I was in a deep sleep when my alarm went off and it was time to pray, I told myself it was just a dream and went back to sleep. As I was forcing myself to go back to sleep my alarm went off again, I had no excuses but to get up and pray. I was worshiping to my lord when the news hit me. I stormed out of my room and went straight to my mother to question her. The news was shocking but also surprising, “we are going on a vocation next week”. While packing, I was going through mixed emotions. I was scared but also excited. It was time and I panicked “but could this vocation really be that bad”, I asked myself. We arrived at the airport in no time. Inside the airplane it was warm and comfortable, the scenery calmed me down a bit and I got comfortable. Time was going as slow as a turtle. Nap was so good but the pilot interrupted with an announcement “we have arrived at our destination” Kariba Nairobi, Kenya and there was a big sign that said “Welcome to Nairobi, Kenya”. It was very beautiful, my eyes was watery due to steering at the sign.
My eyes opened up widely, everything was different from the scene of the United States of America, and I was very fascinated by the weather, people, and the settings. The roads were dry, dusty, and rough to drive on. The people were very nice and welcoming because of their perspective of coming from America. My first morning of being in Karibu Kenya, was very bright shine sunlight morning that I haven’t seen in very long time. We went
I boarded the plane and got corner seat in middle row. After 25 min plane started moving, as plane was moving my heartbeat also started increasing. As plane took off and climbed up to 33000 feet in short period. Everyone in plane were sleeping, but I was kept thinking about my future life. I am moving to new country which is very different than my home country India. Moving
I flew from Las Vegas to an airport close to the Caribbean rainforest, this was my first time on a plane, I never would have imagined it would be to start my dream job and go to an exotic place. I mean, who could ever get so lucky on their first assignment. I was expecting to get sent to the middle of a hot desert or a humid rain forest infested with flying and biting bugs. I knew it was time to start my adventure when I got off that plane, but it was also time to start my adult life as well. The plane ride was full of me asking myself questions about this trip that I really could not answer. I kept asking myself what would I encounter when I reached the tribe, would they be accepting of me, would things be hostile or friendly, will I be able to adapt well enough to their style of living to be able to complete my assignment. I could not stop thinking of all the ways this trip could play
Right as I a walked out the airplane I heard unfamiliar language being spoken around me. People were buzzing around as my heart started to beat fast. My life started to change dramatically, then it struck me it was around 18 hours
It didn’t hit me this whole experience was real until I crossed the threshold of the departure bridge into the cabin. I was scared and I was nervous. Moving to New Zealand was easy. I was three and there was still time to make friends. This time, however, I would be walking into a classroom of kids that already have their friend groups sorted. I would also say excited but the other two emotions definitely overpowered the excitement I was feeling. My only knowledge of the house we were moving into was about an hour’s worth of a camcorder walkthrough from some relatives. It looked nice enough on video, but I was apprehensive as to what it looked like in real life. I’m not sure if it was because I had just spent 24 hours in either an airport or an airplane, but when we pulled up to the house I was amazed. I looked better than what the video portrayed and any nervousness I felt earlier melted away. I was excited to start a new chapter of my
The very next week I was ready to experience what it’s like being in another country with different customs and culture. July 3 the day was finally here, I grabbed my suitcase and met with my grandma and we got ready for our flight. As I board the airplane, I had butterflies in my stomach. I think to myself “Wow this is really happening”. A few minutes past by and we take off. The take off was probably the greatest part of the flight, I wasn’t scared or nervous I was having so much fun. After 6-7 hours of being on a plane we finally land in Guatemala City. Leaving the airport everything gets my attention. Kids on the street playing soccer, buildings all next to each other, and color everywhere. I smell different foods from left to right, I'm amazed at everything, it's something I’ll never
It was April 3, 2015. While the wind danced around picking few leaves here and there along with itself, my spirit on the other hand, marked with unease and nervousness stood in stark contrast. It was time to board the airplane for United States of America; it was time to leave India, my birthplace as well as my home for 14 years. With hopes of achieving the American Dream, my family and I would board the airplane, oblivious to the opportunities as well as hardships and sacrifices which would follow. Although the journey might seem as a physical one - of around 15 hours, it was a moral journey of understanding new cultures, new ideas, new struggles.Nevertheless, it was a journey to understand the true beauty of the world.
