Mambo! (Hey, how's it going?)

The flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was long, but restful...I managed to get a good five hour nap in:) When I finally woke up (and the flight attendant stopped laughing at my deep state of sleepiness), I began to chat with a Kenyan, Edward, returning home for a few weeks to visit his family. It was a reassuring conversation that everything will be fine when we land, since the airport was my biggest fear. We also discussed authentic African food I should try, beer I should drink and places to avoid (which ended up being anywhere at night by myself). It was a bit daunting looking at all the people on the enormous 747, and what was everyone's purpose for being on this flight?? I knew that everyone had a story, just wish I could have talked to more people.

Honestly, I don't know what I was worried about. Touching down about 8pm, an hour late the airport was so much calmer than I had anticipated. I sailed through immigration and customs was nonextistent, waited for nearly five minutes for my luggage, and walked towards the outdoors where there were hundreds of people holding signs with names for pickups- I couldn't find my name. At this point, I was a little nervous...until I saw the waving red t-shirt of Madventurer, the volunteer organization. Whew! Tragedy overrited! Ailsa was there to greet me with a smile, a hug, and a 'karibu' (Welcome). We loaded the car and drove 30 minutes in the rain to Camp Karen...our hotel for the night. Instead of hitting the rack, we decided to belly-up at the bar for my first African Beer...yum! We ended up talking until about 1130pm about our families, hobbies, travels, boyfriends (or lack there of in my case), careers, and future goals. Ailsa is a good person, and I believe I found a friend. I decided to get some beauty rest because we were leaving for Moshi, Tanzania at 630am...ouchy.