What a great way to start the road trip... with New York City! =) It was great to see friends! =) Saturday I met up with my old boss Linda and her family. Her family is so sweet and it was great eating yummy Arabic food when I got there =) That evening I stayed with a friend up in Manhattan and found myself relaxing on their rooftop enjoying the sunset and breeze while sipping on a glass of wine a couple blocks away from Central Park. It was so nice =) The next day I headed down to Bay Ridge to visit AAANY for the 5th Avenue Street Fair. It was great seeing my old co-workers and other friends from AAANY. The street fair was enjoyable. AAANY had a DJ and a debke performance. ... read more

Hi Everyone, I'm back. It's been about a year since my last entry. So, here's a quick update. I spent the past year living in Brooklyn, New York serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA at the Arab American Association of New York as a Development Associate, meaning I did proposal writing and other fundraising stuff (among various random tasks). It was an incredible year. I worked with amazing people, learned so much about development and the workings of a non-profit. I also very much enjoyed living in New York City. There's so much going on there. Unfortunately, the year quickly came to an end and I'm now getting ready to start graduate school at SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont. I'm quite excited about the program. I'll be getting my master's in Sustainable Development with a focus in Community ... read more

Hi Everyone, I’m back in Nairobi now. We left Rongo yesterday morning. I was sad to go. I had such a wonderful time in Rongo. Everyone was so nice. It was sad to say good-bye to Hosea’s family, (I stayed with them for the week) especially two of his brothers, Bobby and Freddy. Bobby is my age and is just a fun guy to hang out with. Because he’s my age mate he was my buddy for the week. Freddy is a musician and is a fun guy to spend time with. I have his cd. It’s really good. I’m going to make a page for him and his group on myspace when I’m back in the states. I’ll put the link up on this site when it’s ready, so keep an eye out for it. ... read more

Hi everyone, I’m writing from Nairobi. I’ve been here 3 days. Can’t believe I’m really here. My flights went smoothly and my bag arrived. YAY!! I was met at the airport by the airport security which I thought was odd. Jonathan, the security man that met me at my gate said the head of security Mr. Kabaka had sent him for me and was awaiting my arrival. He talked of him as if I were supposed to know who he was talking about. I had no clue, but oh well. He walked me through customs and getting my visa. Once we got my bag he walked me over to the security office where I waited for Mr. Kabaka. I still had no clue why the head of airport security would have been waiting for me. Turns ... read more

Can't believe I only have two more days in Mombasa. The time has flown by. I've been keeping really busy. The last few days I've been working on my paper. (In fact I'm waiting for it to print right now) I sent the parents off to Tiwi Beach the day after we got back from the Maasai Mara. They were getting annoying so had to send em to the beach as punishment. lol... actually I wanted to go with them, but I had to finish my paper. Oh well... you have to do those kinds of things near the end of a semester. I have my finals next week. Yikes... don't even know what I should be studying. I guess I'll find that out when I take the exam. lol The Maasai Mara was wonderful. It's ... read more