Tuesday, July 11.
Here's another day at BCEA. But it's not the same as before, because today will be the first day with a full day of classes. Well, I'm not taking classes, but the students are. We don't have classes Friday afternoons and Mondays because some of the students minister at churches back home on Sundays, so they need time to travel.
The day starts at 5:30AM for early morning prayer. We meet at the main chapel, which is about a minute walk from my room. This morning was my second time going, and I find it quite nice to start my day in the Word and prayer... That's what I should have been doing in college, but it's much easier here because all students are required to go. Hopefully I will be disciplined to start my day with reading the Scripture and prayer.
Wednesday, July 12.
I started writing yesterday's entry in the morning, but it was a busy day, and I didn't get to finish. Starting yesterday, I've been "working" in the school office. I say "working" because I don't really do anything school related. I just sit here and do my own thing (e.g. writing my journal). Today I'm in the office again. Since I had nothing to do, yesterday Eben asked me to go with him to buy some sand for some construction project at the school. We took a pickup truck, and they dumped about a 1 ton of sand in the back using a bulldozer. When we came back, Richard approached us and told us about one of the students who passed out the night before in the bathroom. His name is Paul, and he is in his 40's. He doesn't know how long he had been out, but he must have had a stroke, because one side of his body was aching. Mrs. Kim had a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope, so I went to Paul's room, and took his blood pressure. He had a really high BP (160/100), so Richard and Pastor Kiarie took him to the hospital. Good thing I learned how to take BP when I was in FISH (Fellowship of International Service and Health). Maybe I'm not useless after all.
Yesterday after school, the students and faculty played some volleyball together in the school field. I hadn't played volleyball since... I can't even remember, but I did better than I thought I could.
It's actually quite cold right now. July is the coldest month of the year. It's been cloudy everyday that I've been here. It even rains right before dawn. But I'm told that the rest of the months are sunny and warm. I can't wait till August...
I might be going to Masai next week to volunteer at a clinic there. BCEA established an elementary school, a secondary school, and a clinic in Masai. They've handed them over to the government for them to use, but the partnership is still there. A missionary from Singapore works there as a nurse, and she'll be coming here on Friday. Rev. Kim will talk with her then if I could work with her. I would be thrilled to go and volunteer at the clinic. If I go, I'll probably be there for about a month. They say that the environment is not as nice as here, and I won't have any internet access while I'm there. That means I'll have to finish my med school application before I leave... The problem is that if I go, I'll most likely be leaving this weekend. So I really don't have much time... I guess I'll have to get working then.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Doxa in Kenya: A 22-year old baby
Monday, July 10.
I'm not going to go into details about each day here as I did before. Well, I guess there's no need to. Now that I've been living here for 3 days things are beginning to repeat itself (so I don't have to write about the same thing every time it happens).
So, let me talk about my living situation. I'm staying in one of the houses that teachers live in. I'm on the second floor, temporarily sharing an apartment with Richard Tiu, a missionary from the Philippines. I have my own room for now, but in a week or so I'll be living in my own apartment right next door (same building). Right now my apartment-to-be is filled with luggage that came with a missionary team from London (they are in Tanzania now, I'll talk about that some other time). The building is on campus, which is fenced and gated all around.
On my first day here, Rev. Kim, his daughter HaYoung, Richard, and I went out to grocery shopping. We went to a mall called Nakumatt. Apparently it's one of the nicest mall in Eastern Africa, but it's nothing like any of the malls in the States. When I got my currency exchanged, it was 71.50 Kenyan Shillings to a dollar. But interestingly they exchange $100 and $50 bills printed in 1996 and 1999 at 2 shillings lower than other bills. Someone later told me that about 60% of the large bills are counterfeits, thanks to North Korea. (Really, thanks Kim Jong Il or whoever it was, I lost KSH200 because of you!)
I need to learn how to buy groceries more effectively. First, I need to be able to quickly divide every price tag by 70, then learn where things are, what brands are "good" (or edible), how to choose fruits/veggies, and how not to get ripped-off. I never did much grocery shopping in the US, so it's hard for me to tell if something is relatively expensive or cheap.
