Speck slept till 9 am. That is like a record. Caroline unfortunately still is fighting with the mattress. This day marks a week that Speck has been in Kenya and his wife tells him today is the day... The day he washes his underwear! Dreading this day, Speck has been stretching the life of his boxers by wearing the same pair for an average of 2 days, so he only has to wash 4 pairs. With Jacinta's help he gets soapy water and begins to wash. Janet seems to think he is doing it wrong and almost chokes on her breakfast of leftover rice and green grams she is laughing so hard. After threatening to throw his half cleaned and very wet underwear at her she finally stopped and decided the most helpful thing would be ... read more

Another morning with a stiff back, Speck is having terrible disagreements with Janet's mattress. Attempted solution is to scrounge a different mattress that is much softer. Breakfast introduces Speck to Kenyan pancakes, which are like thick crepes, like chapati and a pancake had a baby. Around 1 Speck, Caroline and Junior catch a city bus to see Mama Jo, aka Caroline and Junior's Aunt Margaret. Also there is Karen, the 7 year old toothless scholar, and her mama and little brother Jackie and Keegan. They visit, have dinner, Speck learns that Caroline knows how to make chapati, the Kenyan tortilla that Speck really likes. After dark they catch a Nissan, a minivan/ bus that is driven with wild abandon while thumping music plays and the money collector hangs out the open door while traversing the most ... read more

Today was Sunday, and that usually means church. Speck and Caroline did not go for 2 reasons, Speck speaks no Swahili and the water was off, delaying showering. Junior is expected to be back and provide transport at noon to downtown Nairobi so that Speck and Caroline could catch up with Bilha Muthoni, aka, Caroline's sister in law. Caroline grew impatient when at 12:30 Junior was still a no-show and she and Speck walked to the bus stop and took the Double M bus into town. This was Specks first experience with Kenya traffic and he found it very similar to Panamanian traffic. Two lane roads had three lanes of traffic, stop lights are suggestions, and pedestrians are nearly fearless. Bilha was found quickly even though her cellphone was dead and the identification she had provided ... read more

Speck's travel challenge begins the night before as he woke up at 10 pm to squeeze in one last shift at work before absconding for 25 days. After his 8 hour shift, during which he checked travel weather reports, printed terminal maps for the airports he would pass thru and checked to see if there were any changes in flight status, Speck rushed home for a shower and to make sure Caroline was awake and ready to climb into the car. Lights were staged, all cabinet doors opened so that pipes would not freeze (it was -1 f), thermostat turned down to 60, bags by the front door and Caroline stressed for the strange reason of she is not used to being ready on time or early. Mama Speck arrived in the van and Speck schlepped ... read more

Day Three dawns and guess what? Speck is awake retardedly early (if you have traveled with me before you know this is out of habit for me at home but typical when I escape the confines of Lexington). Breakfasted and caught up on email I manage to annoy Angela out of her bed and shake a leg. She needs to run and so heads to the hotel gym while I catch a little tv. (ESPN is somehow more special when you don't have cable at home... Finally we get out the door and head for the rail. We need to catch the El to Oak Park 'cause that's where there are like 11 Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings, I enjoy the architecture and Angela has been reading a book called Loving Frank about his long term affair. ... read more