Hi again

This internet access is really slow and they are charging me by the minute so I will need to make this quick. Things are good. We have already planted 3500 trees. Today we participated in a workshop to educate the community about the environment and HIV/AIDS. The days have been very long and exhausting. I can't really put into words the experience I have had so far. The people are very nice and welcoming. I have a woman named Sally who wants to come home with me. I have tried to tell her that I can hardly support myself, much less her and her 2 kids, but she is being very persistent. I can't even get over the way that people live here. It has definitely made me appreciate what we have more.

Saturday morning we are leaving to go on our safari. I am really excited - I hear that there is a a swimming pool and they put hot water bottles in your bed at night. By the way - it is freezing cold here!

One more thing - some of you might have heard me freaking out about the recent earthquakes. There have been several in Tanzania in the past few days. We felt another tremor last night. I just had an email in my inbox from the US embassy in Kenya and it said the rumors of them telling Americans to evacuate are untrue. I guess that makes me feel better.

That's all for now! Oh - I might be coming home a day early. For some reason, my flight was booked to leave a day later than everyone else's, so I am in the process of trying to change it to leave with the group. That would mean I would get in Friday instead of Saturday - if anyone wants to pick me up at the airport! Text me!!!

xoxo

I'm here!

It's Saturday about 1:47 pm. We are at Village Market in an internet cafe. We just ate lunch - Aimee, I branched out and rather than tuna fish had some Thai Food. As I sit here typing this, I wonder when I will have to bolt to the bathroom. Let's just hope that doesn't happen. I took a pepto before I ate.

My flights were pretty good. Thanks to the drugs, I pretty much slept the entire way. I got a little nervous when I got to London and didn't meet up with anyone on the trip. I was afraid I would land in Nairobi and not be able to find anyone there either. Luckily, it wasn't a problem. I found them and off to the luggage carousel where I waited in suspense as everyone's bags came off the plane. It took a while, but mine finally arrived. There are two people on the trip who never got their bags.

We got to the place we are staying shortly after midnight I think. We got in the car and Zane and the driver of the other car were discussing which way to get to the place. They kept mentioning certain roads because they are "safer" at that time of night. We were all kind of wondering what exactly that meant. Apparently carjackings are not all that uncommon here. I am not that worried though. So far, everything has been great. The people on the trip are awesome, just as I thought.

Tomorrow we are going to church in Kibera and spending the rest of the day there. Monday we start planting trees. We are working with 100 other volunteers on Monday to dig 3000 holes. No, that was not a typo, we are digging 3000 holes. On Tuesday, our group will go to pick up the trees and on Wednesday we are planting them.

So far, I don't really feel like I am that far away. The place we are visiting today is very Westernized. We saw some amazing sights on the drive here. Women walking down the street with bags of rice (?) on their heads, little huts with vegetables and other items. The craziness will start tomorrow. Looking forward to it!! Hope everyone is doing well!

I can receive text messages on my cell phone, so if you think about it send me a text! I might not write back but I will for sure get it.

xoxo
Aimee

I'm going to Africa Y'all

Holyyyyy crap. See ya. I'm out of here. I'll miss you guys!

One more day

Tomorrow is the big day! My flight leaves DIA at 12:45. I get to fly to Chicago where I will connect to my plane to London. I found out a couple of days ago that my friend Briana, who got me involved in this gig, may not be able to make it on the trip. She sent away for her passport about 4 months ago and still hasn't received it. (She's sitting at the passport office in L.A. as we speak! -Good luck!!) So, there is a chance that I am going on the trip with a group of people that I have never met before. I sent one of them an email asking her if she could tell me how to find the group in London so I am not totally lost. This was her response:

I talked with Briana today, and you don't need to worry about a
thing...we will have fun. I am bummed she can't make it, but maybe a
miracle will happen tomorrow with the passport. Everyone is meeting in
London to fly together...everyone but me...I will ask Glen to wear his
black CTC t-shirt that says Ubuntu on the back. If he has it clean, I
am sure he will do it. Otherwise, I promise...don't worry...you will
find the group.

That makes me laugh:
1. So, hopefully this dude has his t-shirt clean so he can wear it
2. "i will find the group" - oh, ok - I won't worry - seriously?

Aimee came over last night to drink wine and help me pack. She was very helpful - she read everything off of the packing list so I could make sure I had everything I needed. She tried to tell me that I over packed on tuna fish. I had to watch her carefully to make sure she didn't go behind me and try to take some out of my bag. I think she has a secret love for tuna fish and just wanted something for free. You can't trust anyone these days.

Somewhat of a plan

I just got this email from the organizer of the trip:

Friday the 13th is soon arriving! Our first two teams have come and gone and all has gone extremely well. Shawn and Nicole arrived a few days ago and we are getting things ready for your arrival this Friday.
I'm mainly writing to let you know that all is well here in Kenya and to warn you about the problems we have had with luggage. It appears that British Airways is having serious luggage problems...over 8,000 displaced bags in London! My bags were lost for my first 3 days in Kenya, one person on our Medical Team and another on the Community and Faith Team never received their bags. I say this to advise you to pack all necessary items in your carry on bag. If you are a light packer I would try to pack just one bag and carry that bag on if possible (there are washing and drying machines where we are staying). I would also encourage everyone to contact BA and find out what they're advice is in dealing with this problem. Hopefully this team will not have any difficulties, but I wanted to warn you just in case.

No need to pack sheets or pillows. St Julians has all of that. You may want a fresh towel...St. Julians towels are a little funky! Also if you want to go for the one bag carry on we can always go into Nairobi and get any toiletries you need. There are plenty of locations where you can purchase your western needs.

I will be at the airport on Friday and we will go straight to St. Julians for the night. Saturday will be a day of rest, Sunday we will head into Kibera slum, and Monday begins the week of trees!

I am starting to get a little nervous. I can't believe I am leaving in 2 days.

7/7/07 At the Rio

Last Saturday night in Denver before my trip!

I got a new camera

I bought a new camera today. I love it a lot. I also went to target to buy things for my trip. The picture below showcases some of these items. It was the longest trip to Target that I have ever experienced. I really hope I never have to do that again.



I went to sushi with Kim tonight at my new favorite sushi place. It also just so happens to be right next door to my liquor store. I snapped this photo below. There is a drive up window. I did that last night. Its fun.



This is the sushi place.


I leave in about 5 days now. I am starting to freak out a little. Although, I am really excited!