I'm supposed to take care of my own food, but others have been helping me a lot. For breakfast, I just eat some cereal with yogurt, banana, and honey, but for lunch, Richard cooks rice and some simple food for both of us, and for dinner, I'd been invited over to people's houses. There's another Korean missionary family besides the Kims. Eben Yoon, his wife, and their daughter HaEun. HaEun is the cutest and smartest 2-year old I've ever seen. Last night, the Yoons took me out to dinner at Jambo Grill where we had some goat meat, goat liver, and chicken. It took one whole hour to prepare the food... But it was all worth it. The Yoons live in the apartment below mine.
For some reason, it's taking a while for me to adjust to the sleeping condition. Most likely I'm still jetlagged. The first couple nights I woke during the middle of the night three or four times because I had to go to the bathroom really bad. Last night I only woke up once, so I think I'm making progress. I'm sleeping under a mosquito net, but I haven't seen a single mosquito yet. Right now the season is dry and cool, so mosquitoes aren't around.
Kenyan coffee is amazing... On my first day, I went to a café called Java House, and had some iced coffee. They have wireless internet set up, but when I went, their ISP was down, so I couldn't go online.
Speaking of internet, the way I'm getting internet is by dialing through a wireless phone. It's not a cell phone, but it looks like a regular phone but uses antenna to make calls. I can only get 115kbps (twice the speed of dial-up), and only one person can use it at a time, so I don't get to go online very often. When I do, everything takes forever... I miss broadband. If only I had a car and a license, maybe I could drive myself to an internet café downtown and get fast but inexpensive internet. But what we have here is fast enough for e-mails, chats, and voice chats, but not video chat...
That's another thing I need to do: get a driving license. I also need to learn how to drive stick, because most of the cars here are manual. Err, if only I had bought international license before I came... That was my mistake. But hopefully I can get a permit here since I brought my California license.
Living here, I feel like I'm a baby all over again. I can't go anywhere outside campus, I can't get internet whenever I want... It's like I've lost my limbs, and I can't do anything by myself. I feel so dependent. I guess I was never independent, but I didn't realize how much I depended on others and different things while I lived in the US. I also feel quite useless. Yeah, so what if I graduated from UCLA with summa cum laude in biophysics? It means nothing here. So what if I speak Japanese? I'm not on a mission trip to Japan like I was two years ago. I'm just an ordinary person, just an overgrown baby.
Some people may call me foolish. They might say, "Why in the world did you go to Kenya then?" To be honest, I don't know what for yet, but I just know that I'm here because God called me here. I feel weak and useless, but I'm making myself available to what God has called me to. Only God knows what He's going to do with me, and He will reveal them to me in His time. I need to be patient.
Speaking of feeling weak, I also feel physically weak. I noticed that I start breathing heavily when I climb up stairs. It's almost like when I had asthma up to 4th grade. I just found out that it's because of the high altitude. Oxygen level is a bit lower than what I'm used to. Apparently, it's also because of the high altitude that there aren't any mosquitoes around here. The altitude is about 1.6km (1 mile or 5280ft) here.
I figured I have to get used to the low oxygen level, so I decided to pickup basketball. If you know me, you know that I'm not good with any type of sports, especially those involving a ball. Anyway, Brother Eben taught me how to play for about an hour or so. I think I'll be practicing more in the future.
We call each other "brother" here. I'm fine being called brother, but I'm still not used to calling them brothers yet, especially since they are older. I just call them by their names.
I wanted to feel useful, so I decided to cook rice for Richard and me tonight. But as soon as I was about to start, the power went out... Richard says we'll just have to wait, it'll be back in a few minutes... Or an hour. I guess we never know what happens.
Taking a shower has been interesting. Our (Richard and I) apartment is on the second floor, but the bathroom is on the third floor. So the water pressure is very low up there. So when many people are using the water on the first floor (or in the dorms) for taking showers and such, we don't get any water for the shower or the toilet. (Oh! The power's back! I'm going to go cook some rice now...)
