Really... I am doing this. I am really, really, REALLY going to Africa. Kenya. Nairobi. Njibini. To live/volunteer at an orphanage. Where there is electricity for two hours. Where there isn't really any hot water. Where it is a vegetarian menu. Where there are 13 African children with no parents. Where there are another 55 children that come in for an education. WHO DO I THINK I AM??? I am NOT the Red Cross. I don't have to save the world. So what is the deal??? What am i really getting out of this? Change. New. Life. And maybe I need to make sure to ask myself, do i want to get something or do i want to GIVE something? I actually want both. I want to give. I want to make a difference. I want to share the love and caring and generosity of spirit that has been so freely given to me. I want to pass that on. I want to get hugs. I want to learn the meaning of my ignorance and learn how little i know about the world. I want to live by what Helen Keller says "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." I want it all. Is that so much to ask? I think not.
I ordered a Global Phone. I am hoping that I can update this blog from Kenya with the new Verizon Tour. We will see. If not, I am told that emails and the internet will be available on my plan so i will be able to post on Facebook I think. Texting costs millions of dollars but Blackberry Messenger is free with my plan. SO - if you are a blackberry user, please send "friend" me or whatever that is called and we can chat while i am hanging out with the zebras and watching the migration of the wildebeest.
The flight is booked. Departure date Saturday, May 1 out of JFK. Return date, July 10. It takes two days to get to Narobi with a layover in London. I have always wanted to go hang out with my friend, Teri Moore, in London so it looks like this will be the plan..... having some fish and chips on the other side of the pond while waiting for the transfer. I hope TM will be in town. We haven't really confirmed this yet, but whatever.. I am sure they have fish and chips in Terminal C if that doesn't pan out.
My friend, Kate Gifford, has taken the charge of organizing donations for all the children. Each of the 13 children now have "adoptive families" here. We are on track to make something really wonderful happen. I spoke to the volunteer coordinator today and she will be sending me the email that has recently been set up for the children so that they get their own mail... (during the two hours that the generator is on at night.)
If i can figure this blog thing out some more, I will post some links to You Tube videos, the sizes of the children, wish list items, the whole gig. I am hoping that this technology thing will work for me.
With that, i just need to say again--- YIKES!!!!!! What am I thinking??? I am leaving my job, my house, my friends, my family, spending money that i should really save for retirement or something more practical than this, and just heading across the globe. But it is really the strangest, strangest, strangest thing... Every day that i was going through cancer treatments i said this prayer "God, I offer myself to thee... to do with me as thy will. Remove me from the bondage of self." Now listen, I KNOW how hokey this sounds. YES... It's bizarre. It's over the top. I sound like a Bible thumper. Believe me, I KNOW... But anyway, that's the prayer that i said day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute sometimes. And it carried me. It helped me to keep things in perspective. This is not my life. It's not. For some strange reason, I found out I had cancer. Yea, ok... that's a scary thing. What would have been more scary - not finding it.... and then what??? So with that, I know I have been given a second chance at this thing called life and I REFUSE... ADAMANTLY REFUSE to just meander through it. No matter what is in front of me, I will do whatever it takes to live life to the fullest.
And now--- to whoever is reading this..I hate to sound all preachy but here goes... This can happen to you too. Your life can change in a heartbeat. I was sitting checking emails in an exam room and was told that i have cancer. I had plans for lunch that day. I had things to do. I was busy. I was just like everyone else. And then it changed. And again - it CAN happen to any of us. I don't say this to make people worry or scared or to live life in a bubble wondering if they are going to get cancer or MS or get hit by a bus. I say this for the exact opposite reason. I say this to suggest that people really look at their dreams. Really spend time thinking about what they want. Watch the Bucket List. This is the real deal. There is no time like the present. Just do it. If nothing else, i want to pass on the idea or the thought or the belief that everything is possible. Look at your fears. and then just walk over them. Get past them. But the first thing is - WHAT DO YOU WANT??? For me, hanging out on the other side of the world with not a soul that i know, doing something that makes a difference has me totally at peace. And that is what I want... Peace and Serenity... and to Laugh Out Loud....
