Where is Moose and Lacey?

Some of you may be wondering why you haven't heard more from Moose and Lacey. Let me explain...imagine life without electricity, telephone, computer, email or transportation. This is the life they are living right now. Moose and Lacey left on Saturday, May 17 for the "bush". They traveled by sokol car (a small pickup truck) loaded down with huge bags of rice & corn & beans, miscellaneous pots and pans, plates & cups, blankets, and other goods to sell. The small pickup is like a smaller version of an S-10 pickup here in the States. It is usually very old and worn out, and held together by bailing wire. Besides all the supplies it is loaded down with, it also serves as a "taxi service" for people wishing to "ride" in and out of the bush, rather than walk. It is also more normal than not, for the sokol car to break down or get stuck in the mud (during rainy season) going into the bush and again coming back out. The trips are hard, long, dirty and exhausting. And yet...it is an adventure; it brings a sense of camaraderie that a smooth trip down a black top road does not. When you finally lift yourself off of whatever bag of rice you are sitting on, you are covered in dust, dirt and/or mud; you are sore, stiff, grumpy and thankful for reaching your destination. And the first thing you do is hug your companions, pat each other on the back and talk about the joy and adventures of the journey just finished. But most importantly, you walk away with new friends and relationships...many of which will last a life time.

This adventure reminds me of a verse found in Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." These trips in and out of the bush can grow weary. They are exhausting and uncomfortable, but the relationship that are built in the end can last for a life time. So be encouraged if you are riding on a "sokol car" right now. At the end of the journey, you will reap the benefits of remaining faithful.

SURREAL!!!

Lacey & Moose have made it! They left Chicago on Tuesay, May 13; arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday, May 14; and went on to Arusha, Tanzania on Thursday, May 15.

Surreal! is the word that keeps popping up in our conversations. They just can't believe they are actually there. Lacey's words were, "it doesn't feel as if we ever left."

They have had some exciting reunions with friends in both Nairobi and Arusha. They will be leaving for Gelai and Maakat tomorrow morning.

Here are a few of Lacey's thoughts over the past few days:

• how little water there is in the toilets;
• how there are so many HUGE signs along Uhuru Hwy in Nairobi;
• crazy drivers (it never bothered me before, but I think that I notice more now because I drive);
• a new immigration building in Namanga that has webcams and computers;
• a TON of advertisements in Kenya that feature women;
• how everything feels so familiar that is is way easy to take things for granted because it feels like I never left;
• the road from Nairobi to Arusha is TERRIBLE!!
• why I like to be "rocked" to sleep...because the bumpy roads put me to sleep straight away;
• how the sun goes behind the horizion right at 6:30 pm;
• that Cathy has a beautiful accent;
• and lastly, Salome still gives the best hugs!!!

So Tired

The past days have been full of final papers, final exams, final meetings, and final good-byes. If there is one thing that is true about living in a college community, it is that the only thing that stays the same is that everything changes.

Every year the same routine takes place.
You spend time with people you have grown to love...which means,
You get behind a bit in your course work,
You have to work hard to catch up,
You neglect to spend time with people you love.
Then you realize that everyone is leaving,
Some for good, some for a week, some for a few months,
But you start to feel a little bit sad and that you are being torn in a million little pieces.

This time it feels harder than it has before. I don't know if it is because I have so much more to get done before we leave and therefore, I really don't have time to give people I love an adequate good-bye. Or maybe it is because I am leaving a place I have grown so comfortable in and I know I am in for a big change myself.

I don't know.
(lacey)