After a much belated final entry, I thought I would recount the very last leg of our trip back from Kenya.

The first leg of our flight was actually quite nice.  The plane even had those cool chairs with the LCD screens in the back.  Unfortunately we were so tired we both slept through most of the trip and didn’t get to take advantage of them, but it was nice to see a very modern plane.

We landed in Amsterdam again for a long layover there (I think around 6 hours).  It was quite early in the morning, so leaving the airport to explore wasn’t really an option and we were all pretty tired anyway.  Nikki and I enjoyed a fancy McDonald’s meal which we thought was going to cost us about $30 (because of conversion), but thankfully turned out to be about $10 (much more reasonable for an Egg McMuffin, juice, and yogurt).  After eating, journaling, napping, watching a DVD, and freshening up, it was time to line up again, get checked by security, and board the plane.  The line seemed to take a long time and several of our group got the honor to be personally frisked by security, but thankfully no one turned out to be a threat (whew!).

The last leg from Amsterdam to Chicago seemed to take forever since everyone was ready just to be back, but we survived.  Again we were reminded just how tasty the airline food was!

When we arrived in Chicago we needed to pass through customs.  I was expecting a more thorough quizzing, but other than some basic questions we made it through just fine.  Everyone got their luggage (thanks again, God!) and we headed out to get supper.  Nikki and I bought some more McDonald’s food since it was close by and then our PLC bus came to pick us up.

Since we were gone over spring break, we got to hear about how UNI not only beat their first round opponent in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, but how they also upset Kansas!  That was really cool to hear about.  The trip back went well except for the final hour before being home.  Nikki and I were just exhausted, needing a shower and some sleep.  My parents were at our home, waiting and excited to hear about our trip.  We recounted our adventures, showered up, and climbed into bed.

And then we fell asleep, thankful for our great adventure.

Nikki petting a giraffe

Our last day in Kenya.  We woke up to another buffet of food and loaded up to head to Nairobi.

The first stop was to a very modern mall for Kenya coffee.  Not being a coffee drinker myself, I didn’t know how much better this is, but from I’ve heard it is excellent.  Nikki and I also were amazed by the reverse culture shock of an air-conditioned, clean, very technological, commercial area, but it did make us anticipate home a bit more.

After getting coffee, we stopped at a small curio shop for souvenirs.  The shop itself was a small shed on the side of the road.  I wouldn’t have thought much about it if we hadn’t specifically decided to go there.  Inside, the small room was filled with trinkets, carvings, and nick-nacks of all shapes and sizes, from tiny wood carvings to larger stone pieces.  I found a beautiful gazelle bookend set there that I keep in my office.  I’m still amazed at the bartering process and so thankful that’s not the norm in America.  The price the guy threw out right away was outrageous.  I held my ground and got a decent price.  We also got to meet Phoebe, a worker for both Brightpoint and 410 that partners 410 communities and their schools with Brightpoint’s child sponsorship.  Very cool.

After the curio store we went to the Kazuri bead shop.  Here’s the website- http://www.kazuri.com .  This organization grew from a few people to employing around 300 widowed women that help make ceramic beads for sale.  It’s a very cool business with beautiful jewelry.  We took a brief tour and bought a few nice things.

From the bead shop we went to a Giraffe Sanctuary right inside of Nairobi.  They had around 15 giraffes in the large compound that you could see up close or from a distance.  A main attraction here was the ability to get a giraffe “kiss” where you place a food pellet in between your lips and a giraffe will lick it out.  Disgusting, but highly entertaining.  Many of our team member did this and offered some great photos and videos.

Our last stop for the day was the exotic “Pizza Inn”.  It was an Americanized restaurant that sold, well, pizza of course!   It was in a strip mall near a gas station.  By this time it was around 5pm and we stayed there until about 8pm.  During that time a missionary couple PLC sponsors in Nairobi stopped over to say hello and receive several supplies we brought down for them.  They’ll be coming up in June to PLC, so it will be good to see them again and hopefully talk further.  They provide ministries of any kind possible to interact with the people in Nairobi, which has a huge need for real Christian influences.

Our pizza was surprisingly good and the time passed quickly.  Night life in Nairobi is extremely busy, which makes sense for a crowded, urban environment.  I’m glad we were in a well-lit location with a lot of people as I don’t think I’d feel comfortable being out alone.

