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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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THE REAL DANGER ISN’T ALWAYS WHERE YOU EXPECT IT…..

Mom warned me about snakes all my life, and particularly whenever we headed for tropical climes. This trip to Kenya was no different - I got to hear about the cobras in Penang once again…and then I find that there ARE cobras here, and that a friend has seen them, and a friend of HIS actually has the skin of a 7-footer. Enough to make you think twice about walking around at night!!

But, a far more immediate threat of mayhem awaits us whenever we head over to the cafeteria—here is the path:
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We follow neither set of concrete stones, but head into the herbiage to the right of that light pole, right past those pretty little trees and between the giant shipping containers in the background. And those “pretty little trees” look like THIS, up close:
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After seeing this close up on the first day, and realizing that we would be walking that way in the dark at times, I (very carefully) bent back some of the long branches and hooked them on twigs farther back toward the trunk, so that our actual path is now pretty clear. Remember, this is where the giraffe and black rhino get their leaves—from BETWEEN these nasty thorns!

We’ve been eating three great meals each day - at least two starches each time, and they might be rice and potatoes, or rice and noodles, tonight it was rice and sweet potatoes (which were delicious). Then there are either lentils or beans, plus some protein like (wonderful homemade) gluten or tofu in a savory sauce, and a vegetable, finishing with a plate containing salad and fruit. The salads have included various permutations of cole slaw, plus mixed greens, cucumber and carrots, etc. We’ve had green mango (hmmmm), lovely ripe ones, watermelon, and tonight papaya. Lots of bananas at breakfast. The food is very good, and the students eat prodigious quantities. We’re keeping it in check, lest we come home looking like blimps!

We’ve also walked pretty much all over the 100+ acres on which sit Maxwell Adventist Academy, the East and Central African Division (that may not be the official name), and the very new Adventist University in Africa, which will become the seminary and graduate school for this continent - at least, that’s the current plan. The main office building plus three homes and one guesthouse is all that’s completed, but work on more faculty homes proceeds apace, and we saw the plans for a really major installation over the next few years.

Tomorrow morning I have my first class, and we’re going to town with friends to buy train tickets. I’ll have another report, later - Gail wants my computer.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/24 at 01:14 PM

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