Busy Saturday

The kids with Secretary Clinton

Yesterday we had a very busy Saturday.  First, we went to a new student orientation picnic at the kid’s school.  It was great to see the school and meet some of the families that will be attending this year.  The school has a beautiful campus with a lot of trees and playgrounds.  They have a swimming pool and offer swimming as part of the P.E. curriculum.  The kids and I had a great time!  Unfortunately, JTP was not there.  He was busy with our second activity.

The second thing that we did was meet Secretary Clinton.  She came to visit Kenya to announce more aid to the country and to encourage fair and transparent elections this coming spring.  She requested to have a meet and greet with the Embassy families.  This is not really what it sounds like.  We don’t actually get to talk with her.  Mainly with these types of visits we wait and wait and wait while the visitor is in meetings and then listen to them speak for a few minutes.  The speech is followed by a rope line walk where we can shake hands with the visitor and usually a picture is taken with a select group of people.  With Secretary Clinton, I shook her hand and the kids were in a photo with her.  AJP was lucky enough to have her speak to him.  It was a neat experience. 

JTP’s part of this visit was a bit different.  He was a note taker in one of the meetings.  This means that he takes notes on the meeting and then writes a cable summing it up to be sent back to the Department.  He said that Secretary Clinton was really impressive.  She was polite but direct.  It was a great experience for him - even if he missed the picnic and we did not see him all day!