Birthday Celebrations and a Slow Paced Life

Yesterday we celebrated the birthdays of Suzy and Andrew, George's sister and brother in law. In Kenya, birthdays are different than in the US. The birthday person invites people out to celebrate with them and they pick up the tab (instead of the others paying for the birthday person). In this case, there were 14 of us. We down to the lake (Victoria) where we ate at a fish house. You pick out the fish you want them to prepare and then they cook it for you. Each fish fed three people. The fish is brought out and put out on the table, head, bones and all. You have to pick the meat off of the bones. The fish we had was talapia which I am able to eat in small doses.

After lunch, a group of us headed out for a walk. We walked along the train tracks and watched a few trains go by. Then we headed up to a shopping center where we had sodas. Again the birthday person paid. The rule is, whoever invites people out pays the bill. It's so hard for me to accept that. I want to pay at least for my portion.

It was a nice, slow pace afternoon. That's how things roll here. Slow paced. It's still something I have to get used to. No need to make plans, just see how the day unfolds. I remember in Sudan, I used to walk so fast, heading from one task to the next. Later when I became friends with the Kenyan staff members, they told me they would laugh at me streaking across the compound – always on a mission. I then told them it used to drive me crazy how slow they walked! Now I am getting used to and liking this slower pace. Life is about people not tasks (imagine!).