Overload Going into the Holiday Season

As we reach mid-month, the pressure to write something for the first half of the month mounts. I keep on using the excuse about busyness. I am becoming more and more deluded into believing that the busyness is simply seasonal, or temporary, and I keep on being proved wrong:  every month since our return in August seems to be more full and even more hectic than the month before. So the best we can offer for the past several weeks is a topical list of things that have happened, in roughly chronological order.  (BTW, we are sharing this blog, so I am writing in block type and Rebecca in italics.)

Dallas and returning to Nairobi- When I last updated this blog, I was in the US, in Baltimore, helping my parents move out of their retirement community. I was able to help get them moved out, and we spent the two days at my in-laws' house (Dave and Jean Sack) while completing the final removal of furniture before the three of us (my parents and I) headed off to Dallas on Southwest Airlines. (The furniture went in a moving van.) We are not from Dallas or any part of Texas, and while I have been there briefly at different times in my life, I was not sure what to expect. My brother Jonathan and his wife Emma actually have a huge house in Dallas in a very nice neighborhood, walking distance from some really nice restaurants and shopping. It felt surprisingly like Portland, Oregon. Very quaint. He has a huge suite available in his house where my parents could pretty much set up their large room in the same way they had arranged their apartment at the retirement community. I think it will bring my mom comfort to have many of the same things surrounding them. 

We had a great 4 days together, and I enjoyed taking walks with my brother Jonathan around a nearby lake and visiting some local restaurants. They also have a small pool in their backyard, where I did risk taking a dip a couple of times despite the fact that it was mid-November (but not freezing in Texas). 

I was able to spend about 4 days there before returning to Nairobi. Despite taking the time out from work, I felt very much at peace about the trip and what was accomplished. I also feel it was a very wise, proactive choice on the part of my dad to see the benefit of moving to this setting, as they will be needing more assistance at some point in the future. 

Team Retreat-  I had one day back at the office to recover from jet lag before we launched into a big team event at MCC. Every year, we plan an annual team retreat to build team cohesion, etc. This is a large group event with our nine professional staff (counting Rebecca and me), as well as 6 volunteers. In addition, we invite all staff to bring their immediate families (spouses and children), totaling about 25 in all. 

This year, we decided to go to Amboseli Game Park as we had gone to the coast the year before. We left from our office on a Friday morning at around 6:30 am on a chartered Coaster bus. It is about a 5-hour trip down to Amboseli, which is in South Eastern Kenya near the Tanzania border. The perk of this location is that Mt. Kilimanjaro is visible just over the border and looms picturesquely in the background of southern views of the game park. We arrived around lunchtime the first day. The hotel was nice with a pool and 'luxury tent' accommodations, which basically means the rooms are partly tents and give an 'on safari' feel. 

We got checked in, had lunch, and played some team-building games in the afternoon. Before dinner, we also did some folk dancing. It was actually a lot of fun with everyone participating. (I introduced a new line dance to Copperhead Road). We had a good time trying to do a complicated figure in a 'cotillion' dance, where you constantly rotate through figures with different couples going in opposite circles. As we finished, Mt. Kilimanjaro burst from the clouds in full view as the sun set over the savannah, we got some great photos at a lookout point in the hotel compound. 

The next day, we took two game drives, with the first early in the morning and the second in the late afternoon toward sunset. Those are the best times for seeing the game. The 25 of us were put into three safari vehicles, and we spent several hours in the morning and the evening enjoying the views. I think the most abundant animals there were elephants. But we saw from at least a distance everything else but rhinos and leopards. The evening drive was particularly picturesque, ending with the sun setting next to  Kilimanjaro behind a small lake with a flamboyance of flamingoes posing in the foreground.

We returned to the hotel for dinner, and that evening we had another team event involving making s'mores around a campfire, singing songs with guitar and banjo, and then a special 'awards ceremony' in which everyone was honored with some kind of special award. (Examples include: Eagle Eye, Sparkplug, Good Shepherd, Silent Hero, Troubleshooting Titan, etc.) Each recipient received a signed certificate from Rebecca and me. There was appreciation for both the humor and the sincerity. The next day, we had a devotional after breakfast, then headed back to Nairobi and got home by that evening (Sunday). 

Monday morning was all work and no play, with a meeting scheduled with one of our partners' boards followed by an all-day professional day with staff to review protocol for completing all project items on our database. It made the retreat seem like a distant memory by the time we finished that day. We also worked all day Tuesday and crammed to get things done so that Rebecca and I could have the rest of the week off because this was American Thanksgiving week, and we were expecting some special visitors. 

Arrival of Rebecca's parents- And those special visitors, Dave and Jean Sack, arrived close to 11 pm. My dad had visited us briefly last year, soon after we arrived, as part of work travel in Africa, but we had not found a good moment for my mom to come. Finally, this seemed like a time when we could share a number of special events with them and also take a few days off. 

