10 days- the final countdown

10 days! That is all the time I have left here in Kenya before I head back to the US. Even though each day is exhausting because students are getting excited for the break, I still cherish each moment with the children in my class. Here are some of the things I learned from my students this year:
1. It is possible to be joyful all the time!
2. How to laugh at myself.
3. That perseverance pays off.
4. That God has a plan for all of us, even if it looks very different from that of most of the rest of the world.
5. That most people have way more insight than we often give them credit for.
6. God has given each of us gifts. Sometimes our gifts don't fit into the boxes we set/others set for us.
7. Even small successes should be celebrated extravagantly!
8. Manners go a long way.
9. True friendships stand the test of trials.
10. LOVE LOVE LOVE- I have given and gotten more love this year than I could have ever imagined.

My students have been my rock this year. They have been the ones keeping me going even when I didn't think I could push any more. They have kept me laughing, comforted me when I was having a bad day, and always reminded me that God was more important than anything else. They have prayed for me, for others, for each other, and for this school. Each one of them is so unique, but together they are a strong group of students. They have overcome more challenges in their 13-17 years of life than I probably will ever have to, but yet they still see life as good. They know God has a plan for them and they aren't afraid to tell others about it. They live out 1 Timothy 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in faith, in love, and in purity." I am so proud of this group of students because I know they are going to do great things!

As promised, here is also my list of things I will not miss in Kenya:
- potholes and speed-bumps
- taking twice as long to do everything.
- things never going the way you plan them
- showers that only have two settings- ice and scalding
- power outages and internet problems
- Nakumatt lines.
- Having no street lights at night and people putting on their brights
- Really expensive imported products.
- African illnesses like Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and Typhoid (and the ones you never find out what they are)
- not having hot water for the sinks and washer
- not being able to hang things on the walls because they are concrete so you have to use blue-tak
- not being able to just run to the store for whatever you need. You have to go to a number of different stores to find the right item...if you ever find it.
- insects- mosquitoes, termites, spiders, Nairobi eye's, millipedes, you name it.
- A4 sized paper
- dust and dirt. It never goes away.
- un-reliable doctors
- having to carry so many keys and open so many doors and gates just to get from my house to my classroom (1 key for house, two for the car, two for the first gate, guards open second and third gate, and two keys to get into my classroom.)
- baking that never turns out how you expect it to.
- Celcius, meters, kilos, and all the things we don't study very much in the US.
- time differences between here and the East coast.
- "Seestah!"
- taking a risk every time you eat or drink anything because it could be contaminated
- being charged Mzungu (white people) pricing because it is assumed that I am rich.
- lack of good ice cream (with the exception of Rolo pops and Mint Crisp pops and raspberry sorbet)
- having to remember the "tricks" for everything because it doesn't necessarily work how it is supposed to.

25 days

In 25 days I will be getting off of a plane in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I will have traveled on three planes, for over 30 hours, across three continents.  This journey has taken me to 3 countries in Africa: Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. Good thing 3 is my lucky number. :) I have met some amazing people from all around the world and have seen lives changed by love. This year has not been easy for me. I have missed home more this year than I did last year, and a lot of different situations throughout the last 10 months had me ready to hop on a plane home. It was my students, however, that reminded me to relax, learn to laugh every day, and not take life so seriously. I will never forget these four students. They have changed a lot about how I view life.
I was recently at a "transition dinner" where we talked about how to best transition to another place. One of the things they suggested was writing down all of the things you will miss as well as the things you wont miss. So I thought I would post some of my list on here for you to see. Today will be the things I will miss and I will post the things I wont miss in a few days. Here it goes (in no particular order)!

THINGS I WILL MISS:
- My students
- My coworkers and friends
- The children I work with from the orphanage (If I could bring them home, I would!)
- Cheap produce
- Cheap flowers (seriously...a dozen roses for $2.00 ?!)
- The green of the trees and plants
- The way the sky looks enormous and fake
- Being able to see so many stars at night
- Our caretaker, Francis
- Our house-help, Lencer
- Our night guard, David (and the way he wears a parka and mittens even when it isn't cold outside)
- My dog, Ginger, who went to a missionary couple to be taken care of
- Our neighbor's dog, Delta
- The colors all around (fabrics, flowers, and just everything!)
- My housemates and all the fun we have watching tv and cooking and baking
- The amazing animals that I see. Giraffe, zebra, elephants, and lions will never get old!
- Cheap travel to other countries
- A car with awesome petrol mileage
- British/Kenyan English
- Fresh food without preservatives
- My mosquito net (it's like sleeping in a fort every night :) )
- Being around people from all over the world
- The fact that there is something new and exciting every day, even after two years.
- Cheap spas
- Being in a place where people genuinely care to know the answer to "How are you?"
- People who are optimistic, even in the worst circumstances
- Living in a Christian country where you are literally free to share about God with everyone
- Dorman's coffee
- Kenyan fabric (I seriously can't get enough!)
- Our beautiful campus
- Being outside all the time and not trapped in a building.
- The diversity of the landscape in Kenya: beaches, savannas, mountains, big cities, small villages, etc.
- My church and the worship in Swahili
- Cheap travel/excursions
- Kenyan food
- Seeing monkeys all the time
- The intensity of driving (sometimes I wont miss this)
- Getting clothing MADE for like $10
- Having a "guy" for everything and it not being expensive. There is a curtain guy, a washer guy, a dryer guy, a car guy, a veggie guy, a clothing guy, a bead guy, and anything else you can imagine. They are called fundis.
- Cinnamon rolls every Wednesday and doughnuts every Friday.
- The noises that express how students are feeling. "aye!" "Tststs"
- Stepsils- so much better than halls cough drops.
- Medication that you can buy without a prescription for like 1/10th of the price.
- Movies you can BUY for $1
- 3 cents a minute to call the US