Jambo, from Kabula!!

Hello all! I have arrived safely in Kabula after an extremely long trip. The flights were intense and we met many very interesting and inspiring people. Nairobi was a bit scary at first. Luckily Fed's uncle was there to help us with taxi fair prices. Fed and I both thoughrouly enjoyed the shower at Mary's house (the owner of primetime). Although we slept in a room with three other vollunteers our age, Fed and I got no sleep what-so-ever that night. She has slept in my bed the past two nights (hopefully tonight will be different!) Culture shock has defininately set in and we are unable to sleep. We will be taking Nyquil tonight!

The bus ride to Bungoma was extremely long and I started off being extremely nervous! As I found my seat I realized that there was a little girl sitting next to me in a school uniform. I smiled and sat down as she waved to a man out the window. I asked her if it was her father and it turns out she has no parents, her brother and sister work in Nairobi to make enough money to send her to a boarding school in Bungoma. I immediately opened some of my snacks and offered her some. She held on to the bag of dried fruit for what seems like an eternity! She was very shy, but go figure sitting her next to me changed things. She LOVED the beef jerky that my mom packed for me. She didn't take a liking to the sea salt almonds although she washed each one down seperately with fanta, I am guessing to be polite. She was my tour guide for the ten hour bus ride, showing me all of the animals and telling me about the mountains along the way. At our first stop I had to use the restroom. Much to my surprise, it was a "long drop" or a hole in the ground that you have to squat over. I failed my first attempt. The second stop I had Fed stand outside the stall making waterfall noises. Eventually I was sucessful although the bus was waiting only for me for quite some time!

When we arrived in Bungoma Momma Joyce picked us up with a driver. She is wonderful, hugging and holding all of our hands. Kenyans have this way of shaking your hand and never letting go. The longer it has been since they have seen you, the longer they hold your hand. She called us her children and her little flowers and told us how lucky she was to have such beautiful flowers (female children). She took us to the store to get water and Malaria nets. The people in the stores are AMAZING. Their smiles are as big as the Montana sky. Every person says, "Welcome, you are welcome in Bungoma!" "Welcome" and "Thank you." They look at us as if we are Ghandi. We had two unfortunate run ins in town. A young street boy came up to us wanting money. He was homeless and sniffing glue. On our ride to the farm we past an accident where a semi-truck hit a pedestrian. (Traveling in the towns is extremely dangerous!) This was quite a welcome to come home to. Momma Betty is wonderful as well. They always say that we should not worry because they will make it so that no one messes with them. The compound is wonderful, cows and goats roaming aimlessly. Our first meal was great and meeting all of the volunteers are wonderful. The first nights sleep was not so great. I am extremely homesick and have intense culture shock. The girls say this will last two to three days.

Today we went through orientation where we learned about all of the programs going on (AIDS awareness, AIDS Empowerment, Womens health clinic, travel health clinic and a buisness education group) We met ever primary class and every class stood upon our arrival and sang us a song. Something to the effect of "Hello visiting teacher, and how are you? We are wonderful and so thankful to have you here" It was absolutely adorable.

Im sorry this is so long, there have been so many things going on since I have been able to talk to you all. We tried to go to the internet cafe tonight and it was broken. I am on a volunteers computer currently. We will be taking a Matatu into town tomorrow to get a cell phone and hopefully I will be able to call home soon. They say it is best to buy a calling card in the US and call me for 8 cents a minute. YIKES, I know but it seems to be the cheapest way. I will post the brand name of that card when I remember it! Turns out we will not be taking a boda boda or a tiki tiki (moped) anytime soon, some girls here got in an accident and we are all a little shook up from it! It has been quite an experience so far, I can't wait to post pictures.

I hope all is well back in the states. I miss all of you horribly. I try to think about it when I get scared at night and then it just makes me homesick. Maybe not the best idea. Can't wait to talk to everyone again!

All my love!