Home....what is this supposed to feel like again?

Home. It doesn't feel like it.... My home is Kenya. Rolling plains and desert, grasslands, heavy rains, hot suns. Giraffes and zebras and wildebeest daily running by. Trees with thorns. Dirty kitchen and line dry laundry. What is this would of cars, and dishwashers, and tv's, cell phones, malls....I'm so lost here! And no one understands what I went through. My experience is not something I can explain to you. As hard as I try, you won't get it. Not that I blame anyone for that, or am angry, it's just the truth. I learned so many things that I can't share until I fully understand them. Things about the kingdom of God that blew me out of the water. There's so much that I'm still sorting through, things I still have to process. Being home is nice. Being with my family...but then again, now I have a whole family out there, spread across several countries and nationalities. What will I do without them? We grew together, cried together, laughed, slept, comforted, discovered. It feels like only yesterday I made the decision to forgo college and spend 5 months in Kenya...where did my time go? And now I only have 2 months until I leave for England. How fast will that time go? "I can sum up in three words what I know about life: It moves on."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Back at Base

So we travelled all through Sunday night, and arrived at the base around 4am monday. It was such a sweet, sweet moment. We were returning to the only home we knew there. It was beautiful to call a place home, even if we didn't have beds there anymore. Me and one other girl claimed beds in our leader's house. We slept a few hours until breakfast, then got up to meet all the new people at base. I felt like a veteran returning from war! Everyone wanted to hear about our adventures, and there were soooo many new faces, it was overwhelming. We spent the next few days doing laundry and prepping for our graduation, and listening to Pastor Bob from England and his son Ben talk about what it will be like when we go home. Friday the 24th of Feb, we had our ceremony. We cooked in the morning, then showered and got all fancied up. The ceremony was lots of singing, a few performances, a message from Bob, and gifts and certificates from our staff. We sang them a song for our staff, and it was all over. Some of my teammates left that night. Me and Franchesca watched harry Potter in the classroom and went to bed late. Saturday, we went to the Maasai Market in Nairobi and got all our souvenirs and had a yummy lunch. In the evening, we took Fran and Sam to the airport, to fly back to Cali. It was so bittersweet, for them to be going home, but knowing we will not see them for a long while. We all became a family, and here was part of it leaving us... but we prayed, cried, said I love you's, and they left. Sunday, Kate left early in the morning, and then me and Meaghan left late that night. Being at the airport made me so anxious! And we were no able to sit together like we thought! We were all on different airlines, so we had to wait separately!!! I cried when I had to say goodbye, because Meg and I were roomies, sisters. She lives so far away in Toronto, CA. But I know god will bring us together again someday. He loves us, so why wouldn't he? Almost home now...

Mombassa

So from Kakamega, with both teams together now, we drove to Mombassa. Which if you look on a map, are on opposite sides of Kenya! It should be about 18hrs worth of travel, but took us 30!!! Our bus broke down around 11pm on sunday, and we didn't get it working til 5am monday. So we slept in the bus, like charter-style bus, overnight on the side of some sketchy road, no idea where we were. When it got running, we took off again. It was such a bumpy uncomfortable ride. And every hour it just got hotter and hotter. Late that night, around 9pm, we got to a very nice house in the town of Watamu, where a muslim family had agreed to let us, christians, use their home! That in itself was a miracle. The rest of the week there, I spent mostly at the house. I was still very sick, and trying to recover, but in 90 degrees and 90% humidity, that's hard. A few more of our team members got sick, but many kept on with ministry. This are was tricky, because it is dominated by Muslims. So we had to be very careful what we did, how we carried ourselves through town and stuff. I did participate in a revival meeting or two, and preached at church on sunday. The week went very fast. We spent several days on the beach. I got so sunburnt! But it was lovely. Being sick....was not. It was very hard for me, having paid to come and do ministry, and then to be incapacitated. It was a learning experience. The past three weeks especially, God taught me that I have to wait on him and his timing, not mine. And that I can't change people, I can only follow what he has for me and share his love. Sunday evening we piled into matatus and drove to the bus station in Mombassa town. From there, we tried to leave, but it was Mohammed's birthday! So the streets were packed with people and floats and music. It was cool to see, but hard at the same time. it was a huge group of people, so close yet so far away. god was speaking to my heart, saying, I died for them too, and I LOVE them. I love them.... We finally got out of town, after leaving Kevin behind, one of our team. He caught up though. I had to pee so bad at one point, I went behind some houses on the side of the road during a gas fill up stop. When in Kenya....

