Kenya Update 9/29/09 - Parcels, Parasites and Pictures!

It has been a while since I have updated, and interestingly enough I've spent the whole time recovering from my trip to Ngong! No, my legs are not that weak, but my stomach is. That fateful Monday we had lunch at a local butcher, the food was wonderful (we had fried meat, ugali and stew :) YUM), but lets just say this establishment probably would not have gotten along well with the FDA. Anyway, for the last week I have had serious stomach/intestinal issues, what a draining and exhausting experience! Happily, I am recovering and have been incident free (you know...) for 2 days. Praise God for the little things!

On Tuesday I had an interesting experience. I went to the Central Square post office in Nairobi to collect some packages (parcels) sent from home. It was very fun because I was accompanied by my good friends Dibo and Jeannette. Jeannette is also an American (who is marrying Dibo in December! Very exciting...), so she receives various things in the mail as well. Anyway, the process for picking a parcel is particularly painful here, but it was very interesting! I'll walk you through the steps:

1) Present your little yellow slip to the first station along the counter. They take your slip and locate your parcel. Your slip is then stamped with a big rubber stamp. STAMP!
2) At the next station you are to open your parcel, removing its contents for inspection. They make an inventory on the back of your slip, noting especially the expensive or electronic items. Then, they stamp your slip again. STAMP!
3) You then leave your parcel and bring your slip and any expensive/electronic items to the director of imports. You go into his office and he judiciously decides what your items are worth based on his training through the Price is Right and the strength of your arguments. When he finishes his assessment, you guessed it, STAMP!
4) Upon return to the counter where your parcel is waiting, the employee does some math, taking a fraction of the determined value of your shipment as the fee to import the parcel. Sometimes this is very harsh and unfair. I made out okay. With another stamp (STAMP!), he sends you to the cashier.
5) Giving the cashier your yellow slip, you receive back a "voucher" for your bill. You see, at the posta they don't take cash or payments. So...
6) You proceed to walk 4-5 blocks to a particular bank. At the bank you pay your bill and receive a receipt, which you bring back to the posta to receive your parcel!

At least I assume thats what happens next. You see, when we arrived at the bank, it was closed. So I was unable to get my parcel that day! It was especially cruel looking through and seeing the awesome that my parents and girlfriend sent me, only to go home without it! Yet things worked out, Dibo was able to return the following day and pick the packages for us...

And what a package! I am so grateful for my loved ones at home who have been a consistent encouragement. Werthers caramel candies, Jello, sunday morning comics, all my music on a flash disk, a sweater and stinking Lego!
So what else is new, I am tutoring for the 6 math courses at ANU three times a week for 2 hours. That'll be fun once people realize they have free homework help! I spent an hour this morning typing 100 email addresses into my contact list, so I can harass the students to make sure they know I am here to help. Choir is going well! Tonight is the first rehearsal for the "PR" group, a public relations group, akin to a more select group from the choir.

Immanuel Ashene is the choir director and he has connected me (without any permission on my part, but I don't mind) with the local classical music scene in Nairobi. I am singing with the Nairobi Chamber Singers, which is so very close to the Chamber Singers at ENC. I love it, also yesterday some lady called and asked me to fill in for a missing tenor (from the chorus) in an up coming opera, part of a program called "Kenya Meets Vienna". Opera singers are coming in from Vienna and joining opera singers from Kenya to do a big performance...

In my spare time I've been sketching to relax. I found a National Geographic magazine in my flat and I copied a neat black and white picture out of it. I finally found a scanner, so I hope you enjoy:

I am off to tutor now! God has been faithful in sustaining me and providing for my needs in so many exciting and new ways. Okay - Jonathan signing out! **boop boop bip beep!**