Yesterday was a long day. We got up at half past 5 or thereabouts - we being my mum, dad, sister who came down to see me off, and myself. Last minute things were packed, small amounts of (or no) breakfast consumed, and a car arrived before 7 to take us to Heathrow. After meeting up with Jon, who had also come to see me off, and checking in my baggage, we had breakfast together. Then I had to say my last goodbyes which was very sad. I tried not to cry too much but couldn't help it a bit, especially when I hugged Jon goodbye.
After that came the worst bit of the journey - security. They had decided to check every fifth bag by hand as well as scanning everything, and the queue was long and slow. It soon became clear that I hadn't left enough time as I hadn't bargained for this at all - and from the other side it all looked fine. Of course one of my bags was put to one side for checking; thankfully a little pleading with one of the men resulted in him doing mine a little quicker and then I ran - to the lift, into the transit train thingy, another lift, and to the gate - the flight was closing! However, I was by no means the only one in this situation, there were several of us running out of that lift, and as it turned out even the flight crew had been held up!
Once I was on board and had calmed down a bit things definitely began to look up. I had a nice chat with an air steward who had been involved with building an orphanage in Mombasa, and then with the man sitting next to me who turned out to be an American missionary! God definitely put me in the right seat! Although the entertainment system wasn't working very well (and cut out when I was nearly at the end of a film!!) I had plenty to occupy me with chatting to people, reading my magazine and also my Kindle (thank you Jon!) which I am quickly getting used to even though I thought I'd never be converted! I am reading Northanger Abbey - why yes I did download the complete works of Jane Austen as a matter of priority!
We arrived at Nairobi in good time, I got through passport control without them querying my visa (and without using the word 'work' - I am visiting friends and volunteering!) and my baggage eventually appeared on the belt - I hate watching all these cases go past and people leave with their stuff and wondering if mine's on the right plane - but it was. Then I found Elias, the driver that Steve had contacted for me, and we set off for Dee and Peter's house. The journey was fairly uneventful apart from a long stretch of the main road which is 'under construction' - Dee says they're making a big dual carriageway, which will be great, but at the moment it's just murram road which is bumpy and dusty!
After arriving, unloading the luggage and having a drink and chat with Dee and Peter it was time for bed. It took me a while to settle, and thankfully Dee had warned me about the noises - some that I've heard before, such as hyraxes shrieking, and others that I hadn't - where I'm located is close to the stables and the horses can be quite loud, which is fine when you know what it is but would be a bit unnerving otherwise!
This morning Dee and I have visited the shops and I've stocked up on a few things as well as starting to get my bearings. I'm planning to unpack and potter this afternoon, and take some time to settle into my new home. I'm still having a few moments of thinking, 'what on earth have I done??', but these are fewer and further between because I can look back on so many ways that God has been good to me, looked after me and provided for me, and I know he will continue to do so.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
1 Samuel 7:12 (NIV)
Here are a couple of pictures to reward you for reading this far! - I didn't intend to write quite this much but lots has happened!
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| Lovely flowers in my room from Dee and Tara (her granddaughter) |
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| More pretty flowers next to my bed |
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| A gecko that was in one of the cupboards this morning |
:D hurray! It sounds good there, hope you did manage to sleep. I have joined you this afternoon in having a little nap! The flowers are beautiful, and the gecko is so cool :D hope you have a good rest-of-your-day. Excellent that you can post!
ReplyDeleteLove and hugs from Lili xx
mummy says that she likes your blog and the photos :)
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