What a trip it has been so far--I'm finally in Kenya!! The last few months have literally flown by and it's hard to comprehend that I'm in AFRICA!! Sometimes it doesn't seem real! Since Sunday, I've done some really cool things.
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| Amsterdam Central |
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| SAU girls |
Sunday I said goodbye to my Teen campers, packed up all my stuff from camp and then said goodbye to everyone. I'm finding it harder to say goodbye to people these days and sometimes I think it would just be better if I didn't have to say goodbye because it is getting too sad for me. After the last staff meeting, I left with Lynzee and Kristel to head to BWI airport. I was in such a hurry that I had to finish packing in the car!! AND, some of my clothes hadn't finished drying so I had to pack them all damp, hoping that it wouldn't add too much weight to the bag. Luckily, I got to the airport in time, checked in my stuff (it was exactly 50) and then I got some real cool stuff from my Uncle Billy for my new camera!! Cannon T1I! The whole way back I had a super upset stomach which didn't feel too good, but I finally made it to Ft. Lauderdale and saw my parents!! :) It was so nice to see my dad waiting for me as I walked down the stairs on my way to baggage claim. After leaving the airport, my parents let me choose where to eat..and I was feeling PIZZA HUT! Yummy! :) On the way home I had to lay down in the back seat because my stomach was still really really hurting, but by the time I made it home it was feeling all better. When I got home, I chilled with my parents for a bit, explored my new camera a little and then headed to bed! :)
Monday I got to sleep in! After I woke up, my parents made me a really yummy breakfast! Stripples, Chocolate Chip Pancakes, and HOMEFRIES!! My dad's boss gave him the day off work, so I got all ready and then went out to Goodwill to go shopping with him! There were a lot of good deals and I got a bunch of "teacher clothes." Then, we had to hurry back so that we could pack up and leave for the beach! It's really nice having the beach only 45 minutes away!! :) So once we got to the beach, I had a picnic with my parents and then I went with my dad to jump some waves. That was a lot of fun and the water was really really warm :) We stayed for awhile taking pictures, looking through shells and enjoying the waves, but on the way home I got the BEST WINGS OF MY LIFE!! haha. Okay, so that may be a tiny exaggeration, but lets just say that Checkers are my new favorite wing spot! Okay, so I went home and watched "Bachelor Pad" with my momma and that's pretty much it.
Tuesday I was feeling really lazy. I can't even remember what I did in the morning, but all that I know is that I finally got around to going out to town with my mom to do some final shopping. I got MORE teacher clothes and got a bunch of supplies from WalMart, and my wonderful hairspray and perfume from Victoria Secret--oh and we went to the bank to withdraw some money. Then, by the time I FINALLY got home, Lynzee and Kristel made it back from camp. (They drove) Well, I started packing when I got home/skyping friends. It was a very long night. I think I only got about 3ish hours of sleep!! But, it was worth it!!
Wednesday was the day I had to make it to the airport and I still had a lot of packing to do. I did some last minute skype calls and tried to make everything I had fit in my suitcases without my bags being overweight. I also had to say a lot of goodbyes, so that was a little hard. I finally ended up leaving for MIA with Lynzee! On the way we got DELICIOUS Publix subs and salt and vinegar chips and mint oreos! Those are pretty much some of my favorite things EVER! :) Then, we went to Didi's house and he drove us the rest of the way to the airport. When we got there I had a little trouble getting things straitened out with my visa, but in the end everything worked out well. I got through all the security, waited at my gate, called/texted everyone my last goodbyes and then boarded the plane. I got pretty lucky and sat next to two girls that were close to my age. They were so super entertaining that I didn't end up sleeping most of my flight. Seriously. They were riots, one thought she was pregnant, was totally spoiled and was guy crazy for some dude on the airplane and the other was a law student going to France for 10 months of intern work. Finally, around 1:00pm Amsterdam time we arrived to Schipol Airport where I met up with the rest of the people in my group.
Thursday we got to tour around Amsterdam. We ended up getting lockers and keeping our carry on items there while we took a train to Amsterdam Central. The weather was nice and overcast/rainy, but luckily I had my raincoat that I just got at MAC! :) We toured around town, took a bunch of pictures, went to a coffee shop, pastry place and got a hot dog. Unfortunately, the line for Anne Franks house was way too long so we didn't feel like waiting for it. We ended up headed back to the airport and then took off on our flight close to 9pm Amsterdam time. (6 hours ahead of the US) I was able to switch seats with someone so that I could sit next to Jill for the flight. We got our food which, yes, it was typical airplane food-nothing to brag home about. Then, we mostly just tried to sleep as much as we could for the flight.
Friday we woke up around 4 am for the last two hours of the trip. I ended up watching some of "Lion King." Once we landed around 6am we waited for awhile to get our visas at the airport. I was afraid that they wouldn't take my $50 because it was from 1996 and apparently you're supposed to have at least 2006 or higher--but they took it anyway, YAY! haha. Then, we got our luggage and met the people from Maxwell who were picking us up! SO NICE. The drive back was pretty crazy! The roads are full of potholes and the drives are crazy, but it was fun! We stopped by the mall place on the way back to get some soy milk and stuff, but we didn't stay for long. Once we got on campus, we put our stuff in the house, talked to our housemate Lani (SM from CA) for a little bit and the Jill and I took a nap around 12! We were planning on just sleeping for a little over an hour and waking up for lunch, but then we accidently overslept and woke up around 6!! haha. Then we had dinner at Derek's house (the maintenance guy) and it was delicious!! His wife really knows how to cook! We had potato leek soup and homemade bread!! Also, we tried this thing called black salt and pretty much it has a high sulfer content in it so when you put it on cucumbers it makes it taste eggy. haha, not bad. So yeah, then we pretty much talked and got to know each other a little bit. There are 5 sm's from southern including me and then 2 others. One from CA and the other from Australia. Also, Derek has 2 boys who are in elementary school and freshman at the academy and they are nice too. Jill and I got back to the house a bit a go, showered, unpacked a little bit and are chillin getting ready for bed. The internet isn't working all that well right now because something happened with the fiber optics which they usually use. By Mondayish it should be better. For now, this is what I got. It took a billion years to write it all out and my other posts will NOT be this long..but for now I gave you something to read about me and my trip and pictures will be soon to come! :) Like I said, it's hard to believe that I'm actually here in Kenya right now, but I'm really excited to get started with teaching and exploring around. The people here are very hospitable and nice which will help adjusting to a new place a ton easier. Anyway, it's pretty late and time for BED! :)
