Jambo!

We arrived safely in Nairobi, Kenya last night. Our luggage made the journey successfully as well. It was a very long day of travel but was rather uneventful for which we are very grateful. We are adjusting to the new time zone (7 hours ahead of New York, 8 hours ahead of the Midwest). Sleeping in mosquito nets again will also take some getting used to, but the mosquitoes really aren't that bad. This morning we worshipped at Nairobi Baptist Church which is right next to Mayfield Guesthouse (where we are staying until our departure for orientation in Machakos on Tuesday). The service was in English but we did sing one song in Swahili. A more "African experience" would have been fun but it was nice to be able to worship in our own language, especially as we're not sure how many more opportunities we will have to do so. I enjoyed seeing the brightly colored wraps and clothing the women wore which really makes me excited to go out to the village on Tuesday because we will likely see more and more traditional-type dress. This afternoon, we went to the Masaai Market and tried our hand at haggling. We had a great time weaving in and out of the wares. When we told the vendors we were from the U.S., they were eager to know if we supported Obama. When we said yes, we were told we'd get "a very good price." Yet when we said no, they quickly admitted they liked McCain. Despite this discrepancy, there is no doubt Obama is the beloved son of Kenya. One man even told me he had met him personally when he came to visit. At times it is downright comical to see how far the Kenyans will go to please and get their price. Tomorrow we hope to go to the Madagascar Embassy here in Nairobi to try to get another visa. Hopefully it will be the RIGHT one this time!

Attack of the Black Flies!

Last week we went on a camping trip to Indian Lake in the Adirondacks in upstate NY. Our campsite was rustic and beautiful, situated right on the lake. On Monday afternoon, we decided to hike Snowy Mountain, an ascent of just over 3800 feet. For a Midwestern gal such as myself, I knew this was going to be quite the climb! It was a steep trek, but I was feeling strong. The bugs were annoying, buzzing around my ears, but the bug repellant was working well. That is, until Daniel and I reached the sheer rock face. Suddenly, a swarm of black flies descended on us. They began to bite my neck and ankles, not little stinging pricks like a mosquito bite but literally taking a piece of my flesh with every bite. Soon the back of my neck with soaked with blood. I cried out, "They're like maggots crawling all over my body!" It was awful. My orange tank top was covered with little black spots. But we had to keep climbing. We couldn't just stop on the rocks or they would devour us. Just then, Michael came down from the summit. He gave me a poncho, which suffocated the flies on my shoulders and arms and was supposed to protect me from further bites. We thought the top was much nearer than it actually was. Perhaps if we had known how much farther we had to go, we would have turned around. But I was determined to get to the top, to see the view, and prove to myself that I could do it. After all, the damage had been done so I might as well complete the climb. We also thought that the flies would disperse as we reached the summit. Unfortunately, we were wrong. They followed us all the way to the top, making it nearly impossible to really enjoy the view (note the little black flies on our shirts and my face in this photo to the right). Then it began to thunder so we had to begin our descent. On the way down, all I could think about was sitting down and sleeping. Daniel kept asking me to tell stories so that I wouldn't think about the pain of my bites. In retropsect, I was probably going into shock from the dozens of bites, which covered my neck from just beneath the hairline down to my shoulder blades and encompassed my ankles and ran up my legs a ways. By the next day, my ankles and neck were enflamed and itching. It nearly made me crazy not to scratch. I have never itched so badly in my life! When we returned to Stormville, the swelling was so bad that we decided I needed to see a doctor. He prescribed prednisone for the swelling and an antibiotic for the infection. The people in the doctor's office and at the pharmacy were amazed by my bites, they had never seen such an allergic reaction before. I was not nearly so impressed. Now, a week later, I'm almost completely healed though some of the red marks still remain. On Friday, we will fly to Kenya where we will be taking malaria prophylaxis and sleeping in a mosquito net. Yet, somehow, I don't imagine that the bugs or their bites can be anything nearly as bad as what I experienced in the Adirondacks of NY. Perhaps this experience is God's way of putting things into perspective for us, making us more cautious, but also grateful for the good health we are blessed with so much of the time.