Wow... That was some meal. We had rice, eggplant dipped in eggs, shrimp sautéed with garlic and ginger, corn cream soup (I brought packets from the US), seaweed, and papaya. I feel a bit spoiled (that I'm eating such good meals in Africa), but then it took a lot of work and time cooking. I suppose I'm learning to become more independent (or at least how to cook). I really didn't expect to eat so well here. Before I came, I thought I would be just eating with the students (who don't get to eat all that much, from what I heard). I also didn't expect to have my own room, and didn't even imagine I would have my own apartment! I thought I would be living in the dorms with the students. I really don't deserve such treatment... I was ready and willing to just rough it. But I'm sure I'll get a chance to do that as well.
Oh yeah, about shower. Thankfully, we have a water heater so I can shower in warm water, but we have to turn on the heater at least 45 minutes before you want to take a shower. Since the water pressure isn't very reliable, we collect the warm water in a bucket, and use it if the water stops in the middle of soaping up.
When resources are scarce, you start thinking of ways to conserve the resource, minimize cost, and be more effective. I'm beginning to think that way about many things. You really don't realize how much you're wasting until you don't have much.
This entry is already long, and it's getting late (It's 8PM, and I started writing this morning. Of course I wasn't writing the whole time).
I'm not going to go into details about each day here as I did before. Well, I guess there's no need to. Now that I've been living here for 3 days things are beginning to repeat itself (so I don't have to write about the same thing every time it happens).
So, let me talk about my living situation. I'm staying in one of the houses that teachers live in. I'm on the second floor, temporarily sharing an apartment with Richard Tiu, a missionary from the Philippines. I have my own room for now, but in a week or so I'll be living in my own apartment right next door (same building). Right now my apartment-to-be is filled with luggage that came with a missionary team from London (they are in Tanzania now, I'll talk about that some other time). The building is on campus, which is fenced and gated all around.
On my first day here, Rev. Kim, his daughter HaYoung, Richard, and I went out to grocery shopping. We went to a mall called Nakumatt. Apparently it's one of the nicest mall in Eastern Africa, but it's nothing like any of the malls in the States. When I got my currency exchanged, it was 71.50 Kenyan Shillings to a dollar. But interestingly they exchange $100 and $50 bills printed in 1996 and 1999 at 2 shillings lower than other bills. Someone later told me that about 60% of the large bills are counterfeits, thanks to North Korea. (Really, thanks Kim Jong Il or whoever it was, I lost KSH200 because of you!)
I need to learn how to buy groceries more effectively. First, I need to be able to quickly divide every price tag by 70, then learn where things are, what brands are "good" (or edible), how to choose fruits/veggies, and how not to get ripped-off. I never did much grocery shopping in the US, so it's hard for me to tell if something is relatively expensive or cheap.
I'm supposed to take care of my own food, but others have been helping me a lot. For breakfast, I just eat some cereal with yogurt, banana, and honey, but for lunch, Richard cooks rice and some simple food for both of us, and for dinner, I'd been invited over to people's houses. There's another Korean missionary family besides the Kims. Eben Yoon, his wife, and their daughter HaEun. HaEun is the cutest and smartest 2-year old I've ever seen. Last night, the Yoons took me out to dinner at Jambo Grill where we had some goat meat, goat liver, and chicken. It took one whole hour to prepare the food... But it was all worth it. The Yoons live in the apartment below mine.
For some reason, it's taking a while for me to adjust to the sleeping condition. Most likely I'm still jetlagged. The first couple nights I woke during the middle of the night three or four times because I had to go to the bathroom really bad. Last night I only woke up once, so I think I'm making progress. I'm sleeping under a mosquito net, but I haven't seen a single mosquito yet. Right now the season is dry and cool, so mosquitoes aren't around.
Kenyan coffee is amazing... On my first day, I went to a café called Java House, and had some iced coffee. They have wireless internet set up, but when I went, their ISP was down, so I couldn't go online.
Speaking of internet, the way I'm getting internet is by dialing through a wireless phone. It's not a cell phone, but it looks like a regular phone but uses antenna to make calls. I can only get 115kbps (twice the speed of dial-up), and only one person can use it at a time, so I don't get to go online very often. When I do, everything takes forever... I miss broadband. If only I had a car and a license, maybe I could drive myself to an internet café downtown and get fast but inexpensive internet. But what we have here is fast enough for e-mails, chats, and voice chats, but not video chat...
