06 May 2012

this is africa

one year ago today i landed in Africa.

right before landing

























we woke up (and yes i actually did sleep on the plane this time) in kenya just as the sun was rising. i swear i could hear "Circle of Life." it looked exactly like Lion King! except for the airplanes and the city in the background. but if you looked in the other direction, you saw the savannah spreading out as far as you could see. we waited in the Nairobi airport for what seemed like hours. the humidity was like a wall, even inside the airport, and everyone was tired and nervous for what lay ahead.

uganda.

we got through customs in Entebbe just fine and rushed out to greet our country director- Whitney and Suzanne. everything was loaded into a bus/taxi. it was madness, everyone talking, throwing suitcases and bags into the back of the taxi, and then trying to find the best seat possible to catch our first real glimpse of our new home.

the back of the bus
after driving for hours, and making many pit stops to pick up our fridge (which we later found out was infested with cockroach eggs- too bad we found this out after the eggs hatched), buy fruit, etc etc, we arrived in Mbale. the power was out at our house (we didn't know but this would soon become how we spent most of our evenings) and after throwing everything in the garage, we walked over to the hotel next door for our first african meal. we were so hungry and tired that of course everything was delicious (in the future we were not so enamored with this "fancy" african food).
the rest of the night was so adventurous. it was crazy! but i won't bore you with the details. instead, here are a few more pictures!


in front of our house
roommates, bunk beds, mosquito nets

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