Ann

My good friend Ann from Africa sent me an e-mail the other day, and I thought it would be nice to share with all of you:

Hallo Amby. Thank you very much for your mail. I am very happy to know that you arrived safely back home. I am very happy thankful to GOD for giving me wonderful friend like you. I miss you so much, and i hope that God will make it possible for us to meet again. You are welcome to pay us a visit again and i hope next time you will stay with us for sometime. Pass my warm to your family members and the rest of the people there. I look forward to hearing you again soon. Bye for now and God bless you big Amby. Have a queensize moments.

One more thing...

My good friend Brady also has an Africa blog! If you are interested in reading his is www.bradysafricablog.blogspot.com

Final Remarks

Yesterday we had one more Africa meeting to wrap up a few things. It was great seeing everyone again. The college kids weren't there, but still being together again was nice. On October 7, 2009 we are going to present pictures, videos, songs, and our thoughts to the church. Mostly the meeting was to discuss preparations for that.

I really miss Kenya. I miss feces covered babies, cuddling up in your arms. I miss waving to everyone on the side of the road. I miss bumpy car rides. I miss mosquito nets. I miss dust storms, and just dust in general. I miss the aroma of body odor every time you entered the room. I miss seeing bananas hanging from shacks on the side of the road. I miss singing, jumping, dancing, clapping, and "amen-ing". I miss endless hi-fives. I miss feeling dirty. I miss people who don't care what you look like. I miss 8:30 team meetings. I miss peanut butter sandwiches. I miss the van rides. I miss Swahili. I miss Barbara and all of the other AIDs babies. I miss dark purple fanta. I miss seeing blue and red uniforms. I miss the beauty of the rift valley. I miss livestock tide on the side of the road. Most of all I miss the love and kindness that all Kenyans have. The love and kindness that Kenya taught me to have. The love and kindness that I am still striving to earn. The love and kindness that I will never ever forget.

August 8, 2009

1:35am we arrived in Dubai. It's so beautiful here. We checked into the Rush Inn Hotel. It was actually pretty nice. Our shower was broken though, so I ended up washing my hair under the faucet. It was quite the experience. Haha. We slept until about 10am. One of our adult leaders, Joe, found out that we could go on a tour for about $22 a person. So we got to visit/see a variety of different places. We saw a few mosques, a lot of beaches, an art museum, a mall, the palm islands, the tallest man made structure, and a few others... I can't recall there names. It was a very neat experience! The only thing was that it was 110ish degrees outside! Crazy hot! Also, since most people here are Muslim, I had to wear jeans. The water looked SO GOOD. I wanted to jump in SO BAD. It would be a magnificent place to vacation, only it's pretty expensive. I'm glad that we got to see the city though!

I most definitely experienced culture shock going from Kenya to the Emirates. People here are so wealthy! The police have BMWs, and we saw a couple Lamborghinis! Seriously, I never really quite understood when people said "it's like a whole new world". Now I understand. I could have stayed in Kenya longer, but after traveling for this long, I'm excited to go home. I miss you Mom, Dad, Kyle, and Sadie. I just wonder what I'm going to be like...

August 7, 2009

Today was bittersweet. Our departure. We started off by having our last breakfast in Kenya. We then all packed up and headed out. It took three hours to get from Nakuru to Nairobi. As soon as we started getting closer to Nairobi that traffic got really busy. It was actually quite scary. First we stopped at an upper class (sort of) store called Kazuri Beads. Everything was very shiny and fancy. I think they would have done really well in America. We then went to lunch at a hotel, which was really good. It only left us with about a half hour in the market though. Really, that's no time at all because you have to barter and all that jazz... so I didn't get a lot of things I would like to have gotten. The market was quite the experience.

Getting to the airport was crazy. Getting all situated took a while. My flight wasn't until 7:10pm, but the majority of the groups was at 6:30pm. I'm pretty sure everyone made it though. That's where I'm writing from... Kenya Airways. I won't get home for two more days. I'm actually headed for Dubai, and I have a 21 hour layover there... it should be fun though!

August 6, 2009

I have a lot to journal about, starting with last night. Right before dinner our Katangas arrived! Mine didn't turn out exactly as planned. The skirt is very cute though and I'm going to wear it tonight as we have our closing Kenyan Party. I'm excited! It should be a blast!

Last night Jamie gave the incoming seniors, and anyone older, the chance to go to Summit... which is a Kenyan Club. Last week the college kids and adults went on a Friday. They said it was packed. However, when we arrived on a Wednesday night no one was there. So, we just partied it up. It was really fun. Technically I can still say that I went clubbing in a foreign country!

