we're home

We returned home Friday 5/4 after 32 hours on the road and in the air and airports, Nairobi to Heathrow to LAX. What a trip. I am still a little goofy, trying to switch from day to night. This afternoon, I nearly went to sleep standing up. My body is still on Nairobi time (10 hours later). My jetlag theory worked on the way over -- we stayed up the first leg on Virgin Atlantic over night (because it was day in Nairobi), then slept on Kenya Air from Heathrow to Nairobi, arrived in Nairobi at 6:30 am, then stayed up all day as I described in the post I was able to make on 4/21. After that, I was fine for the whole trip. We did the same thing coming back, slept on the Nairobi/Heathrow flight and stayed up on the 10 1/2 hour Virgin Atlantic trip to LAX. I feel ok today (more or less), but the test will be tomorrow...

Well, the best laid plans...as the saying goes. As I half expected, the plan to post to the blog in Kenya was foiled by many glitches -- the only access to a computer with internet that I had was only for brief times while I was in Nairobi, and they charged an arm and a leg and half of your first-born child (sorry Matt, they'll be coming to get you next week...). HEART, where we stayed coming and going from Masii and Maasai Mara (game preserve) had access but it was so slow that I only was able to post once and send a couple of emails.

So. The plan is now to go back through my notes and pictures, sort it out a bit and start posting as if I was there from the beginning of the trip. I still would like to share what happened - the trip was an experience of a lifetime, and I think in retrospect, I will be able to pick out the most significant events. I hope to be able to do a few this week, with a break for our trip to Austin and Houston to see Matt and Danielle and see Laura graduate from University of Texas with her MSW week after next!! (Yay! mom is proud...) I have tons of pictures, some of which I will post here and some on a website TBA as soon as I can.

I hope I will be able to paint a picture for you - the children are beautiful and sweet, the Kenyan adults who work with them are absolutely some of the finest human beings I have ever met in my life, Kenya is a spectacularly beautiful country and I traveled with some wonderful friends, and made many many more (including two Maasai warriors! stay tuned to hear about them!). This will not soon be forgotten -- but it's good to be home.