That's another thing I need to do: get a driving license. I also need to learn how to drive stick, because most of the cars here are manual. Err, if only I had bought international license before I came... That was my mistake. But hopefully I can get a permit here since I brought my California license.
Living here, I feel like I'm a baby all over again. I can't go anywhere outside campus, I can't get internet whenever I want... It's like I've lost my limbs, and I can't do anything by myself. I feel so dependent. I guess I was never independent, but I didn't realize how much I depended on others and different things while I lived in the US. I also feel quite useless. Yeah, so what if I graduated from UCLA with summa cum laude in biophysics? It means nothing here. So what if I speak Japanese? I'm not on a mission trip to Japan like I was two years ago. I'm just an ordinary person, just an overgrown baby.
Some people may call me foolish. They might say, "Why in the world did you go to Kenya then?" To be honest, I don't know what for yet, but I just know that I'm here because God called me here. I feel weak and useless, but I'm making myself available to what God has called me to. Only God knows what He's going to do with me, and He will reveal them to me in His time. I need to be patient.
Speaking of feeling weak, I also feel physically weak. I noticed that I start breathing heavily when I climb up stairs. It's almost like when I had asthma up to 4th grade. I just found out that it's because of the high altitude. Oxygen level is a bit lower than what I'm used to. Apparently, it's also because of the high altitude that there aren't any mosquitoes around here. The altitude is about 1.6km (1 mile or 5280ft) here.
I figured I have to get used to the low oxygen level, so I decided to pickup basketball. If you know me, you know that I'm not good with any type of sports, especially those involving a ball. Anyway, Brother Eben taught me how to play for about an hour or so. I think I'll be practicing more in the future.
We call each other "brother" here. I'm fine being called brother, but I'm still not used to calling them brothers yet, especially since they are older. I just call them by their names.
I wanted to feel useful, so I decided to cook rice for Richard and me tonight. But as soon as I was about to start, the power went out... Richard says we'll just have to wait, it'll be back in a few minutes... Or an hour. I guess we never know what happens.
Taking a shower has been interesting. Our (Richard and I) apartment is on the second floor, but the bathroom is on the third floor. So the water pressure is very low up there. So when many people are using the water on the first floor (or in the dorms) for taking showers and such, we don't get any water for the shower or the toilet. (Oh! The power's back! I'm going to go cook some rice now...)
Wow... That was some meal. We had rice, eggplant dipped in eggs, shrimp sautéed with garlic and ginger, corn cream soup (I brought packets from the US), seaweed, and papaya. I feel a bit spoiled (that I'm eating such good meals in Africa), but then it took a lot of work and time cooking. I suppose I'm learning to become more independent (or at least how to cook). I really didn't expect to eat so well here. Before I came, I thought I would be just eating with the students (who don't get to eat all that much, from what I heard). I also didn't expect to have my own room, and didn't even imagine I would have my own apartment! I thought I would be living in the dorms with the students. I really don't deserve such treatment... I was ready and willing to just rough it. But I'm sure I'll get a chance to do that as well.
Oh yeah, about shower. Thankfully, we have a water heater so I can shower in warm water, but we have to turn on the heater at least 45 minutes before you want to take a shower. Since the water pressure isn't very reliable, we collect the warm water in a bucket, and use it if the water stops in the middle of soaping up.
When resources are scarce, you start thinking of ways to conserve the resource, minimize cost, and be more effective. I'm beginning to think that way about many things. You really don't realize how much you're wasting until you don't have much.
This entry is already long, and it's getting late (It's 8PM, and I started writing this morning. Of course I wasn't writing the whole time).
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Doxa in Kenya: First day in Kenya
Saturday, July 8, 2006. Nairobi
Today is my second day in Kenya. I was way too tired to write anything yesterday, but now I feel quite rested (although I'm not used to the bed, so my back and neck hurts).