Today we embarked on a wonderful adventure. That's right it was SAFARI DAY! We had to load the vans at 6:15am. I'm not really tired at all, so that's good! It's really a cool adventure because your vans roof pops up allowing you to stand up the whole way! I'm pretty sure I'll wake up in the morning with bruises all over my body from bashing into the sides of the van. When we arrived at the gates we spotted monkeys and zebras! The sun was just beginning to rise, so we got some really pretty pictures. Actually, my favorite picture was taken right then. We spotted some water bucks next. The zebras and the water bucks were the most common animals of the entire journey. Next we saw a few different kinds of gazelles. I know for a fact some of them were Thompson's gazelles, but I'm not sure of the other kinds. Oh my... BABOONS! They were all over... and pretty cute. I personally think their butts look like they're made out of plastic. Haha. We saw a few warthogs. Our driver called them Pumba (you know... from Lion King)! We continued our journey around Nakuru Lake. There were thousands... maybe even millions, of flamingos! They don't really turn out to great in pictures. There were also quite a lot of pelicans. They have HUGE wingspans. It was incredible. One sad thing that we saw was a crushed tortoise :( It made me think of you, Kyle, because I know how much you love turtles. One surprising thing that we saw was an eagle. I wasn't expecting to see one because well, does an eagle come to your mind when you think AFRICA?! I didn't think so... One thing that made me really excited was the Rhinos! They are massive animals that people would probably typically think of as ugly. In an odd way, I thought they were beautiful. They were kind of fun to watch even though they didn't move much. One of the cutest things about them was the hair on their ears. Haha. We stopped for a lunch break at Baboon Cliff. There was only one baboon there, but you got to see the most amazing view. You could see the whole park. Apparently it was a very small safari park. Our guide told us that there were no elephants, cheetahs, or wildebeest because of its size. All in all it took up eight hours to go through, so I still think it was fairly large. Another thing that reminded me of Kyle was this blue lizard with a bright orange head. Sadly, part of its tail was missing. I think it will grow back though. It took a while, but we finally spotted a giraffe. It was giving birth! When we left apparently it collapsed and died, and its baby died too... yet another sad occurrence. In a way it's kind of nice. The park wants to preserve the habitat and keep things all natural. It's good that they let nature take its course. We saw a few water buck bones. One thing that I REALLY wanted to see was a lion. It must not have been in Gods plan for us, because none of us got to. We did get to see a Hyena though. That was pretty sweet. That about wrapped up our safari. It was really cool, and I hope that maybe one day I will get the opportunity to go on another.

The day ended with a party. Everyone that got a Katanga wore it. We ate food and sort of danced. Some played a few games. We were all pretty tired though. So, we actually got to bed at a reasonable time! Our last night in the Hotel Kunste. Our last night in Kenya. Our last night in Africa. I nearly cried. So many memories were created. I definitely will leave a large chunk of my heart here in Africa. Hopefully I'll return.

August 5, 2009

The last work day... bittersweet. Squatters Hill was pretty much the same, face paint and necklaces. My friend Anne really wanted to show me her house yesterday, but I didn't think I was allowed to, because it was a little ways away from the site. It turns out I was! So, today I went as saw her house with Kathy, Jim, Haley, Brady, and Paul. We met some of her family, and I got to hear a little more about her story. She's one of eight... four girls and four boys. They live in mud huts. There's one main mud hut, her brothers hut, the kitchen hut, and the pit latrine. They have a two bedroom 'house'. It has a tiny sitting area in it as well. The kitchen was small. A fire was going in the corner. There was only one bowl of food in the kitchen, and you wouldn't believe what it was... chicken intestine. Yum. I didn't really want to check out the pit latrine... haha. They had corn growing in every open space. They haven't gotten a lot of rain, so they aren't doing so well. It was really interesting to see her house. I'm glad that she showed me. When we walked back to the school she told me her whole life story. Ten years ago her family was pretty well off. Her dad got in a motor-vehicle accident and ended up passing away. His brothers came to their house and took everything from them, except the clothing on their backs. They were kicked out of their own house. So they relocated to Squatters Hill. I'm not sure how it all works, but somehow they got some land. They built their own house. They've lived there for ten years now. Anne told me that some of her siblings couldn't attend school because they couldn't afford to pay the tuition. She was lucky though... she is attending school. I can't believe that some people actually live this way. It's sad. Unimaginable. I wish I could do something besides just tell them how sorry I am... they're okay though. They're actually pretty content. They're getting by, and they praise God everyday for keeping them alive. I am so blessed.

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A few more things to add... here people burn their garbage. Americans aren't the only ones harming the atmosphere! Thick, black smoke billows into the sky. The smell of burning plastic all around. It's lovely. Some people at the clinic said that people were burning rubbish inside their houses, resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning. How sad. Mindy also told me that they put honey on their infections. That way the bacteria eats the honey, rather than the open wound.

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Mindy got me hooked on these Cadbury Moros! They are really good chocolate bars. I'm pretty sure I've gained weight on this trip... I'm supposed to be losing weight!