Khaunga

So we rode in a matatu for about 3 hrs, and got to this place that looked like it used to be a small shop. And found out that's where we were staying. I thought it was a joke. but we ended up having the girls sleep there, while the guys stayed somewhere down the road...this week would prove to be the biggest test from God. Tuesday morning I got up super early to give devotions at the high school close by. I LOVE working with the youth!!! The rest of the week was a mixture of door to door, revival meetings, and  workshops for the church leaders. I got to share my faith with a Muslim for the first time. It was interesting to compare our faiths and understand some of the similarities and differences. This week proved very testing. for one, my leader started falling apart. He was not being a good leader, lets put it that way. Or even adequate. And many of my team members were very sick. And some of them refused to participate in ministry,saying they didn't want to anymore. So suffice it to say, i was very upset this week. to top it all of, I'd had diarrhea for 2 weeks now, and a burning stomach. Went to a clinic and found out I had amoebas! So gross. When I came back to our camp, my leader told us we were not going to finish our outreach and go to Vehiga as planned, but we were to join the other team in Mombassa. I was so angry, I couldn't believe it. He told us so many reasons for it that I did not believe. He lied to us and told us all different things. But the reasons we went were 1-we were all sick, and Vehiga was going to be a lot of hard labor, building and planting and stuff; 2- he was tired of leading our team because 3- we were not functioning as a team, because people were holding grudges, gossiping, not wanting to do ministry, etc. So Sunday, we went to church, then got in a matatu and met the other team in Kakamega. We got on a bus and rode for 30 hrs, and arrived in Mombassa on Monday night.

Mount Elgon

So Monday, the 30th of January, we started our week in Mt Elgon. We arrived in the early evening, and got settled in the nice house of a teacher/pastor. It was such a nice break after being in that nasty rat infested room. here we have a lovely view of Uganda out our back windows, and rooms, and a "kitchen". tuesday we spent resting and catching our breath. The next few days were spent doing door to door. In the afternoon on Thursday we got to go to a school, where me and henry spoke to the from 1&2's. It went so well. I really love being with the youth. On friday morning we got up super early to hike the mountain. At this point, I'm still pretty ill, and so is half of the rest of the team. But we were determined. The kenyan girls stayed behind, and we went on. It took us about 4 hours and much groaning to reach the 7000ft summit. It was SO hard. But we got to minister to a very hurt people. This area, mountain top and valley, have been plagued by rebels. They break out into war after every election, that's every 5 yrs, since 1963. so many of the people in the valley used to live in the mountains, but they got run out. Everyone has lost someone. It was so sad to hear their stories, but such a God thing to be there to encourage them. On the mountain it was even more intense. many people lived with nothing, because it always gets stolen! It was very hard walking, because everything is terraced into the mountain sides, so either steep down or steep up. But so worth it! We got to visit the caves they used to hide in, and listened to an mzei (an old man) who had been there since the beginning. Ministering to those people I think the best experience I had in Kenya. Sunday I went to church just up the hill form the house, with Meaghan. They asked me to do sunday school, so I came up with a lesson on the fly. The kids put together a skit really fast for the congregation, and then we listened to the pastor, and Meg, and then sang lots of songs. Kenyan people love to sing. Monday we headed out for our next location, but many of my team members were quickly becoming ill.

