and they're off!

well, it is almost 2am, i am on call tonight and i cant sleep. i am not sure if it is b/c i am expecting the phone to ring or if i am just excited about our trip tomorrow. it is crazy that carlynne has been here almost 5 weeks already. today she toured the wards giving out sparkly maple leaf pencils to the nurses. on my advice she distributed standard see through bic pens upon her arrival (a huge hit - honestly... i had noticed previously that the nurses would often look covetously at my bic pens and drop broad hints about how nice they were and how you just couldnt get pens like that in kenya) and ensured herself a good first impression, but the sparkly maple leaf pencils were all her. i am sure that she will go down in legend in kapsowar hospital.

tomorrow we are hoping to get on a matatu before 700 and make our slow bumpy way to nairobi. perhaps if i stay up all night i can sleep for part of this grueling journey. on friday morning we hop a plane (whit whoo!) to lamu island on kenya's northern coast. i am most excited about this leg of our journey as lamu island is known for its relaxed island atmosphere, budget guesthouses ($10 for all 3 of us), complete lack of motor vehicles, relatively pure swahili coast culture and amazing snorkeling. oh yeah, and kick ass beaches on the indian ocean. my parents brought us some frisbees and our friend steve n. sent us a sweet aerobee, so we will be having a good time. i have heard that there is good windsurfing there as well.

after lamu we will hop a boat or a matatu to watamu, where my parents have graciously booked us a week at a slightly more upscale hotel. the type of hotel that has a pool even though it is 200m from the beach. my mom has been getting quite canny at using her timeshare to its fullest and she got a smokin deal. watamu is a bit more of a tourist town, but this is b/c it is sandwiched between ancient arab ruins stuck in the middle of coastal rain forest and a coral reef marine park. oh, and there's also kick ass beaches!

finally we will make our way to mombasa, kenya's second largest city, where i plan to eat large amounts of indian food after getting lost in various markets and haggling with gregarious merchants. i am not sure what kylie and carlynne are excited about here, but i have heard there is great shopping if they are in to that sort of thing.

after mombasa we hop another plane back to nairobi ($50! - take that westjet!) where we will see carlynne to the airport (sob) and then make our way overland (boo!) back to beautiful kapsowar (yay!). after a few more weeks of work we hope to head to the sudan to visit our friend josh, but that is still up in the air.

there, now you know... the rest of the story (or at least a bit more)