two days and counting

Well---I'm thinking I might try to embark upon the high-tech (in my mind!) world of blogging---I have to admit that blogging seems a little self-important and self-absorbed to me, but I guess it also seems like it might be a good way to let lots of you know how things are going with this trip to AFRICA !!!!, and to share photos, etc., and maybe to focus my thoughts at the end of each day, so I actually remember what I was thinking and doing!---so I'm going to give it a try---please feel free to post comments---that would actually make this much more fun!

so--for some before the trip practice, I thought I'd put up a photo from Christmas Day---boy--our living room is an unbelievable mess!---but we were having fun!---and you can see the snow-covered river outside the window---we really did have a lovely White Christmas this year---ok, let me see if I can put this photo in here...... I think it worked!----I am still so proud of these baby steps toward actual computer literacy.....

ok, so--the real reason behind this blog, is to keep in touch with all of you while I'm off on my trip to Kenya---now that I'm down to two days before departure, I'm definitely getting a little nevous---actually, make that a lot nervous!---in part, because things are so unsettled there--don't know if you've all been listening to news reports of the recent elections there, but things are a bit of a mess politically----as a result, the friends that I'm going to visit, Rick and Phyllis LaBranche---have been emailing me regularly to keep me updated--they feel that things are definitely safe enough for me to come ahead, but some of the plans we had made may have to change. The school visits and storytelling I was going to be doing in the Kibera slum outside Nairobi will probably not be possible, as that is where much of the unrest is originating----our trip to the coast--Mombasa and Lamu--may not be possible, as that is the other hot-spot, due to tribal allegiences to the opposition party---and there's also a nationwide fuel shortage, which could curtail our other plans, as well----but I'm still determined to have an amazing trip--what is meant to be, is meant to be, and I'm still just completely excited about this experience---just really hope I at least manage to see a giraffe or two!!!!