Sigor

So this is our first week in our separate teams. It is so sad to be away from my other friends! But I've got a lot of great girls with me, so that is good! This week was hard, so I'll start from the beginning. We got here sunday night, and I was on drugs, so I slept pretty good. There's rats in the rooms though. We're staying in a concrete building with two rooms, one for the boys, where we keep our water, and one for the girls where we keep our food stuffs. So where do the rats come? Our room!!! The worst. Monday morning, Joram (my DTS leader) cam and too k me to this town called Kakresion. We were to meet a guy who had gotten saved back in Nyagaita. So we rode on motorbikes for almost 2 hours (sore butt) in a skirt and flip-flops. That whole ordeal was a massive dangerous adventure in itself! But they stopped in this little shaded area, and we got off, crossed a swinging bridge, and waited in a little market area...which was lite 2 huts that were making food. There was some noise, so we went and checked it out. Turns out they love brewing their own beer! It is so bad. Just remembering the smell makes me so ill. So we hung out with the drunk people, offering me their vile drink while we're trying to explain the disadvatanges of drinking, especially when they are pregnant! We finally met up with the guy, like 4 hours later than planned. At this point, I'm not feeling well. I have not drank enough water or eaten enough food, and I am so nauseous. We waled through the bush to the guy's land (which included fording a river, but don't worry, it was too cold for the crocodiles...!!!). There was huts for each of the wives, one two and three. They cooked a whole goat for us, and it was finally ready around 10pm. I was very ill by this point and did not want to eat, but I had to so as not to be rude. They let us sleep in hut number 2, on beds that are constructed off the walls of the hut out of weaved and twisted twigs. It was SO uncomfortable. And I woke up several times needing to throw up, but I could not. In the morning, we took forever saying goodbye and thankyous. We trudged back through the bush and across the river, got on motorbikes, and made it back to where my team was. By that time, it was maybe 9am on tuesday. So I went straight to sleep, and woke up around 2, thinking I was going to die. I had the worst nausea, I was sure someone was cutting open my skull with an axe, my fever was about 105 degrees, and I was so weak I could not pick myself up off the floor. Finally I got up to get ibuprofen and put my feet in some water to cool off. I went to a clinic, they took a blood sample, and diagnosed me with malaria. Malaria! Well, I guess it was inevitable. I spent the rest of that week sleeping through the day while pouring sweat, and being woken up by rats at night while still pouring sweat. I ate nothing. The only time I got to participate in ministry was on saturday, and we went to a school so I could sit and listen to my girl Meaghan teach the Form 2 girls. It was so fun! On sunday I went to church where one of my team members spoke. It was so nice to get out of that room! Monday, our teams met up again to travel out of the mountains, and then we split as our team headed to Mount Elgon!!!

Nyagaita

So here we are in the buuuussshhhh bush bush. there is NOTHING but sand, rocks, bugs, scraggly trees, and HOT air. It hit at least 105 degrees Farenheit every day. The stars at night are so beautiful, and the sunrises are incredible. The week we spent here was slow. there wasn't much to do. All the people do here is drink and have sex. Seriously. The women have like 6 kids at least. They have small babies, and are hugely pregnant, all the time. AND they drink! It's so unhealthy. So we just sit with them in the river (by which I mean dry riverbed) and try to make conversation. But as always, there is a language barrier. But this time, there was a double barrier. From English to Swahili, and from Swahili to Pokot (the tribal language). Most if not all of them did not speak Swahili! So on sunday when I gave the message at "church" I am not sure how much actually got across. SO I preached for the first time ever. It was great. I loved it! We are only the third team to have come to this area, so we mostly were just building relationships. We did some door-to-door, or hut to hut I guess. We met people, prayed for them. We saw a few people healed, and many come to Christ. I just pray that the teams to come are able to foster these people and disciple them well. We got to help clean up an independently-run clinic, and some people even helped give shots. Every night we slept outside. There were so VERY large bugs...big furry white spiders, scorpions, beetles. I prayed every night that there wouldn't be bugs in my sleeping bag! One day we got to go to their "market". Mainly they just sell food and trinkets, like beads or string, and coke. On monday, the 23rd, we got back in the lorry in the afternoon, and went on our way. We dropped of the Romanina team that had been with us, then one of our two outreach teams from my DTS class. It was time to split, and it was really sad! I got bit by some weird bug, so I took benadryll. When my team arrived at our location nd met our pastor, I went straight to sleep, and slept all night!!!

Kitale

Ok, so I know this is VERY much after the fact, but there's a lot of people who want to hear all my stories. But there are so many, so I'll put them on here. After we spent almost 2 weeks back at our base in Nairobi, with my family :) we left on January 9th for a town called Kitale. We drove overnight, which is the worst in a rickety bus that has inappropriate music blaring at 2am. We arrived in Kitale on the 10th, and settled in. Most of us went to sleep after a small breakfast in a cafe. The few days we spent here were very....sketchy. The town did not set off a good vibe. I rode a motorbike for the first time since being in Kenya! It was really warm there, and we did lots of walking from our host home to town and back. Friday, the 13th, we got up very early and loaded up in mattes. We drove to Kapenguria, where we waited for a lorry (a large uncovered/covered truck). Unfortunately, the truck that was supposed to get us had gotten in an accident. Like the rest of our time in Kenya, we waited. For several hours, all the while being bombarded by kids huffing industrial glue. It was very sad. We tried to distract them and tae away their bottles, but they were already so high, they got really angry. We ended up showing them magic tricks. Our truck finally arrived, a big hulking thing with bars over the top and wood benches inside. We shoved all our gear into the back, and got in after it. Then we drove for a good 6-8 hrs, I can't exactly remember. It was one of those experiences that is so surreal, it's hard to explain. Driving through mountains, valleys, deserts, all in the back of a very unstable vehicle with no roof. Many of our team members rode on top. I would have fallen out!!! They were brave. We arrived in Nyagaita, West Pokot, late in the evening as the sun was going down. So we set up our tents, put our stuff in them, and laid our sleeping bags outside and cuddled down for the night. Being out there, in the bush bush middle of nowhere, where there is no pollution to mar the skies, the stars were the most beautiful I've ever seen them. God speaks to me through the skies, and boy was he shouting those nights.

