Kwaheri, Kenya

Wait, really? I have to leave? Ugh.
I'm not ready to go, in the literal sense of I haven't packed (which, if you know me, isn't much of a surprise) but also in the greater sense of it all. I've been trying to soak as much of it in this past week as possible and found it a bit overwhelming at times to realize how attached I am after such a short time. I keep catching myself just staring, at nothing in particular, but at everything. I'm not sure what factors make it this way, but the African sky never ceases to look like it's painted from a storybook. Whether fluffy white clouds or an ominous angry sky... it's always breathtaking. And in my opinon it's been showing off this past week just for me to remember it in all it's glory.

The rains caught everyone a bit off guard all week. Downpours that lasted for hours at a time washed away roads or at least turned them into unmanagable rivers. It even hailed every couple days making programs most difficult when the building I was in, like most places here, had a metal roof that made hearing anything impossible till the rains let up. Most interestingly is that the hours before and after are still hot, beautiful, and give no indication what else happens.

My last Empower class was small, only 6, but allowed for a more intimate class and in the end all passed and it was a great way to end my teaching.

I was grumpy to be getting home past 8:00 on my birthday but found that my friend Annie had helped cook and created a feast! Mashed potatoes, spaghetti; complete with guacamole, garlic bread, and fruit salad! And a box of hob nobs which I contemplated saving but knew better. All of the volunteers (and we filled up fast! English, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian... only one other American) went rafting this weekend so the farm is eerily quiet, with only me and Carmen here.. a Canadian not affiliated with ICODEI but staying here for a year working on a water purification project. Friday night we set up making cinnamon rolls from scratch which amazingly turned out good even by Western standards... surprising considering the lack of electricity (i.e stoves, ovens, etc.). Mama Betty helped us make a traditional oven. The family thought they were amazing and Carmen and I went to bed so ill from the sheer amount we ate.

I had to come into town today because I needed a little extra packing space and so bought a small duffle bag just to house the last of everything. I'm hoping to get a little more shopping done in Nairobi... but taxis are so bloody expensive there it's very possible I'll just hang around the hostel for the day before setting off for the airport!! There are a million things I wish I would have bought but "souviners" aren't exactly big here.... so the few times I was somewhere that had a market catering to that it is a bit overwhelming and left me arriving back home saying "why didn't I buy more!" So I'm going to try to get out in the city. I leave the farm tomorrow morning and my flight in Tuesday almost at midnight.

It's hard for me to process everything right now, so next time I'll write will probably be comfortably from home once I've had a chance to sort out what this whole trip has meant for me. It's a strange and surreal feeling.