It All Begins Again! Afrika Take 2

I'm sitting here right now in an internet cafe in my favourite Nairobi hostel saying: HERE I AM AGAIN, IN KENYA, FOR THE SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN A YEAR. I never thought that I would be sitting here again, this soon anyways but in a way it feels very right. Everything is the same here, the people are still bargaining hardcore, the weather is still beautiful, Safaricom is still amazing and the mangoes are still so sweet. This time though I'm getting ready for a new challenge, the challenge of leading two teams of 14 people through Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. I'm stoked to see this trip from the perspective of Jo and Ronan last year. Am I afraid: YES!, am I nervous: YES! Am I confident: YES! and am I excited: HELLS YES! But I am ready to go, and in 24 hours our team will have arrived, and we will get to start this journey all over again! This year I am leading with the ever so amazing Rachel and Emmanuel, who you hopefully recognize from posts last year and over the past 2 weeks we have been on the ground, zooming through East Africa on planes, cockroach infested busses and pikki pikki's trying to plan out the craziness which is the next 3 months! AHHHHHH 3 MONTHS!!! It sounds crazy, least year I was thinking that 6 weeks was a long time, now I am looking at 3 months and thinking: THIS IS CRAZY! I know that it will fly by though, this last 2 weeks feels like it began 2 days ago! Anyways, Since last year this blog was apparently well followed, I have decided that instead of tiring out my hand in a journal, I'll continue the blog (because it also gives me an excuse to check facebook, and twitter: my new guilt pleasure!) Check back often for updates about the new jokes, the new TIA moments and memories from last year as we step in the footprints from last year, and forge new ones along the way.

I guess with that said we'll get started with the unbelievable journey which has lead up to this very minute! I can't believe that I have been to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda and back again in 2 weeks, but we did it (and I hope after looking tonight, that we did it within the budget).

Anyways we arrived into Nairobi at night, just like last time, except this time we were alone! No Nandi's screaming: "DAMMNNN", No Krisses mumbling: "PASS!", No Ryans playing guitar, No Jo's keeping everyone in Check, No Ronans with a budget book, No lovebirds(Mtoto, Amelia, Jenn and MERC's A bitch), No leah's screaming (I'll miss that scream), NO MJS and her insightful insights, No muneebs yelling "NAIVASHA NAIVASHA NAIVASHA!", No Nayeons for deep relationship conversations, No Lukes for funny African quotes....Needless to say it was surreal. I came to know this place as the place where I met some of the coolest friends I know today, now it is time to make that family all over again. It's funny that everything that has happened thus far has reminded me of one of the 17 epic people from last year though!

Anyways there was Emmanuel waiting to pick us up, and we sat down to wait for Rachel with a cup of Chai and some samosas! It was such a relief because on my plane ride over I was conveniently sat beside a missionary preacher who made his beliefs known about every 10 minutes....ugh...whyyy??? Before we knew it we were asleep in the hostel, with 17 empty beds around us, ready to dream TIA dreams and wake up ready for an adventure! And an adventure we had: From Nairobi-Kisumu-Maragoli-Jinja-Kampala-Kigali and then the worst 26 hour bus ride of my life from Kigali to Nairobi, where event after event added up to the biggest TIA ever!

We met some awesome new friends and luckily had some amazing friends from Canada to stay with! (THANKS LIZZ and KIGALI FRIENDS!) We soaked up the sun in Kisumu with blue cross, made our way back heaven with Ahuga and Alice back in Maragoli, Went through Uganda SOOOOO fast that we didn't get to see too much, excpet for the Immigration Department...let's just say I hope to never run into any immigration officer again from Uganda for as long as I live! SOOOOOO RUDE! Anyways to get a multiple entry visa to Uganda you need to hand in your passport to them with all of these documents....anyways if you look in that office there are passports sprawled all over the tables, the chairs, the floors...needless to say we said HELLS NO! and got on the next bus to Kigali! It was probably a good thing as Kampala isn't the best place to be right now, so many police, and some protests but hopefully that will change soon! Anyways I have made it a goal to make every immigration officer smile from now on, because if Uganda taught me anything it is that people who work for immigration spend most of the day saying FML!

So we're on this Akamba bus ride to Kigali, Rwanda and it stopped literally every 15 minutes to pick up SO MANY RANDOMS!!! Mamas carrying chickens, Men who looked as though they hadn't showered in 3 years (I didn't shower for 5 days and felt very proud, I think that's my max though!), people who felt the need to blast music from their mobiles instead of using headphones...all of this was happening along the bumpiest road of life, and I had quite a few bruises by the end! Anyways we arrived into Kigali at night and hit up the fantastic restaurant (AHHHH FANTASTIC!) Same shiny uniforms, non english or french speaking staff as last time, but no internet cafe! This resulted in the fantastic restaurant losing a few points and not being so fantastic anymore....I think the internet was the only thing it had going for it as the food....well....yea. We then hopped a taxi to Rachel's friends house where we chilld for the next 3 days! We walked and walked and walked in those 3 days, building up a nice tan and also HELLA HUGE CALF MUSCLES (KIGALI IS SPREAD ACCROSS MASSIVE HILLS) Being back in Kigali made me realize how much I love Rwanda, besides from being beautiful it is just so safe and has a bustling nightlife! It also has a huge Nakkumatt! We spent our time there traveling to Kimoronco to see the Widows of Ubuntu Edmonton, a new organization that we will work with this year. They are so epic and I think that my french will really improve this year! (P.s. another rwanda story! So we didn't know that Canadians apparently have to register for VISAS in advance for Rwanda now, and Pay $60!!! Last year it was free and didn't require registration) Needless to say we spent another 2 hours being interrogated by immigration, the bus waiting for us, Mamas and chickens going crazy. This time the officer was nice and let us through, but a 12 hour bus and 2 immigration run-ins in 1 day and we felt like criminals or something! We are praying for a smooth process when the team gets here because that WOULD SUCK!

Anyways internet is running out, buttt bus ride from Kigali to Nairobi: TIA 1 by 1 (AKA DO NOT TAKE KAMPALA COACH! EVER!):

1)Book 2 tickets in Advance, need to get the other one on day of travel
2)Of course no seats are left Emmanuel gets left behind
3)Rachel and I end up at 2 seats where the people in front of us from Brundi are eating rotten chicken (we think) and Ugali....I can't handle the smell and the guy beside us is rude so we move to the very back of the bus..
4) Luckily the back of the bus is 100X more bumpy than the front of the bus
5) That would be okay if the seats were attached to the frame....of course they were not
6) It starts to rain
7) The windows become waterfalls onto our seats
8) The mosquitoes come in
9) Puffs of dust come in and turn us black
10) Waka Waka comes on someones mobile and we start to have a dance party on Kampala Coach
11) Arrive in Kampala for a meal (nice touch) and Brundi people get off
12) We decide to snatch 2 seats in the front of the bus where it is much less bumpy
13) A few hours into the ride we realize, we are sitting in a nest of cockroaches
14) Snakes on a plane is one thing...coackroaches on a bus is another...."HELLS NO I AM NOT SITTING HERE!"
15) We finally move to the middle of the bus where there is 1 cockroach and a few bumps...we settle...
16) 26 hours we arrive in Nairobi!

AND HERE WE ARE! TEAM ARRIVES TOMORROW!

Anyways gotta run! Peace and Love

Any if you need to contact us the digits are:

+254711811625 (in Kenya)
and +250784602012 in Rwanda

PEACCCEEEE

JD