Mara Nianda

So after Narok, we travelled another 4 hours to a place called Mara Nianda, where we were staying at a boarding school. It was a big compound with bedrooms, kitchen, squatty toilets, and lots of classrooms. We did relatively the same kind of ministry, so I taught the youth again. There were even less than the last place, but we still got the opportunity to speak into their lives. We also got the opportunity to go into the Mara game reserve for only $15!!! We saw all kinds of animals, in open sided eeps. Lions, elephants, cheetah, antelope, topi, lots of birds, and so many others. Also we stayed right next to a river with hippos and crocodiles. We had revival meetings every night. They were quite powerful, with tons of loud worship. We left there on Friday the 30th, at 11pm, and made it back to base on New Years Eve around 8 in the morning. The roads were so bumpy for the first few hours...It was so difficult. When we got settled and sorted through our things, we found that we had been stolen from again, but A LOT this time. One girl is missing over $400 of hers and her roommate's. And she is missing earrings and another girl is missing candy, and another a picture frame, and lots of other random things. It's so heartbreaking, because there was only 5 people at base while we were gone, and no outsider would have access to our room keys (our rooms were locked). This week we have been doing lots of outreach prep, and some lecture on biblical relationships. AAAAAAAND, my family suprised me HERE IN KENYA on the 2nd!!! I almost peed my pants. My mom and sister, and Auntie M.E. came into class that morning and suprised me. Unfortunatley we leave monday night, the 8th, and they don't leave until tuesday night. My team for outreach is good, but I'm having lots of anxiety issues. I'm every excited for outreach, even though we will be gone for 6 weeks, without communication. Be praying for us, and I will be back on Feb 20th. Only 51 more days!!!!

Naira Sirasa

So we left base and drove to Narok, about 6 hours away. When we got there we set up tents and started on dinner. Definitely cooking over open fires. Sunday was AWESOME. We went to church and got to see all the old maasai ladies in traditional garb doing their tribal dance. Part way through the week, two of our teammates had to go home. They hadn't come with us on outreach, so they were still at base. But they had real bad infection and had to fly back to America. I cried for a week straight. We spent the week ministering to kids, my age group was the youth. They tended to show up on "african time" so instead of 4 hours of teaching/games we only had about 2. But at the end of the week, they told us that they learned so much and were so blessed by us. Christmas was amazing. It was sad to be away from home, but the cultural experience definitely compensated. So Christmas Eve, we stayed up past midnight having a wild dance party, praising God and watching skits and performing songs. Christmas morning we went to church and did more songs and skits. In the afternoon we went to maybe 4 different houses, and had food at each one. One of the mammas said the teenagers will stay out til one am going to peoples' houses and eating! It was so cool. At the end of the week, one of the mammas that we got to bless, turned around and gave me a bracelet that she had made for me! Also, one of the days we walked down to the river, and the "bridge" that we had to cross was simply branches that had been nailed and vined together, extremely high above the water. So sketchy, but such an adventure.