Around 8pm we loaded up to drive to the airport.  We arrived there and unloaded, saying goodbyes to our drivers and Lydia.  From there we checked through security, rounded up as a team, and then stood in line to make the last security check before flying out.  Several of the team members weren’t feeling good, so this part was rough since the airport was hot, crowded, and didn’t have accessible bathrooms.  We all made it on board and were flying away from Kenya.

Well, only one more day left to describe, and it’s the least exciting.  But, thanks to whomever is reading this.  Hopefully it gives you some good insight into our trip.  I’ve found it to be a good exercise in remembering what happened and also detailing all of the amazing events that have occurred.

An Amazing View in Nakuru National Park

Our last day in Kwambekenya was very bitter-sweet.  Many of us had formed such good friendships that it was hard to leave.  We traveled into the village along the same long bumpy road we’ve traveled many times before knowing it was our last for the trip, although this was a part of our journey we were happy to have over.  Really other than the long, uncomfortable travels and sickness, the rest of the adventure was great.

We arrived mid-morning.  The plan was to play a few more games of volleyball and have a farewell ceremony.  I opted out of playing volleyball since I was still recovering from the day before.  Instead we ended up bringing out some jump ropes Lisa Friesen brought with her and had the villagers and others from our team jump rope.  It was just another great example of our team and the villagers interacting in a fun, healthy way.  Nikki and I also snapped some pictures of people we didn’t have pictures of prior to that point.

After the volleyball game finished, we gathered around in a circle to pray and sing.  The villagers sang us a few songs and we sang “God of this City” to them.  Pastor David prayed for us and the village and many tears were shed in farewell.  As we left, we were told two things:

1.  What would we like to name the bridge we built?  Sara came up with “The Dream”, so it will be named “Dream Bridge”.

2.  The village named our group, Blessings.  I can’t remember the name in kikuyu, but it was so honoring to hear that we blessed them like they blessed us.

After we all loaded up and headed out many people sat quietly and cried.  Surprisingly I didn’t tear up, but my heart was sad to leave my new friends and this amazing place in the world.  We helped lighten the mood a bit by talking about good memories of our time there.

Our next leg of the journey was to Nakuru National Park for a safari on the way to the lodge we would stay at within the park.  We drove through the park and saw the standard African animal fare- zebras, baboons, water buffalo, storks, gazelle, and giraffes.  A little more than half-way we went to a scenic lookout called, appropriately, Baboon Cliff.  The view was amazing (as evidenced by this picture above).  The wind was so calm you could see a wonderful reflection of the sky in the lake and mountains.  Right before we left we caught a baboon that reached into another vehicle and stole some hot dog buns.  Nikki managed to get part of this on video, too!

By the time we ended the safari and arrived at the lodge it was supper time.  We pulled in, were escorted to our rooms, and then given a chance to eat.  The rooms were amazingly luxurious compared to almost anything else we had seen so far and would be decently on par with fancy, 4-5 star hotels in America.  The meal that night was a buffet with a lot of tasty options.

We finished up that night by meeting as a group and writing letters of encouragement to each other.  We didn’t have much time, so the pace was a little frantic, but I got some really great encouragement from others on my team and hopefully did the same for them.

We went to bed knowing the next day would be long as we would be shopping and traveling back to America.

A great picture of Esther

What a great picture of Esther, our sponsor child from Brightpoint, to the right, huh?  Nikki snapped this photo while she was in the schools that day.  She has a great smile!

This was also a memorable day, but for different ways for Nikki and myself.  Later in the night on Wednesday I came down with TD (yes, Travelers Diarrhea).  Sorry as that’s probably too much information, but that’s one of the well-known joys of international travel.  I was really hoping I would feel better on Thursday morning, but my body didn’t get that memo.  Staying back in the hotel while everyone else went to the village that day was one of the hardest things I had to do ever.  I really wanted to go and interact with the school kids and go on a home visit, but without toilets nearby it wasn’t meant to be.  So, in a tearful farewell I said goodbye to the rest of the group as they headed to Kwambekenya for the day.

