Saturday, September 7, 2013

New York to Kenya











On Wednesday morning, the 25th, we made our way to the airport to board the huge Emirates Airbus bound for Dubai.  This was the longest flight we have ever been on – 12 ½ hours!  Our plan was to go into Dubai from the airport upon arrival, however, that plan was forgotten when it was determined we could not hold our eyes open for very long.  So instead, we found the Dubai airport to have these lounge chairs available, and we all took NAPS!  With no time to venture into the city, we waited for the next flight to Nairobi.  A short 5-hour flight from Dubai to Kenya, and we made it to the Guesthouse in Nairobi for the overnight.  On Friday morning we were greeted by the RVA bus and took a short 45 minute ride to Kijabe – home of Rift Valley Academy.
Enjoy some pictures of RVA









Friday and Saturday were consumed with New Student and Parent Orientation.  We are impressed by RVA and the wonderful experience Coby is going to have this year in 9th grade.  We got moved into Coby’s dorm “Bongo” and he has 3 roommates.  His dorm parents are Todd & Nicki (isn’t that coincidence?) and they have 5 children of their own.  We were able to attend church on Sunday with him (and ~500 students) at RVA before heading back into Nairobi.

During the 3 days in Nairobi, Ricky and I did some shopping for Coby.  Go figure we had to buy the boy a Bible since apparently we had forgotten to pack it.  He also requested a basketball so he could practice at RVA.  Some friends were planning a trip to RVA in the next few days, so they agreed to deliver Coby’s gifts.  We also met the Conards, who will be acting as guardians for Coby while he is attending school.  They used to serve in Zambia before us, and they came highly recommended for this position.  We also stopped in at the Allens for a short visit which was good to see some familiar faces and catch up on each other’s lives.  The day before our departure, we were told to check-in with Ethiopian Air office to make sure of our baggage allowance, since we had excess bags.  The office was located in the city center, a good ways from the guesthouse.  We had to wait in this long line, and finally when we got to talk to someone, they told us it would be better to wait until we arrived at the airport to see how much extra baggage we had and then to pay for it, so that was a wasted trip!  Our taxi that dropped us off in the city was not available to come back and get us, so we hailed another cab.  As we were driving away from the city, there was this loud boom – our driver said it was tear gas.  WHAT!?  He explained that city hall was just behind us and there was a strike going on, and his guess was the officials were using  tear gas on the people.  Well, I’m glad we were headed AWAY from the city!

this is Coby's reaction after receiving a special gift from his friend, Justin R. 
This was a view of the Rift Valley on our way.

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