One Year later

Dec 1st 2019 - a year since we landed in Toronto from Boston. The pic above is from the plane as we were departing. The sun was setting on a late fall evening - those days when the sun sets at 4:00pm - a sure sign that winter is around the corner. For me this was so symbolic of the setting of an era ; a sign from above that our time was up. You see for the past 12 years, my husband and I have called Boston home. It is here we met in college, made friends who became family, went on road trips, and served at our local church. I remember this time last year as though it were yesterday. There were so many unknowns - so much uncertainty and downright fear. You see our daughter was 4 months old - like her neck had  kaukad just enough to hold it upright on her own. She was still 100% breastfeeding.We knew like one person in the whole city. So there we landed - two small kids, car seats, hubby drove across the border with a good friend and a Uhaul in tow; with all our possessions on earth, ready to start a fresh. I remember after the Customs and Immigration official stamped the entry visas and said, " Welcome to Canada." I was like this is it - no turning back.We checked into a Comfort Inn close to the house for the night as we were exhausted - emotionally more than physically - it takes a lot from a human to leave behind all you have known and step into the unknown. Flash forward a year later. Our lives have definitely changed. We are not where / who we were a year ago. The start was bumpy for sure - as all new things are. There were literally times during the year I remember asking my hubby, "Did we make a mistake?" and of course in his always steady tone replied, "No. and even if we did, we will make it work." Today I can tell you with 100% clarity it was never a mistake, Canada may not be perfect - there are things we miss terribly about Boston - but guess what - that is all they are, THINGS.
The nuggets I have taken away from this year:

1.)God is faithful. Even when we are faithless He remains faithful. He is ALWAYS working things out for your good. Like imagine that. The creator of the universe is somewhere writing your life symphony.In  the details He is there. In the huge projects He is there.
2.)Children are resilient. You can drop them in Timbuktu or Russia and they will thrive if you surround them with love and remind them they always have a safe place they can come to called home.
3.) Cross that bridge. There is so much more waiting for you on the other side of your fear. There are literally people who cannot cross their bridge until you cross yours.Reaching their promised land hinges on you reaching the shores of yours. They need you to make that move, start that business and make that engagement proposal. So do it.

4.)Trust the process. Things may look messy, as though they are not making any sense but if you keep putting one foot in front of the other the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place and you will see the picture come together beautifully.
5.)Its harder to make friends when you are older. You see the older we get, the more fixed we are in our ways and our krap radar is so sensitive - you can smell it from a mile away. However I promise you, if you allow yourself to be open to new people and experiences you can learn, grow and forge new friendships with people in all seasons of your life.
6.) Do not settle for average. We are 24 days away from crossing into 2020 and ultimately a new decade. Do not settle for average relationships, average work heck even average food. If someone cannot pay you or see you for what you are worth please do yourself a favor and find your life work.
7.) My definition of success has changed this year - both personally and professionally. Define what success means to you and let no one tell you otherwise.

Over and out,
P.

SGR - to ride or not?

So last week my little family and I had the opportunity to ride the SGR to Mombasa. Me, hubby and two small kids - and by small I mean aged 2 and 7months. Yep we are that loco family that decided what the heck lets ride this thing to Mombasa.So let me back up a little. The whole thing was a package deal through Bonfire Adventures. By the way if you are looking for a good travel company, good customer service - like you can text your agent ANYTHING anytime of the day as you plan your trip please check out Bonfire here. I think I am a low key guru of travel - itineraries and errthang so believe me when I tell you Bonfire is the real deal. So anyway Bonfire had made the package so as we were finalizing the lady tells us its regular economy class on the SGR. My eyes widened a bit. The reason is my sister had been on the SGR and gone with economy and she literally took the bus back from Mombasa after riding it from Nbi. Yani she said the seats were face me - knees touching and all lol. She was also stuck in between madthes playing Dolly Parton and Michael Bolton - no shame in that music game. Another lady told me aai I think those seats are made small for the Chinese. So in short we quickly upgraded our tickets to first class.We parted with an extra 2000 for each ticket - the regular economy coach is 1000. But trust me with two kids it was a small price to pay.

Security
So for me this was overkill. There are literally three layers of security.From the parking lot the first check you lay your bags down and literally step aside with other passengers in a straight line and then out of nowhere some German sheperd looking like dogs come round sniffing the bags for crack or IEDs. The second layer is regular airport like machines and security guards with batons. Here you need to show your ticket and ID. Make sure you arrive at least an hour to be able to print out your ticket if you do not have one already. You will need to key in the phone number of the person who made the booking if you did not do it directly. The third and final layer is ANOTHER aiport screening machine - like the first one is not enough. So you can imagine we had a suitcase diaper bags snack bags and two children it was kinda dramatic. I was like aai even Alcatraz is not this tight.

