I'm trying to keep my tradition of getting things done at the last minute alive, so I'm writing this blog post while sitting at airport in Kansas City, waiting for our plane to arrive! I only have ten minutes, so I'll be pretty brief, but first and foremost: great googly-moogly, I'm excited. I've already tried to make friends with fellow passengers (it worked), airport workers (say hi to Ray at the bar!), and TSA agents (Cynthia was surprisingly friendly).
Unfortunately, I've also had to say some goodbyes, or rather, see-you-later's. My family came to the airport to show me off, and I think Mama Bear claimed about twelve hugs. No tears though, which may be a first. Dad and Torey were also there, and I think it's obvious that I'll miss them. My best buddy Derek Knopp came and helped me out last night with some packing, and we took a few swings of the old golf clubs. Don't worry, I'm still terrible. I'll have to give shoutouts to Alison, who I luckily got to see one more time, my best friend Katie Omo, and Brenton Wright for the friendly call!
Our plane just arrived on the tarmac, but before I go, I think I'll fill you in on what I'll actually be doing this entire summer! I was fortunate enough to be selected as a member of International Service Teams for this semester and summer. International Service Teams is a program at Kansas State through the School of Leadership Studies. There are three teams in the program, who are going to Mexico, Brazil, and Kenya. My team is called Team Tumaini, and it consists of four other people and myself: Bailey Myers, Kenna McWhirter, Bethany Roy, and Nick Herrmann. We've taken a class on Thursdays for three hours all semester, and we met for roughly 10-15 hours for the majority of the weeks as well! We'll be traveling to the CYEC in Nyeri, Kenya, to serve for 10 weeks. CYEC stands for the Children and Youth Empowerment Center, and it is a center that teaches street children from the area life skills, and gives them a home. Some information about this is at the bottom! Our flight today starts out with an hour and a half flight to Dallas/Fort Worth, then a ten hour flight to London, England, then a 9 hour flight to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
I could write so much more, but they're calling me to board now. I promise that future posts will be much more full of fun, jokes, and puns. Thank you to everyone who supported me and helped me get this far, and I'll be back soon...with pictures! And words! And lions!...or something like that.
Kwaheri,
Chance
www.cyec.net - the CYEC's website
http://www.k-state.edu/leadership/programs/internationalteams/ - International Service Teams
That's about it.
