Traveling and First Days

Okay, after two and a half days of traveling and a day at the orphanage, I've finally found time to update you on my adventure! I'm going to back-track a bit and share with you my journal entries from the past few days, and be forewarned--this will be a LONG entry.

31 March 2012

After much anticipation, packing, and cleaning, today I start my adventure to Kenya. I managed to sleep last night and at 7am I started my last minute preparations with gusto. At 9am I met Paulina and her dad at the gate of my apartment and made it to the Querétaro airport around 9:30am. When I tried to chek in for my flight, the desk agent told me I had to have my immagration form--you know, the one that the gate agent took from me when I flew back to Mexico after Christmas break because I didn't neet it anymore? Yeah, that one... After some help from Pau, we got everything taken care of and then came time to say goodbye. We made it quick so as not to get all sappy and sentimental.

The Querétaro airport is tiny--there are only two gates. Because I was over two hours early for my flight, I had to wait until about 11:30am before they would let me into the gate area, so here I am sitting in a little restaurant enjoying an unexpected breakfast of chilaquiles and fresh squeezed orange juice. The food has helped to calm the butterflies threatening to burst forth from my stomach at any moment like a horror film, and I am left to come to grips with what is happening in my life: I am going to Kenya--in AFRICA--on the other side of the WORLD! A year ago I never thought I would travel to the East Coast let alone outside of the US. And now look at me, I'm living in Mexico and traveling to Africa in the same year! I live a blessed life indeed. Who knows what the future may hold for me?

1 April 2012

Man, it feels like I've been travelling for days--oh wait, I have! :) Here's a quick recap of the past 24 hours.

My flight from Querétaro to Dallas/Fort Worth was on a small plane, two seats on one side, one on the other. There was little overhead space, so I shoved my big backpack under the seat in front and hoped the flight attendant didn't notice/say anything. It happened on this leg of my journey that one of my students and his family were on the same flight as me and were sitting in the two rows in fron of me. I chatted with his mom a bit about Mexico and my trip to Kenya. She said it's a shame I don't have a blog or something so she could read about it, to which I replied, "Actually, I do. Here's my webaddress!" I also chatted with the lady next to me who is from Colorado and had been visiting San Miguel.

After touching down in Dallas, I had to go through customs and another security checkpoint to get to my connecting flight. Danae (the gal I was meeting there and with whom I was flying the rest of the way to Nairobi) arrived shortly after I did and then it was time to load onto our flight to London-Heathrow. This second flight was on a 747-400 series, and it was GINORMOUS! It had two levels and was by far the biggest plane I have ever been on. My imagination took over and I envisoned hot-tubs, a piano bar, and people playing pool on the upper level--not likely, but it was a nice fantasy anyways. Unfortunately, Danae and I didn't have seats together, but there was "On Demand" TV and movies to keep us occupied. I also greatly enjoyed listening to the flight attendants speak because all of them had British accents since I was flying with British Airways. It was REALLY difficult not to emulate their speech patterns, but I refrained from vocalizing my "British" thoughts. 8.5 hours later we landed at Heathrow, by-passed Customs, and went through another security checkpoint. there were only 10-15 people in line, but it took FOREVER! Eventually Danae and I made it to our connecting flight to Nairobi just in time to load for our last leg of the journey. Same thing as before but a smaller plane--only one level. I really enjoyed catching up on the movies I've missed while being in Mexico, like "The Iron Lady" and "The Muppets". I also devised a method of folding and wrapping the provided blanket around my neck like one of those flight pillows since I didn't have one. Kiser ingenuity strikes again! When Danae and i deplaned, my dad was waiting for us. We made it through Customs without a hitch, were picked up by Job who drove us to our hotel, and not it's 11:14 pm (or 2:14 pm yesterday for me). It hasn't fully hit me that I'm IN Africa yet. Perhaps with daylight my realization with actualize! I'm happy to be with my dad, and I can't wait to get to the orphanage tomorrow!

2 April 2012

This morning we ad a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, mystery meat sausage (it LOOKS like sausage, but it is NOT sausage...), and some kind of ham/bacon hybrid . Then we traveled back the same airport we flew into last night and caught our 45 minute flight to Eldoret. My dad and I talked a bit, and there was just enough time for the flight attendant to serve us a beverage and then collect out cups before landing. Jeff (he and his wife Carla are in charge of the orphange) was waiting outside for us with "Toyota". You'll have to read my dad's blog to fully understand this vehicle, but basically it's a truck with the cab extending all the way to the back with benchs bolted to the floor. We loaded all our gear and Danae and I into the back and proceeded into town to pick up a few items. Desiel is expensive so it's important to use every trip away from the orphanage to its fullest. We stopped at a grocery story to pick up food for us to eat while at the home, and Jeff was looking for a specific lotion they need for one of the kids. While Jeff was running in and out of various stores, my dad engaged a begging teenage boy about why he really needed money (most likely to buy glue to sniff), and the boy kept changing his story. We also got a parking ticket, well more so a packing "pass". Stores have a few parking spaces in front of their building, but if those are full, your option is to park in a "city" space which translates to a few city employees who walk around looking for parking "violations" so you have to pay them. Today it was 100 shillings (about $12US) to park in the space we were in.

Driving is crazy--similar to Mexico in that the rules are more of a suggestion. There are people on bikes and motorcycles, and when I say "people" I mean there is more than one person on each of those forms of transportation. People also ride in taxi busses, and if there isn't room inside, they just hang on the outside. The roads are fairly decent right now because the weather has been dry and some have been repaved recently.

Finally at around 12pm we made it to the children's home, and since my dad was little help in showing us around since he was under a pile of black bodies and slime (you think I'm exaggerating, but you could barely see him or hear him for all the kids hugging him and shouting "Babu Terry"), a couple that works at the orphange during part of the week gave Danae and I a tour of the major buildings, telling us what we needed to know. After settling into my room that I am sharing with Danae and another girl, I ventured out to meet the children. The kids warmed up pretty quickly, and soon I was covered by tiny black bodies encoated in snot, food, and who knows what else! It is a bit overwhelming especially since I don't have a clear purpose yet, but I know things will get smoother and more routine in the next few days.