So back to where I left off. I walked around the terminal in London to look for something to eat. I was carrying a huge backpack and a guitar (with a case that's 5 times as heavy as the guitar itself), so I had to walk slowly. Finally, I decided to eat at Garunkel's Restaurant. I had some eggs, sausage, bacon, mushroom, beans, fries, and tomato... They were quite terrible. The eggs (sort of sunny-side up) felt like plastic, the fries were cold, and they cost $14!! I was hungry, so I decided not to care so much... They brought some kind of condiment that looked like brownish vinegar with some gunk floating inside and smelled like urine, and since I touched it, my hands smelled like it for a while. Quite disgusting.
I began wondering around at the airport again, and I realized I could use one of those carts to push my backpack and guitar... Why didn't I think of that earlier? I was about to collapse from the weight. Then a girl walked by as she said to me, "You go to my sister's college!" And I saw a familiar face next to her. It was Karen from Crusade (I don't know her last name since I don't have access to internet right now and that means no facebook...). I don't think I've talked to her before, but it was really nice to see someone I could recognize. She was on her way to Uganda on a mission trip with a group from Davis Christian Fellowship, and I decided to hangout with her group for a while. Their flight was an hour before mine, so after they left, I began to wonder around again.
I wanted to check my e-mail, so I put my last 50 pence coin (about $1) in the internet kiosk... But it just ate my coin and didn't do anything but spit out three 1 pence coins... If only I had 2 more pence, I would have had another 50 pence to get 5 minutes of internet... But I didn't, so no internet for me in London.
Frustrated, I went back to the Quiet Room to recharge my laptop. I was super sleepy, but since I only had 1.5 hours till my flight and I didn't want to sleep through it, I decided to stay awake. I was even more frustrated when I found out later that my flight was delayed 1.5 hours...
I slept through most of the flight to Nairobi, and the plane arrived an hour behind schedule. Getting the visa was interesting. I filled out a brief application on the plane, and when I got to the customs booth, the guy hardly looked at my application before he stamped a visa on my passport. It was the most painless visa process ever.
Thankfully, both of my luggage came through in one piece. I was stopped for baggage check right before the exit, and was asked if I was carrying any gifts and such. The lady asked how much the guitar was, how long it was used, etc, but I didn't know because the guitar belonged to the church. She told me I'm supposed to pay a fee for bringing in expensive gifts, then I told her that I'm a missionary, and she just let me go. Apparently people give special favors to missionaries, such as discounts on plane tickets.
Pastor Kim was waiting right outside the gate with a sign that had my name in Korean. I felt bad because he had to wait for so long because of the delay. But I felt even worse when Pastor Kim told me that Pastor Moon had told him I was arriving on the 6th, not 7th, so he came to the airport the night before only to find out that I was coming the next morning. I did send him a carbon copy of a e-mail I sent to the missions headquarter, but I guess he missed the part that had my flight information. Pastor Kim was also 15min late to his lecture because of me...
Ok, I don't have enough time to write all the details now. But I'll go ahead an post this one.
To be continued...
Today is my second day in Kenya. I was way too tired to write anything yesterday, but now I feel quite rested (although I'm not used to the bed, so my back and neck hurts).
So back to where I left off. I walked around the terminal in London to look for something to eat. I was carrying a huge backpack and a guitar (with a case that's 5 times as heavy as the guitar itself), so I had to walk slowly. Finally, I decided to eat at Garunkel's Restaurant. I had some eggs, sausage, bacon, mushroom, beans, fries, and tomato... They were quite terrible. The eggs (sort of sunny-side up) felt like plastic, the fries were cold, and they cost $14!! I was hungry, so I decided not to care so much... They brought some kind of condiment that looked like brownish vinegar with some gunk floating inside and smelled like urine, and since I touched it, my hands smelled like it for a while. Quite disgusting.
I began wondering around at the airport again, and I realized I could use one of those carts to push my backpack and guitar... Why didn't I think of that earlier? I was about to collapse from the weight. Then a girl walked by as she said to me, "You go to my sister's college!" And I saw a familiar face next to her. It was Karen from Crusade (I don't know her last name since I don't have access to internet right now and that means no facebook...). I don't think I've talked to her before, but it was really nice to see someone I could recognize. She was on her way to Uganda on a mission trip with a group from Davis Christian Fellowship, and I decided to hangout with her group for a while. Their flight was an hour before mine, so after they left, I began to wonder around again.
