Hello Kenya!!

Well, I'm finally here! And Kenya is not holding back and letting me ease back into the lifestyle here. We have had a water shortage since before I arrived, and since Thursday there has been no running water at all, only what we carry in buckets from holding tanks. But at least we have water! And I was very grateful for my bucket shower this morning - it felt soooo good.
As you may have guessed by my lack of communication, the internet at the village has also been down. Right now I am sitting in the parking lot of a fabric store in town, using a satellite modem while some others shop for the village. I cannot upload pictures on this connection, so while I have a few other posts written and ready to upload to the blog, I am only going to share one story that has no photos.....more to come when the internet is back on!

Saturday, May 28

This morning I woke very refreshed after sleeping through the night finally! I got up, washed my face, got my toothbrush to brush my teeth and on the way back to the bathroom sink, saw a dark shape curl itself into a pile against the door jamb between me and the bathroom. Stay calm. I put on a sweatshirt and opened my door where, thankfully, Tom was standing close by. I quietly told him there was a snake in my room. He came over to me, “What?” I repeated, “There is a snake in my room.” He looked past me into my room, “A big snake?” “No,” I said, thinking of the python we saw at the museum yesterday. “Just a small one.” He came in and looked at it, then told me not to show the children or they would be scared. Oh yes, it's poisonous. He left to get something and I babysat my snake. He came back with a large four foot long stick, and had to whack it quite a few times before it was dead. He was sweeping it into a dustpan, where I could now see it was about 12 inches long, when Emmy came in. She just stared very quietly at the snake while Tom explained that the house would need to be thoroughly cleaned today and fumigated sometime this week. She looked so serious that she really surprised me when she turned to me and said smiling, “Well, didn't you offer some chai to your visitor?”

I told them I would be keeping my windows closed day and night now, but they assured me that it is good to open them during the day for fresh air. This is Africa! Unfortunately I did not take a picture of my guest this morning. And I'm REALLY hoping there won't be another chance for me to take a picture of a snake in my room.

**I wrote this on Saturday morning, but since we haven't had internet, I couldn't post it then. I have since worked up the courage to ask Tom what kind of snake it was. It was a Black Mamba. Emmy said she was impressed that I remained calm when I saw the snake. I have since explained to her the meaning of the phrase, “Ignorance is bliss.”