Random thoughts of Tara's

   This is Tara posting for the family!!!:)

   A tuk-tuk!!! I can't wait to ride in one!!!:) tho when I hear them on the 'road' it sounds like the poor things are gonna fall completely apart the next time they hit a pothole. But they never do!!:) and they continue to hit the holes...

                    

   Two of the many many adorable children here. :) my heart is already struggling with the fact that I will have to leave these beautiful people.  

   So on the way home from Nairobi, I would just randomly wave at the people.... Sometimes they would stare at me and make me feel like a flea, but most of the time they would wave and smile!!! Once we were going through town and I waved at this lady and boy, you should have seen her face!!! She GRINNED and waved back, with both hands. So I kept grinning and waving to her and she started laughing and waving more furiously, if that was possible(she was really going at it)...!!!:) It was really sweet...  One thing that I noticed is that when I smile they almost always would smile back even if they didn't wave... Another thing,(wow I could just go on and on and on!!!:) if their hands were full or they were riding bike(lots of those,besides the piki pikis)  they would 'wave' with their heads and not just like a nod, but a very energetic 'head dance!!' :) 

   "Police check!!!" And a mad scramble ensues to get at least half way sat down and turned around!! Over here we don't have to wear seat belts and most of the time there is more people then seat belts in the van... It's a party and everyone sits where they want to(most of the time!!!:) Well anyhoo, these police checks consist of random police on the road, several vehicles pulled over and something that resembles a nail strip over one lane. The police want us to stop because they are looking for bribes. (They sometimes look for bombs, though they wouldn't know one if it blew up in their face!) If they think we have money(well, they are positive we have money because we are the mazungas(rich white people!!:) they point to us, meaning they want us to pull over... Yesterday we went through a police check and one of the guys pointed at our vehicle and do you know what Marlin did?!! He just grinned, waved at the guy and sped away while the children in the van laughed!!:) He said that he will not stop for them unless they step out on the road in front of him...:) Which, with Marlin at the wheel, I doubt many of them will try it..!!:) 

  The driving here is crazy!! They drive on the wrong side of the road and the driver sits in the passengers seat!!:) On the way home from church we were going through town and there was some seriously close and tight traffic, it wasn't even bumper to bumper... It was bumper to the driver door, fender to the back door, bumper to hood and mirror to mirror. I doubt you've ever seen anything like it. It was CRAZY!!!!! It was like a NYC rush-hour traffic jam but instead of everyone being stopped everyone was going it his or her own direction while honking their horns. It's really hard to explain, but I hope you get the point...!!:) At one point when we when passing a semi, there was no more then 3 inches between the van and the truck. It was really close, needless to say, I screeched and did a small dance in my seat..!!!:) 

We are having a good time so far, though Alison was down with the flu yesterday and Natalie is down today. There is a flu going around the compound... Pray that the rest of us would not get it...