Living in Kenya is....

I'm still working on my post about my trip to Northern Kenya. In the mean time.... some friends have been asking what is it really like to live in Kenya... here's just a few examples.

Living in Kenya is...

When only having power twice during the workweek is completely normal.

When you think your grocery store is really expanding when they place ten jars of powerdered flavored creamer on their selves and sell it for $10. Watch out world.

When you can keep your cool having a bus drive at you head on and swerve back into their lane at the last second.

When a drought causes there to be no chicken breasts for sale at the store for a week.

When you start thinking in Swahili rather than English.

When a stranger stops you and asks you if they can pet your hair.

When it feels like Christmas the moment the clouds open up and rain pours down.

When the Internet Company decides to shut off your service without telling you except through email that you can’t check because you have no Internet.

When live lizards are a common natural wall decoration.

When buying 20 roses cost $2. Yes… $2.

When a rule from the video store is to eject your DVD directly after viewing due to frequent power outages.

When water from the tap is like poison and you avoid it like the plague.

When driving on the left side of the road and driving in the front right seat is completely normal and the other way around seems backwards.

When you live on a guarded compound in a house with bars on the windows, a steal door, and another door with two locks, plus a required “safe room” in your house. And it somehow gives you a sense of security.

When your car can drive through pot holes and other crazy places that people back home would call “undriveable”

When running out of water and having to ration is just everyday life.

When dinner conversations with friends consist of creepy insects, snakes, break-ins, war zones, indigestion, jungle illnesses…..

When you run on a treadmill with caution unsure of when the next power outage will hit causing an uncertainty of what THAT would do to you.

When you can order something off a menu from a restaurant by pointing at it to the waiter and having something completely different brought out to you.

When you are ok with the little bleach after-taste of fruit.

When you have to have your windows rolled up in traffic because people try to sell you anything from passport holders, air fresheners, and fruit to car jacks, news papers, and knives.

When packs of howling dogs keep you up at night.

When the man from the mosque starts praying out through the speakers that happen to be right outside your office window.

When the gas station is out of gas when you need a fill up.

When walking outside your gate after sunset is a big “no-no.”

When everyone you meet is somehow related to your president. “Did you know Obama is my cousin?” “Yes… yes I did.”

When your seasons are flip flopped from what you are used to. (To all those freezing right now, I’m sweating… but I sure do miss pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, apples, apple picking, apple pie and all the colors of autumn.)

When walking down the street can seem challenging due to a huge herd of Masai cows blocking your path.

When you think you couldn’t possibly drink another cup of tea.

When you don't think twice about the man walking next to you carrying an A-k47.

Living in Kenya is when you wake up everyday to the sound of birds singing in the trees, having the most beautiful blue skies, and enjoying a breeze to cool off the heat from the closeness of the sun. When you rejoice in rain. When you don’t check the weather predictions but let whatever comes your way, come. When you can drive twenty minutes and encounter a lion, zebra, giraffes, rhinos, and buffalo. It’s being intoxicated by the joy within Kenyans and captivated by their smiles.

Living in Kenya is hard and has its challenges, but it also reveals the raw, unaltered, undefiled beauty of our creator.