DAY 8: I’m closing tonight…

Today I went to visit friends of friends. 

I came to Nairobi with only one thing to do…Go visit Waldo and Lynette. Every other day has been filled with “yes, I’ll do that with you.” Waldo and Lynette are missionaries who are friends with former missionaries that I am friends with (McMillans, for you HCC people). So I called Waldo yesterday (he knew I was coming) and hijacked his whole day. I felt kind of bad, but he showed me where he works. And it was COOL. Waldo works with Africa Inland Missions. He fixes/installs airplane electronics and radios. (He says he works with paper, but I think he’s just trying to downplay how cool he is) Waldo works in a hanger with airplanes. Real airplanes that support missionaries all over this part of Africa. They take airplanes apart and put them back together again like a puzzle. I was trying so hard not to geek out on him, but it was so SUPER cool. He showed me everything. An engine being rebuilt, up under the dashboard where all of the equipment is wired. Did you know they have to replace EVERY wire and connection at scheduled intervals? That’s insane. There’s like thousands of wires.

We went to an aviation club for lunch that was really nice. It was like a British aviation museum/country club. Walking around you could just imagine the British WWII pilots telling war stories. There were pictures all over the walls of military aircraft and other planes. Again, I love aviation, but I was with pros and trying not to geek out is really hard. I had the same problem when I visited my friend Joey’s F-15 jet fighter base. I have amazing will power.

For lunch, the menu was totally western. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and I am not going to apologize for it. It was wonderful. Ready for the irony? My stomach was just as unhappy about that as the Kibera psychodrama. I know…I’m a mess. The best part of lunch was hearing Waldo and Lynette’s story PLUS they had a friend visiting so I got to hear three missionary stories. The last being from the kid-growing-up-in-Africa perspective. I love cool stories.

I called for my taxi and waited outside the airport gate. The driver was delayed so I waited for 45 minutes, but this is Africa. You waste way too much energy getting frustrated. Here are some observations while I waited.

- In Kenya the Nissan Sentra car is called a Nissan “Sunny”
- Some dude stood on the other side of the street flashing me a 100 shilling note. Over and over again. I have no idea what that was all about. I have to ask about it tomorrow.

- Hey look a Lexus.

My evening was a blast.
A huge tour came from the US to stay here. Over fifty people. As I’ve mentioned, the owners and staff of the guesthouse and restaurant just bought this place a month ago. For several days, I was the only guest. But tonight they had to serve seventy folks, so I offered to help with the big barbecue Michael planned. So yeah, tonight I worked the night shift as a waiter/caterer guy.

The mission group flew for two days and spent the day with kids from the slums (not Kibera. There are three slums in Nairobi. Kibera is the largest) and are organizing a football (soccer) tournament thing. I don’t really know how all of it works, but if you are into titles and classifications, their program would be short-term sports evangelism mission. They were exhausted and HUNGRY from running with children all day.

Dinner was to be from 7-9. I reported for duty at 4:00.

I thought I would work the kitchen or something…nope. They put me in charge of serving and setup. (That’s what I get for saying I worked in a restaurant.) Thank you God for examples like Robert, Suzanne, and Kim for being so cool. I panicked when they put me in charge and then I thought… 

“How would Robert organize the line to feed 70 people?”
“Where would Suzanne put the meat vs. Veggies?”
“How would Kim lay out these desserts?”
So I just did what I thought they would do.

But 7:00 came and the grill wasn’t set up.

People were coming and they were not excited about waiting after a long day. Some hadn’t slept in three days. My line looked great. The tables looked great, but the food wasn’t ready. I had to buy the kitchen time. Then I had to do what I do…talk to large groups of people. And I talked hard. 

I bought the kitchen about ten minutes with Africa food anecdotes. I went back to the kitchen and told them to get the food out NOW! “I don’t care if we don’t have a grill yet. We need to serve.” It was a cool team moment. I was one with the restaurant. I was on the team. Mzungu on a staff of Africans. 

Neurotic sidebar:
The menu included grilled lamb. When I said, “we need the meat,” David, the cook, agreed and opened a huge oven door and pulled out the LAMB. It looked like they laid “Fluffy” on a giant cookie sheet and put her in till the hair burned off. I totally lost my appetite for the night.

Back to the barbecue:
So I walk outside and address the giant group. I give them all the rules of the line and then prayed. It was really fun, both serving and entertaining them. I had to repeat the process for dessert and coffee. It was a great night. I’ve often wondered if I could still do food service work. Yep, I can. Who knew Africa could teach you that?

After the exhausted soccer players went to bed, the staff thanked me graciously. It was really special. I welcomed them and hung out to close up. I moved tables and dried dishes. Over the drying table, I got Kikuyu language lessons from the accountant and housekeeper. If you add a “ge” sound to “thani” (plate) it means GIANT plate. This is really funny to Kikuyus. Just so you know, if you ever have to do tribal African stand-up comedy you have your first joke, “ge-thani.” It kills.

I smiled a lot today.

FYI: Tomorrow I leave for Mombassa by bus. I don’t know if I will have daily Internet access. I will write and entry for every day, but I have no idea how often I can post. (or chat. Sorry D).