Kisumu

Sorry we've been quiet for so long. Did you think we were "lost"? We're just back from a few days' break in Kisumu, 2 hours drive from here - here's some reflections from our time there. Kisumu! Lakeside city on the Equator. Hot, but with a thunderstorm not far away. Milimani area where we're staying has the big houses and offices, all protected behind their walls and gates, on avenues lined with trees with beautiful flowers of many colours. Our guest house double room turns out to be a twin room with no space to swing a cat, but the food is good and we have all we need. The breakfast room is vast, decorated with lots of artificial flowers and those pictures of angelic-looking Chinese babies that you find here in Kenya. Is this a city or just a big town? Towns don't have “international airports” like Kisumu has. Either way it's positively urban and even cosmopolitan compared to our village, Kosele. People here don't look twice when they see a white face – children don't all shout “mzungu, how are you?” and want to shake your hand. There's still a relaxed feel about this place - nothing moves too quickly here. The main roads are populated by boda-bodas (bicycle taxis), piki-pikis (motor-bikes) and tuk-tuks (motorised rickshaws). There aren't too many private cars - many of them will be owned by the Asians who form the business community here. You can buy any car you like here – as long as it’s a Toyota! Bustling colourful market – you can buy second-hand clothes or shoes here for a few bob! Haggle for a better price, as the first price they ask will be the “mzungu price”. Can't blame them for wanting to make a better profit from Europeans. We both know that I can afford it – even their top price is less than we would pay at home. Church is big, polished, middle class. So many people and so many activities on offer, so why does it seem that most people just come in, sit/stand/sing/clap as appropriate, and then get up and go home again? There's nothing wrong with the service but actually we wish we were back in our own little rural church in Kosele. Do we need orphanages? (Apparently so - nowhere else for all these children to go, nowhere else for them to belong.) There's something sad and bleak about this one. Some kind of lethargy. Do they know that God is still here with them? Why is there a white boy here? Hold on, he's not white, but an albino. The facial features and hair type are very African. How does he feel? Do the others accept him? Back home tomorrow! Is it home? Meantime anyway!