Of course, they needed time to rest on their first day. It was pretty nice for Paul and I to rest too! On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we took them on a drive out to Limuru Country Club, in the neighborhood of tea fields. Paul and David treated my dad to 9 holes of golf, and he seemed to really enjoy himself being in the fresh air a playing a game he hadn't played for a while. Meanwhile, I took my mom on a meandering walk around the perimeter of the golf course. We spotted quite a few beautiful birds, including several species of sunbirds and a fish eagle. The landscaping at Limuru CC is picturesque and very refreshing with cool breezes and warm sun. 

By the time we were done with walking and golf, we were hungry for lunch at the nearby Brackenhurst Retreat center. We were glad to introduce them to the place, since we've often visited there and described it in our blog. We had enough time to take naps and have a quick dinner before Paul and I headed off for our final choir rehearsal of the season. 

During their visit, my mom also got involved with training some public health colleagues in using digital databases of peer-reviewed journals. She and my dad also joined our work team for lunch one day. And I was able to take my mom on a nice, long walk through Karura forest one morning. We enjoyed seeing a dikdik, some Sykes monkeys, and even a troupe of Colubus monkeys. We did most of the same walk later with my dad. 

My dad left halfway through their visit to go and take care of some work with colleagues in Zambia. But he was here long enough to help us begin Advent preparations, setting up the Christmas tree and enjoying part of an Advent story each night. 

Thanksgiving-The American holiday of Thanksgiving is not officially anything more than a normal Thursday in Kenya, so it wasn't a great day to celebrate. (Thankfully, David's school is on the American system, and he got 2 days off). Instead, we invited a group of friends to celebrate with us on Friday evening at the end of the working week. This particular group was families we had known when we all worked in Burundi at the same time. Two families actually attend the same church here, so we get to see them more often. It's a very special and rare thing in expat life to have friends with whom you have any shared history.

Some of them were able to get to our place in the daylight, and we enjoyed time with the kids playing outside and with adults chatting in the evening outdoors. Our family provided a roast turkey (Yes, we found a pretty good frozen one in the supermarket; my mom had also carried a frozen turkey breast in her hand carry to make sure we had enough high-quality meat). We also made bread stuffing, cranberry sauce, and Bunny's cranberry jello "salad." Other family members brought mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn casserole, salad, and even a "tofurkey" for the vegetarians! We had delicious pies for dessert. And the conversation was absolutely delightful from beginning to end. My parents reflected afterwards that they hadn't been to such a fun party in a very long time. 

Choir Concert- Rebecca and I have always been involved in some kind of church or community choir situation since we were married (and even before). We joined a community choir based in a German School, directed by a very talented Kenyan musician. The choir, thanks to the director, is made up of many of his students, other professional musicians, as well as a number of us amateurs. We all share a love of singing, and he creates the most eclectic repertoire I have ever experienced, including classical, contemporary, African, sacred, and secular music. Our Christmas repertoire included songs in about 10 different languages. We finally gave a performance shortly after Rebecca's parents arrived. Our director likes to have our choir perform in very informal settings, and we did our concert at a big German Christmas fair outdoors. It was a bit of a challenge, but well appreciated by the audience that gathered around. Last week, as the season is over, we had a big choir Christmas party and enjoyed singing many of our favorites again. I really appreciate this community, and it is a group of people we would probably not have met elsewhere. Many are in the UN, or are diplomats, as well as some top Kenyan vocal musicians. 

Musical Auditions- It is interesting that despite the number of things we are involved in, Rebecca and I still find even more new activities to take on every year. Last year, because of being told I had a previous career as a dancer/choreographer, the director of the musical at David's school asked me to help with the auditions. This year, with a dearth of student choreographers, she asked me to be the choreographer for the musical this year, which is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is a musical from around 2013 based on the well-known story. As part of that, I spent about 4 days after school (and work) going to David's school to run dance auditions and help select the cast. David was in the musical last year and auditioned this year, and I am happy to say he was cast (as Verucca Salt's father) It is a good role in this musical. I feel both excitement and trepidation about taking this on. My dance career ended about 16 years ago, and I have done some teaching at different times since then, but not any big choreographic undertakings. Nonetheless, I am excited about it and look forward to starting rehearsals in January after Christmas. 

Carols by Candelight and other musical offerings- I need to say a word about the flow of life in Kenya, and the particular oddities of Nairobi. The Kenyan school year starts in January and ends by mid-November. By early December, Nairobians are already thinking about taking their long summer holidays and heading upcountry to visit relatives for the festive season. By December 10, all government services are basically shut down. And therefore, any church that wants high participation in an Advent/Christmas event needs to plan it for the first weekend of December.  It seems very odd to us, who are used to the big Christmas carol events happening right around Christmas Eve, but that's just the reality here. 

So, by early November, we were deep in preparation for our church's Carols by Candlelight service on December 6. I offered to lead the musical portion of the service and decided to see if there might be half a dozen people who would help lead traditional carols. When I made an announcement, I was stunned to find that 35 people came to sign up! We only had time to rehearse for two hours before the day -- not really enough time, but we had to make do. I was so grateful that David was willing to be part of the effort, along with Paul and my mother, who made it to one of our rehearsals. A few different youth came to participate too, playing violin and guitar. 

