Phase 2 -- Kenya

We made it to Kenya. We arrived at Kigali International Airport about 3 hours early because we wanted to make sure that we could get Gabriella's ticket re-issued. However, we breezed through without any issues and they didn't even re-ticket. This was great even though we completed all the check in procedures almost 2 and a half hours ahead of the flight. We didn't mind and it was kind of fun passing the time by conversing with other travelers passing through this airport as they were moving around Africa. We spoke with one student from a university in Toronto and 2 Missionaries from Colorado doing work in various small villages. It was very interesting hearing some of their stories.

I know this is kind of out or order, but we almost had some "excitement" just trying to get to the airport. We were not aware that the last Saturday of each month is Community Day around Rwanda, and on this day no one does any work before noon. Guess what today is....the last Saturday in May. The hotel said they would not be able to get us a van to leave until noon (for a 1:45 flight). We were concerned. However, we explained our situation and they arranged a van for us at 10:15. We were happy.

Gabriella's first airplane flight went pretty well. There was a little time when she was not very happy because she had to wear a seat belt, but all in all, we thought it went pretty good. Brian's sister Barb, arranged for us to be picked up at the airport by a work colleague of hers. This was extremely helpful because, not only is she a delightful person to talk to, but she is a great tour guide. As we were driving, Gabriella fell asleep so we decided to take a few extra turns and see some sights around Nairobi.

This is a very busy city, and the drivers are crazy. Taxi cabs in NYC have nothing on the drivers here. The thing that surprises Brian the most is that by experiencing all this type of driving (in Rwanda and now Kenya), he has yet to see a car accident. There have been about a million close calls, but not one accident. Amazing!!!

As we have mentioned, we think that things are going very well with Gabriella. We think that she is very smart and caring, but there are some expected developmental delays that are the natural result of being in an orphanage for an extended period (about 3 years in Gabriella's case). One is everything is new and she does not know when it is appropriate to say things. For example, when a white person goes by us, she screams and says "visitor" in Kinyarwanda. In addition, she sometimes has tantrums when she doesn't get her way, and we can add that Gabriella has a great set of lungs. Brian says that she has a scream that will put a 2 year old to shame. However, she learns quickly and once she has a tantrum about and issues and is resigned that she is not going to get her way, it rarely happens again. We are thankful that we have 6 more days to work with her before the 17 hour flight to get home.

One of our tasks here in Nairobi is to get a doctor to give Gabriella a short version of a physical. This is necessary for us to get her a visa to enter the US. We are going to try and get an appointment for Monday, however, Monday is a holiday in Kenya, so we are not sure if it will be possible. If it is not, that just gives us 2 days to do some swimming in the pools here at the hotel and some site-seeing around town.