The African Adventures Are Finally Beginning

I can now officially say that I live in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa! While I can type those words, they have not completely sunk in. It is a little strange to me to feel like it is not a reality, but I am sure that once I live in the culture for a while, it will be VERY REAL! 


Satan was definitely doing EVERYTHING that he could to interfere with me getting to the place that I know that God has called me. We arrived at the Greater Cincinnati Airport on Monday morning a little ahead of schedule. The kiosk would not allow me to check in, and I had to be taken to an actual human!  I was first told that I could not check-in because I did not already have my visa. (While some countries require you to have a visa before you come, Kenya is not one of them.) We finally had to purchase a return ticket (which is refundable) for me!?! The next obstacle came as the question, “How many bags are you checking today?” When I replied five, I knew we were in for another issue. LOL. The representative was very kind and worked on getting it all resolved for quite some time. In the meantime, I tried to call our Member Care Specialist at West Nairobi School only to find out that out of the three cell phones with us, none had plans that allowed them to call internationally! I can laugh at this now, but a meltdown began at the actual time! My mom softly reminded me that since we knew that God wanted me in Nairobi that He would provide the way for me to get there. Oh me of little faith! She was, of course, right, and several minutes later, I was checking in to my flight. We had to really hustle to my gate, but it was good exercise considering I would be sitting for most of the next 21 hours. 


As I’ve mentioned earlier in blog posts, I get severe motion sickness. My doctor had prescribed the sea sickness patches that you put behind your ear to see if that would work more affectively. Unfortunately, not only did the patch not work, but I started feeling even more ill than my usual motion sickness. The captain has already turned on the “Fasten Seatbelts” sign, and we were making our descent into Washington D.C. I become frantic when I realized that there were no “Motion Discomfort Bags” in my seat pocket or in the pocket next to me!!! I could not wait so I rushed into the lavatory that was, fortunately, right next to my seat. As I was getting sick, I could hear the flight attendant on the PA system saying that “someone” is not in their seat, and we could not taxi to our gate until “that person” returned! LOL. Oops! 


Unfortunately, I got sick on the next flight too. The good thing is that about three hours into the thirteen hour flight, I started to feel quite a bit better and was actually enjoying watching movies and TV shows on my own behind-the-headrest monitor. I was praising the Lord when the rest of my flight was rather uneventful!  I arrived safely in Ethiopia and had just a short layover before my two hour flight to Nairobi. 


I have been very pleased with just how friendly Kenyans have been to me even though it is so obvious that I am a foreigner. The man working at the Visa Application desk did not seem to mind that I had filled out both forms since I was not sure which one was correct. A man helped me get all of my luggage onto two carts and would not even accept the tip that I offered him. The man at Customs and I were joking with each other just a few seconds into our conversation. People wave, shake hands, and smile a lot. It has been quite nice!


It has been so great to be reunited with the other new teachers that I met at Orientation in Missippi. We are still waiting for one more to arrive as she has been having some health issues. It has been so wonderful to meet so many of the teachers. They are so kind about answering EVERY ONE of our questions. I know that if they pour God’s love on their students the way that they have us that we are in for an AWESOME school year!


Well, I know this has been a bit long, but I know that so many were curious about all of the details of my trip. I will be opening a YouTube account so that I can post videos that I take. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog and for praying for me while God leads me in this new endeavor! You all mean so much to me!


Prayer Requests:
 Please remember Amber (the new teacher I mentioned earlier)  as she is still traveling and has been ill.
 Please pray that I would feel a little better. I think I am just feeling a little “blah” from a combination of things: fatigue, a reaction to the motion sickness patch, dehydration due to the sickness and the high altitude (Nairobi is 5,000 feet above sea level.), and the altitude.
 Please pray for me and the other new teachers as we set up our apartments and our classrooms. We are currently staying at a guest house so that we have time to buy some necessities before we move in. 


Praises:
 Despite Satan’s many, many attempts, I (and ALL of my luggage) made it to Nairobi safely!
 All of the school faculty, staff, and volunteers have been so kind.
 I do not have to fly again for a very, very long time!