So, what did I do while home sick at the hotel?  I made up my mind that I wouldn’t let my crummy circumstances get the best of me.  I took a nap and slept for 2.5 hours (wow!), so most of the morning was gone.  I then went to the front desk and placed an order for food as I was feeling hungry and they said I could order whatever I needed/wanted.  Here’s what I ordered:

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Chips
• Chocolate bar
• A banana
• Mango juice

I wasn’t 100% sure if my waitress didn’t understand my order completely or if the cook didn’t have what I ordered on-hand.  Here’s what I got instead:

• Mango juice (got this right)
• Toast with butter
• Shredded lettuce with zucchini
• French fries
• A strawberry milkshake

Hakuna matta!  I ate what I felt was decent and left the rest.  After my rest and eating I was feeling much better.  I decided to spend the rest of the time relaxing and doing a SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer) on Psalm 25.  I just heard about SOAP and found it to be a flexible, yet sophisticated tool to read and examine God’s word.  Through my time, God taught me that in order to better know His will for me, I needed to fear him and seek him and through that process I’ll learn more about His plan for me.  And that’s just from doing SOAP my first time!  I’m looking forward to bringing this to my small group.  For a great link to a video about it for more information, click here and watch the video.

While I was resting and reading, most of our team was in the schools in the morning with a few finishing up the foot bridge.  It was a great example of people using their gifts in different ways.  Nikki worked with the kids and taught them the story of Noah’s ark.  She told the story, had the kids act like different animals, gave them time to draw pictures of the animals, and played games.  Nikki taught in the same room as Esther and got to see her a bit more, which was great.  The other team also finished the bridge, which was an amazing accomplishment given the timeframe and resources available.  Originally the hope was just to get started on the project, but to have it done was a huge benefit.

In the afternoon everyone paired up and went into different homes around the village to meet people and make chipote.  This is a flat bread usually only made at Christmas time because of the high cost.  Our group paid for the supplies and helped make this.  Several of the women also got the chance to paint the nails of Kwambekenya women, which was a fun experience.

That night we had a campfire and shared experiences from the day.  It was our last night at Panorama Hotel as we were going into the village fro the last time on Friday.  We prepared our departing song (“God of This City”) and had worship time.  One of my favorite memories is seeing Sara Fitzgerald with a miner’s light on her head to help her read music while playing guitar.  Classy!

We went to bed happy but also sad it was our last day in Kwambekenya, as well as an end to our time on our trip.  But, there were still many good memories ahead over the next few days…

Ryan proposing to Alissa

Our 6th day was very special:

• It was Saint Patrick’s day
• It was Rachel’s 21st birthday
• It hailed that day (it only hails every 2 years!)
• We helped the village mostly complete their fence project
• It was Ryan and Alissa’s 1.5 year anniversary of dating
• Ryan and Alissa got engaged

After such great progress on the footbridge, our task changed from hauling around big rocks to a much more skill-based activity.  The new Medical Clinic had an existing fence, but it was rather small and open in a few spots, so animals would get into the field.  By putting up a new chain link fence on top of the existing barbwire one, it would strengthen the existing fence and make the area more secure, so that was our task for this day.

Compared to hauling rocks, this was a breeze.  During the process I met John, a local villager.  Surprisingly, John knew a thing or two about computers and we had some good conversations while tying the old fence to the new one.  There was also a group of women in the village that did some landscaping, which consisted of taking a hoe and chopping up part of the ground that was in small mound.  Nikki and I got a chance to try it out, and boy are those women strong!  I joked that my Kenyan name should be “He who works like a woman, but not as well.”

After the fence project finished, we all gathered around for a ceremony.  The announcement was made by David, the Development manager from 410 Bridge, in Kikuyu (the local language) and then translated into English.  It went something like:

“Many of our friends have come to us from America as single people, married couples, and dating couples.  Today we have one couple that would like to change their relationship into something different.  Ryan will talk and I will translate.”

Needless to say Alissa was happy and shocked (as in the picture above), but it was an amazing time.  The villagers had never seen an engagement and were so happy.  We danced, sang, and enjoyed the moment.  Some villagers even gave Ryan and Alissa a marriage gift, which was a homemade piece of art that looked like a start- very cool.  It was great to be a part of this moment in their lives.

The day indeed was very special!

A good view of our progress on the bridge

Today we continued with our work on the bridge.  I would be lying if I said we all jumped out of our beds at 6am yelling “Let’s lift some rocks!”.  I was pretty sore along with the majority of my team.  But, after the great progress yesterday and the new relationships we got to continue, we were looking forward to another round of rock moving.