I wanted to check my e-mail, so I put my last 50 pence coin (about $1) in the internet kiosk... But it just ate my coin and didn't do anything but spit out three 1 pence coins... If only I had 2 more pence, I would have had another 50 pence to get 5 minutes of internet... But I didn't, so no internet for me in London.
Frustrated, I went back to the Quiet Room to recharge my laptop. I was super sleepy, but since I only had 1.5 hours till my flight and I didn't want to sleep through it, I decided to stay awake. I was even more frustrated when I found out later that my flight was delayed 1.5 hours...
I slept through most of the flight to Nairobi, and the plane arrived an hour behind schedule. Getting the visa was interesting. I filled out a brief application on the plane, and when I got to the customs booth, the guy hardly looked at my application before he stamped a visa on my passport. It was the most painless visa process ever.
Thankfully, both of my luggage came through in one piece. I was stopped for baggage check right before the exit, and was asked if I was carrying any gifts and such. The lady asked how much the guitar was, how long it was used, etc, but I didn't know because the guitar belonged to the church. She told me I'm supposed to pay a fee for bringing in expensive gifts, then I told her that I'm a missionary, and she just let me go. Apparently people give special favors to missionaries, such as discounts on plane tickets.
Pastor Kim was waiting right outside the gate with a sign that had my name in Korean. I felt bad because he had to wait for so long because of the delay. But I felt even worse when Pastor Kim told me that Pastor Moon had told him I was arriving on the 6th, not 7th, so he came to the airport the night before only to find out that I was coming the next morning. I did send him a carbon copy of a e-mail I sent to the missions headquarter, but I guess he missed the part that had my flight information. Pastor Kim was also 15min late to his lecture because of me...
Ok, I don't have enough time to write all the details now. But I'll go ahead an post this one.
To be continued...
Doxa in Kenya: Hello London
Thursday, July 6. London.
After a 12-hour flight, now I'm in Heathrow Airport in London. One thing I was glad to find out was that I don't have to claim my baggage until I'm in Nairobi. I wouldn't want to lug around two ~60lb bags for the next 8 hours while I wait for my next flight. I had to take a bus from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4... It kind of reminded me of Narita Airport in Japan.
I found a room called Multi-faith prayer room, so I went in and prayed there for a while. I've never been to anything like it before. There were lots of blankets or prayer mats in one corner, and there was a set of drawers labeled with different religions: Islam, Hindu, Christianity, and Shiite. I didn't look into them, but I could guess what's in them. Interestingly, there was a compus on the ceiling which pointed to north, west, south, east and "MAKKAH" in the southeast direction. Everyone I saw in the room were Muslims. They seem so disciplined when it comes to praying. That's something I'm lacking: discipline in prayer. While I'm in Kenya, I want to discipline myself to pray more everyday.
Right now I'm in a place called Quiet Sitting Room. It's more like a place to sleep. There are a few recliners, but mostly there are small cushioned chairs. Pretty much everyone is using two chairs: one for sitting, the other to put the legs up (which is what I'm doing). Whoever designed this place should have put recliners all around so people can just sleep...
So I brought a voltage converter, so I could plug in my computer and recharge it. But for some reason the outlet only fits loosely, and the converter is making a buzzing noise... I've never used the converter before, so I don't know if it's supposed to make that noise or if it's just because of the plug. I just hope the noise doesn't annoy anyone.
While I was in the plane, I realized that I'm seriously going to be in Kenya for a while... Yeah, maybe it's kind of late to realize that, but I had some time to really think about it in the plane. It's a pretty crazy thing, what I'm doing. The song "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley comes to my mine... "Maybe I'm crazy... Probably..."
Sweet. I just found another outlet that was more compatible with the plug that I had. I don't even have to use the converter, so there's no more buzzing noise. On top of that, now I'm sitting on a recliner that's next to the outlet. I could just fall asleep when I'm done typing. Double sweet. I almost freaked out when my laptop started to buzz with the converter, like physically vibrate... Not a good sign at all. Anyway...
