Finally in Kenya!

Habari! (That's hello in Kiswahili)

We had two uneventful flights over - Air Canada from Toronto to Zurich, which had great technology, and Swissair from Zurich to Nairobi, which had great food. We all have gained about 5 pounds so far... With the time changes, it felt like one long day instead of two, so jet lag hasn't been much of an issue. We are now 9 hours later than Regina, and 8 hours later than Winnipeg, so while I write this at 9:45 PM, you are all probably just leaving church.

This first week we are at a retreat center just outside of Nairobi, and it's pretty cushy - by preparing ourselves for anything, we thought about all the discomforts we might have to endure, but didn't consider staying in a hotel setting with comfortable beds, showers, plenty of food, a pool and free internet.

We arrived at the airport at dusk, and so drove (on a crazy road with crazy traffic) here in the dark - this morning was our first experience really seeing Kenya. The vegetation is great - so lush and colorful.

We have met our 8 Kenyan Praxis members, and have spent much of today looking at our cultures and what the differences are - it's been a great orientation for us to the country, and a great chance for us to have good conversation and get to know each other.

The course that we are participating in here is one of the two parts of our experience - the other is visiting the different development projects in our last 2 weeks. This course is us joining about 50 other development workers in CBM partner countries. That's much bigger than I thought it would be. There are people here from Kenya, Rwanda, Angola, India and Bolivia - a few you might know are Ana Salamao from Angola who was at Westhill for Missions Encounter last month (she's sitting next to me on the other computer, actually!) and Ivan Gutierrez from Bolivia who has visited Westhill, and who led our STEP team that was in Bolivia. Gordon King, Director of The Sharing Way, who was at Missions Encounter is also here.

This course is the first in a series that will lead to a Diploma or Certificate for these development workers that is offered by our favorite cutting edge Seminary, Carey.