I am in Nairobi! A short 36 hours from leaving home and a few re-directions on my flights I landed in Kenya. Unfortunately my bag didn't come along with me, but we have since been re-united. The whole team is here and healthy.
We went to see the Great Rift Valley and had some goat meat boiled with Kale for dinner. Something new for me.
I saw half a dozen Zebras standing along the highway as we were driving into town--another first for me!
We are staying in a Hostel and working with a Nairobi missionary named Dan this week. Today we are going to his son's first basketball game.
To introduce us to Kenya we were immersed into a game of The Amazing Race. We ran all over Nairobi using public transportation, our feet, and some little 'taxi' cars called "Matatu" they cost about 20 shillings (or 40 cents) per ride and can take you anywhere --until rush hour --then the whole city is grid locked and it is much faster to go by foot.
We ended on the rooftop of a very tall building with a wonderful view of the city.
My guide was a student at a local Bible College, He is training to be a Missionary!
Before bed we had a late dinner of pizza with steak topping. Very similar to your pizza --just different toppings offered.
Today is a shopping day. Time to find mosquito netting to sleep under, some LONG sleeve blouses and long skirts and head scarves. Shopping is a bit more fun in Kenya.
Your prayers are appreciated. There is a lot of outright spiritual warfare in this area as you can see by reading Fox news stories of Kenya. I will post as often as I can -- it depends on access to the internet.
What will GOD have for me today?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Travel
Random fact of the day: Airports in the UK run everything on military time (a twenty-four hour clock) instead of by the AM / PM system that American airports use (at least for tickets and stuff that the passengers see).
Yep. I'm stuck on a layover in the Heathrow Airport, so, you get to be subjected to my boredom as well. :)
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Yep. I'm stuck on a layover in the Heathrow Airport, so, you get to be subjected to my boredom as well. :)
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Monday, January 12, 2009
Getting Closer
Gah! (Yes, Melissa, I just stole your noise...although I'm not real sure how to write it.)
Three and a half more days and I'll be on a plane to Kenya! Well...to Seattle and then to Chicago and then to London and then -- thirty five hours or so later -- I'll finally land in Kenya. Yeah. I am going to be so ready to get off that plane and get through customs!
It's been so long in the planning though, that it seems odd to be actually leaving. I got hugs from all sorts of random ladies, that I swear I have never seen before, at church on Sunday, all of whom were, "so excited for me!" It was rather amusing in a slightly odd sort of way.
The fourth and fifth graders made me cards to take with me. One had a drawing of a giraffe, a well, and a penguin. Not real sure what is going on there. Maybe penguins live in Kenya and I just didn't know about it?
They weren't the only creative ones though.
My small group created an entire scene on the front of theirs and then proceeded to explain to me how the butterflies were carrying the iguanas because they were allies in a war against the snakes, and they were about to drop the iguanas on the snakes in a sort of aerial assault.
Yep. We're special. Lol.
Three and a half more days and I'll be on a plane to Kenya! Well...to Seattle and then to Chicago and then to London and then -- thirty five hours or so later -- I'll finally land in Kenya. Yeah. I am going to be so ready to get off that plane and get through customs!
It's been so long in the planning though, that it seems odd to be actually leaving. I got hugs from all sorts of random ladies, that I swear I have never seen before, at church on Sunday, all of whom were, "so excited for me!" It was rather amusing in a slightly odd sort of way.
The fourth and fifth graders made me cards to take with me. One had a drawing of a giraffe, a well, and a penguin. Not real sure what is going on there. Maybe penguins live in Kenya and I just didn't know about it?
They weren't the only creative ones though.
My small group created an entire scene on the front of theirs and then proceeded to explain to me how the butterflies were carrying the iguanas because they were allies in a war against the snakes, and they were about to drop the iguanas on the snakes in a sort of aerial assault.
Yep. We're special. Lol.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Marshmallow Guns
This is what happens when you get cousins together on a bored, snowy day:
You put mini marshmallows into the top part and then shoot them out like a blow dart. When your face is about to freeze off outside, you move into the house and continue the war.
Yeah. It make a mess. :)
This was the day after Christmas, and we're still finding mini marshmallows every time we move the furniture...
You put mini marshmallows into the top part and then shoot them out like a blow dart. When your face is about to freeze off outside, you move into the house and continue the war.
Yeah. It make a mess. :)
This was the day after Christmas, and we're still finding mini marshmallows every time we move the furniture...
Travel Details
So, now that the blog is password protected, you get to know all of the exciting -- and not so exciting -- details that I know.
Unfortunately, I don't know all that many.
