When we had finished up our meeting, we took a little weekend trip to visit some friends who live in Kenya. Ben is an eye doctor at a hospital in a small village, and his wife Jenny was a friend of Beth’s many years ago in Pensacola. They brought their three boys to visit us a couple of years ago, and we took them to see some of the ancient wonders near our home, but we had no idea what to expect when we visited their home. They didn't have any colossal stone structures to show us, but there was definitely lots to see.
We rode about 4 hours outside of Nairobi to get to their village, so it was a far cry from the life we live in one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Visitors to Africa talk about spotting the Big 5 wild animals on safari. They are the lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard. Well, we didn’t see those, but on the trip out there we spotted the Little Four--sheep, goat, donkey, and chicken. Apparently most of the area next to the highway has been fairly domesticated. We did spot some zebras and antelopes, though, later in our trip!
Once we got there, we really had fun comparing and contrasting our families' lives overseas. Our friends live in a house with a big private backyard; we live in an apartment building with a semi-private roof for the kids to play on. They get a good rainfall every few days; we get a couple of sprinkles a year. They drive to the city (four hours away) for groceries every six weeks; we walk or drive to the grocery store every day (or just call for delivery). They cook from scratch and eat every meal at home; we have our choice from dozens of American restaurants (that also deliver). They have blue skies over green hills with pink and yellow flowers; we have tan skies over brown buildings and a few brown trees. They have big chameleons in their yard; we have...well, hmm...we don’t really have any wildlife around here unless you count scrawny stray cats.
Sawyer and Lee Anna had a big time climbing trees and playing outside. They even caught a chameleon or two and brought them inside!
One evening, Jenny made a fancy dinner with salad, green beans and grilled chicken with pineapple.We ate out on their covered patio with a fire in the fireplace. As we were serving the kids’ plates, Sawyer looked up at Ben and asked, "Did you get this from Chili's?" You see, in Sawyer’s world, grilled chicken comes from Chili’s, and fried chicken comes from KFC or McDonald’s.
We had a delightful weekend exploring a different way to live in a foreign land. Thanks for hosting us, guys! We hated to leave!
We rode about 4 hours outside of Nairobi to get to their village, so it was a far cry from the life we live in one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Visitors to Africa talk about spotting the Big 5 wild animals on safari. They are the lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard. Well, we didn’t see those, but on the trip out there we spotted the Little Four--sheep, goat, donkey, and chicken. Apparently most of the area next to the highway has been fairly domesticated. We did spot some zebras and antelopes, though, later in our trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment