wow. where to start.... The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of events. On saturday I moved families. I am now living in the opposite direction of where I was. It is alot closer to school and the office so that is nice. I love my big crazy new family. I now have a mama, 3 sisters (ages 23, 19, 6), 1 brother (age 7) and a cousin (age 21). Needless to say....the house is constantly busy and loud!!! Me and the 3 sisters share one room. It really hasn't b...

Here is what I have written over the past couple of days starting with the last day of orientation through the beginning of my home stay: February 1, 2008 I made out with a giraffe today. No joke. We went to a giraffe sanctuary today. We could feed the giraffes treats and pet them. At one point they told me to stick some animal treat in my mouth and the next thing I know…a giraffes tongue is all over my face trying to get this tasty little pellet. I'm not...

Greetings from the Monastery!!! Because of the violence in Kenya, we were unable to go to Lake Nakuru where the orientation for MSID normally takes place. Instead we have retreated to the Karen area of Nairobi. It's the totally swanky area where all the rich white people live. This is the area of Nairobi where the story, Out of Africa took place. The compound is beautiful but I know everyone is getting stir crazy stuck in this compound when we know there is so mu...

So. the verdict is in. I leave for Kenya in 3 days. I have never been more excited in my life. Although the road to get here has been rocky...I know that this is what I need to be doing for the next few months. So here is the tenative calendar for the next few months of my life: January 27- May 3 : I will be in Kenya. First 6 weeks will for sure be in Nairobi then the next 6 weeks are still unknown. May4-end of May: I will hopefully be traveling with the l...

Ok...so yet another change of plans...I still may be going to Kenya on January 20th....Minesota is supposed to let us know whether the program is officially allowed to go by Thursday the 10th. It's looking more and more likely that the program is on...however given how sensitive the situation in Kenya is...this reality could change at any time Needless to say, I am pretty frustrated about this whole situation. As of right now I have 12 days to pack and do all t...