Falling in Love with Kenya

A friend in our Kenyan-adoption-community posted these questions on our facebook group recently: "What will you do to make sure your child is proud of Kenyan roots? What do you love about Kenya that is encouraging you to adopt a Kenyan child?"
It took us so long to settle into Kenya that I have not been able to fall in love with this country as quick as I thought I would. My goal this last year here is to be able to answer those questions and to fall in love with Kenya.
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The thunder is so loud I hear it in stereo, as if I am up in the heavens with it.

Pineapple juice.

Electric yellow birds.  Electric blue birds.

Avocados are so cheap I could eat guacamole every meal. (20 cents each)

Mangoes.

The weather.  No humidity. Not too hot or too cold.

Upside-down bird nests.

The guard at the mall recently stared intensely in my eyes and said, "You are so beautiful." (I blushed; my kids laughed.)

Bird nests made out of mud on the side of my house.

Crazy beautiful flowers.

The Kenyan clerk at the meat market knows me by name. Has a big, beautiful smile each time I see him.

Kevin fires up the chiminea on the back-porch when he comes home from work, and we sit and relax and talk.

We live right beside a huge playground. And a soccer field.

We live in a beautiful, 5 bedroom home that has a separate homeschool room and separate play room!

There are flower stands all on the side of the road. Flowers are so inexpensive. Kevin bought me 4 dozen yesterday when he was out running errands.

Kenyans love children. Even when Nicholas was screaming to the top of his lungs (as he was today at the mall in the elevator), the Kenyan women in the elevator with us laughed and laughed and muttered something about "two-year-olds".  I apologized repeatedly, and they kept laughing and said to stop apologizing!

The birds here sing. I'm not talking about the usual bird twirping sounds like the birds in the States.  I'm talking about, these birds sing a melody and hold out each note. It's amazing. Sometimes I feel like there are humans sitting in the trees singing to me. You know the Mockingjay call from Hunger Games? There is even one bird that has a 4-note tune that sounds a lot like that same tune.

Kenyans love Jesus. They are aware of the spirit world around us - they know Holy Spirit and are knowledgeable about spiritual warfare. I can talk about Jesus to anybody and they nod and say "amen" (especially if I'm on a roll about something!). I love it. Most folks in America are afraid to talk about Jesus.