This time, we started on the opposite end of the bridge (the far side in the photo above) and started to fill in those ditches with rock.  On the way over I put my shoes in some pretty good mud, officially orienting me to life in rural Kenya and allowing me to sympathize with the villagers who had to traverse this area prior to a bridge.

Work moved along well, although part way through the morning Abby Molis lost her grip on a big rock she was lifting with another villager and smashed her finger.  Shortly after this, Megan cut her knee on a rock.  Both were shuttled off to the Medical Clinic to be assessed.  It was pretty poignant, though, to also sympathize with the villagers before there was a clinic in town, as the next closest location was over 10 km away.  Thankfully both Megan and Abby were fine other than some cuts and bruising (whew!).

We did so well on the opposite side of the bridge that they had us move back to the original side and move the rest of the rock down over there.  Through this process I noticed a lone young man (Isaac) with a wheelbarrow hauling large rocks back and forth.  He had amazing stamina given that the wheelbarrow’s wheel was undersized for the weight of the rock being hauled.  I ended up helping him load up and later he had me take several loads down to the area to dump them.  That was hard work and I only lasted about 5 trips.  I got to talk with Isaac a bit and complimented him on his strength.  I wish I had more time to chat with him.

This concluded most of our work.  We had lunch and in the early afternoon headed to the school Nikki and I visited Esther at to function as a giant recess for all of the kids.  Our job was to play some sports and provide entertainment.  There were probably 900 kids for only 20ish muzungus, which is a pretty low ratio of kid per muzungu!  We all split up and went in different ways with different groups.

My group was tasked with playing kickball.  I quickly realized, though, that the kids’ English and self-control skills weren’t quite up to the task of learning a new sport in a few minutes.  So, we played a modified version of kickball and also ultimate Frisbee with some of those cool hoop-like Frisbees Nikki and I bought to donate.

Running around for quite a while with all of these kids was tiring so I had us all sit down and play a game where we “passed” along a clap in a circle.  Then I had them tell me the names of different colors on our clothes and the names of parts of the body.  Along the way I discovered they knew “head, shoulders, knees, and toes”, so we did that along with some other songs.  Finally, I made up a game called “Muzungu Says” where I would chant “Muzungu says clap!” and they would repeat that with me.  Then I’d change to some other action.  It was pretty fun.

After a few hours of playing it was time to go (it went by so quickly!).  The next day was scheduled for a new project, which I’ll explain in the next post.

The materials for our footbridge

This Monday was a big day.  We were going to start on one of the major projects for our time in Kwambekenya- the construction of a footbridge.

I’m not a contractor, nor a native of Kenya.  When I was thinking of a footbridge, I was thinking of a small wooden bridge crossing a tiny stream, maybe 6 feet across.  My expectations were blown away once I saw our task at hand.

In Kenya, stone is used a lot.  Part of the reason is labor is cheap and tools/equipment is expensive.  Another reason is termites and other bugs can eat away at wooden structures.  Regardless of the reason, dropping big rocks into the ground actually was a really good solution given the resources available.  Let me explain the process.

The local villagers had a low lying area that was marshy (probably about 40 feet across).  This marshy area joined two major sections of the town together and could serve as a big time-saver for those that lived nearby.  It was muddy/soft enough in this area that school kids would lose their boots trying to cross (which is a huge problem) and farmers that farmed on one side had to make a sizable detour to farm their land across this area.

The plan was to dig out the mud into one large trench with smaller ravines and fill those trenches with large rocks.  The large rocks would be covered with smaller ones and then eventually crushed down with sledge hammers to make relatively passable terrain.

On Monday, the trenches were still being excavated, but enough mud was removed we could start filling it in with large and small rocks.  Several of us (including me) took the tough task of moving large rocks.  Many others formed lines and passed along the smaller rocks bucket-style.  The other nice part of this work was getting to know the people.  Moving rocks doesn’t require much thought, so you’re free to converse with those working next to you, which is what we did.  Many great relationships were formed this day as a result.  We were building both a literal and figurative bridge with the people of Kwambekenya!

After we made some great progress on the bridge, Nikki and I got to go to meet our sponsor child, Esther, whom we sponsored from Brightpoint, and organization that partners needy schools (many 410 locations) similarly to Compassion.  We walked to the school, met with the new headmaster, John, and got to see Esther.  She was very shy and didn’t speak English very well (English skills are emphasized in later grades), but it was amazing getting to see in person the child we’ll be writing and supporting with money and prayers as she grows.  We love her very much.

