On our way to Kijabe

Sunday morning we went to Nairobi Baptist to find the vice president of Kenya and his visitor, singer and song-writer, Ron Kenoli in attendance. Kenoli led the music worship and the choir and instrumentalists joined right along. But still, we were all staid Baptists and not as animated as Bro. Kenoli would have liked. Beautifully dressed people in both traditional African and western professional dress filled the large auditorium.

Our dear friends took us to an outdoor Ethiopian restaurant where we ate Ethiopian flat sour dough bread. We tore off pieces of the rolled bread and used it to pick up meat, greens and a garbanzo bean dip. We had to ignore the frank stares of the other restaurant patrons. Jim and I were pink and different. Stares are not considered rude or unusual.

After lunch, we shopped at a NakuMatt -- Wally World in Kenya. Different packaging, different prices, adjusted expectations. Our sugar was brown -- we like that. An attendant weighed each vegetable or fruit before we took it to the checkout. Our laundry soap came in a clear plastic jar.
Our friend gave himself plenty of time to get us home before dark. We would have to go through three checkpoints before we turned off to Kijabe. We drove past securely gated affluent homes and squalid slums. Each shanty town had its small church buildings. Grazing goats, donkeys, and sheep were staked by the roadside. Somehow farmers kept flocks of geese and turkeys there as well, but you wondered how many strayed in front of speeding vehicles. As we topped the escarpment, we saw colorful stands at scenic overlooks offering Maasai blankets and other tourist fare. We turned left and worked our way to Kijabe station.