place. He cracks up whenever we the net touches our heads when we duck underneath so I can put him in or take him out. In case you were wondering (because I know you are all as obsessed with my son's sleeping patterns as I am), Elijah is sleeping wonderfully here. The first few nights in Tenwek were not great. He ended up in our room the first night and then next two nights cried a few times but was able to go back to sleep. Since then, he has been sleeping like a champ. He plays so hard all day that by the time we lay him down, he is out in no time. Back home, he will sometimes take an hour or more before he falls asleep for his nap. Here, he's out in 5 minutes.

For those of you who kept reading despite my recounting Elijah's sleeping patterns...thank you. I will reward you with more pictures!

Visitors in the Yard

More Views from our Backyard

There is an upper level and lower level when looking out from our back porch. You can see the view is stunning. The lower level has the clothes lines for drying our clothes. There are three other families living right around us. Two are long-term medical missionary staff both of whom have recently moved from the US in the last 3-5 months. Our closest neighbors are a Kenyan family. Both parents work for the hospital. We were chatting the other night and found out that the wife goes to Nairobi a few days a week for theoogical studies, and one of her professors is our friend we stayed with while in Nairobi (John Evans). Small world.

Our View Everyday

 

The Uphill Walk

We walk up this hill everyday at least once, if not 2-3 times. We live down a little from the hospital, church, and main area. This part of the hill is mild compared to the turn around the corner which is the most direct route to the hospital. It is a beast that I avoid by taking a longer route with a more gradual incline. When Elijah will walk on his own, it's not bad since we go at his very slow pace. But, when he insists that I carry him, I tend to walk a bit faster to get my 5 minutes of cardio in for the day. Nate, however, tackles the worst part of the hill (the one I avoid) every morning in his attempt to wake up before work without his morning Mountain Dew. In case you were all wondering, no, there is no Mountain Dew here. There is coke, sprite, a variety of Fantas (orange, pineapple, black currant), something disgusting called Bitter Lemon (why would you drink something with the word "bitter" in the title), and my all time favorite soda Stoney Tangawizi (think gingerale with about 20 times more ginger flavor). But no Mountain Dew (sad for Nate).

Splashing in the Backyard Puddles

Playing in the Front Sidewalk Puddles/Rain

It is not rainy season, but it still rains almost every day here. Usually in the afternoon or at night. The rain plus the elevation keep it nice and cool here in the mornings and evenings. It warms up if the sun is out during the day. I think on average, it's 70s during the day and 50s at night. We certainly cannot complain. This place is truly beautiful. As you can see in all the pictures, there is so much green vegetation.

A few things not pictured here:

1. Our bathroom - Yes, we have an indoor one with a toilet, sink, shower/tub, which is so nice, but I didn't take a picture of it.
2. All of the kids around here - There are a ton of kids out everyday with whom we play. Kenyan kids and US kids. I have been hesitant to ask if I can take pictures of them, so none to post yet. The Kenyan kids who are school aged can speak English pretty well, but there are also plenty of pre-school aged kids around who don't know English. Fortunately, you don't have to speak the same language to play! I think Elijah is having the most fun out of all three of us. I guess I keep him pretty isolated at home, but he is such a social kid. I have to keep a very close eye on him as there are lots of edges to fall from and barbed-wire fences, but he is loving his new play area and new friends. The Kenyans seem to be quite taken with Elijah...they call him "Eh-LEE-jah" which I love.
3. The church and hopsital - I'll leave it to Nate to do a post about the hospital and his ortho adventures in the next week or two. He's been very busy!

Down by the River

For my final thoughts for this post, I want to go back to the part before we got to Tenwek. I was so incredibly stressed for the weeks leading up to our trip. Are we going to pack everything we need? Are we packing too much? Did I spend too much money at Costco getting supplies? (Yes.) Did we tie up all the loose ends at home? How is Elijah going to do on the plane? Are we going to have trouble through customs? How will Elijah adjust? What am I going to be doing with my time? (Still TBD) What do I need to buy in Nairobi? What will be available to buy in Tenwek? If I forget something, what are we going to do without it? Will there be more than potatoes, carrots, onions, and tomatoes locally in season? What am I going to cook for two months without meat and cheese? What are we going to do about milk for Elijah? Do you get my point...I was really stressed. I can tell when I'm not managing my stress well when Nate notices. I can sometimes hide it from him, but I apparently was not. The night before we left the US and the grocery store in Nairobi were probably the two high (or should I say low) points of my anxiety/stress.

Why am I revisiting this? Only to say in the end that God has been incredibly gracious to us and to me in all of this. I realize that my stress stems from my deep, deep desire to control everything around me and plan perfectly so that everything will go according to MY PLAN. If things go my way, everything will go smoothly (or so I think). No matter how many times God has tried to teach me to let go, I still try to cling to my own abilities/plans. And when things are unknown, uncertain, new, unfamiliar, I can get really stressed to the point that it affects me physically. I know many of you can relate, especially my close friends who are a bit Type A. I'm not the risk-taking, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants (what does that even mean), spontaneous type. God has to break down my desire for control constantly. Tangibly, we have been able to get so much more around Tenwek than I thought. Even beets. Ok, so beets aren't that big of a deal, but when I found them here, they were! Tangibly, Elijah has done great here so far. Tangibly, it's been fun learning to cook with what we have. But God has given me more in this last week. He's given me some time to rest in him, which I haven't really done in a long time. He's given me peace to let go a little and trust him more.

"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works." Psalm 145:15-17

The Lord has been kind to me this week even though I wanted to do things independently. I hope you recognize his kindness to you on this Valentine's Day.