"You don't live here anymore"

Last week my mom told me that I need to pack up my room before I go back to Kenya. 

"But why mom? Most of my stuff is organized in boxes. There are a few books on my shelves and pictures and some other things but my room is pretty organized." 

"Nikole, you don't live here anymore. Take your stuff to Kenya."

I wish. 

I have some good stuff. I have some awesome books. I have great kitchen supplies that I had when I was in college. I have awesome clothes. All this stuff I could use in Kenya. 

It's just getting it all there that is the problem. 

I have become pretty inventive with the way I pack so I manage to sneak a lot of little items in. However, with weight restrictions and a 2 bag limit, getting all my stuff to Kenya is a bit difficult. 

That is why I am so glad that I have 4 family members coming over for the wedding in a couple months. Each of them get 2 suitcases. My mom will need both her suitcases for her stuff. My dad and brother could probably fit all their stuff in one suitcase combined. My Baba may need her 2 as well but I am going to try convince her to give me her extra suitcase. And then they each get a carry on which they can stuff with my clothes, towels, and other non threatening items. 

So today I am packing up my room. My mom just informed me that she doesn't necessarily need me to get rid of my stuff since 'I still am their daughter' but just to organize it. I need to make piles of stuff that I want them to bring and put it in order of priority so that, if they don't have enough room, at least I will get the most important things. 

I don't know where I will put all this stuff in my house in Mombasa. Poor Kelvin will be swimming in my Canadian junk. 

Departure Day

In only a few short hours I will be backing out of my drive way in Castlegar and on my way back to Kenya. I am so ready to go but I am terribly sad to be leaving my parents behind. My mother and I will be driving to Vancouver together over the next two days but this will be goodbye for my dad this morning. The tears haven't hit hard yet but the anticipation is killing us. Why does it have to be so hard? I guess I am blessed that my parents actually care and are extremely sad that I am leaving. Better than having parents who don't care what you are doing. I am so blessed. 

My bags are pretty much packed and ready to go. I keep finding new things to stuff in them trying to reach my weight capacity. I am given 50lbs per bag and I want to use all the 50lbs if I can. I think I have done a pretty good job so far. I am getting pretty good at fitting my life into a suitcase. 

This week has been wonderful. It hasn't been too stressful. I have been had to chance to say goodbye to most of my friends. I have had some precious time with my parents and some wonderful quiet time with God. I am just ready to go!

I got to have supper with my dear friend Amber. She used to babysit my brother and I and teach us piano when I was in elementary school. Then when I moved to vancouver to go to college, she moved in with me for a year. She made the transition to college life away from home so much easier. She taught me to eat well and keep the house clean and manage money. Now she has a new little apartment and a great new job. I am so grateful for her friendship. 

We had a 6 week memorial for my Deda on Saturday. Doukhobors believe that 6 weeks after a person's death, their soul still remains on earth and then transitions into heaven. This belief comes from the timeline of when Jesus died on the cross and finally ascended into heaven. They have worked it out to be about 6 weeks. 

The day of the memorial, we usually head to the gravesite for a small service of singing russian hymns and prayers and saying a few nice words about the deceased. Then we all join together and have a big lunch. We held the big lunch at our place and so my Baba and my mom were cooking all the food the night before. My Baba is so short, we put her on a stool.

A small gathering of friends and family at Deda's grave. 

The graveyard hadn't been ploughed so we all had to hold onto each other as we trudged through the deep snow. Deda, the outdoors man that he was, would have been proud.  

I came home after the service only to find my precious pup digging in all my clothes. I had washed, ironed and nicely folded them in preparation for packing but I guess she decided to wreck all my nice piles. Maybe she is just tell me how much she doesn't want me to go. 

"I'm not moving!"