Week 11- Been Too Long

I realize it's been about a month and a half since I've posted anything, so this will be quite a condensed version. Since I've been here, I've become a morning person. The power goes out all the time, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours. A few weekends ago we went into Nairobi for Tyler's birthday and had burgers! They were amazing. And we went to the Masai market and I got a few things, but we're going to Masai land for outreach and stuff will be cheaper. That day I got like 4 packages in the mail, with Twix, and kit kat and Via coffee! My momma is the best. The week of the 15th was Kingdom of God, and it shook my world. I honestly believe I wasn't saved until then. I had such a wrong perception of the gospel and of our commission as Christians. I got re-baptized and left my Egypt behind. I made God my king, rather than myself, and it feels so good. So pretty much I'm just living everyday under His kingship and control. It's so freeing. On the 18th we went giraffe hunting in the bush, and found a whole herd of them. We chased them around for a bit then went in for dinner. The landscape here is just amazing. We went to a restaurant called Carnivore with our speaker, Dan. It's an all you can eat meat place. SO good. Best lamb, and ribs that we haven't had in so long. I also ate ostrich, chicken liver, and ox balls as a matter of fact. We all did. Dan blessed us all by paying for us! Unfortunately, a few days before we went for outreach in Nyeri me and my roommate Meaghan got stolen from. It's been happening a lot, but it's the first time from our room. The week of the 21st was about the Holy Spirit. A lot of it was just ministering to each other. For Thanksgiving, we Americans made dinner. Chicken, and garlic mashed potatoes, carrots with honey and cinnamon, and peas with onions. We had them sit family style and say what they're thankful for, then we served them. It was soooo awesome. Friday we left for Kids Alive, in Nyeri where our leader Joram is from. He is now officially our mjomba (uncle). I used a squatty potty for the first time ever. And we had the BEST bananas I've ever had. At Kids Alive, I stayed in the guest house with all the boys, and 5 other girls, including Kate, Sheila, and Corinne. We went and served the kids dinner. They were so excited for us to be there. The bungalow had toasters! And a fresh press. We ate so good at breakfast time that week. And always had coffee. And we had real toilets! And a shower, with hot water and pressure. Sunday we went to a bunch of different churches in the area, then met up for a soccer game after. We had to buy rain boots, because the soil doesn't absorb the water, and it rains a lot: resulting in MUD. I made a special little friend, whose name was Joseph Wamai. He always came and sat with me and played with my watch, or patted my face and hugged me. He wasn't in my age group but he always found me somehow. Tuesday I taught the 10-15 yr olds on Daniel. It went well, and Kevin helped me fill some of the leftover time. We had teachings every day, and games, and singing time. On friday I worked in the clinic with Sue in the morning. We did nothing except mop and drink tea. We had a field day kind of thing in the afternoon. Games like sack races, winding a person up in toilet paper, and some others. The kids loved it. That night we had a big dance party with them for devotion. So much fun. Leaving them on Sunday was very hard. Saturday night we had a very long, harsh DTS meeting about people's work ethics and attitudes. Joram threatened to kick people out, that's how bad it's been the past few weeks. He called out a few people in front of all of us, and he was so angry. I wanted to cry. but this past week, we have really been coming together and working as a team, and working as for God. People's attitudes have been better, and our actions are really showing our love for one another. There might be one or two people that leave DTS though. On Monday, the 5th, God gave me Isaiah 25, 42, and 63-64. It was all about bringing down walls, and upholding the righteous. God is so good, even when we are being horrible. So this week was on plumb line and inner healing. It was pretty good. We all have been talking about weddings lately, I don't know why. I love planning weddings. Today, I went out into the bush bush by myself and spent some time with God. It was so relaxing and refreshing. Being out in the middle of nowhere with my Jesus is so good for my soul. And me and a wildebeest had a staredown for a good 20 minutes. Kinda freaky.

Week 6

These past few days have been interesting. Last week, was pretty bad. It was so confusing. The speaker was contradicting himself all the time, and then not able to give a straightforward answer when we questioned it. But, God is good and I still learned a bit. This week seems to be going better. The topic is Destiny and Calling. So much has been covered already, like what it really means to be a minister, and the differences between destiny, calling, and vision, and how we each have a unique calling and destiny, but there are some things that we as Christians are all called to (for example, being Christ-like). Last weekend we did ministry. We split into 4 groups and went to different churches. My group went to Nairobi, and we visited a very interesting church. Joram said it was the most charismatic he's ever seen. But Fran gave a great message on our futures and how God has big plans and purposes for all of us, out of Romans 8. Joram talked about how we are not in the race to win it, but to finish and finish strong. Ha. That's like the entire theme of my senior year. One evening this week the power was out, and it was soooo dark, so my wolf pack and I crammed on Fran's bed and played card games with a flashlight hanging from her mosquito net. Saturday we went to a pool in the nearest town, at some high school, and we got to swim all day. It was SO fun. We played a very violent game of keep-away (guys vs girls, of course) and played card games and had snacks. We all got pretty wicked sunburnt too, because of our proximity to the Equator, and because most of us are taking doxycycline, which increases photosensitivity. We had dinner at some hotel, and it was fantastic. The most protein I've had in weeks! So far what I've been learning this week is 1- If I can accomplish it on my own, I need to dream bigger. and 2- God is patient to carry out His plans, not matter how much we screw it up, He can always make plan B or C into PLAN A.

