October 15th

Today is October 15th. This was the day we'd been assured we'd be moving.  There are visitors coming on the 21st or 25th who are supposed to stay in the house we're currently living in, which is why we need to move ASAP.  I was foolish enough to have hope that this would actually happen.

It's not.

Things were progressing well, the carpentry and painting going smoothly and swiftly.  We really thought it would happen. And it could have, except for one thing:

The President of Kenya came to Kijabe.

Which meant that instead of repairing our bathroom and finishing our floors, it was a rush to get Kijabe Hospital in a presentable state for Mr. President.  Things that have been neglected, ignored, or forgotten were suddenly given new life.  Walls were sanded and painted. Roads repaired.  Patients were cleared out of the Casualty Department (closest thing we have to an ER) because, of course, the president wouldn't want to see patients.

He was coming for a grand opening ceremony for the hospital's four new operating theaters.  The cool thing about the day is that my friends Francis & Tobias got to perform a "dummy" surgery for the president, explaining the ins-and-outs of a typical orthopedic surgery.

So, here are some shots of what was being done around Kijabe instead of in our house:

 painting the curb; general gardening.

This is usually an empty field, where teams play soccer.  This was where the big ceremony was happening, and so needed to be spruced up a bit.  See those patches of green? That was a quick fix to a brown field.  However, it seems filling the whole field with grass was not necessary.

The white building there is the President's "throne room." Apparently, he needs a private toilet wherever he goes.  I think this ended up being moved closer to the dental clinic.

The roads in Kijabe are notoriously awful.  I think that's what people complain about more than anything.  They are dirt roads that get easily beat up with all the traffic that passes by. Plus, with all the construction going on, the big trucks have really done a number on them.  The general "fix it" for the roads is to fill the holes with more dirt...which washes away at the next rain.

So, it takes the President's visit to pull out the big guns!

They were really burning the midnight oil to get this done before his visit in the morning.  We're glad for the updates, but hope that our house finishes soon!