Getting closer!

It's just around the corner and I'm so excited. Flights are booked. We leave on Jan 26th (Wednesday). The team will fly home on Feb 7th (Monday), but Sarah and I have decided to stay 2 additional days in Nairobi and will fly home on Feb 9th. We will be gone 2 full weeks. Did I mention that I'm SOO excited?! I will miss Matt and the girls A LOT, but Matt will be home and grandparents will be helping out here at home. I'm planning on getting a cell phone from Verizon that I can be reached at easily and will be able to send / receive text messages pretty cheap. I just took my Typhoid pills this past week - 4 capsules taken every other day; and, I just got my malaria script filled. I start taking that 2 days before we leave and will take it daily until a week after returning home. Sarah and I still have to do a bit more research about where we will stay for 2 days and what we will do, but we figured (actually, Sarah really wanted to stay - and, it really made "sense" for me to stay too!) since we were there already, we might as well stay and explore just a little bit longer.

At our family Christmas

Lorraine, Miriam and Sarah

Immunizations...

I also went for my immunization shots - having my final exam for 200 hours massage school scheduled the next day, little did I know that wasn't going to happen! After 3 shots in both arms, they were much to sore to massage for a few days. Needless to say, I've still got to buckle down and get that final test done before the end of this year!

Meetings

Today we had another meeting about our trip. A couple of people talked to us today that went on a trip to this orphanage this past year - a dentist and his wife. They gave us some insight into what to pack, what to expect, etc. Both of them had a wonderful experience. It's hard to get a real feel for exactly what we'll be doing. The area / orphanage that we'll be going to (there is a team of about 15 people I think) has a doctor that comes in about once a month. My impression is that we will be basically running a clinic for kids in the orphanage and in the community and treating whatever we can. We all get 2 checked bags, which Ada Bible will use to pack medical supplies. All we can bring for our clothes, etc is our carry-on bag. Yes, it will be LIGHT packing. It will be their summer season when we are there -- between 80-90 degrees during the day; 70 degrees at night. Right now, as were are having snowy, cold dreary weather, that sounds simply heavenly!

Flights are being booked this week - but, it takes about 24 hours to get there. We have a connection from Grand Rapids to Detroit. Then, we have about an 8 hr flight to Amsterdam. From there, we have another 8 hr flight to Nairobi, Kenya. We'll stay there one night, then drive to our destination (about 2 hrs I think) in Denali (I think). Please forgive all the "I think" notes -- it's a little hard to know all the details when it is all being planned and organized by someone else!

Things I'm told - we will have no phone or internet. There will be a phone that the church sends along for emergencies. We will have good accomidations - private to semi-private rooms with bath. No hot water though. Cold showers - although, that might feel good after a warm day! On the day before we come home, we will have the oppertunity to go on a safari day trip out of Nairobi (and Sarah and I will for sure be going on that!). I'm told it is an amazing experience and I can not wait to go!