Stow-aways & Flammin Hots

Well, I've been getting back into life here in LA and got back to the chiropractor today!! A couple days after I got back I was unpacking and had left a couple piles of stuff on the floor of my room and as I got to the bottom of them....I saw something move.....it was a rather large cockroach....the likes of which I saw at the airport in Nairobi! I attempted to corner it and smash it....but it got a way and I had to move the dresser quickly so it wouldn't disappear completely. Thankfully I was able to kill it and am praying that he didn't bring friends! Another eventful day was being able to go as a chaperone with sixty third graders from a school in Compton to the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. A friend is a teacher there and needed a last minute volunteer. It was a lot of fun and the kids even shared their flammin hots with me at lunch! I missed them- no flammin hots in Africa! I'm excited to eat Mexican food again too! Didn't find much in Africa. And for some reason the other night I was driving to the grocery store and when I turned in there was no one in the other lane and I completely blanked on which side of the road I was supposed to be on!!!! Not good. In Uganda they drive on the opposite side. I didn't even drive there, but I guess I road enough to get confused. Hopefully that won't happen again! :) Also the neighbor kids are back and we've been having some homework sessions on the picnic table. I've been hearing how cold and snowy its been back home and am thankful to be back in 70's and sunny every day!!! Sorry to all of you in the cold. Later...Ann

Rwanda & Kenya & LA

Well, I made it back with no problems!!! Very tired, but all in one piece! I was able to spend a day and a half in Kigali, Rwanda seeing the city and spending time with a few different missionary families. I saw the effects of the genocide still evident and drove by the "Hotel Rwanda". Renee and I went on a city search for some pottery to take back and had some home roasted coffee! So good! It was hard to say good bye to my friends after being such a part of their lives for so long. I miss them already. I am so thankful that God worked it out for me to then see Shayla in Nairobi for three days!!! It was great to catch up on each others time in Africa. We also walked all over Nairobi seeing the sights and visiting people. One day we decided to have the theme of "where ever the wind blows us" and took the bus downtown to walk around the city. The wind blew us through a big park and took us to the swings for a bit then past the All Saints Cathedral and over to a hotel for cokes and nachos (at least the african version- still good). This then lead to our big adventure of the day.....when paying the bill, Shayla realized she didn't bring as much money as she thought and we had just enough to cover the bill but no extra to cover the bus fare home!! So, we had to come up with a plan to find bus fare. We did have two phone cards that we bought for her roommate and decided our only hope was to sell one on the street, which produced much laughing. We walked out of the hotel and looked all around wondering where to begin. I saw a man walking by with his phone out and decided to ask if he used Celtel. He said no, but wondered about the strange question which lead us to explain our predicament. He laughed with us and thankfully was very nice and so we got to talking and found out he lives not too far from Shayla and felt bad for us and gave us the 60 shillings we needed for the bus. We were relieved that we didn't need to sell the phone card and that God sent us such a nice person to help. So we laughed the whole way to the bus stop and arrived home with a good story! That night we went to dinner at her host families house and were watching the news (the first TV I'd seen in over two months) and there was a story about how the city was going to crack down on hawkers.....again we had a good laugh at our new profession!!! Yeah for adventure! I then flew from Nairobi to Amsterdam (8 hrs) then wandered around the Amsterdam airport for 8 hrs reading, dozing, and finding samples of cheese, chocolates, and cookies at the different shops to eat during the day (thanks to Dad for instilling in me that free is best!!!). Don't worry I did buy myself lunch! Then had the ten hour flight back to LA where Sara picked me and my luggage up at 3:30 on Friday. I went to a baby shower for the family that I've been babysitting for in LA that night and didn't stay real long since I was falling asleep and feeling quite dizzy. I made it to 9:30 and then crashed and had a great long night sleep!!!! It seems like I'd been gone forever and yet also that I just left. Thanks for all the prayers and continued interest in my adventures!!!! I sat in the Nairobi airport waiting for my flight to board listening to the Israel and New Breed song "If not for your grace" and just reflecting on all that God has blessed me with and allowed me to do and provided and protected and challenged and taught me and just how thankful I am for God's un-ending grace in my life!! Its really amazing to me to look back and see His faithfulness and above and beyond blessings! Yeah God!!!! Later...Ann

Last Days

Only a day and a half left. The last two weeks went fast. We did the normal daily stuff and took a couple trips to the Islands again, one for pre-school (one of the families live on one of the islands and we went to their house to do pre-school) and one afternoon for a birthday party. We also took the girls to their friend's house (an Indian family that owns the supermarket) so the girls could learn how to put on a Sari and Renee and I could learn some Indian cooking! Very fun and very good. -Sara, I bought some of the spices so I can show you what I learned!!- This last week though we were at home most of the time because Brian got Malaria and was quite sick (but doing better now) and Renee and I had bad colds. The kids were fine and had lots of energy! We are all feeling better now! Tonight we are having the youth Bible study from the church over to have an American feast! We are making jello, hamburgers, pizza, mac&cheese, peanut butter cookies, salad, & quesedias. They've been talking about doing this for a while. We'll see what they like! Tomorrow is church and then Monday morning we all drive to Rwanda for the day and night to visit some missionary families and see the area. Then my flight leaves around noon Tuesday to Nairobi, where I'll spend a couple days with Shayla and see what she's been doing the last 8 months! Then I fly through Amsterdam again with a long layover and get back to LA in the afternoon on Friday. Please pray for all my traveling and layovers and health!!!! My next blog will be from LA! Later!