The Countdown is On!

2 weeks, 1 day and 12 hours.
It has yet to hit me. Although I've been in meeting after meeting and started (only the slightest amount) to acquire some of the items I need to take with me, I am not yet mentally prepared to abandon living comfortably for four months. I keep waiting for it to happen, as I tick things off of my 'to-do' lists, but it all seems like a dream. Perhaps tonight, when I finally start laying out my clothes, covering the kitchen table, and attempt to stuff it all into one handy-dandy knapsack, I will feel the 'butterflies' of excitement (or anxiety!) as I prepare to embark on this next adventure!

2 weeks, 1 day, 11 hours and 45 minutes.
Ok, 15 minutes closer... still... nothing.
For the past three months my team (9 wonderful ladies) and I have been project planning and formulating our priorities for when we first land in Kenya. Apparently, with all of my past budgeting experience and my unsurpassed talent (maybe only by my sister) for pinching pennies, I have landed myself the role of financial manager and project lead for the Fairview Child Development Centre project. In this position I hope to learn what is necessary financially and structurally for a successful school to run in Kenya, in the end having the skills to apply the format to other schools in Africa... long term career goals (subject to change, as everyone who knows me would realize)!

2 weeks, 1 day, 11 hours and 30 minutes.
Our flight leaves May 4th. Tricia, one of our team leaders, and I fly one day ahead of the rest of the group. We have a short stop over in Amsterdam (which will be prolonged on the way home in August for my quick 2-week dash around Ireland), and then will fly on to Nairobi! (Ok, a few tingles...) My guess is we will just hang around there for the day waiting for the arrival of the rest of the team to arrive - they are taking a more round-about route with two layovers. Then it's on to Mudete where three of us, Natalia, Allison and I, will be living for the next four months! (A few more tingles...). We are staying with the proprietor of the estate where the Fairview Child Development Centre resides, so we will be nice and close to our work. Apparently there is a great market nearby as well! The rest of the team are spread out over two more houses in the Sabatia District, so I am not sure how often we will encounter them.

2 weeks, 1 day, 11 hours and 15 minutes.
Other plans for the summer? A safari, a visit to the Masai Mara, a gorilla trek, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and relaxing on Zanzibar beach. All of these ambitious (and expensive) adventures will take me from Kenya to Rwanda (maybe Uganda) and Tanzania... Yes, touristy, but hey, I'll be so close all ready.

Ok, hopefully more people muster up the courage (or energy) to follow this blog! It will be my only form of communication over the summer, so no long-winded mass-emails to rely on... Signing off for now... Blog ya' next time in Kenya!