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This is Africa

I'M IN AFRICA!

Now I've had limited sleep in the past 48 hours (I wont mention an exact number for my mother's sake...) and am pretty dead tired so I really will keep this post short.

Highlights from the first two days in Africa:
  1. Sleeping for 4 solid hours on our 8 hour flight from London to Nairobi and waking up to a hot tray of four-cheese tortellini airline pasta.
  2. Arriving in Kenya and getting my first travel visa! (A.k.a. a nice sticker in my passport)
  3. Meeting our drivers Joseph and Peter at the airport and figting the urge to respond to everything in Spanish... my brain was still stuck in the last time I was in a foreign country (Mexico).
  4. Getting a flat tire on the way from the airport to our "home base" in Thika and learning the true meaning of the phrase "T.I.A." or "This is Africa".
  5. Spending 4 hours in church (In two different services and one Sunday school class).
  6. Eating Ethiopian food for the first time.
  7. The moment I realized I was standing in an Ethiopian restaurant in Kenya listening to an Indian family speaking English...
  8. Having one of the best cup of coffee I've ever had in the "Yaya" Kenyan market, an Ethiopian macchiato.
  9.  Discovering a new species of frog outside our window: the squeaky tennis shoe frog.
  10. Learning some brilliant new words and phrases in Swahili:
    • Karibu = Welcome (Some of the first words I saw in Kenya: Karibu Kenya, meaning welcome to Kenya!)
    • Asante = Thank you
    • Sawa = Ok
    • Kidogo = a little bit
    • Choo = bathroom (pronounced cho with an "o" as in "own")
    • Matatu = public transportation minivan/bus (usually perilously stuffed with people and luggage) 
    • Took took = a three wheeled, canvas covered taxi-type thing
    • Picky picky = motorcycle
    • Boda boda = public transportation motorcycle (taxi)
And speaking of mothers, I am sending out a gigantic Happy Mother's Day all the way from Africa to my wonderful Momma and all the other amazing mothers reading. You are a true blessing to me! :) 

Tomorrow we meet the kids at Joytown school and begin data collections on the wheelchairs. Keep the prayers coming. I'm really excited about how close we are growing as a team. We have shared so many priceless moments and laughs together so far, I am blessed by each member of the team even more each day.


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