Jet and I have made it safely to Heathrow and are now awaiting our conntecting flight to Kenya... It's been a long 24hours since we left Richmond yesterday morning.... I managed to sleep for a meer 2 hours on the plane, as I don't appear to have Jet's gift for sleeping anywhere in any conditions... Ha We had some rather giggly Girl Scouts next to us on the flight which kept me chuckling at the thought that it wasn't too long ago that that woudld've been me....

I'm hoping to catch a few more hours of sleep on the Kenya flight which will be 7-8 hours... We should be getting into Nairobi at about 9pm Kenya time tonight... I'm definitely suffering from Jet-Lag for the first time in my recent memory.... I keep trying to convince myself that it's 3am in the States despite the fact that I've been up with the sun shining here in the UK since 5am their time....

I think we'll have time to post again once we're in Nairobi tomorrow.... It sounds like we'll be spending Saturday checking out the clinic and possibly doing a little setup on Sunday afternoon after Church.... And then the real fun will begin on Monday morning! So I'm praying that means I might get a few nights to get my rather pathetic lack of sleep schedule back on track....

Talk to you all soon! Love, Mary Elizabeth

And Thus The Adventure Begins!

So it's finally here... After months of planning, one packed duffel bag, a few thousand stickers, a mile long To-Do List, and scrubbing my apartment from top to bottom (probably mostly out of nerves) we are finally leaving! Jet and I couldn't possibly be more excited... The last few days have nearly been an hour by hour countdown to the moment we'll be landing in Kenya... I have to chuckle, because I don't necessarily recall being this excited about Peru, although I'm sure I was...

But for me it's honestly more of a countdown until the first day of clinic... That is when for me I know the reality will sink in, as soon as I see the gathering lines of villagers waiting for us... I pray that I'm more useful this year; that perhaps somehow one extra year of maturity and tire-less studying might of given me one small faucet of knowledge or experience that might lessen even one person's pain just a little more than I might have otherwise been able to... But in the end, the most important skill set has always just been compassion and caring.... And I guess I have had plenty of that all along... So now that I have my Visa approved I'm ready to go!

Just as with Peru, I honestly don't know how often I will be near a computer... I have determined, in the interest of truly giving myself over to the full experience and forgetting about anything else but the moment I am in, I am leaving my laptop behind in Richmond and turning my cell phone off as soon as I am in country... Which for a technology-baby like myself is a big step! Ha... But in the interest of keeping my parents sane from worrying (along with all the numerous other extended family and church family members who I know will be praying for us), I am going to try and get to a computer and internet whenever possible... So feel free to check back in every once in a while to see what Jet and I have found awaiting us in Eastern Africa.... This method of communication certainly lessens the number of questions my mom gets about whether I am safe... And dramatically reduces my phone bill, which is a plus...

Thank you to everyone who helped Jet and I get here.... We're looking forward to sharing our experience with everyone when we return safely in two weeks!

Love to All, Mary Elizabeth

Another Year, Another Adventure

So I'm now about a month out from my medical mission trip to Kehancha, Kenya... And excited doesn't even begin to describe it... From the moment I boarded a plane from Lima, Peru last July I think I knew that I would do this again... And as always God seems to have had a plan for me because Africa has been on my list of top 5 places to see before I die since I was a little girl... I can't imagine a more incredible place to visit...

Anyhow... I just wanted to go ahead and start this blog a little earlier this year... Not so much to keep evryone updated as to store and keep my own thoughts for future reference... Of all the things I brought with me back from Peru, the most valuable thus far have been the photos and worn composition notebook that I faithfully wrote in every single night while I was in Peru... It is an incredible feeling now to look back on my thoughts and feelings throughout every step of my journey there last year.... But this year, since I know what I'm getting into emotionally, I thought I'd attempt to record some of my thoughts and preparations beforehand as well....

So here I am again....