My mom, dad, and I are going to drive up to Seattle next Thursday afternoon (Jan 15th), and then I will fly out of SeaTac right after lunch on the 16th. After spending just about as many hours in the Chicago and London airports as I do actually on a plane, I'll get into Nairobi a little after 6:30AM on the 18th (about 9:30 at night on the 17th Washington time).
The rest of my team should be showing up throughout the rest of the day (the last ones get in by about 10:30PM) and then we'll hang in Nairobi with our site supervisor for about a week, buying all of the things that we couldn't fit in a single suitcase but will need for the next sixteen months, clothes, electronics, mosquito nets, etc.
The plan after that is to head 4 - 5 hours east, where we'll join the team that has been there for the last year (they'll head back to the states in March) and start language learning.
After that...is a little fuzzy...but, as soon as I know details, I'll update you guys.
In the meantime, I'm going to go try and pack up my entire room so that Kayla can take it over, and fit sixteen months worth of stuff into one fifty pound bag and one backpack. Fun, fun! Lol.
<><
Unfortunately, I don't know all that many.
My mom, dad, and I are going to drive up to Seattle next Thursday afternoon (Jan 15th), and then I will fly out of SeaTac right after lunch on the 16th. After spending just about as many hours in the Chicago and London airports as I do actually on a plane, I'll get into Nairobi a little after 6:30AM on the 18th (about 9:30 at night on the 17th Washington time).
The rest of my team should be showing up throughout the rest of the day (the last ones get in by about 10:30PM) and then we'll hang in Nairobi with our site supervisor for about a week, buying all of the things that we couldn't fit in a single suitcase but will need for the next sixteen months, clothes, electronics, mosquito nets, etc.
The plan after that is to head 4 - 5 hours east, where we'll join the team that has been there for the last year (they'll head back to the states in March) and start language learning.
After that...is a little fuzzy...but, as soon as I know details, I'll update you guys.
In the meantime, I'm going to go try and pack up my entire room so that Kayla can take it over, and fit sixteen months worth of stuff into one fifty pound bag and one backpack. Fun, fun! Lol.
<><
Monday, January 5, 2009
Just for the record, fourth and fifth graders fit into amazingly tiny hiding spots.
We have a tradition in our small group of going outside and playing games once we're done with the small group discussion questions (kids who don't like sitting still + leaders who don't like sitting still = lots of energy that wants to be run off). And, because this week's questions were centered on how big God is, so big that it's impossible to hide from Him, so big that He sees everything that is happening in your life, we decided that hide and seek would be a good alternative to the ice and snow outside.
It was a lot of fun, and it gave even more of a chance to interact with the kids than the outside games we normally play. But, those kids melt away into hiding spots as if they were wearing Elvish cloaks. It's insane. At one point, we finally called all-come-free, only to have Emily pop out of the same corner that I had just been hiding in.
Yeah. Totally didn't know she was there. Lol.
Nicole, who is going to take over my spot with the kids, might be slightly convinced that she has been dropped into ADHD land (Although, Dane, true to form, made sure she knew that he is capable of sitting still when he has to... we'll ignore the wiggling that was going on during that declaration...).
The kids seem to like her though, and they love Ryan -- if he's not there a week, every one of them has to ask, "Where's Ryan?" "Why isn't he here?" "Will he be back next week?" etc. I don't think they would have been very happy with us if Ryan's plans had gone the way they were supposed to and he had taken off the week after I did.
Isaiah 58:6-12
<><
We have a tradition in our small group of going outside and playing games once we're done with the small group discussion questions (kids who don't like sitting still + leaders who don't like sitting still = lots of energy that wants to be run off). And, because this week's questions were centered on how big God is, so big that it's impossible to hide from Him, so big that He sees everything that is happening in your life, we decided that hide and seek would be a good alternative to the ice and snow outside.
It was a lot of fun, and it gave even more of a chance to interact with the kids than the outside games we normally play. But, those kids melt away into hiding spots as if they were wearing Elvish cloaks. It's insane. At one point, we finally called all-come-free, only to have Emily pop out of the same corner that I had just been hiding in.
Yeah. Totally didn't know she was there. Lol.
Nicole, who is going to take over my spot with the kids, might be slightly convinced that she has been dropped into ADHD land (Although, Dane, true to form, made sure she knew that he is capable of sitting still when he has to... we'll ignore the wiggling that was going on during that declaration...).
The kids seem to like her though, and they love Ryan -- if he's not there a week, every one of them has to ask, "Where's Ryan?" "Why isn't he here?" "Will he be back next week?" etc. I don't think they would have been very happy with us if Ryan's plans had gone the way they were supposed to and he had taken off the week after I did.
Isaiah 58:6-12
<><
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