sorry for the delay...

So, i'm guessing you all assumed I made it safely!!! We haven't had much access to wifi but it will be more consistent soon. So, until that takes place, I'm gonna update you several days at once!!

For starters, traveling was... traveling. I really don't remember a lot of it due to my new experience with melatonin, but it went by pretty quickly and was smooth enough to get through Kenyan customs where I met Tom's wife, Kerry. I was met at the bottom of the stairs by Alyssa (one of the girls doing the internship), Tom (the director), and his two kids. It was a nice welcome after such a whirlwind of a 20 hour travel time. I was taken to the Stickney's home, got some grub (delicious I might add) and then was shown where I'll be living for the next month. It was hard because it was dark and raining at this time so I wasn't really able to get a feel for the compound we are in (surrounded by 10 ft walls). My room seemed super empty and I'm not gonna lie, I was kinda sad and down and feeling pretty lonely... Satan used this time to attack me and questioned why I was here, what led me here, etc. So as opposed to dwelling in my sorrow, I took that time to set up my room. I got things up off the floor and hanging from the bunk bed, put my clothes under my bed (they stay in the bag), took out my shoes  and just unpacked as much as I could. Tom explained to us that this is as close to being a missionary as we are going to get, and he was right. There aren't drawers or hangers or anything. It is a room with concrete walls and a bunk in it. (Mommy, it's OK to not unpack... I don't really have a choice here haha). So, I eventually fell asleep and hoped to get over some of this jetlag.

The next morning Alyssa and I woke up and were served eggs, oranges, pineapple, and toast, all freshly made by Hellen and Sam (workers at the compound). Such a treat and of course, I enjoyed some Chai Tea (super common here). AAANYWAY, it was a good start. Then three other girls that are interning showed up, as they had a later flight, so that was cool to meet them. They are Cambry, Carly, and Erika. They set their stuff up and had some food, and prepared for a busy day despite getting off a plane that morning. Our day wasn't super busy, but it became kinda hectic pretty quickly. We were asked to help host a concert/karaoke/talent show/worship service with one of the missionaries on the compound, so this consisted of us standing around and waiting for jobs. I struggled a bit with not feeling used by God, but I knew that he was working!! Turns out everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The band canceled, the equipment wasn't working, the tea and food wasn't what she ordered, the guards weren't directing people to the right places, and since it's 'africa time' the college students in Kenya that were coming to this event showed up 45 mins late. Being on time isn't a big deal here, and I am definitely struggling with that. On top of all that, it started pouring rain. On the equipment, musical instruments, and the guests! We ended up moving the entire party into our cement housing and enjoying some echoing speakers and loud music. Everything that went wrong, did go wrong, but God made it work. He intended for us to go inside so we could get to know everyone better. I made tons of friends and even someone who said he wanted to marry me and move to America to be my husband as his 'work'. Don't worry, Kyle, I informed him of you... but he said you're in America and you'd never have to know. Classy, huh? It was a great night of music, dancing, worship, slam poetry, spoken word, and choreographed dancing to explain God's love. Super simple, and more fun than the original party. That ended at around 9:30, and then things got crazier. Multiple times during the party the power went out, leaving us in a pitch black room with no windows. We found the breaker box and flipped the switch, but all the equipment was just too much. We turned off some lights  and it worked for more time in between shutting off. After the concert, this continued!! We would be in the bathroom and the lights would shut off, again leaving us in darkness. Then we heard something else... thunder... It started raining AGAIN!! So we were stuck in a black building with no light and with rain all around us making it darker outside... Next thing we knew the Stickneys pulled up in their car, grabbed our mattresses and we were in their house on the floor with electricity and blankets :) They didn't want us being 'uncomfortable' in darkness while we slept... So basically we are princesses :) we stayed up until about 1am laughing about our days events and conversations with the Kenyans, and how we said things right or wrong, etc.  It was a blast!!

Today we woke up and had breakfast, followed by a meeting about what to do and not do, and what to expect and not expect, how to deal with situations and what we are looking at doing for the next month. This was followed by cleaning, eating lunch, and then we played field hockey with some girls from a local school. this is funny to me, as I'm not super coordinated, but I made the girls laugh and that's always good. Anyway, tonight we went to dinner at a place called Java House, which is basically a kenyan restaurant with american food. It was DELICIOUS!!!! Was nice to have familiar food made in the same way as 'home'. Now I am planning on getting a phone that has internet and can be a wifi hotspot so I don't have to depend on weather and daylight to use my computer. Should be great!!!

Until next time,
Molly