day 1.5

Good morning!

Today begins our first full day in Kenya-- in a little over 1 hour we will begin our drive to Nakuru for a full day of planning and work for the week's activities.  I thought I would briefly catch everyone up on the events of our travel and last night...

After some peanut butter trauma in the Atlanta airport as my jar of reduced fat Jif was deemed "gel" and therefore contraband, bomb/drug sniffing dogs, and Roz's realization that the batteries to our documentary camera were still on the chargers at home, we made it to Amsterdam!  And then we experienced Europe briefly (and mostly in the wallet)...$4 mini cups of coffee and $5 Diet Cokes.  We were wildly impressed with KLM despite the fact that the food on the second 8-hour leg was...well, interesting.  I got to watch old episodes of 30 Rock and the Big Bang Theory, while others enjoyed the newest films; Sex and the City was a popular choice among our group of 99% women.

And then we finally touched down in Nairobi!  We were greeted by Mr. Robi, Mama Robi, Steve (Gideon's brother), Ken (one of our two drivers), and two other gentlemen who helped load the vans.  Of all 15 trunks and personal suitcases, only one was missing.  We are hoping that the supply trunk was accidentally left in Amsterdam and that is will arrive this morning before we hit the road.  After settling in at the Methodist Guest House around 11:00 PM and enjoying a small meal and sodas, Gideon lead us in prayer and communion-- and then it was off to rest!

The sentiment this morning is anxiety-- we are all eager to get to Mountain Park and see the Kenyan countryside on the way.  I think everyone's spirits were lifted by an amazing breakfast-- fresh fruits, omelets, croissants, breads, tea, and coffee-- and a little down time.   And here I am writing to you...

Beyond this list of tasks we've marked off and completed, I simply want to express how wonderful and kind the people are here.  Every guard and guest house employee greet you with a smile, a hello, and sometimes a handshake.   

That is all for now.  I hope to be able to share my photos with you soon, and Amy may also be doing some work on here (she's a fellow blogging/photography enthusiast).

Love hard and be loved-- thank you all for the support.

tnick

t minus two and counting

Is it sinking in yet for you all?!? I must report that I am not quite there yet and it may take me stepping on the airplane in Atlanta, or stepping off the airplane in Amsterdam to arrive at the conclusion that we are forty-eight hours from take-off and just over forty-eight hours from stepping on Kenyan soil!

As I am sure that everyone is busy making their final preparations at home and at work, my entry will be short tonight-- one humbling linguistics fact and just a few words that you may find useful in sharing your life story (or at least a few important details of it) with the children.

Swahili does not distinguish between 'he' and 'she' - the language treats all people the same regardless of gender.

• Mother - Mama (MA-ma)
• Father - Baba (BA-ba)
• Grandmother - Bibi (BI-bi)
• Grandfather - Babu (BA-bu)
• Sister - Dada (DA-da)
• Brother - Kaka (KA-ka)
• Child - Mtoto (m-TOH-toh) / Children - Watoto (wa-TOH-toh)

Disclaimer to the team: despite how simple these terms are, I imagine I will fumble them greatly and you will be highly entertained. While in a foreign country and speaking to natives, I have the tendency to automatically switch my brain into Spanish thanks to my six months in Salamanca and ten years of study. Yes, I did this in Austria and Italy, and trust me-- they laughed and then replied to my Spanish question or phrase in English.

Looking forward to travelin' light with you all soon...

tnick

happy autumnal equinox day!

Okay, so I know I have done a TERRIBLE job following through with my self-proclaimed blog extravaganza. I offer two excuses: 1) I am savoring every minute of this beautiful weather and eagerly anticipating the true arrival of fall, and 2) I spent 3 hours this evening with Mom and Bob and Joyce Burnett pouring over the new Mountain Park Academy class rosters to finalize new spellings, which students have withdrawn, which students have graduated, how many students and babies have joined us, and for which students we have been able to collect updated data (pictures, bios, letters, etc).

Phewwwwwwwwww!

It was a TASK (yes, that deserves capital letters) and the administrative team will have a TASK to complete on our upcoming trip! A horror to my mother in light of her role as multi-purpose data collector, we learned from Bob that name changing is quite common in Kenya: older students often change their own names on a frequent basis, some children change their names when their mothers remarry, and other prefer the mother's maiden name upon divorce. Despite the fact that the practice is a bit of an abomination to the ritual of record keeping here in the States, I am actually a bit envious. I've always wanted a name a bit more exotic-- Stella or Sofia, perhaps? : ) Nevertheless, the exciting news gathered from the Bob and Joyce's new compiled rosters is that we are growing every day at Mountain Park. Though some students may withdraw from school under various circumstances, many others eagerly fill that space and expand our mission. Joyce emphasized that some students had enrolled as few as three days before the first team arrived on September 1. Thank you Bob and Joyce for your time tonight...

I would like to take this time to share with you all a 'preview' of our upcoming trip. Lynn passed along a few photos of the daily life at Mountain Park and our very first children's home to be dedicated next week. I hope that this sneak peak will amplify the excitement for our first-time travelers and renew that same inspired spirit in our veterans. After listening to Carol's personal stories tonight, those even as simple as her listening to a mother's tuition concerns, I can only hope that we will all come away with such unique pieces and details that will undoubtedly enrich our lives for many, many years to come.

We also have an updated photograph of the staff and new headmaster-- education team, this is for you!

And now, for our Swahili lesson...short but very sweet.

We LOVE to love in this organization, hence our philosophies of "It's all about the love." and "Love the children. Feed the children. Teach the children." And, I think we will be discovering love in one of its purest forms in Kenya-- one without an ounce of materialism but with an immeasurable about of gratitude. Appropriately, the first of the eight planned homes for orphaned children in our village will be named upendo.

• Love - Upendo (oo-payn-doh)

I'll sign off on that note. : )

tnick