| Dec 2006 Letter from Africa REFLECTIONS ON A YEAR IN AFRICA On the first of December I marked my one year anniversary being in Africa. Hard to believe that time passes so quickly. Looking back I can only say, “Thank you, Lord, for all the many blessings that you pour into my life and for keeping me safe and healthy.
While other people have begun projects and erected new buildings quickly we choose not to pay a bribe to anyone in city since doing so promotes the continuation of corruption in government. So we wait patiently for all the necessary permissions. In the end I’m sure it will all work out. A couple of weeks ago I took an eight hour bus ride to the south east of Nairobi to make my annual retreat.
It was a grueling trip which was made worse by a bus driver who was
acting weird driving with his door open, flopping in the wind and
oncoming traffic! The fact that the last 45 kilometers (27 miles)
were under
I had lodging at a guest house run by the Consolata priests and brothers, an Italian congregation doing missionary work all over Africa. The attraction, for me, was the fact that it was right on the beach. Many of you know of my love for time
off at the sea and this was a new experience for me and my first time
I had a nice room with a porch facing
the ocean and enjoyed my early mornings watching the sunrise and
walking on the beach. When the tide
I was happy that an older, African priest was on retreat the same time I was there and he was more than accommodating in saying Mass whenever it was convenient for me. My room had a complete bath and was very comfortable and I had my private prayer time out on my porch. The meals were nothing to write home about but I was, after all, on retreat. Since my trip down was so horrible I flew back home – an easy one hour flight! Around home I am still the shopper which has the advantage of being able to get things that I like to eat. At the end of November I finished a twelve week course called, “African Culture: an overview” at the local, co-op seminary. Besides the three hour weekly classes we were required to spend an additional three hours interviewing various individuals from all areas of the city and from different tribal/clan groups. I even went with my research assistant to his up-country, rural home where I spent the weekend meeting his extended family and living in a makati (thatched-roof), mud hut! This excursion required a seven hour bus trip north and then a half hour ride from the center of town to his home on a boda-boda – a bicycle with a crude seat on the back. I wish I had gotten a picture of me with my backpack sitting on this bike and taking off down the main street. Very soon the road got narrower and narrower until it turned into a lane, then a path and finally a trail, barely wide enough for us to get through without brushing against the bushes. It was an experience which I said, “Everybody aught to have - - - once in their life! I have been teaching a Sunday afternoon adult catechism class at the parish. Since many of the people don’t have a fluent ability in English I type up my notes and one of our lay catechists translates into Kiswahili. I was amazed that I could say a sentence of about 15 words and she would take about five minutes to get the same point across. I’m happier to do it that way since I know that she makes sure that the people can understand what I’m talking about. I have also been doing some liturgy training with our own Dominican brothers on the last Friday of each month. We’re having fun working with the brothers who have a difficult time pronouncing some of our “American English” words. The “L” and “R” sounds are especially troublesome and the word, “BIRD” comes out sounding like “BAAD” and none of them can say “squirrel” anywhere near close to correct. I still sing in the Nairobi Music Society Choir. We just did our pre-Christmas concert which featured a rather complicated piece by Benjamin Britten called “Cantata: St. Nicholas.” On the first Sunday of every other month I go early in the morning to the Nairobi National Park and take part in the animal survey. We are given a map and a “zone” to work in and a check list of all the animals. It gives me the opportunity to get into the park free and a chance to see the animals up close. The park is somewhat controversial since it is almost right near the city center and there are more and more encroachments of people building right up to the park boundaries. It is only fenced on the city side and the animals are free to come and go on the southern end of the park. After awhile, though, you get tired of counting zebras and Thompson Gazelles so spotting a lion or a rhino is always a treat.
I am still struggling with learning Kiswahili but getting better and better at it and my computer program is really helpful. I’m sure it will all come together in time. I now have a Kenyan driver’s license and can usually find my way around without getting lost of involved in a collision. The only drawback is the fact that my quest of a few years ago to become a “gentle driver” has been lost here in Africa since you are not able to get anywhere without being aggressive! On a couple of occasions I have actually gotten out of the car to unplug a bottleneck where none of the cars could move and nobody was willing to “give in.” All in all, though, I continue to enjoy this new experience of life in Africa. I am still taking my time adjusting to a different perception of how to live in Kenya. There are so many things that I still don’t understand about the culture and I see that it will take a long time before I can honestly say, “Ah. I understand now where you’re coming from.” My prayers still include mention of you and my memories are just as vivid of life back in the states. I pray that you will have a joyous Christmas and New Year and hope that you will remember to write to me. The easiest way is still via my email. Also, with international telephone service getting more and more reasonable, you could always call me. My mobile phone (what you call a cell phone) number is 0274 255 662. You have to figure how many and what numbers to add to that to get out of the US. Just remember that we are 11 hours AHEAD of time on the west coast. Snail mail generally takes a little
more than a week to get here but please be careful not to send either
money or checks as they seldom get to their honest destination. The
easiest way to give a gift is to send it to:
Earmark it, “Africa” and it will be forwarded to me in a safer manner. Our residence address here in Africa is still the same:
As ever,
As always, I write back to folks who write to me. |
Even though time seems to pass so
quickly, daily life in Kenya goes at a much slower pace. At the
parish – St. Catherine of Siena – where I help out we recently
celebrated our 4th anniversary and we are still in the
temporary “makati-roofed” church since our building plans have
been sidetracked by local bureaucracy and backlogs.
construction (read: uneven, rutty, dirt road and bumper to
bumper vehicles) and the traffic moved at a snails pace we arrived in
Mombossa 2 ½ hours late and in the dark.
swimming in the Indian Ocean! What a delight to be able to jump
right into the water which was comfortably warm in the middle of what
would be winter for most of you. It reminded me of many happy times
spent at the beaches of Oregon with the only difference being I had
to get used to watching the sun RISING over the ocean horizon rather
than setting. And then there was the fact that there were always
monkeys running around!
was out there were many tide
pools to investigate and I began collecting many shells, etc. and
also managed to step on a spiny sea urchin and had quite a time
getting all the thorns out of my foot.
I’m still working with our two dogs –
Doberman/Rottweiler’s - which is very different from my beloved
“Kenzie.” They are slowly coming around to responding to good
training. We can now walk them without a leash and they are
beginning to understand the words, “no” and “come.” I’ve
even gotten them to sit with a dog biscuit right in front of their
noses – waiting until I say, “Okay.”