First Days in the U.S. for our Kenyan Guest

While Steven waited in the plane on the tarmac at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, his good friend, Joseph Lekuton, phoned to tell me to be sure to take good care of Steven during his visit. Joseph explained that, on this trip, it would be enough to make sure that Steven came away with an understanding of and appreciation for American culture. So, after waiting in eager anticipation for Steven's arrival, I can hardly believe that he is here and has so quickly and easily become part of our family and our life.

For our part, we are trying to balance being our "normal" selves with our excitement to show him many things. On the normal side of things, he sits at the table with us at our family dinners, smiles at the antics of our 17-year-old son, and, even has run errands with us to the grocery. He joined me at my regular Saturday morning volunteer service gig and even happily went to their Saturday morning orientation for new volunteers. He saw a movie last night at the movie theater with us and laughed right along at the funny bits. He joined the boys last night on the couch for the NCAA semi-finals and read about the games in this morning's Washington Post as if he had always been following March Madness. On the unusual side of things, we wanted to take advantage of the blossoming cherry trees and the events so we dragged him downtown, along with the hundreds of thousands of other people doing the same thing.

I don't really know if we are usual or unusual, typical or atypical of an American family. I do know we enjoy having guests and Steven seems to be doing well, especially as we sit beside each other now typing away at our blogs, each on our laptops, at the dining table.

Laurel

(Photos: Laurel Seid)