There are moments when I can't tell if I'm in Nairobi, Kenya or a born-again revival somewhere in Alabama. Jesus is alive and well in East Africa... astonishing to see after leaving the muslim-dominated coast of Tanzania.

Our downtown hotel is just next to a theater that has been taken over by an amazingly loud James Brown-like preacher who calls his place of worship "The Maximum Miracle Center." Services at The Maximum Miracle Center commence about every other hour throughout the day... weekends and weekdays. Think the wildest sounding caricature of an Evangelical movie preacher at high volume and you've about got it.

"The same one is played back-to-back repeatedly."
From the other side of the hotel blares the latest contemporary Christian music. There are three or four pirated music shops with giant speakers aimed into the street. "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" and "Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Path" are some of the most popular selections. Often the same one is played back-to-back repeatedly.

This is apparently a fairly new development here in Kenya. We were told in the last few years church has become the hip thing to do. The guy we talked to seemed to imply churchgoing is more for entertainment than soul-saving. "We go to church now rather than going to movies," he said. And I can tell you, these churches are every bit as loud and stimulating as a Hollywood movie.

"All were entertaining and offered a nice respite."
Speaking of which, we've been getting our fill of movies in the last few days. In Uganda we saw "Pirates of the Caribbean." And in Nairobi we've seen "The Italian Job" and "Hollywood Homicide." None was spectacular. All were entertaining and offered a nice respite.

The best part of going to a movie in Nairobi is the national anthem. Before the previews a slide comes on that says, "Please stand for the national anthem. This is mandatory." People actually do it. There in the big theater with about ten other people, we all stood as a dirty old film of the Kenyan flag played along with their rather uninspiring national anthem. It felt rather ridiculous and made me wonder what happens if one doesn't stand.

"People who are actually glad I'm coming to their country."
We got our Ethiopian visas yesterday for the obnoxious cost of $70 each. But the people at the embassy were very nice and processed our passports in just a couple of hours. I'll pay a bit of a premium to deal with pleasant people who are actually glad I'm coming to their country. And remember... Brazil got more than double that out of me.

And get this... we may crash a party at the American embassy next week. The day after Matt gets back from his safari, there's a reception being held by the new American ambassador to Kenya and all Americans in Nairobi are invited. You get food and a tour of the new embassy... all for sitting through a speech by the new guy. Sounds like a real estate junket.

"If my offices got bombed by Osama I'd be a little cautious too."
It's guaranteed to be a who's who of American expatriate Kenya, so it should be quite humorous to see two scruffy guys wondering around eating the food and looking suspicious. I imagine we'll be throughly wanded. Entertainingly, the email invitation said we should bring our passports and be sure not to share details of the reception with any non-Americans. I chuckle, but I suppose if my offices got bombed by Osama I'd be a little cautious too.

So after Matt's safari is over Tuesday we'll be off to Ethiopia. This will be rather interesting, as there is no bus service to the border. It seems the only form of transport is as part of a convoy of cattle trucks. On the cattle truck. They load the cattle below and then charge people to sit on top of the racks. It takes two days. We've met people who've done it and say it's not as dangerous as it sounds since the road is atrocious and the trucks must creep along.

I'll probably post something else before we leave, but if not I should letch'all know it might be several days before another update. There's not a lot of email in Ethiopia, and none between Nairobi and Addis Ababa. So it'll be until we arrive in the capital before I can post anything. I'll fill you in when we're there.