Catching Up: March - April!

Forging right along...

For a long while, I thought March was my last month in Nairobi. After extending my contract from last year for three months, my contract was drawing to a close at the end of March. On February 10th, my brother and sister-in-law welcomed a perfect little girl, Haley, to the world, and it just seemed like the right time to leave. I was heartbroken to say goodbye to my friends/family in Nairobi, but excited about the prospect of going back to Boston and spending a few months at our office there before transitioning out to a new job/organization.

Before it was time to pack all my stuff and leave, I went on one "last" school visit. I headed out to an academy to test a lesson for my boss in Boston, and took time to snap a few photos. Couldn't have planned the teacher's outfit better...it perfectly matched our green walls!

Third graders, ready to work.

Pick me, pick meeeee!

Eyes on the teacher.

Working with individual students.

You know...you could take that compass off and it would probably be easier to write with that pencil...

Independent work.

Reading the test lesson.

Super focused.

Monitoring pupil work.

And checking in with the strugglers.

Wrapping up the lesson.

I also had the BEST "Going Away Day" ever, which was planned and arranged by Jess, one of my best friends on the planet. It was so perfect. A gorgeous day, spent with amazing people, doing incredible things. There is nothing more I could have asked for. We started with lunch at Rolf's Place, a very cool restaurant overlooking Nairobi National Park, which you have to cross a crazy suspension bridge to get to. Then we were off to one of my favourite places on the planet, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where Jess had booked the ENTIRE PLACE for the day. We got to talk to all the eles with no ropes holding us back, even the littlest ones. We also got to talk with Maxwell the blind rhino, for whom I have previously professed my love. Unfortunately, most of the photos from this day were lost on a friend's camera (still holding out hope that the memory card is found!!) but here are the few I do have.

Here they coooome.

Baby elephant butt!

Hungry hungry hippos elephants.

Kalpana, our elephant model.

Mike getting all tangled up.

The brains behind the whole operation.

So. Many. Baby. Elephants.

Sharing is caring.

Getting organized for a group photo which was lost. Sad times.

Off they go, into the park.

Kalpana looking lovely.

Looking off into the distance.

Maxwell! Love love love.

Look at how twee this elephant is! SO tiny!

Marisa and Nora making a new friend.

These were the tiniest, newest members of the DSWT herd.

Contemplated sticking one in my bag.

Ben, the elephant whisperer.

Man I love these two.
Ben and Jess

And one with my main man Maxwell for the road.

After DSWT, we headed back to Jess and Ben's where there was a lovely cookout with most of my favourite people in Nairobi. It was emotional and wonderful, and just hit home how absolutely luck I am/have been in this crazy mixed up place.

Kalpana (wo)manning the grill.

Bests.

BBQ at the Karen house.

Campfire!

Bridge x IEP
TJ, Brittney, me, Marisa, and Mike.

The lovely Tori.

Moving the party inside.

Jess and Timbo, unimpressed with each other, haha.

Classy photos for the win!
Timbo and I

Big ol' fire. Love it.

This girl.

And this boy.

A few days later it was time to weepily board the plane for Boston. I moved into an ULTRA sketch apartment with a Chinese hermit who was in grad school. The apartment was such a step down from my Nairobi digs that it wasn't even funny. And the one room I was trapped in cost more than my entire gorgeous, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, hardwood floored, giant windowed apartment in Nairobi. AAAAAAAAAAANYWAY. I went to work in the Boston office, and just about a week after I got back I headed to NYC to recruit for my company at an NYU conference and finally meet my glorious neice!

Tiny fingers.

One burrito baby please, with extra cheeks.

Just a few weeks later I went back down to NYC to travel with the family of three to my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania, where I got to see my mom and celebrate Easter with the fam.

Great grandma.

And great grandpa.

With daddy looking on.

Sometimes waking up is hard.

Especially with paparazzi.

And little toes!

Everybody loves a water feature.

Taking it all in.

Always the center of attention.

Playing with grandma.

Having a heart to heart at a family reunion.

Look at those CHEEKS!

Being adorable is EXHAUSTING.

Baby's first Easter. Baby is...not very impressed.

I had been home for 3.5 weeks when I was sitting one Sunday evening at home, chatting with my roommate and Ops Rockstar, TJ. He was being a bit odd, as per usual, and asking strange questions about whether or not there was any way I would be at all open to coming back to Nairobi. At first I just laughed it off...until he said I MIGHT be getting a call from the CEO the next day. That sounded so outlandish that I basically laughed it off...but there was a tiny seed planted in my head.

On Monday, sure enough, the CEO called, told me that they needed someone to immediately take over our Customer Care department (a seriously integral division at our company) and that they wanted me to come back for "three months, max." After a lot of thought, deep discussions with family and friends, and a couple of rounds of negotiation, I agreed to the job on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I had my last day of wrap-up/handover at the Boston office, and I flew down to DC to see my parents on Thursday morning. Friday night I was on a plane bound for Nairobi. Ridiculous. I hit the ground running, with the new term beginning, and more than 40 new academies opening, that Monday.