Not the Best Day Ever!

Well, it was still awesome.  But we had a few episodes which required us to push the pause button.

First...I lost my camera!!  "Misplaced" might be a better word.  So I was totally bummed because my blog wasn't going to have any pictures...and how boring would that be?  And then I remembered...I have two other photo taking devices with me....hello?!  iPad and iPhone.  At first, I thought, "I'll use my phone...but then I'll have to email myself the photos, then save them to my photo library...yadda yadda."  The technology required to make that work was getting a little overwhelming.  (Kiara explained hash tag titles to me today...that almost put me over the edge!)  Anyway...then I realized, if I take the photos with my iPad...they are already in my photo library.  Don't even need that "little wire", as Rose called it, to transfer the photos from the camera to the iPad.  Nifty!  But taking photos with an iPad is sort of a pain...you can't put it in your pocket and when you pull it out to take a picture, you are immediately surrounded by 189 kids who want to know if you have "Fruit Ninja" on your "giant phone".  Not good.

Prepare for some major excitement.  Or as Jenni says #theriskybusinesscontinues.  (Still don't really get the whole hash tag thing!  and, I think that's the right tag line...don't quote me!)

It's Jenni V!!   Driving Phillip's van!!   In Kitale!!   Left side of the road AND stick shift...very risky business!  And a most impressive display of driving under pressure.  I must say she did an excellent job...narrowly escaping several head-on collisions and only brushing Phillip, sitting in the left side passenger seat, with tree branches a few times.  Go Jenni!

We did attend church this morning.  It was the usual riotous event...quite enjoyable actually.  EXCEPT...while heading to our place of honor on the couches in the front row (everyone else is in plastic lawn chairs), a slight mishap occurred.  I was too busy looking at the kids to my left and stepped off the one step in the entire tent church.  Why is there one step across the mid-section of the church?  I ask you!  The ENTIRE congregation saw the mzungu's graceful fall to the ground, and her equally graceful attempt to stand up again on one good ankle and one ankle that had just experienced a painful popping sound.  Hmm....  The good news is I didn't have to stand up during church like all the able bodied people.  Hey!  Maybe I can get a special handicapped parking sticker for trips into Kitale.   (If you think they have handicapped spots in Kitale, we need to talk.)  So I spent my day limping around the orphanage on uneven, rutted dirt paths.  Not easy but at least I can walk.  :)

After church, we returned to the orphanage.  I gave my boys, Brian and Mike, a few gifts from the Kohl's sales rack...mostly new clothes and undies. (Hey!  Who doesn't need new undies?!)  Of course, the soccer ball and my old suitcase were the bigger hits.  They asked if they could have the suitcase and promised they would share it.  Since they have nowhere to put their personal items, having a suitcase to slide under their bed is a big deal.  I wrote in a previous blog this summer that all the kids' worldly possessions are usually neatly folded under their blankets at the foot of their bed...and usually consist of church clothes, school uniform, their bible and a few important-and-oh-so-valuable trinkets and treasures ranging from unique rocks to a drawing on a piece of cardboard box.  You get the idea.  Now Brian and Mike have a cavernous suitcase to store all their worldly goods. I wonder if they will draw a line down the middle to delineated their territory like my brother and I used to do when we shared a room.  :)  Those are some happy memories, Johnny!

Alright...bedtime.  We were informed by Karibuni proprietress, Teresa, that there is a water shortage and all the girls already went back to the room to take a shower.  I might be out of luck in the hot water (or even just water) department.  I begged them to take military showers and save me some water...I guess we'll find out if they are getting a Christmas card from me this year!

Tish