Esther is an orphan.  Her mother was struck and killed by lightning (how sad!) and her father remarried, so she is living with her grandmother.  I hope our sponsorship will encourage her to do well in school and provide hope for her future despite her difficult circumstances.

After meeting Esther, we came back, had lunch, and worked on the bridge further.  By the time we were ready to go, we were pretty exhausted, but it was a good feeling and a good day.  The next day we would return to work on the bridge, which I will discuss in the next post.

Us in front of the Great Rift Valley

This day was the one we were all preparing for, as we finally got a chance to go into Kwambekenya.

We woke up at the Heart Lodge and ate our first breakfast in Kenya.  Our spread of food included juice, eggs, bacon, ham, potatoes, fruit, and cereal.  I asked Lydia if this was a typical sort of breakfast Kenyans would eat and she said it was a very Americanized version.  Typical breakfast for Kenyans (at least in Kwambekenya) is a potato and bread, which makes sense given the poverty and resources available.

We all piled in the vans, waved goodbye to our amazing accommodations, and got ready for the 3 hour drive from Nairobi to Kwambekenya.  Half of the drive was a typical highway travel, although I still had a hard time adjusting to them driving on the left (and since many traffic signs/lights acted as suggestions more than rules).  The other half of the drive was on dirt roads that were extremely bumpy.  We got to be pretty familiar with that part of the drive since we took it into Kwambekenya every day.  It certainly put Cedar Falls’ pot holes into perspective!

After our long trip, we finally arrived.  Kwambekenya was both the same and different as my expectations.  It was much more lush than I expected as trees and other vegetation were everywhere.  We found out that this area of Kenya is amazingly fertile.  The villagers can cycle crops three times per year, which is impressive.

We all got off the bus, met some villagers initially, and then divided into groups to go to one of Kwabmekenya’s five churches.  Our group went to Full Gospel Church with Mary, a local leader in the village.  This church was a bit further away so we drove a couple minutes and walked into church.  We were late, so as we walked in church had already started and most of the singing and worship time was completed (which was a bummer!).

The church itself was a larger shack/small building, probably about 30 feet long by 15 feet wide.  Up at the front was a pulpit area with a podium and the villagers (and our group) sat in close rows of benches.  The pastor, James, sat at the front along with a young man who was the visiting preacher.  The pews/benches were filed with young children and women.  It broke my heart to see no other men in the church!

Mary acted as our interpreter during the sermon and Bible readings.  She was so good!  Her English skills are excellent and she translated so quickly.  The sermon focused on Jesus being our light and having freedom in Him, which was very good.  Before the whole service was completed, we went out of the church to meet several of the children.  They were so interested in seeing us.  We shook their hands, talked to them, and took their pictures.  They really loved seeing their pictures being taken.  Here we met a young girl wearing a USA stocking hat named Veronica.  Several other times on our journey we met Veronica.

After church we met back up at Medical Clinic and loaded up for lunch.  I discovered that lunch time (at least in Kenya) was typically between 1pm and 2pm and we always took it at a location in the nearby national park.  We had boxed lunches prepared from the hotel, which always consisted of some meat, chips (interestingly named, like “Funky Chicken” or “Perfectly Salted”), a fruit (usually a banana), chocolate, bread, a juice box and a few other items.  The location we stopped at this time had a nearby creek.  Several people went hiking to a see a small waterfall, and I took a picture of a tree that was damaged by an elephant.

Once lunch was completed we went back to the Medical Clinic to play volleyball and spend time with the villagers.  I opted to play and I believe we played three games.  Our team won two out of the three, making us the victors.  It was a fun time.  Those not playing talked with villagers and played with the kids.  I remember seeing Abbey Carney sharing her iPod’s music with a few kids, which thought that was amazing.

We left a bit early since we were still all pretty tired from jet lag and the long travel in the morning.  I think at least half of us took naps after the 1.5 hour drive to our main hotel in Naivasha, Panorama Hotel.  Nikki and I were given a room in one of the hut-like buildings, but it was pretty nice, which included a queen bed with complimentary mosquito net.  Really we never needed the net all week as mosquitoes were pretty uncommon in our area, but it was reassuring to see it there.

