Dear Friends, I hope this is read by someone. It will save me lots of individual email replies! Anyway, Nairobi right now is tense with Al Quieda idiots at a mall not too far from here. They have killed almost 60 people so far. So surreal! I had two family members visit me last Tuesday afternoon. We went to visit and feed the giraffes at a nearby refuge for giraffes and warthogs . . . yes, warthogs. It was fun to feed the gentle giraffes and see them up so close. Then we went to the Karen Blixen museum which is only 3 miles or so from here. She is the one who ran a coffee plantation from 1912 till the 1930s, failed in doing that, but wrote a number of very successful books. The movie Out Of Africa with R. Redford and Meryl Streep, was based on the book she wrote about her life and marriage while on the plantation. One great surprise for me was to learn that she also authored the book on which the movie, Babette's Feast, was based. That movie is one of the all-time greats for me. I have seen it three times and am deeply moved each time! Her building and plantation, now a national museum, are gorgeous, and our guide around the place was outstanding. I would recommend the tour to anyone visiting here. Last Thursday around 5 PM I had my first encounter with a snake. It had been raining rather heavily, a chilly one at that, and as I was waiting to start the mass for the retreatants, I saw on the floor of the sacristy a black object with white colored rings every inch or so on it. It was about a foot long and not very thick. I thought it was a piece of cloth, since it lay there so motionless. After I finished the mass I stayed in the chapel to pray for 20 minutes, finished and got up only to see this same object under my chair. It was then I realized that this was a snake and that it had crawled out of the cold rain, into the sacristy, and later wiggled its way across the chapel's wooden parque floor. I did not know how to react, so I just left it there. I went to the dining room and during dinner told the other Jesuits about this incident. They told me it is poisonous. I asked what should one do in such a situation. One responded strongly, "Kill it!" Sadly, one of the nuns on retreat killed it later that evening after she had come to the other side of the chapel and found the snake had crawled to where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and people were gathering for an hour's adoration. Retreat work is often profound and very touching to see how God moves people to new freedoms and joy. I wish more people discovered such an opportunity. I spend my mornings listening to and offering guidance to 5 retreatants, 45 minutes for each of them. Then in the afternoon I try to take the next step in my getting situated here. I still don't have a driver's license. I have to first get my visa upstaged to a more permanent status. To do that I have to get proof of the college degrees I have earned. What a pain to try to get such from archives back in the USA and then to find a way to pay in US money for the service. My tourist visa is good till December 19. I am able to follow Tiger baseball and Lions football on the internet and a little of Michigan news on mlive.com, national stuff on the headlines of the NYTimes. Lastly, the interview that the new pope gave for America magazine and published earlier this week is truly amazing. This man is so frank, so down-to-earth, so disarming and human. It augers very well for the church his time of leadership. He has some major decisions to make in the coming months. God be with him! I will close out now. God's blessings be with you and all you do. Fr. Bernie