Merry Christmas and Good night!

Well, we have been back on this side for almost a week now. Sweet reunions with family...and meeting one new member, Maverick!

Lots of Ultimate Frisbee, too.

During a layover in Johannesburg, we got to see Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto the day after his burial. Our travel was a bit longer than scheduled, but no major problems.


From Karen:

Some of my favorite things about our first day back in the States:

- warm shower and comfy bed (obviously), 

- coffee, orange juice, smoothie, Taco Bell, Dr. Pepper,

- Ultimate Frisbee, good weather, driving our car, washing machine & dryer

- Russ and Ann, texting with friends

I love Africa, but it's so nice to be home!


From Mark:

Back in Texas! So thankful for my parents Russ and Ann . They decided to "pamper" us and I when we got back from Kenya last night-we had Franklin BBQ for dinner last night, followed by Blue Bell Cookies and Cream ice cream! 


Also, Im really loving the weather in Austin right now. It was a crisp and fresh 39 degrees (4 celsius) this morning and it felt wonderful. Since Austin is so far south, many of the trees here still have leaves on them! It's just wonderful. Karen and I are feeling very blessed right now.

Our 58 hour time of traveling from Ah-Gah-Pay Mercy Children's Centre Kenya to my home in Round Rock was the longest trip Karen or I have ever taken. Everything went well until we got to America. Our flight to D.C. was 1.5 hours late, which made us 20 minutes late our connecting flight to Austin. We weren't upset about missing that flight until we took the next flight (3.5 hours later) and then sat in the plane for 45 minutes waiting for "other passengers" to arrive. Why didn't the first plane wait for Karen and I but this plane waited? If anyone has industry knowledge about this I would greatly appreciate it, this phenomenon is maddening to me (especially at the end of 55 hours of traveling).

The tour of Jo'burg was fantastic. Saw the location of the Soweto Uprising of 1976, as well as the former homes of Nelson Mandela and Desmond TuTu. Powerful stuff, can't believe the atrocities of apartheid happened so recently. Although, the current conflicts in Syria, Congo, and CAR remind me that humanity still has a long way to go.




Now we're in Roswell!

Thank you for your support during our recent Africa travels. We look forward to talking to many of you about our experiences. The blog will be dormant for awhile until we have some other noteworthy news or announcements. Please continue to follow amcckenya.org and keep us posted by emailing zambiakaren@gmail.com or markjadawson@gmail.com.