Greeted by an Army

Arriving at our Airbnb apartment on Thursday night, we felt great relief that our driver spoke Swahili and could explain to the guard who we were.  At 12:30 am we put a call into the landlady and thankfully she answered and confirmed that we were the ones to give the key to.  There are so many little steps of faith one takes when traveling internationally.  So many undergirding systems in place that at first glance are unknown and one just has to trust that, eventually, it will work out, maybe not exactly the way it was pictured, but it will work.

The apartment fits our needs well.  The boys, like puppies, ran around opening every closet and trying every light switch.  As the boys opened and closed the heavy light-blocking shades, we first spotted what would become the target of an on-going battle: an army of little, buzzing insects.  In our jet-lagged, confused state, we found some insect repellent and put it on the boys' faces and necks and then soon after, collapsed into bed.

We slept, and we slept until nearly 10 am, something I don’t think I’ve done since the Saturday mornings of adolescence.  At noon, we decide to wake up Joel and Kyle since all we had in the kitchen to eat was salt, only to find that an army had attacked them in the night.  What was once creamy white skin was now covered in over 100 tiny red dots.

We soon found out from the landlady’s nephew, Alex, that at sunset we need to close up the apartment and spray the rooms with insect repellent.  Huh, first system missed- daily fumigation.  I found some comfort in that we had begun our daily regimen of malaria medication, but the medication did nothing to ease the itchiness of Joel’s knee covered in at least 15 bites, swelling by the day.  Welcome to Kenya, boys.

On Saturday, we decided to go to Nairobi’s Arboretum.  First we needed to clear up the confusion with the Uber driver as to where we wanted to go; it’s amazing how 2 people speaking English can completely not understand one another due to a difference in accents.  Once there, we walked around trees planted over 100 years ago by a group who had a vision and foresight for the future of Nairobi to protect green space within the burgeoning city landscape.

After waking through the forest for about 15 minutes we came across a group of high schoolers, who greeted us warmly.  One of them asked if she could join us for our walk.  As we strolled together, we assured her that most of America is not like the soap operas she idolizes, and that yes, I clean my own house.

As we approached a bamboo outcropping, a group of school children on a field trip joined us to observe the two adult monkeys and one tiny baby monkey moving about in the upper branches.  As I was looking up and taking in the differences between the “New World” monkeys of Latin America and the “Old World” monkeys of Africa, I didn’t realize the “army” that was gathering around me.  This army  surrounded me too and gave me no escape.  When I looked down, little round faces with huge smiles looked up at me with hands extended in a greeting of welcome.  Now this kind of greeting is right up my alley.  I began to shake their hands while they touched my arm, and as I did, more and more came over.  In their beautiful Swahili accented British English, the sing-song quality of “Hello, nice to meet you,” rung in the air.  I looked around, none of my family was in sight.  “Sure,” I responded, to the question of whether I would be in a picture with the school group.  Instead of the traditional, “cheese” that precedes a picture in the U.S. they sing words back and forth to one another.  How much in the hearts of Africans is expressed through a song? A singing, smiling army- now this was a memorable greeting.

Life is filled with unexpected mosquitoes, but also the song of children.