8. Welcome to Kenya: East Africa a New Life Adventure

Landing in Nairobi we found ourselves halfway around the world from our home in Idaho and many time zones from New York. That left our children wide awake at midnight and asleep midday. Jet lag was a new phenomenon to the whole family. The effects of this dissipated  in a couple of days.  After arriving  at Nairobi we all were housed in an older British style hotel (The Brenner or Brennen; memory after 50 years can not come up with the name) where children's meals were served separately from the parents. As parents who practiced control at meal time this, gave us some concern and to our surprise the children conducted themselves quite well.  

We were at Brenner’s for about  three days before a Land Rover showed up to transport us to the Kigari Teachers Training College near Embu on the Eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. Kigari was farther up the mountain and a little north of Embu, nearly 60 miles north of the Equator, at 5500 feet above sea level.  We arrived during a school break and no students or faculty were on Campus. We were housed in temporary quarters until the Headmaster arrived, which happened about a week later.  We participated in some activities including walks around the Campus to familiarize ourselves with the environment and some craft work to keep us occupied during idle time. 

The college did not have 24 hour electricity.  In other words it was not on the “main lines”.  Electricity was supplied by a 220 volt diesel generator that operated about four hours a day, shutting off at about 10 o’clock every day.  We thought that the family needed a refrigerator. The choice was gas or electricity.  We were told that the Mains would be there within a few months, so we decided on electricity. Well, the Mains got there a year and a half later! We had neglected to consider “African Time” (noted for delays). The  family managed by layering the refrigerator with insulation and opening the device sparingly.