So this trip will be the furthest and the longest I'll be away from my parents in my life... That's such a strange thought. I want to boarding school during 4th and 5th grade, so I was away from my parents for a few months at a time, but we were all in Japan. This time I'll be almost halfway around the globe from my parents (10-hour time zone difference between LA and Nairobi), and I'll be gone for 4.5 months. Then I'll be gone again for another 6 months from January... Seriously, what is happening to my life? God, where are You taking me, and what are You going to do with me? I can only trust him.
I was going to finish my med school apps before I left, but obviously that didn't happen. I have some ideas on what to write for my personal statement, but I wasn't sure what to say about my trip to Kenya. I figured once I'm there, I would have a little better idea what I'll be doing, and I could write a stronger personal statement... I hope. In any case, I need to submit my application ASAP to increase the chance of my admission.
I'm still not sure where I really want to go to med school. UCLA would be nice, since I could probably live at my fraternity house again and save some money. But I would be glad to go to any California schools... Well they are all pretty competitive to get into though. I'm applying to several schools in NYC because it seems like a really cool place to live and there are a several "safety" schools. I'm hoping to get all my interviews done while I'm back in the the States from end of November to January. It's going to be crazy just flying all over the place for interviews... I don't even know how I'm going to pay for all the airfares.
Hmm... I'm hungry. They never give you enough food on the plane. I usually don't ask for more food because it's not that good, but maybe I should have. Oh well. As soon as my laptop is fully charged, I'll go get some food... Or I'll just go get some food now and finish charging my laptop while I sleep. The latter sounds better. Oh, I also need to exchange the currency. Ugh. Alright. Peace out.
After a 12-hour flight, now I'm in Heathrow Airport in London. One thing I was glad to find out was that I don't have to claim my baggage until I'm in Nairobi. I wouldn't want to lug around two ~60lb bags for the next 8 hours while I wait for my next flight. I had to take a bus from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4... It kind of reminded me of Narita Airport in Japan.
I found a room called Multi-faith prayer room, so I went in and prayed there for a while. I've never been to anything like it before. There were lots of blankets or prayer mats in one corner, and there was a set of drawers labeled with different religions: Islam, Hindu, Christianity, and Shiite. I didn't look into them, but I could guess what's in them. Interestingly, there was a compus on the ceiling which pointed to north, west, south, east and "MAKKAH" in the southeast direction. Everyone I saw in the room were Muslims. They seem so disciplined when it comes to praying. That's something I'm lacking: discipline in prayer. While I'm in Kenya, I want to discipline myself to pray more everyday.
Right now I'm in a place called Quiet Sitting Room. It's more like a place to sleep. There are a few recliners, but mostly there are small cushioned chairs. Pretty much everyone is using two chairs: one for sitting, the other to put the legs up (which is what I'm doing). Whoever designed this place should have put recliners all around so people can just sleep...
So I brought a voltage converter, so I could plug in my computer and recharge it. But for some reason the outlet only fits loosely, and the converter is making a buzzing noise... I've never used the converter before, so I don't know if it's supposed to make that noise or if it's just because of the plug. I just hope the noise doesn't annoy anyone.
While I was in the plane, I realized that I'm seriously going to be in Kenya for a while... Yeah, maybe it's kind of late to realize that, but I had some time to really think about it in the plane. It's a pretty crazy thing, what I'm doing. The song "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley comes to my mine... "Maybe I'm crazy... Probably..."
Sweet. I just found another outlet that was more compatible with the plug that I had. I don't even have to use the converter, so there's no more buzzing noise. On top of that, now I'm sitting on a recliner that's next to the outlet. I could just fall asleep when I'm done typing. Double sweet. I almost freaked out when my laptop started to buzz with the converter, like physically vibrate... Not a good sign at all. Anyway...
So this trip will be the furthest and the longest I'll be away from my parents in my life... That's such a strange thought. I want to boarding school during 4th and 5th grade, so I was away from my parents for a few months at a time, but we were all in Japan. This time I'll be almost halfway around the globe from my parents (10-hour time zone difference between LA and Nairobi), and I'll be gone for 4.5 months. Then I'll be gone again for another 6 months from January... Seriously, what is happening to my life? God, where are You taking me, and what are You going to do with me? I can only trust him.
