At last!!

Hi Family and Friends!

I am finally at an internet cafe after not having access to one for the last week. This will be a quick update, just to check in. Your comments have been great and have made me feel closer to home. I am also receiving everyone's emails, and I am sorry I do not have time to respond to each one separately and hope you can understand and allow my blog to be a reply for now.

Just to give you a slight recap of the last week...

I think I left off with killing a turkey? Yeah, well, it really did happen and I really did almost DIE! I walked back to the guesthouse from town on Saturday just in time to see the blood pooling out of the turkey's neck.... no, I am NOT kidding you! Though I missed most of the turkey slaughter, I did witness the entire Chicken's end of life and I somehow managed to get a video. Sick, I know, but when will I ever see a chicken get his poor little head cut off again? Hopefully never. It will be posted once I come back home. Despite the sad killings, dinner was awesome. Amazing people, good conversation and delicious food. It was nice to not have rice and beans.

Sunday we began our short holiday before getting to Zambia. We left Uganda (it was SO sad saying goodbye to my new friends and to Fiona) on Sunday morning and headed to Kisumu, Kenya to spend a night with our friend Andrew and his family. The journey started in a taxi bus filled with 22 adults and 2 babies. I captured some awesome photos of the back of the man's head who was sitting on MY LAP! no joke. Andrew's family was amazing, so welcoming and warm and loving. A good day and night. We took a bus from Kisumu to Nairobi and from Nairobi an overnight train to Mombasa, Kenya. The train was supposed to be 10 hours, but turned into 18 because our engine blew and we had to wait for another one. TIA! Oh and in the bus ride to Nairobi, the driver basically flying down the road, did not see a pot hole and I flew up out of my seat and hit my head on the top of the bus.... TWICE. And as it happened yelled out, "whoa" really loud and everyone turned to look at me and preceded to laugh. I think I saw little birdies flying around my head.

We spent one night in Mombasa and headed up the coast and spent two night in Watamu, where we both think we slept with bedbugs in our dingy $8 a night room... ok, at that moment I did miss the luxuries of home. Although we stayed in a "budget" room to sleep, we spent our days hanging out at one of the all-inclusive resorts at their pool or walking on the beach. and eating GELATO!!! are you kidding me???? Passion Fruit Gelato is now my favorite thing EVER!!! (ps. the coast of kenya is very run by a lot of Italians) And yes, there was a point where I was relaxing on a little island with white sands... but I have to admit, when you arrive at a destination like that after having spent time in the villages, it just doesn't feel the same. I worked really hard to enjoy the two days, but my mind was still in Uganda. More on that later.

We are back in Mombasa for the night and take yet ANOTHER bus to Moshi, Tanzania tomorrow morning. 8 hours to Moshi to see Mt. Kilimanjaro and then a TEN hour bus ride to Dar Es Salaam on Sunday to catch our flight to Lusaka, Zambia. Hopefully in Lusaka we will have internet access again.

That was just a little quick update. My little book with all of my list of "stories" is not with me, so I know that I am leaving out a lot. But just want you to all know I AM ALIVE and well and I am thinking of you. Missing home a bit and at times feel very lonely, but I think that is all a part of the journey.

I am looking forward to Zambia and what will be in store to do there. And I am also looking forward to coming home and NOT having to sleep with a mosquito net, one eye open for fear of spiders and ants crawling on my head, and sleeping in long pants and long sleeves in 100 degree weather because i am afraid of what is going to get on me. My legs are covered with bites... may be bedbugs, may be mosquito, may be spiders... who knows... JEALOUS??? Haha.

I hope your holiday season is going well. Try to remember this season that it is not about giving gifts, but about giving love. May you open your heart in abundance this holiday and remember to love all of those around you.

Loving and missing you all.

Peace & Blessings,
Heather