That afternoon I finished packing with Michael and we prayed for our health, safety and that we wouldn't forget important things. We met back at the church to pack the rest of our stuff in the van and drove to Jackson to spend the night at Kathy's parents house. It was a quick 2.5 hr drive as we were all excited. Josh, Beth, Julia and I stayed the night at the Shaw's. The Shaw's were very hospitable and made our overnight stay a pleasant one. The next morning we enjoyed a great southern breakfast even though it was a bit early...we had to be at the airport around 6:30 am.
(June 30th) We arrived at the airport and it took a lot of time to check in our 22 bags. We took a group photo gave our last goodbyes to family and boarded our first flight to Detroit. Michael and I sat together and talked a little about our anxieties. We prayed them away and tried to get some rest. It was a 2.5 hr flight. Next stop was Amsterdam but we had quite a bit of layover in Detroit so I went sight seeing. The plane boarded early (or at least I thought), and it was a good thing I had my cell phone on because I soon received a phone call from Kathy telling me the rest of the gang were boarding. I took a few more photos and caught the in-terminal train to the boarding gate. Needless to say I was impressed with the airport.
I was even more impressed with the plane and so was Michael. We had never flown on a large plane and this was our first trip overseas. Michael was so happy to have a TV screen in front of him and to have a choice of movies, video games, etc...
We soon settled in and the flight began. It was 7+ hrs of leaving the sun behind. The time change started taking it's toll about halfway into the flight. It was very hard to sit still for that length of time. Toward the end of the flight Carol, who was sitting on the opposite side of the plane, noticed a very nice glow from the morning light with a crescent moon. She asked me if I wanted to take a photo. When I finally got to where she was seated I thought to myself that it would be impossible. I am thankful that she came and got me because I was able to get a nice shot.
We arrived in Amsterdam very early. We lost a lot of hrs during that flight. We were all tired. We settled down at a place to eat and when we were finished we toured the airport and saw a Van Gogh exhibit. I had never seen any of his paintings up close and this was a wonderful opportunity right in the airport.
I think we were all too tired to really appreciate the show but we were there. We then split up and returned to our boarding area about an hr early. There were no waiting area seats available so we made the best of it on the floor. The first of many card games was played.
Our next flight was to Nairobi. We would lose even more time on that flight. We boarded for Nairobi and to my surprise it was a similar size aircraft. It was nice but we still had the longest leg of our journey ahead of us. By this time we were all beyond exhaustion. Sleep was the main objective and I know that Michael caught up on his. When we arrived at Nairobi airport I tried to wake him up but he was knocked out. He didn't wake up through a good 5 min of slapping on the cheeks, opening eyelids and talking to him. Finally he awoke not knowing that many people had tried to wake him. I couldn't help myself .... I had to take his photo.
After getting our bags, we passed through customs and obtained our visas. We finally walked on Kenyan soil outside the airport and were greeted by Stu, Linda and our driver Big T (Tony). Our welcome to Kenya was at dusk so our drive to the hostel was in the dark. I was sitting in the front seat with Drew and Tony. We were all packed like sardines in a Toyota minivan. The drive was a great introduction to Kenya. (Driving on the left side of the road, very fast on bumpy roads) I was not wearing my seatbelt when we were pulled over at a checkpoint by armed guards. They like to harass people who don't wear their seatbelt. I didn't now this and I guess Tony was able to talk to the guard and he waved us on.
We got to the Kikuyu Orthopedic Hospital well into the night. We were to pack our bags for 3 days and meet in the morning to go to Kimathi, ready for work. I just wanted a bed for the night.
