Happy kenyan independance day. well...it was yesterday but kenyans love a good holiday so they took monday off too! so there will be lots of drinks and celebration today.

wow. its my last real day in nairobi. i mean. i'll be here until thursday..but once the parentals arrive it will all be different. no more living life on the edge. gotta make sure mom and dad make it to tanzania in one peice. so here i sit. sipping my latte. using the internet at prestige (my little european haven) for the last time. i duno. it just doesn't feel like this is coming to an end. I don't think i beleive it. I have lost all track of time. it doesn't feel like June. it doesn't feel like I have been here for over 4 months. it feels like i have now been here forever. the past week or so is the first time i have really really felt like a member of the family in nairobi. i can start the jiko (charcoal pit we cook food on) on my own. i can cook a whole meal. i can basically tell my mom anything and everything. its just weird that now that i really feel at home. i am leaving. and i don't know when i will be back.

the past few weeks of being on my own has given me alot of time to reflect on life love happiness faith etc. the past few months have challenged me beyond beleif and i am so grateful for that. in some ways i am going to miss those days where i just wanted to go home because once i made it through the rough patch it always made me appreciate everything so much more. I am so grateful for all of the people i have met along the way on this journey. everyone impacted me in some way whether i talked to them on a bus for 5 minutes or ended up sharing a meal with them and talking for hours only to say goodbye and know i will probably never see them again. so many people challenged my thinking and made me see alot of things in a new light which i am very happy for. i recognize that i have changed alot. and my relationships with people back home won't be the same as before i left, but i'm hopeful that things will work out the way they are supposed to.

so. now i am off to hopefully finish the rest of my souvenir shopping for friends and family back home. once i'm with mom and dad the prices will go waayyyy up. sooo yeah. this is probably the last entry before tanzania. woo hoo