Terminus:
Both the Nairobi and Mombasa Terminus are so well done. (The Mombasa one a bit better than the Nbi one.) Lots of parking space - you will pay 50shs so you or your driver need to be ready with that, loads of places to sit and wait for the train, there are wheelchair accesible areas - lifts and ramps up to the train.The bathrooms have no toilet paper no baby changing stations - this is a whole topic for another day. I cannot tell you how many places need to install changing stations in Kenya. There needs to be a movement of some kind. I had to change my 7month old on the sink counter. Which is not a big deal but those changing stations would help a bunch.
There is a restaurant you can grab some snacks at the Nbi terminal.
Waiting Lounge - so the first class has its own separate waiting area. It was nice and quiet. I told you its worth the extra cash.
Nairobi terminal is on Mombasa road past the Jomo Kenyatta Airport. A place called Syokimau. Give yourself plenty of time especially with the morning SGR to get there on time to deal with those sniffing dogs.
Mombasa terminal is at a place called Miritini in the North Coast. Again get there on time and try figure out your ride to your destination from the SGR terminus beforehand coz both of these places are kinda far from the city center and there is lots of commotion on exiting with taxi, Uber drivers, tour company drivers etc. looking for their people or any stray person with no plan.

Actual Train
The seats were very spacious. So so comfy - it was better than some flights  Lots of legroom, lots of overhead bag space. Oh so about luggage - there is no checking in your bag ati to the final destination. Nope you are stuck with your luggage until Mombasa. So little secret - consolidate your luggage into one suitcase. Less is more. There is a space at the back of the coach for large luggage - of course like our suitcase. But otherwise there is plenty of over head room for large bags, small suitcases etc. The chairs recline which made it even more relaxing.

Snacks / Freebies - So they came round serving tea and coffee. Nothing like drinking real Kenyan tea in transit. You know usually its a lousy black tea bag with semi-hot water and a drop of milk. This was the real deal like the one you drink at your cucu place over Christmas.
As far as freebies that was it lol ;). Some guy beside us joked to the hostess "aai for first class c at least utupatie ka sausage or samosa." Translated as "for first class there should be at least a sausage or a meat pattie." I really have no opinion on this - who am I kidding - some tu biscuits would be nice.
Moral of the story if you have kids or even just for yourself pack snacks you can munch on. Its six hours, the restaurant is mainly pub like so just pack yourself some digestives, marie biscuits, mahamris - whatever the heck you need to juice you up.
NO WIFI - this for me was a kinda bummer - aii ching chong tuekee internet. There is no Wifi on the train so dont board with all your devices ready to start asking for passwords. I meeeean its 2019 - we kinda get the shakes without internet connection. So I think they need to just hook it up with Wifi

TIMING
Its Impeccable. We rode the afternoon train both ways coz the afternoon one is express.Oh another secret if you are looking to go without stoppin stopping. The afternoon one goes direct from Nbi to Msa and vice versa. The morning one stops at a couple of the terminals kina Emali, mtito andei etc etc. So anyway we were scheduled to depart at 2;30pm and sure enough we started boarding at 2:00pm and by 2:30pm we were pulling out of the station. So this is not African timing things its Chinese time and those people are disciplined ki military.Arrive on time is all I am saying. And on time is minimum an hour before.

Noise Level
It was quiet .Well let me be clear. Our ride to Mombasa was so quiet - I think we were actually the loudest with our two children and all their demands - from lollipops to bathroom breaks to needing naps. If you know kids you know how they can be needy. However our ride back to Nairobi we got seats in a coach with a performing team that hosts a comedy show on KTN. I think its called Inspekta Mwala. They are basically comedians. So we literally were with three or four other people who were sitting with this crew who looked like they had done a weekend shoot in Mombasa. They were having a good time lets just say.It made good comic effect and good photo ops but heh it was quiet in the next coaches.

Sights and Sounds
So you will pass Tsavo National Park. There is a side that has more wildlife - the side away from the road. But again dont over expect as though you have paid for a tour of the Masai Mara. This is a favor Mother nature is doing for you building a railway through her land. You will see lots of zebra, hyenas, a ka random elephant or two, some giraffes that have wandered off etc etc. They are kinda far so unless you have those zooming in lens x100 just enjoy the view and dont start insisting on pictures for IG coz again the train is moving fast.

So in short I enjoyed my SGR experience. I would give it a 5star rating. Well thought out, well managed and good service. Great way to head down to the Coast and support growth of our national railway system. Till next time Tembea Kenya!