Update

Jessica has arrived in Nairobi and is safe and sound!

I will update more when Jessica is able to get internet access on Thursday!

Update

Jessica made it to the airport in Amsterdam and caught her connecting flight. She is now en route to Nairobi!

In the Air

Jessica's plane has taken off and she is on her way to Nairobi!

This is Haley (Jessica's oldest sister). I will be posting for Jessica when she is restricted by limited internet access.

Please keep the prayers for safe travel going! She won't arrive at Made In The Streets until tomorrow afternoon (our time).

Packing & Family Time

Haley came in town to help me pack.
We feel like such pros now I think we could pack for anyone to anywhere!


We figured a way for Landry and Will to make it on the flight...

My parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, brothers and sister came in town for the weekend!

Lyndsay and Ariel came by with some presents...

And tomorrow I fly out at 3:55pm. My brother in-law (Ryan) defends his dissertation at 2:30pm.
(Say a little prayer for both of us).

Small World

There's a new student in my lab at school who is from Kenya and used to live less than a mile from where I'll be staying. He just started his masters in Plant Breeding and used to work for some non-profit agencies so we're kind of trading places. He said he would cook me a genuine Kenyan meal before I leave! Good, I was worried I wouldn't get enough Kenyan food over there. But I can already tell Kenyans are VERY polite! We discussed the differences between our homelands which basically came down to:
1- Traffic is better in America. 2- Honey is crunchy in Africa.

I dont have a picture for this post but here's
Landry's ponytail

and Mavvy right before bed time...

Leaving Soon!!

Instead of leaving on the Sept 15th I'm now leaving on Oct 11, due to some delays in finishing my masters...which is now done!!!(sorta).

Here's a pic of my unpublished thesis, don't worry i'll make copies so everyone can read it and then we can have a book club discussion when i get back.



Laquita has already been at MITS for two weeks now and we've spoken via skype once. I get the impression this place is much different then we thought....but when she says we'll probably have too much down time she means to say it with disappointment but i'm SOOOOOOO grateful! That sounds like heaven to me.

Also a program from Lubbock ("minifarms") gave us some seed and curriculum to bring so that should keep us busy.

FAQs, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD!!

Here's some questions I've been asked lately about the trip ICYDK...

"Where are you going?"
A small town outside of Nairobi, Kenya in East Africa
"What's Kamulu?"
the name of the town we will be living in
"What are you doing now?"
Finishing up my masters in Plant Breeding at Texas A&M
"What are you packing?"
Clothes, medicine, toiletries, camera, books, along with some supplies we want to bring for MITS and small things to remind us of home. The city is somewhat close by and has almost anything that we would really need.
"How are you paying or being supported for this?"
My church at A&M is paying for half the expenses- they call it a "Serve Abroad"- and we find a way to fund the rest. I eat a lot of tuna and eggs so I got it covered but if you want to support us you can keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
"Are there bathrooms? Where will you stay?"
Yes. Laquita and I get our own apartment-like room that has two bedrooms, a living area, and private bathroom. FANCY.
"Are you coming back for Christmas?"
No :( but I'll skype...or we could have Christmas in March??
"Isn't it hot over there?"
Probably so, but its hot here too.
"Are you going to miss your family?"
Nah I'm kinda sick of them anyways. They probably don't even read this...
Ofcourse I will! I wish Kenya was connected to Texas so it wouldn't be so hard to get to.
"So are you planting fake wheat in Africa?"
This makes more sense if you know what my thesis is about (which I will gladly explain to anyone!)- but no they don't plant any wheat where I'm going.
"So are you super excited?"
YES! I wish I was already over there now sitting in a coffee shop typing this.