I'm so glad to be home after being gone for 14 days. East Africa was awesome and spending time with the m's there was a joy and honor. The people there were so friendly and sweet.
Becky and I left Thursday night 8/7 around 8:30. Everything was fine and dandy, but after two hours into the flight I started to feel a little sick. Before I knew it I ended up in the bathroom vomiting. And that continued for the next 8 hours. When we arrived in London my allergies started to act up, and for those who know me, my allergies pretty much knock me out. So we had to reclaim our bags in London and then re-check them. Still feeling pretty bad at this point and I had another 8 hour flight from London to Nairobi, Kenya. I was feeling a little better during this flight so I was very thankful for that. Well, as we started to descend my stomach decided to act up and so the vomiting began. On top of everything else our layover in Nairobi was six hours and feeling the way I did, I was miserable. The airport was small and I tried to lay down in a row of chairs, but at least my stomach settled down a bit.
Saturday afternoon we finally arrived in east Africa and one of the m's picked us up and called a couple ladies on his team who are nurses to let them know that I was sick. Side note: because of the high level of security these M's are in, names will not be mentioned or the exact location of their work.
We arrived at one of the M's house and immediately my temp was taken and I was given a hydration drink and anti-nausea pills. Those pills actually worked too. They thought maybe the anti-malaria pills combined with the motion of the airplane caused my upset stomach. I took the anti-malaria pill as we left LAX.
We were taken to our hotel, the Daisy Hotel, and I crashed. One would think I'd slept for the next 12 hours especially after 26 hours of travel time and being sick. NOPE, I think I slept about 6 hours. Becky and I enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel that included fruit, awesome passion juice, eggs and sausage(which was actually a hot dog), we did not eat the hot dog.
For lunch we were picked up by an awesome family who are M's there and they're from CA too.
They took us to an Indian restaurant and had such a great time with them and their kids.
On Monday we left for a town that's about an hour away for our conference. Becky and I took care of the 2-5 year olds for the week and had so much fun. One of the boys there who is the youngest of the fam from CA is absolutely hilarious. We enjoyed getting to know all the M's there and eating with them and talking with them. We were so blessed by their stories and we left there so humbled. Each and every one of them was so sweet and just fun to be around.
Something we don't have to worry about here in the U.S is mosquito netting around our beds and we don't have to worry about putting bug spray on ourselves and kids every night. This is something the M's have to do every day and night.
One of the days Becky and I got up around 5:30 to watch the sun rise and I'm glad we did, because it was a great time of reflection. I listened to music and just walked and prayed along the beach.
After our week at the conference center we were supposed to go on a safari, but it turned out that the cost was double the price quoted, so the safari was out. We were then given the option to go to the island for about a day in a half. We went with another group from Florida to the island and enjoyed the 15 minute plane ride to the island. We went in a 12 seater plane and it was the coolest plane ride ever. The Indian ocean is gorgeous and something we noticed about that ocean, no waves, just quite little ripples.
When we arrived on the island we met up with one of the M's there and she took us shopping and we loved how this lady engaged her people group. She exchanged numbers with one of the shop keepers and was invited to tea in two ladies homes. God is definitely as work in this place. We love how this M shops and shares, this is how she engages her people.
This island was exactly what we wanted to experience. We enjoyed the culture and being in the middle of the market place was quite the cultural experience. Fish being gutted right there in front of us, goats and cows being butchered right there too. And the smell, my goodness, I guess you'd get used to it. I just held my breath till we passed through the fish and meat sections.
After an hour or so of shopping we met up with Ali and he gave us a two hour tour of the city and he shared with us the different doors that are around the city and their meaning.
After our tour we did a little more shopping and then we went to the M's house for dinner and to sleep. Becky and I could have easily spent a week with this family.
By this time I was missing home so much. I needed to hear mommy so badly, and a hug from my Matt. So we came back to the mainland on Tuesday morning and the next few days we just hung out with the other volunteers from Florida and we had a blast with them. We took the taxi into town many times and just the taxi rides is an experience. Traffic is so bad there and one taxi driver would drive on the sidewalk (which is actually dirt) and through the gas station and just swerving and cutting other people off. It was hilarious.
There is more I could share, it's just easier to share face to face.
Becky and I left Thursday morning around 3:00 and began our long trek home. We went back to Nairobi, only about a two hour layover and then 8 hours to London on Virgin, best airline ever. They constantly fed us and even gave us a little bag with a sleep mask, socks, toothpaste and toothbrush. And the leg room was more that any other airline. We had about a two hour layover in London and then we headed to New York and about the last two hours of our flight to New York I got sick again and vomiting in the bathroom. Of course our layover in New York was about 6 hours, over night, and we had to re-claim our bags and could not re-check them till 3:00 in the morning. I ended up sleeping on a bench in the airport till 3:00 and we checked our bags and we got to our gate and just waited to get on the last 5 hours of our travels.
It's so good to be home and I enjoyed every minute of my trip and thank you to all who helped me get to Africa and all those who helped watch Luke.
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