Shopping in Nairobi (Friday, 3 March 2006)

Archdeacon Robert & Bishop Bullen had arranged for Sandy, Father Bob, and me to have a driver to take us shopping on Friday. Rick was supposed to meet with diocesan folks to review building plans and talk about how to build more durable structures.

When I awoke that morning, I finally did turn on the little television in my room. And I saw that it’s raining in Kenya. The people in Lui were so desperately in need of rain! And I paused in my morning preparations to pray again that the rains would move north, into Lui, to give them the rain they need so desperately.

Ambrose drove us to a market with lots of indigenous craftspeople. We had asked for this, instead of the capitalist retail shops.

As we drove through Nairobi, I was struck by the vegetation, which was amazingly lush. This is a photo just outside the Guest House.

There were some wonderful items in the market, but this was a hard experience for me. For the merchants were all but grabbing us and dragging us into their stalls. And I’m not good at doing those negotiations. In addition, the prices on the merchandise were merely suggestions, and haggling was the rule of the day. But I’m not a haggler.

However, I did buy a few items – including some earrings from this merchant.
At the end of our shopping spree, Ambrose drove us to lunch, where we hooked up with the other Missouri travelers, then went to the Diocesan headquarters.