Friends for Brunch

On Saturday morning we invited Cathy (who helps me with housework and cooking 2 days a week) and Emily (who works for the family next door) to come share brunch with us. Cathy and Emily are sisters and have become good friends of mine. They talk a lot about their families and this was an opportunity for us to meet everyone! Here we are with Emily (far left), Cathy and her husband, Ken (far right).

Despite the fact that my oven was not cooperating (the muffins and strata were undercooked, the pancakes were burned), we had a fun time. They said many times that they were honoured to be invited to share a meal with us. Cathy’s husband, Ken, said he had never been inside the home of a mzungu (“white man”).
We had brought back a few gifts from Canada for them – cotton underwear, socks, lego, hand towels, stick deodorant, nail polish. The children were most excited about the pyjamas that my mom made for Ricky (age 2), Tony (age 6), and Brian (age 9). We explained our family tradition of having new, hand-made pyjamas for Christmas – Max and Simon showed off their new ones. Tony and Brian insisted that their new pyjamas would be perfect for church! We tried to explain how we have different clothes for sleeping – this differentiation is not known to most Kenyans.
After eating we all went to the pool in borrowed swim suits. Most Kenyans do not know how to swim. This was the first time that Emily, Cathy or the kids had been swimming. They thoroughly enjoyed splashing around the wade pool. Emily even ventured to the big pool and became proficient with the flutter board!




At the end of the day we had bottles of pop and sat on the deck quietly watching the view. Emily thoughtfully said “This was a classic day Lisa.” (I think classic means special.) Cathy quietly followed with “Our minds can’t take any more.” It was a special day for all of us.