Sitting on the plane alone, I wondered what the next three weeks would bring. The light hum of the plane’s engines seemed to go on forever and the dry stale air began to scratch the inside of my throat. My destination was The Netherlands, where the entirety of my family lives. Throughout my youth seeing my family was a rare occasion, once a year if we were lucky, but after my parents divorced, we stopped going altogether. It had been over eight years since I had last visited them and because of the many years of separation, I felt uneasy about it all. Throughout the flight I couldn’t help but to think to myself several questions like: What I might be able to learn and experience from these next three weeks? How I would feel when I would first arrive? And how different everything would be. Having been there only a
I had never been on an airplane. My stomach felt like I had just eaten rotten fish and I was about to throw up. I was so excited to go, but at the same time I was scared because I had never been on a plane. We waited in the airport for at least an hour. Finally our flight was called, as I walked on the plane my heart was about to jump out of my skin. After the flight attendant had went through all the rules and we put our seat belts on the plane was going to take off. I thought the worst thing about the flight was taking off and landing. I didn?t like taking off and landing because my ears popped. Other than the fact that my ears popped taking off and landing the flight went smooth, we didn?t crash. When the plane landed, I couldn?t wait to stand on solid ground again.
Almost a decade has passed and yet, the daunting feeling of stepping off the plane, into the unknown remained. Thoughts rushed through my naïve mind, as the brisk breeze brushed my face.Where am I?Why am I here? Racing through the airport, I was overwhelmed as people paced past me, my mind filled with curiosity and my heart beating louder than a drum. Everything was new, the silence, the purity, the beauty.This new country seemed unrealistic to me, it felt like I was in a dream as I was introduced tonew things. Aspects I couldn’t understand as a little girl were all thrown at me in an instant, skin colours that I didn’t think existed, a new culture, and a new language which sounded like drivel. I slowly began to realize that this wasn’t a dream,
Though Kenya’s impoverished and underdeveloped conditions were certainly not highlighted in the film, I believe it is important to observe. These conditions are best displayed by the state of the primary school. In the film, students were forced to sit 5 students to a desk and were crammed into a tiny room. Moreover, the Kenyans were highly grateful for the concept of free education. This highly contrasts the state of American schools, which are typically well funded. Americans are used to the concept of free education, so much so, that people now desire free higher education. I believe this theme is important to note because it is the key difference between the Kenyan and American
The light to put our seatbelts on glowed as the captain spoke to us and flight attendants acted out safety instructions. At take-off my stomach was filled with butterflies, but I wasn't scared. My body was pushed into the seat but I pretended I was the captain of a fighter jet. When we were stable I discovered that flying wasn't that bad. And the ocean looked beautiful out the windows! I put on my CD player until the played the in-flight movie, Planet of the Apes. I didn't like it so I kept listening to my CD player all the way through dinner. I fell asleep but the sound of the captains voice woke me. He was telling us there was an hour left of the flight. Flight attendants asked us to stow away our bags and prepare for landing. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach again as I anticipated the landing. I felt the plane lose
Never in my life did I think God would lead me to become a pastor. However, around the end of 2012, I really felt God calling me toward vocational ministry. I wasn’t really sure what that would look like in my life, and I struggled with God for a long time about the idea of giving up a “sure thing” with the army, for the unknown of serving in ministry. I just kept thinking, “Is this really what God is calling me to do?” This went on for quite a while. One night, in May 2014, God made it abundantly clear to me. My wife and I were attending the wedding of some close friends of ours. The pastor who was performing the ceremony was the pastor of the church my wife and I attended before I joined the military in 2010. After the ceremony, I was talking with him and mentioned that I was feeling like God was calling me into pastoral ministry.
My journey the day I left my home country in search of a better life was not as pleasurable or exciting as I expected. Although it was not a long flight, the accumulation of unexpected vicissitudes during the trip made my dream of traveling an absolute nightmare. Not only my sadness to be leaving my family behind, the uncertainty to fly alone and for the first time, or my inexperience with the procedures at the airport contributed to this calamity, but even my neighbor on the plane added his bit of sand in the affair. All this situation was such traumatic to me that I even considered never daring to fly again.
On this morning we were just glad to not have been woken up to bugs crawling in our beds. What I was more excited about today, was our itinerary for the day. The first part of my morning consisted of sitting at the edge of the rocks journaling and enjoying the view from there. With the sun shining as bright as it was that morning, we decided to move under some shade to continue journaling. Under the shade by the kitchen the view of all the huts were also so surreal, I sat that just letting it click that I was in Swaziland miles away and getting to experience this.
If you are about to travel to Kenya for the first time, you will probably have all sorts of questions. We have compiled a list of questions (and answers!) we get asked every day by our guests. If your question is not listed below please contact (Link) us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.