Week 5- For Real?

So it is completely shocking to me that it's been over a month! We are in the middle of week 5, which is about pride and humility, and spiritual warfare, prayer, and intercession...a lot of topics for only 5 days! The past couple weeks have been a struggle. Everyone's true colors are beginning to show, and everyone is a little tense. I have to remember not to lash out, and to be patient with everyone, because they are all being patient with me too. Last week's topic was forgiveness, and God really showed me a lot about myself. Who I needed to ask forgiveness from, who I needed to set free, what I needed to ask Him for forgiveness for. It was exhausting, but very liberating. My new work duty for the month is "miscellaneous." Yesterday me, Kevin, and Fran demolished the old office some more. Moved a bunch of beams, iron sheets, picked up nails, etc. I think I sunburned my eyelids. Sorry momma! But it was so fun. We learned a bunch more swahili, like kazin zuri means good work, kesho means tomorrow, kuna nini means what's happening. Me and Fran tried to teach Kevin some Spanish, but it didn't really work. So yesterday one of our guys threw out his back. He sunk the axe too far in the wood, and when he tried to yank it out, pinched something. He hurts all the way into his toes! So if ya'll could pray for his quick recovery, because we're supposed to be going on outreach this weekend.

Week 3- The Father Heart of God

So it's the end of the third week, and it's so crazy that I've been living in Africa for almost a month now! I have three girls that I've really bonded with; we call ourselves the wolf pack haha. We do almost everything together. But of course we still hang out with everyone. This week's topic was the Father heart of God, and it was really emotional. Our speaker, Ted, is from Wisconsin, and is so great. Everyone was really vulnerable and it helped us grow as a team. We wrote letters to our dads, and letters to God. We didn't send them to our dads, though; it was just a cleansing process. It was really good for everyone to realize hurt, forgive, and then bless our dads, even if they were never going to see it. The weather has been on and off. Today it is HOT and sunny, but yesterday it poured rain. My hair was literally dripping. Last weekend we did ministry at two different all-girls schools. Sunday we went to St Stephens school for a church service. The girls were so warm and receiving, and the praise and worship time was all in Swahili, and loud, and wonderful. We have been learning more and more Swahili. Today we are going into Nairobi for Amanda's birthday, even with the threats. We know that we are safe, and it's going to be a good time. I just thank God that I've been able to have chocolate and diet coke! And that I am continually seeing lots of giraffes and zebras. Love you all!

Week 1

Hello everyone! I made it to Kenya safe and sound. Our base is so amazing. Really simple living, but none of us mind. At this point, we get excited if we shower after 3 days. It was very hot the past week, but today it started raining, and they said it will continue for about a month. My friends are all awesome, I could not have asked for a better team. We all have great senses of humor, get along well, and of course love the Lord. We have learned so much in one week, about God and ourselves. We eat basic foods like rice or noodles or corn mash (called ugali). We do have to wake up at about 6 am, which is really hard for me without any coffee. I've not had one cup yet, nor a diet coke. I am so proud of myself! I have not been too homesick, and even got to call my mom a few nights ago. And yesterday while jogging, I saw a whole herd of zebra!!!! It was amazing. Dinner is soon, so I'll hopefully post in the next few weeks. Oh! and on one of the visiting DTS teams from Germany, there was a girl from Bothell! Wild!!!

Departure Day!

Well folks, the day has arrived! It's finally time for me to take of for Kenya. I've got all my family here with me and two of my best friends coming tot he airport. It's gonna be a big cry-fest. But by tomorrow night I'll be in Kenya! I'll post as soon as I can and let you all know about the flights and my first few days there.

The Before

Hey guys! A lot of the people going on my DTS are setting up a blog, and I figured it was a good idea. This way I won't have to email, write letters, AND keep up on facebook. So, stick around, and check out my blog while I'm on my trip! Thanks. It's crunch time now, only 16 days left until I take off. My lists are getting shorter and shorter, and my bags fuller. It is becoming so much more real to me each day. Soon, I'll be in Kenya!