2011 day 9, installment 8

2011 day 9, installment 8
Sean and Meredith came today to stay for a couple of days. As we introduced ourselves M says “so you are Safarislim?” “Yes, the well known literary genius.” I said with humbly, beginning to grasp the magnitude of my reputation. “Then please have the courtesy of staying away from S and I!” she exclaimed. Now some of you would think that she didn’t want to have me any where near them. Not the case. I have this happen often. I have come to understand that it is their basic survival instinct kicking in. Being around celebrities like me can be dangerous as sometimes the fans get too aggressive, or the Paparazzi can cause harm if someone gets between them and me. With the deference that I have cultivated toward others needs, I immediately said, “No problem, care to hear my testimony?” Jeff said to S & M, “come with me, I want to teach you something….you will find it quite useful when dealing with Terry.” I’m excited to spend some time with them when they return…..it’s only been 6 hrs since they went with Jeff.
S & M are Canadians. I told them “not to worry, I will forgive you.” They are from the Toronto area….and yes, you from Anacortes, Toronto is in Canada. They met like 10 years ago and when M took S’s hand in hers, she whispered “you’re going to marry me.” Backing slowly away, S said, “Oh, eh.“ About 8 years later, S (which stands for ‘Slow to get It) came back and found M (which stands for Marry Me) and married her. They both assured me that this is a common occurrence in Canada. Goes something like this; “hello, eh, my name is Brunhilda eh.” “hello, eh, my name is Boris, eh and now that we have met, I see that we will be married, eh.” “I will be back in 8 years, eh.” And so the tradition was kept alive by this wonderful couple. So after a 25 minute honeymoon, they got on a plane and landed in Kenya. And like ‘western’ missionaries, (and yes, you from Anacortes, Canada, though just out of the 19^th century is considered ‘the west’) got off the plane carrying a calendar and a bible. You know what the bible is for, but the calendar??? Why, it has the date marked on it in which every single Kenyan will have given their heart to Jesus. All western missionaries are issued one when they check their brain at the ‘Go into all the world’ counter. So, now it’s been 2 years and I asked S & M how the calendar thing was going. “We sent it back and asked for our brains to be sent back to us…..they should be here soon, but TIA.” “Good luck with that,“ I say. (using my gift for encouragement) In the mean time, they have been involved in another ministry with kids in Kitale, called TI…short for Transformed International or Transforming International or Texas Allstars or Try Anything. It was started by a man who used to be my friend. His name is Daniel. I call him Daniel the Snakecharmer stealer. Remember, Snakecharmer, she was content to be an old maid, dreaming of meeting a man like me, working at Instep, stepping on snakes, and digesting ugali, when Daniel comes and offers her a better deal…..I’m not sure if he meant him or the ministry. Needless to say, I’m married, and maybe abit old for her, so she took him up on it and waalaa they are going to be married in May. I tried to talk them into a traditional Canadian courtship…..but, you do the math….hormones…time… .hormones…time…
So, Jeff says, “gird up your loins, we are going to town” I’m thinking I don’t even know if I have loins, and if I do I don’t know how to ‘gird’….but because it sounded biblical, I replied, “whither thou goest, I shall go.” Off to town STGI, me and Jeff go. No sense me going into all the ’road stories, but it is much easier to find them in the dry season…you just follow the dust. With all the dust blowing off the roads, you’d think that all the local roads would be in the Sudan by now…..maybe on of the good purposes of the wheel weights is to anchor what’s left of the roads….. Upon entering Kitale, there was a sign strung over the street that said ‘DayCare’ at such and such address. Jeff breaths a sigh of relief and says, “ Now I know what I can do with you for a few hours, there Terry.” It actually wasn’t so bad, either…..maybe some of the kids were abit immature….for 2 yr olds. Later the boys came and picked me up and we went to ’Architect’. Turns out, he IS an architect! We spent some time there talking about some topographical issues. Having been a builder for almost 40 years, I just stood there, nodding and pretending that I knew what they were talking about….might have fooled Architect too if I hadn’t said something about all the funny squiggly lines…”do you color them in?” The jungle telegraph is very efficient and so Jeff’s ‘look’ has spread far and wide. “I used to want to go to America” A says, “but now I’m not so sure.” Anyway, having transferred some actual valuable information, somehow, A will get back to us and maybe we are one step closer to starting the Clinic and 1^st Dorm…. Let’s hope so.
Then we went over to this building with a door that had a little door in it that had a sliding cover. Jeff tapped 3 times, waited and then 2 more times. The little door opened. “Gueedo sent me” Jeff whispers. The door opened and we were quickly ushered in. Inside, it looked like a small restaurant. We sat down and looked at what appeared to be a menu with real food items on it…well not the food itself, but listings of it. We ordered, and waited for the food. I knew it was some kind of sadistic joke on Jeff’s part, but I played along as it gives J a feeling of power to mock me. The food came and I was shocked, I mean shocked….”did we go through some kind of “wormhole” in space and end up in civilization?” I asked. “Did you notice that I had to use a password to get in here?” Jeff reminded me. “This place is illegal, because it serves food that you can enjoy.” he says.
After that we went to the market and J and STGI went in, while I stood outside with the security guard trying to explain who I was…”No pets in the shop” he kept saying.
Having spent such a wonderful day with 2 yr olds, architects, real food, and STGI, even the ride home couldn’t dampen my spirits….I even got to ride up front….no not on the hood, though I have done that,…front seat. We got home just in time to witness the feeding of the multitude and for me to spend some time acting like I enjoy the kids….all show, as you know. Had a nice time with Jeff, Carla and the Canadians for the evening. Canadians aren’t as bad as I once thought. Maybe I should talk about some of the new kids….maybe next time…try and remind me, would you.