For the record...

I do try and update this thing more often. Sadly, fickle Internet connections continue to be my undoing. That being said, please bear with me as I attempt to catch up by offering another, somewhat longish post composed primarily of pictures of me on vacation.

Advent

The Christmas Preamble

Prior to the Christmas break I spent a lot of quality time with Microsoft Excel. Here I am losing my will to collate data and clearly looking for something to distract myself with.

Our last order of business in Kamwenge was planning the staff Christmas party. Here is a peek into the most intensely competitive game of Musical Chairs I have ever witnessed.

The Intern and the Stuka's Do Nairobi

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

This is one of my oldest and dearest friends. She and her husband Clayton are volunteering in Kenya for a few months and I took the bus to visit them for a few days prior to Christmas. Here we are at a market in Nairobi. She has some seriously impressive bartering skills. She was more or less my personal shopper.

Clayton, Esther and I decided to check out the restaurant Carnivore. Here we are surrendering our flag after eating our body weight in meat. We just couldn't handle any more!



Esther and I with a giraffe who posed so nicely for a picture.


He was so nice about the whole thing I let him give me a kiss.


Esther and I made a deal when we were in high school that when we were 50 we would travel to Africa together. Here we are celebrating that we kept our agreement 24 years ahead of schedule.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Here is Esther and I waiting for the bus to carry me away to Uganda.

Christmas Day!

Our homemade tree, stockings (imported from Canada by yours truly) and presents all handily tucked away in our room at the SP guesthouse in Kampala.

Zanzibar!
Our week long jaunt to the Spice Island


Shaquil, our faithful skipper who took us on his tiny boat to a little island for snorkeling, feeding giant tortoises, and laying on the beach. You can see a bit of the Stone Town ocean front in the background.

An old church in Stone Town. The town itself is a World Heritage Site. I loved meandering down all the little alleyways and streets and stumbling upon all sorts of charming things.

Snorkeling! This is a story in and of itself. One of many blog topics for another time. Let's just say our snorkeling destination turned out to be a little further from dry land that I had imagined (not evidenced by this photo, this is back on the beach. I can handle being in water up to my knees)

Midway through the first of my many sunburns.

Watching the sun go down at an outdoor cafe.

Stone Town's outdoor fish market. Every kind of fish your could imagine in kabob form. I don't even like seafood, but I thought this place was fantastic.

I really enjoy collecting shells. I find it so relaxing. I was always confused as a child as to how my mom could spend so much time patiently hunting for pebbles on the beach. I think I get it now, mom.

The view from the door of our cottage.

Our hotel's private beach. Gorgeous! My schedule for the day was totally dependent on the tides. Low tide...collect shells. Medium time...wander aimlessly in the water. High tide...frolic in the waves.

Maxin' and relaxin' in Zanzibar.

Home again. Tanned (er...burned to a crisp), bushy-haired (just realized I haven't been using conditioner for weeks. I should start reading the bottles) and apparently skeptical about life (except that I'm not skeptical, just curious).

We only have two weeks left in Uganda. Shocking. I feel like I have gained a lot from this internship and I am so glad that the Lord allowed me to have this experience. However, I am also so excited to see what is coming next. I would be glad to accept a more permanent position in East Africa but so far nothing is set in stone. It's so comforting to know that God has ordained my days and my seasons.

Right now I am in the process of finishing up our last few projects and figuring out how to say goodbye to our life and our friends here. I am also SO excited...to come back to winter! I never thought I would type those words, but it's true! I guess I am Canadian after all. I also can't wait to see all you dear ones. I am scheduled to arrive in Calgary the evening of Jan. 24 and will come home for a few days before I start my debriefing in Calgary with SP. Hope to see a lot of you...soon.