MATT: Patience is a virtue. I'm working on it.

Hello blog readers! The last week has flown by so quickly! I went to Mombasa (on the east coast of Kenya) the weekend before last with Courtney and Robert to enjoy a weekend in a beach resort. My expectations were absolutely shattered. The beaches were perfect; blew the Texas gulf beaches right out of the water. I’m sure you’ll all enjoy the image of me lounging in my fishing shirt (with the big Texas vent in the back), sipping on diet coke, reading French novels, and speaking broken Swahili with anyone who would listen.

Mombasa is like no place I have ever been. The beaches are similar to the beauty of what I saw in Thailand, the food is a mix of seafood and more traditional African fare and the people take in life like French people savor fine cuisine. If you have ever seen the Lion King, you know that “hakuna matata” (although the more common expression here is “hakuna shida”) is a way of life for some Africans. Kenya, frankly, moves at a slower pace than most places in the USA in terms of business, technology and customer service. It takes us an hour to eat at even the fastest of fast food restaurants. Getting the bill is like pulling teeth and any adverse reaction to pokiness is generally ignored. Mombasa is the home of “hakuna shida”. We were met in the covered, outdoor lobby of our resort hotel by a group of 6 tribal dancers who we enjoyed very much. Apparently the staff did, too, because they were unable to assist us in checking in until after the 15-minute performance was complete. And that was just the beginning. After being given a walking tour of the hotel, walked through the manager’s suggested daily routine, informed about the beach and towel policies and questioned about our travels, we were finally checked into our rooms an hour and a half after our arrival. The weekend carried on this way with ferries that broke down for several hours, meals that lasted for up to 4 hours due to waiting/ food preparation/ check delivery times, and bar tenders who got around to serving is whenever they felt like it. The only thing that seemed ready to move quickly was the German warship stationed in the harbor awaiting notice of Somali pirate activity. Anyway, I learned to slow down, breathe and adjust my pace, but my patience was clearly eroded by the time the weekend was over. In short, Mombasa is a beautiful place that is meant to be admired and taken in, not rushed through by impatient American tourists. Hakuna shida.

I have received a request to talk a little about exactly what it is that I eat here. I expected to find few things that I enjoy and lots of things that scare me. I have been pleasantly surprised. Basically, Courtney and I love a place called Nairobi Java where we can get pseudo-American cuisine and enjoy free internet. I have also taken up cooking dinner at home about three nights a week. However, every now and then we try something new with Kenyan flare. Here are my observations to date: Starches are present at every meal in some form or another, but generally as rice, ugali (a cornstarch/ maize flour dish that is the consistency of firm mashed potatoes) or boiled potatoes. The dishes themselves, though, are as diverse as the people and history of this intriguing country. The Kikuyu, Abaluha and Luo tribes have contributed many elements to Kenyan cuisine like seared/ roasted corn, irio (corn, beans and Kale) and potatoes. The British (most of you know Kenya was an imperial British colony) brought teas, coffees and pastries and the Indians have contributed samosas, chai (which is also the Swahili word for tea), spices and masala. Most dishes are very simple: some protein that has been grilled and seasoned with a light sauce or gravy served with a heaping scoop of one of the starches I mentioned above. A custom that Courtney and I love is that any time is a good time for tea and coffee in Kenya. At literally every meeting we are offered tea, and we just love the unique flavor of Kenyan chai.

All is well on the business front. We are still moving ahead with our busy meeting schedule. We have now met with well over 50 Kenyans in top positions with organizations and businesses that are important to the success of our venture, and we’ve really only had one or two meetings that we can’t say were over-the-top positive (and both of those meetings were actually still very good). We’re still working through the mess of branding, logo, website design (which we need to get more serious about) and especially a fleshed-out, finalized business plan of our own with clear details about where we are getting our funding, how much everything will cost and how we will operate as an institution. We have a month of precious “Kenya time” left to pull together an impressive final draft of our plan. Keep us in your prayers.

Lastly, we’re planning a small 4th of July shindig and are quite excited at the prospects of being obnoxiously proud Americans for a few hours. We’ve got some great British friends here who we have asked to wear red coats to the event. Hope they’ll take us up on it.

I look forward to hearing from you all … your encouraging e-mails and phone calls have meant the world to me. Although I am not terribly homesick, I do (as is always the case when I am away) miss Texas. As Pat Green says of songs about the lone star state, “I wish I could follow them back to the homeland every time I hear one on my radio”.

PV,

M