Update 4

First a QOTD.

This morning Steven was bouncing around the kitchen, frying up a passel of veggies and eggs, looking very pleased with himself and life.

Paul: Are you enjoying yourself?

Steven: I am VERY MUCH enjoying myself!

Paul: So, you're having a good time?

Steven: I'm having a VERY good time!

And that, people, makes it all worthwhile.

It is so odd coming back here with Steven. Picture an old photograph, black and white. Ok, now picture the negative. White is black and black is white. Everything you knew about light and color in the first is reversed in the second.

Oregon is full of white folks. Steven always stands out in a crowd. If you're shopping and see a black guy out of the corner of your eye you know it's just Steven trailing along a bit behind like he always does.

But here, the non-Steven family members stand out and get stared at. And all of us keep whirling around and looking for Steven because we're afraid we'll lose him in the crowds. And when we're shopping for carved lions and see a big black guy out of the corner of our eye our first thought is that Steven is right behind us and then we whirl around because no, it isn't Steven, and where in the world is he?

Oh. Over there. The Luo guy with American clothes.

Everyone expects Steven to speak Luo, but unfortunately he's forgotten most of it. Even when he's obviously with our family, people look totally confused when they speak to him in Luo and he doesn't answer.

We had a few strange episodes at the Nairobi airport. We were all clustered at the desk to get our passports stamped, and one by one we had to make ourselves known, get compared to our passport photo, and have our picture taken. The guy spoke English to all of us until it was Steven's turn. Then he turned to this American kid in American clothes with an American passport and a surname of Smucker, and told him what to do in Luo. Huh? He repeated it. We all looked confused. I turned to the official and said, "He speaks English." So he complied, but acted like the world suddenly didn't make as much sense as it once did.

I forget at which point in the process we had to pass through a doorway and show our passports. I showed the guy all seven at once, then we walked on as a group and Steven as usual was last. The official stopped him in his tracks and said something like, "Where do you think you're going?" Steven said, "I'm with them." The official looked like, "Nice try, kid," and at that point I turned around and saw what was happening and tried not to freak out and said, "He's with us!" Mercy, something about that gave me a turn and ever since I've been harping at Steven to keep one of the rest of us behind him at all times.

And there again, the official looked like his understanding of the world was flipped around, and next thing you knew, rain would start falling up instead of down.

Everyone who knew Steven before keeps exclaiming about how huge he is now compared to then. Kenyans are naturally tall people, and I wonder what they would be like if they all had access to meat and potatoes for supper every night, seven eggs for breakfast, and peanut butter sandwiches in between. They'd be a nation of giants.