Greetings from Maua!

Well I'm writing to you from my permanent site, in Maua, Kenya! Its a very small town about a 5 hour drive from Nairobi and an hour outside of of Meru (if you decide to look on a map). The hospital is right outside the main town and is pretty large. It reminds me a lot of the Kijabe Hospital I visited back in 2009. I'm all settled into my flat, its like a very small apartment. I have a sitting room, small kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. I will post some pictures...wait until you see my toilet (or lack there of!)

I'm having a hard time adjusting to the time difference, all I want to do is take naps but then at 3am I'm WIDE AWAKE! This morning we had morning chapel and then I went on a tour of the hospital and visited the different wards. Tomorrow I am going to a nursing supervisors team building meeting and they asked me to speak on Stewardship for 30-40 minutes! I thought I was done having to teach/speak...haha I guess not and this time I only got 24 hours to prepare. Adam, you're super impressed, right?

The weather is incredibly hot during the day, but gets cool at night. I'm glad I packed all those extra clothes :)

I have meet some wonderful people. Mary, the nursing director and her husband Stanley who is the Community Health Coordinator drove me from Nairobi and I had dinner at their house last night. I also met a girl my age from Washington State who is here with the Peace Core. She has been here for almost 2 years! Its nice to make a friend who speaks English and understands me easily!

I'm sure you're all wondering what I'm eating...alot of plain bread with butter or peanut butter, white rice and yesterday I had a beef stew but had to choke it down because the carrots were mushy and the beef was chewy...I hate when I have to just keep chewing and chewing and don't know when to swallow. I heard there is a pizza place in town so I will have to check it out, it might become my regular hot spot.

I'm thankful that I have the internet up and running so I can feel more connected to my friends and family. Here are a few things I would love prayer for :

• Help my body and mind adjust to the time difference. I want to be fully engaged and present when I'm here.
• Prayer for the Team Building meeting and my talk on stewardship tomorrow. I pray that my words would glorify God and help others be better stewards of their gifts, time and heart.
• There is an unbelievable amount of people with measles right now. We're not sure why, but I saw several patients today, some young children with measles...it looks awful and painful. Prayer for all those that are sick for God to heal their bodies. The hospital is a crazy place with lots of sickness and sadness. It breaks my heart.
• Pray that I would make friends and connect with others that are here. My heart is lonely at times and craving community. I pray that I would be content in solitude and that God would meet me there.

Hope you're doing well...I love getting emails or Facebook messages so update me on your lives as well!

all my love...