Harris Gets The Internet!

Hey All!

Guess what. I'm in Africa. Pretty redonkulous. Let me tell you about what's happened so far:

So last time we spoke, I was telling you about the retreat at the Belmont Abbey Monastery. Well it finished up great. After Vespers on Wednesday, they held a little party for us, also known as a haustus in monk voocabulary, and then after Lauds on Thursday morning the said a special prayer and gave each of us a hug. Caitlin O'Malley did a great expose on each of the monks on her blog site: hakunamatatabvc.blogspot.com. The best part was on Wednesday night when Br. Edward took us out to SweetFrog for one last indulgence in extravagance. What a great guy he is.

We left Belmont on Thursday after a wonderful retreat having seen and said goodbye to a lot of friends and made some solid memories before we flew 10 thousand miles away.

Our trip began., and here's the team!

Me(Harris Moriarty)

Henry Wilson

Kate Drinkwater

Caitlin O'Malley

   

We arrived at the Charlotte airport around 11:30 in the morning and Kate and checked in 2 bags while the other two each checked 1. Sat in the airport for a little while, and finally got off on our journey by way of JFK. We got off the plane, and we might as well have been in Kenya because that place is crazy looking. Luckily there was a girl on our plane who was also going the Nairobi. Her name was Hannah, and she was a native of Love Valley, NC and some of the surrounding towns. Nice girl. Helped us navigate through JFK a bit. After a 3.5 hour layover and a quick trip to Panda Express for our last American meal(ha!) we jumped on the plane to Zurich(Swiss Air baby!). 

Leaving the States

Then we sat on a plane for 8 hours. I watched a few movies. I'd never seen All the President's Men with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman before, but I gotta say it was rather enjoyable. The other movies were sort of tasteless so I didn't pay a whole lot attention to them when they were on. Landed in Zurich, and I gotta say that Switzerland was fun. First off, flying over their towns was evidence that they haven't left the 1800s. Secondly, they just have a million little things everywhere that are just so convenient! Ex. In the bathroom stalls, they not only have the toilet seat covers but also a little dispenser for antibacterial fluid to actually wipe on the seat. They're doors are different, too. I can't really explain it, but I like them. They don't have door jams. I dunno. It's strange and cool. Oh I almost forgot the cool pictures of the sunset and sunrise we took on the flight to Zurich:

Sunset

Sunrise

Anyways, after that, we went to Nairobi(yay!). Another 8 hours and a bunch more movies I couldn't care less about, but holy heck when I would randomly look outside my window I saw the best stuff. Vast deserts. Huge mountain ranges. Massive craters. It was pretty unique to say the least.

Mountains

Giant Cracks in the Ground

Landed in Nairobi. Had no problems. Walked out without anyone checking my bags and my new friend, Tim(from St. John's College in Minnesota), and Brother Felix were waiting for Henry and me. Jumped in the car and drove off. I'm gonna tell you right now. I feared for my life that night. And for my computer. The trunk didn't have enough room for all of our luggage so I kept my hiking pack with me in the very tiny car(they like squishing people here). I left my computer/backpack in the trunk. I thought Prince George's Country, Maryland was bad. I thought mexico was bad. Nairobi has the craziest mother fathering drivers I have ever seen. Even crazier than Michael Wagner for crying out loud! They have five lane highways that do not have distinct lanes. People not only honk, but also flash their high beams continually. On top of this there is a constant Brownian Motion of people moving across these highways. Absolutely unreal. and I love it!

We went to downtown Nairobi today so that I could get the things I needed to acquire internet here and we took a matatu there. These "cars" are about the length of a smaller minivan, have the height of a Mercedes Turbodiesel, and seat around 15-20 people. These guys account for roughly half the honking and high beam flashing on the roads. When we got downtown though, being able to move the streets and cars without restraint was very freeing. I think Henry got tired of telling me to look out, but I was doing alright for myself!

Traveling aside, as of right now I don't have any particular direction in terms of where I'm going to be volunteering, but I'm headed to St. Maurus school for the mentally and physically handicapped on Monday morning to see if they can use my services. The school is right in the slum. I don't think I'm going to bring my camera for one, because I don't want to seem like a tourist and two, because I don't want to offend anyone and three, because I don't want my brand new camera stolen... Either way I'll have an update for you just maybe not as many pictures. I hope everyone continues to do awesomely back home and I'm praying for y'all just as I assume y'all are doing the same for me. I'll be back in around a week or so for my next update!

-Harris Moriarty

PS

Here's a Monkey:

Random Monkey in my Backyard.