On the Saturday of the Carols service, most of us had a morning to rest and prepare (granted, I was trying to finish preparing a sermon for the next day). Paul, by contrast, was running non-stop. He left early in the morning to participate in the prison ministry. He was leading the worship band the next day, and so he had a rehearsal. Next, he met us at another Saturday Christmas Market.  David's honors choir was singing and providing caroling at the event, and so we had a chance to hear them together with my mom. We did some quick Christmas shopping, listened to the choir, and then my mom and I scooted off to the church to do a sound check for the Carols service. 

It was a lot of moving parts to keep together, between leading 10 carols, assisting with the music for the children's nativity, and trying to manage the student musicians helping. But in the end, it was a very joyful evening. The volunteer Carol choir sang beautifully and added rich harmony to the congregational singing. David sang a solo very beautifully on "What Child is This? / Helpless and Hungry." My mom and I gave our best shot at all the Willcocks descants. The children's nativity play was absolutely adorable. There was a real baby in the manger, who then actually got older (replaced by an older baby for the wise men). Best of all, one of our church elders brought three of his real live sheep! It was hysterical. I'm so glad we put a big effort into the occasion, and it was truly a delight to help make it happen. 

And then the next morning, Paul had to get up early to lead the music, and I was preaching on Gabriel's visit to the Virgin Mary, telling her she was going to have a child who would change her life. I've preached on that passage before, and I had really prayed that God would give me a fresh message. He was faithful to help me find new hidden treasures in a well-worn passage. 

In the evening, after a nap, my mom and I went to our small group bible study and had a good chance to sample various Christmas treats, learn about various European Advent traditions, and then pray for each other. Sadly, Paul missed it because he was already on the road...

Trip to Siaya- The carols by candlelight weekend honestly felt insane because, as stated above, Saturday I rehearsed for leading music at church in the morning, went to David's choir concert in the afternoon, sung in the carols by Candlelight in the evening, then led music at church the next morning, and as soon as church was over, I had to take a nine hour drive to Siaya, which is a region in Western Kenya where I was going to do a 3 day field visit. I was accompanied by Judith, our health and education coordinator, who was going for monitoring and to do a project management training. She also brought with her her one-year-old daughter and a nanny to take care of her. Because of all the activity of the weekend, we also hired a driver to drive the MCC Land Cruiser so I could get some rest during the trip. I think I was somewhat comatose from the exhaustion of the past two days and was in a kind of stupor most of the trip. It seemed to pass quickly, even though we arrived in Bondo, a town in Siaya, about 10pm that night. 

The next day, we went and met two members of our partner project team, Maureen and Winnie, who debriefed us on the current status of the project. This is a maternal and child health project based in providing mothers with support through pregnancy, delivery, and the first 2 years of life through peer-based care groups. It is a very effective way to deliver good health information to them. These groups also have a livelihood component, so women save together as well and then use the savings for small loans, paid back with interest, so they can start small businesses. There is no capital infusion from MCC or the partner, and it is highly successful. 

On each of the three days I was there, we did some training of project staff in the morning, then field visits to care groups in different villages every afternoon. The villages are along the shore of Lake Victoria and are quite picturesque, usually with large nets spread on the beaches covered with 'omena', a small anchovy-like fish, drying in the sun. Women can usually find work here, and these can be very transient communities. Among the most powerful testimonies we heard were of women with young children who said that before the savings groups were established, the only way they could eat and feed their children was through 'sex for fish'. But now that they have some access to money, they can buy omena, then take it to nearby towns and sell at a profit. They have food security and can contribute back to the group with interest, which allows for even bigger loans in the future. 

I was very impressed by the success of this project in this community, but I was glad to be able to head back to Nairobi on the fourth day. Of course, I got back just in time to jump back into work with many things waiting in my inbox to attend to. 

Grandparent Departure and Oren's Arrival

While Paul was in Siaya, I held down the fort with my parents for two more days. My dad only got back late at night on Monday and had one day to rest and turn around. Thankfully, I took a little time with both of them for a walk in the forest before they needed to close their suitcases and go. It was sad to see them leave as I drove them to the airport on Tuesday evening-- we'd enjoyed a really good time together, and I hope there might be another future occasion. 

On Wednesday, I went to school after work to enjoy another really nice festive occasion -- the traditional carol sing and choir concert. The event also includes some funny elements, including an audience participation rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. They also have a Christmas best-dressed contest every year, and this year, David was actually motivated to make an effort. Last summer, he had requested that I find him a pink suit -- and believe it or not, I managed to find a decent, affordable hot pink suit on Amazon. He decided that this was the occasion to bring it out in public, accessorizing with a string of Christmas lights and a reindeer antler headband. He definitely pulled off an epic fashion statement and actually won the prize for the high school category.

Following on the heels of the grandparents' departure
was Oren's arrival. He will be here with us over the Christmas break, so you will hear more about him in the next installment.  

That covers the last 3 weeks or so. Next week we are climbing Mt. Kenya, so stayed tuned...

Dragon sculpture David made