The beginning of the end

Today I am going to begin to pack up my room. Right after I post this blog. I have been saying for days that I should start but today, I realized, may be the only free afternoon I have before I leave. Tomorrow we start a crazy weekend of counsellors training. We are expecting 50 people to be with us this weekend for a lot of good food, games, and training sessions for our upcoming camps. It's a good way for me to leave. many of my friends will be come so I will get the chance to say goodbye. But I really can't see myself having anymore free time before I leave on monday.

That's why I must start packing today. Well first I need to wash my clothes. Our washing machine often 'misbehaves' as our housekeeper likes to tell us. It has been 'misbehaving' all week and we are not able to get our clothes washed. So instead of torturing myself and washing all my clothes by hand in one go, I have been taking 30 minutes a day to do a few items. That way my hands don't get all raw from rubbing and my back doesn't get sore from leaning over too much.

After my clothes are washed, I will start taking down my pictures off the wall and arranging my books in my suitcases. I need to start packing my clothes too. I need to see which ones are 'worthy' to still be worn in Canada and which ones are 'strictly kenyan' and should not leave this country.

I still have lots of paper work I need to go through. I will be sorting out all my work permit issues 3 days before I leave the country. It has finally come through but I need to get all the documentation together. It' a bit ironic considering I will leave 3 days later. Then I need to start writing my thank you cards to people who have blessed me and been so wonderful to work with.

Ok, I guess the list is not that long now that I look at it. It just seems like a lot especially because it is getting so hot you don't really want to move too fast (I am kinda looking forward to washing my clothes and having my hands in cold water). Also, there is little water that comes out of my taps so to fill a bucket takes an hour. Then there are men working outside making terrible amounts of noise with all the repairs they are doing to the building. And I am exhausted. I've been having troubles sleeping the last few nights. I think its the heat. Last night was the first time I had to put the fan on.

But I will get these things done today. I am determined to.

Since I haven't been sleeping great, I have been getting out of my room to watch the sunrise in the morning. I usually take my bible and sit a rock as the sun starts to rise. These days it doesn't have to rise to high for it start getting hot. I brought my camera along today. I will miss living in such a beautiful place.

7 more sleeps... the packing stage

Today I decided that I should probably start packing. I am leaving for 11 months and have only started packing 7 sleeps before my departure day. I am not too stressed about it; I feel like a pro since I have done it so many times. I know which clothes are appropriate (lulu lemon = not appropriate), I know how many pairs of socks I will need (not many, its too hot), I know what I can and cannot find there (bobby pins and white people makeup are hard to come by but After Eight chocolates can be found in supermarkets), I know how to efficiently use the space in my luggage as to fit as much stuff as possible (rolling clothes saves space but creates many wrinkles) and so on.

I still haven't decided how many bottles of sunscreen I will need. Right now I have 3: SPF 30,15 and 8. I barely used any sunscreen last time I was there which did bite me in the bum a few times. This time I will be in the sun a bit more as the compound I will be living on is right on the beach and swimming in the ocean is actually part of my job. No joke. When camp time comes around, I will be expected to play in the ocean with the campers. And who said life in Africa is rough? Anyways, I still don't know how much to take and really don't want to waste space if I don't have to.

Just in case you were wondering, the Splenda is not for me. My African Mum can't have sugar so I have introduced her to Splenda. However, it's hard to find there so I make space for it and she is very grateful. Sugarless tea is like a death sentence for Kenyans.

I have also been spending some time (ok lots of time) on my new, beautiful computer. Yes, I was blessed with a new computer since mine crashed last year. I have been busy with uploading and transferring my music, files, photos, etc. I have been searching for good movies to download off iTunes. My eyes have been glued to the screen a little too much.

But in between my packing efforts and my computer addiction, I have picked up my bible and found an incredible amount of peace. My soul is at peace with all that is happening and is going to happen this year. I have been studying Hezekiah's character in 2 Chronicles and have been inspired by this bold, God-fearing leader.

"And in every good work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered." 2 Chronicles 31:21


May every work that I do this year be done with all my heart, looking unto Jesus.