We did it. We’re here in Kenya with every donated item. Nine checked bags, three carry-ons, and three backpacks stuffed to the gills – easily 500 pounds in total. The nearly 200 fleece blankets (thanks everybody) were put in heavy duty, contractor style plastic trash bag about 15 at a time, the air was sucked out of each bag using a shop vac and the blankets magically shrank, a twist of the plastic bags while still drawing the vacuum sealed them, and a zip tie or two around the twisted neck kept them that way, at least for a short time. We had about 5 minutes to get each of our newly formed blanket “bricks” into our six army duffle bags before the bricks began to expand – relentlessly - as air seeped into the bags through unseen holes and channels. Two such bricks nearly filled each bag. Gaps and cavities above, below, and around the bricks were filled with other donated items like pens, books, and toys until each bag weighed 50 pounds or was stuffed to bursting, whichever came first. Two additional big checked bags held the overflow blanket bricks along with Tootsie Rolls and bubble gum for the villagers, young and old. One more bag was dedicated to the 222 pairs of glasses donated by the Killingworth Lions and Leos. It got a couple of pounds of Tootsie Rolls too for good measure along with whatever we found we could not get in the other bags. Maureen carried the 75 pairs of reading glasses in her carry-on.
We had a close call in NY when Turkish Airlines couldn’t find a record of our extra three checked bags waiver. Panic welled in my belly and I misplaced my own glasses at exactly the same moment. The baggage gods prevailed though and appropriate records were found in the computer database for the waiver. That saved us about $200 per extra bag. I found my glasses too, right in my breast pocket where Sandy must have hidden them.
Our flight from JFK (11:45 PM Saturday) to Istanbul (3:30 PM Sunday) on Turkish Airlines was the best long distance flight any of the three of us ever had (if you ignore the screaming baby near Maureen). In spite of the baby, Maureen liked it because she had expected it to be 15 hours long but it was only about 9 (she apparently neglected to account for the 7-hour time difference). The Boeing 777 seemed to be new and was virtually spotless. We even had lots of leg room in economy. The food was OK and the service was good. There must have been a hundred or more movies to choose from, including a live belly camera view of the ground as we passed over it. The somewhat longer flight from Istanbul to Nairobi was in a smaller, older 737, so creature comforts were not as nice. But it was OK. Sandy and I got a screaming baby in the seats behind us. What luck. Noise cancelling headphones do work though.
This paragraph is being written in real time as we approach Nairobi for landing. The crew just went through the cabin with a bug spray that they assured us was harmless to humans. It’s been 5 minutes. If this paragraph stops mid-stream, perhaps it wasn’t so harmless.
Made it to the next paragraph; harmless it was. We are circling the airport because of “heavy traffic” on the ground. It’s 2:30 AM on Monday.
We got our visas easily after only about 15 minutes in line. We retrieved the checked luggage and headed for CUSTOMS with knots in our stomachs. At this point we each had one of those carts with 3 big bags, one big carry-on, and one over-stuffed backpack. What would they ask us? Would they demand that we open the bags and never be able to close them without a portable shop vac? Would they demand that we pay duty? But, our calm demeanor on the outside and sweet talk must have convinced the customs agent that she did not need to open any of our bags. A couple of her simple question followed by a couple of our honest answers led to big smiles all around, a karibu (welcome) to Kenya, and her gentle wave to us as we made it for the exit, relieved.
We got to the Sportsview Hotel in Nairobi and were tucked away under our mosquito nets by 5 AM. Breakfast at 9, meeting a few old friends on the Sportsview staff, a short walk around Kasarani from 10 to 12, an afternoon nap, this blog, and the day is about over.
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