Supper was at 7:30 pm (which was typical all week) and our eating area was in the main building where we checked in.  After having a nice meal we met in the Fig Tree Conference Room for a time of sharing and worship.  We went around the room sharing our interactions that day.  Many stories already were encouraging, but there’s one in particular I won’t forget.  Carl Carey, one of our pastors at PLC, got to preach a sermon at his church.  In response to his sermon, a villager decided to give her life to Christ!  And this was just the first day of many cool stories.

We concluded our meeting around 10pm.  I was excited for the next day, as we would start working on the foot bridge, but more on that in the next post.

We made it to Kenya!

Day 2 was a rather long, boring day, and also quite short.  By the time we arrived we lost 9 hours of our day due to time zone changes!

Our flight to Amsterdam went well, we landed and waited around for about 3 hours and then were in the air again.  Right before boarding we met another missions group that was also going down.  We recognized them because they all had matching blue shirts on.  I can’t remember where they were from, but it was neat to see others helping out like we were.

The flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was packed.  This route must be pretty popular as I don’t think I saw any open seats.  By this point Nikki and I were pretty tired and each took naps at various points and watched a movie on our portable DVD player.

We eventually landed in Nairobi.  Nairobi’s airport isn’t nearly on the same level as Chicago or Amsterdam, but that’s pretty reflective of where Kenya is globally so far.  The airport was hot, crowded, and not the immaculately clean level of the other two airports.  Everyone gathered as a group and we headed to Customs and get a temporary visa.  When we pulled up the lines were really long.  Thankfully a local attendant pulled our group away into another area which was much, much shorter and not so crowded.  We passed Customs with no problems.

After Customs we began the search for luggage and exchanging our cash for Kenyan Schillings.  After all of this we finally met Lydia, our 410 Bridge representative who would act as our guide.  Lydia is 19 years old (soon to be 20 this weekend!) and grew up in Kwambekenya.  She was also a Brightpoint sponsor child, so it was great to see the Brightpoint’s impact in a very tangible way.

Lydia was an amazing guide through the trip.  She’s going to a University in Kenya this Fall (November, maybe?) to study Animal Production.  She’s naturally very quiet but very friendly, helpful, and has a great sense of humor.  Nikki and I miss hanging out with her.  Here’s a video of her uploaded by 410 Bridge:

Lydia pointed us to our buses and we loaded up.  Along the way some “helpful” Kenyans wanted to take our luggage over there, but their generosity wasn’t so nice- they wanted a “porter’s fee” for their help.  I’m just thankful no one’s luggage was stolen, but we all got on board one van with the luggage on the other one.

We drove to the Heart Lodge in Nairobi to stay overnight.  It was about 30 minutes from the airport and very nice.  Like many areas, it was a gated area with tall walls (and even glass affixed to the top of the walls!).  We met as a group, talked to Lydia briefly, had some refreshments, and went to our assigned rooms.  Our schedule had us to breakfast by 7am, so Nikki and I set our alarm for slightly before 6am so we could help wake up a few other people in time.

And that was our second day!

Our team in front of the PLC bus

This is the start of my recap on the days of our trip, starting with the first day.

After a goodnight’s rest, Nikki and I headed over to PLC at 7:45am to start boarding the bus and meet our team.  Around 8am we gathered in PLC and met Pastor John for a prayer.  Then we loaded up and started our journey toward Kenya.

The bus atmosphere was fun, with people getting to know each other, sharing their previous travel experiences, and sharing what we knew of Kenya.

Later in the trip we stopped in Peru to eat a quick lunch, take the picture I included here, and continue on.  We made it to the airport in good time and checked our luggage.  After we got through, Sara decided we should all number off and then repeat our numbers any time we went somewhere as a big group.  I was 5 and Nikki was 6.  Several people joked that we would only refer to each other as their number instead of their real name “You are now known as number 5.”

The plane boarding went off with no problems and on time and soon we were in the air toward Amsterdam.  The total flight time was about 7.5 hours, so it was a long journey.  I didn’t sleep much as it was still afternoon according to my body despite Amsterdam being 6 hours ahead since I was so excited and nervous for our travels.  I spent most of the time looking at Maximum PC, doing a sudoku, talking with Nikki, and reading the first chapter of “The Me I Want to Be” by John Ortburg (pretty good).

Overall, it was a nice day chatting with people.  We got to know Ryan Morrison and Alissa Jewel pretty well and continued that friendship during the journey.  I could tell our group was going to get along well and also enjoyed the good times we were already having.  God was blessing our travels already with plenty more to come!