I was going to finish my med school apps before I left, but obviously that didn't happen. I have some ideas on what to write for my personal statement, but I wasn't sure what to say about my trip to Kenya. I figured once I'm there, I would have a little better idea what I'll be doing, and I could write a stronger personal statement... I hope. In any case, I need to submit my application ASAP to increase the chance of my admission.
I'm still not sure where I really want to go to med school. UCLA would be nice, since I could probably live at my fraternity house again and save some money. But I would be glad to go to any California schools... Well they are all pretty competitive to get into though. I'm applying to several schools in NYC because it seems like a really cool place to live and there are a several "safety" schools. I'm hoping to get all my interviews done while I'm back in the the States from end of November to January. It's going to be crazy just flying all over the place for interviews... I don't even know how I'm going to pay for all the airfares.
Hmm... I'm hungry. They never give you enough food on the plane. I usually don't ask for more food because it's not that good, but maybe I should have. Oh well. As soon as my laptop is fully charged, I'll go get some food... Or I'll just go get some food now and finish charging my laptop while I sleep. The latter sounds better. Oh, I also need to exchange the currency. Ugh. Alright. Peace out.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Goodbye USA
Here I am, gate 121 at LAX one hour before departure.
On my way here, I realized I forgot to print out the e-ticket receipt, so I was a little concerned. But thankfully, I checked in online on my way there (yes, on the road, thanks to my Bluetooth enabled Verizon phone). So I didn't need my e-ticket receipt. I didn't even have to stand in line for check-in. But I did, because I didn't know. I had to shuffle some stuff between my two check-in-luggage, because one of them was 17 lb overweight. But that's all taken care of. I said good-bye to my family and some church people that came to see me. I have to carry on a guitar with my backpack... The guitar is pretty heavy, but I hope they don't make me check it in.
It's amazing how God has provided everything I needed for this trip. Although, I don't really know what I'll be doing there, so I don't even know what I really need to bring. But I trust God that He will provide whatever I need over there. To be honest, I'm a bit scared. Mainly because I have no idea what to expect. But again, I need to rely on God.
If you're reading this, I would love to hear from you! I'm pretty sure I'll have internet access while in Kenya, though I have no idea how often. So shoot me some e-mail!
On my way here, I realized I forgot to print out the e-ticket receipt, so I was a little concerned. But thankfully, I checked in online on my way there (yes, on the road, thanks to my Bluetooth enabled Verizon phone). So I didn't need my e-ticket receipt. I didn't even have to stand in line for check-in. But I did, because I didn't know. I had to shuffle some stuff between my two check-in-luggage, because one of them was 17 lb overweight. But that's all taken care of. I said good-bye to my family and some church people that came to see me. I have to carry on a guitar with my backpack... The guitar is pretty heavy, but I hope they don't make me check it in.
It's amazing how God has provided everything I needed for this trip. Although, I don't really know what I'll be doing there, so I don't even know what I really need to bring. But I trust God that He will provide whatever I need over there. To be honest, I'm a bit scared. Mainly because I have no idea what to expect. But again, I need to rely on God.
If you're reading this, I would love to hear from you! I'm pretty sure I'll have internet access while in Kenya, though I have no idea how often. So shoot me some e-mail!
Africa Once Again
I'm leaving for Kenya tomorrow... or today, in less than 17 hours. I still don't know what I'll be doing, but rumor has it that I might be going to some sort of conference and an opening of a school in Tanzania. But that's just a few of many things I might be doing in Africa. I guess I'll find out more in about 50 hours.
I'm pretty much all packed. Apparently I have to take care of my own food, so I'm taking a small rice cooker and a water heater. I'll have to buy the rice there.
I'll update again at LAX for the last time in the US for a while.
Keep me in your prayers!
I'm pretty much all packed. Apparently I have to take care of my own food, so I'm taking a small rice cooker and a water heater. I'll have to buy the rice there.
I'll update again at LAX for the last time in the US for a while.
Keep me in your prayers!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Africa Video Journal
Hey everyone!
I'll try to keep everyone posted by making short video journals while I'm in Kenya. I posted my first one as a test, and you can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/doxa
I'll try to keep everyone posted by making short video journals while I'm in Kenya. I posted my first one as a test, and you can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/doxa
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