http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Starla/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Starla en-us Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:24:42 +0000 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:24:42 +0000 Hi allJust thought I'd add an update with some pictures from a recent hike to Spence Field and Rocky Top. The weather here is finally getting a bit more liveable in the upper 70's to low 80's with humidity finally getting a bit lower. The hike was beautiful hope you like the pictures. Starla http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Tennessee/Great-Smoky-Mountains-Parkway/blog-325662.html Hello from Lake Junaluska North Carolina We had an awesome day today at the Holston Annual Conference. Tony was commissioned along with 19 others. His mom and Tom drove in from Knoxville and my folks came in last night so they could be here this morning. We are all very proud of TonyWe are excited to get settled into our parsonage next Wednesday. I am also still looking for a job and am looki http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/North-Carolina/blog-285996.html Hello from Amsterdam Tony and I have been enjoying our time here. We have gotten to visit several museums so far thanks to the IAmsterdam Pass which gets us into many museums for free and onto the public transportation system as well. So far we have been to the Rijksmuseum Van Gogh Museum yahoo and the Amsterdam Historich Museum. All of these have been very interesting and we have also w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-280985.html Tonight is our last night in Africa. We have enjoyed a wonderful few days on safari it was so amazing I am posting from the Methodist Guest House in Nairobi and it is so nice to once again enjoy highspeed internet I wanted to post some of our favorite pics from the safari. The Masai Mara is so very amazing I wish everyone could enjoy a few days there.Tomorrow we head out superearly in the m http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-280073.html I am writing the blog again because Starla is currently getting a well deserved pedicure at the spa here at the Sarova Mara. We left Maua to head to the Masai Mara on Wednesday. It was very sad to say bye to everyone and we hope that we get another chance to come again. All the Kenyans said that they wonrsquot say goodbye because they know that wersquoll be back. Irsquove even had an invita http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Masai-Mara-NP/blog-279042.html Hello for the last time from Maua It is Sunday afternoon and the internet caf is closed so I will be posting this blog tomorrow during my lunch break. We have had a wonderful last weekend here. Thursday we had Rev. Muriki over with his lovely family. His two children are 2 and 5 and they were so cute and energetic Tony was very sad to say goodbye to him. Friday night we went to a potluck a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-277858.html Today I Tony am writing the blog because Starla is busy in the OPD and I wanted to write about our trip to visit Dorcas. This last week of ours is going by so fast. Yesterday we walked with Andrew from the AIDS orphans program up past Kiegoi to the home that the team from St. Peterrsquos built for Dorcas in 2005. Andrew is doing an internship for his diploma at the hospital and he is in char http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-276455.html What an eventful weekend we had Tony and I enjoyed a visit to two churches on Saturday with Rev. Hosea who is the pastor of the circuit which includes these two churches along with 9 others. Rev. Hosea and his wife had us over for tea before the services and while we were at their house we learned how Kenyans prepare food and what kind of stoves they use. We also learned about the 2 week proc http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-275678.html Today I donrsquot have too many new pictures to add because we have been sticking around the hospital this week and not travelling about. So the pics arenrsquot too excitinghellip but I hope you still enjoy them We have had fun figuring out what all we can cook with the supplies around here. We can get most groceries in town but there are many things which you have to travel quite a dist http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-274446.html Well our time seems to really be winding down here At the annual Synod meeting Rev. James told Tony that he is already beginning to miss him. They seem to really have enjoyed working together and I know they both have a great amount of respect for one another.Tony did a great job preaching on Friday and Saturday for the annual meeting The theme of the conference was ldquoService to God is http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-273442.html Irsquoll try not to make this the longest post ever but I have so many good pics I want to put up here and lots to say. First of all I wanted to add a funny thing that was said last Sunday at the church I mentioned on my previous blog. Tony had visited that church earlier in the week and when he brought me along on Sunday and the pastor met me he said to Tony ldquoOh you found a wife wh http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-272189.html Hello there. We are 3 weeks into our working time in Maua this means it's the halfway point we will leave to go on Safari 3 weeks from this Wednesday. Time is going by pretty quickly for us with many new experiences.This weekend was a good one. Saturday we hiked around a ridge in Maua with the Sarsons and Katherine. We hiked to an area that is apparently an old volcanic crater. Very beautiful a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-270873.html What an adventure we had today I went out with Tony on the circuit while he preached to a youth council. The road there rivals and in our opinion beats the stories of roads crossing rivers which my Dad told me about when he travelled around Mexico when I was a kid. We went to the church in a 1970rsquos Land Rover which was exactly like the one we had in the 90rsquos when I was a kid in Cos http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-269642.html What a full weekend we had On Saturday Tonyrsquos birthday we had the chance of seeing 2 Jacksonrsquos Chameleons in a tree They are for sure the most photographed chameleons of Maua as Tony took many pictures We think it was a male and female and we think the female was pregnant because she was much larger than the male. They were so cool After this we had the duel birthday party f http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-268915.html April 19th This is the day of Tonyrsquos birthdayhellip he turns 30 in Kenya Tonight we will celebrate with the other missionaries and volunteers in a doubleparty for Tony and Katherine a volunteer for one year at the hospital. She is an IT person and is helping to make the hospital computerized. The last week since our arrival in Maua has been full and challenging. We are finding ourselv http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-267926.html Just a quick note to say all is well. We had a good day of working today. We are finding it difficult to adjust our American pace to Kenyan work style. It is interesting to work for 2 hours take a tea break work another few hours break one hour for lunch come back for 2 more hours then leave for the day Not that I'm complaining but it sometimes feels like we do more breaks than workI hel http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-266761.html 41308Itrsquos Sunday afternoon and I have found time again to sit and write a blog. Yesterday was another day to get settled. We drove the onehour drive to Meru with Bill and Jane a British nurse who has been volunteering here since August. She plans to stay anywhere from 13 years. I will be working with Jane on Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the medical ward giving care to patients who are d http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-266256.html Hello from Meru We have safely arrived at our destination for the next 6 weeks This is truly something to be thankful for especially after our long drive here through curvy winding mountain roads According to our missionary hosts the only way they have lost fellow missionaries has been roadrelated accidents no diseaserelated deaths and there is a funeral today for 4 people in the Maua c http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Eastern-Province/Maua/blog-265575.html We enjoyed our day today in Nairobi playing the tourists We first went out to an elephant orphanage in the Nairobi national park Shedrick. They do very good work by rescuing animals from poachers and other tragedies and they keep them until they are old enough to survive on their own. The elephants are released back into the wild when they are about 3 years old and they continue to monitorch http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/blog-264794.html Hello from Kenya We travelled a long way yesterday. We went from Nashville to Detroit Detroit to Amsterdam Amsterdam to Kenya. The trip itself was very enjoyable as we each had our own personal TV with movies games and music. We also did sleep a little bit.Once we arrived in Nairobi we were met by 2 men from the Hospital James and Stanley. They were in town for a hospital conference doing http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/blog-264592.html