Day 1 - Plane Scones

We arrived at the airport at DFW on Sunday afternoon. Each of us was carrying three bags weighing fifty pounds. The majority of the luggage was filled with supplies for Cornerstone: paper, pencils, crayons, books, math manipulatives, paper, journals, paper, etc. Getting all the bags checked took a bit of skill as we had to redistribute weight on the fly to ensure that everything was under fifty pounds. We managed to get everything checked in a reasonable amount of time and made it through security with plenty of time to spare.

Now, I don't mind flying too much, but I've never been on a flight longer than four hours. Our flight from Dallas to London was around ten, and from London to Nairobi was eight. I had it all figured out though. The plan was to sleep the first leg and stay awake on the second to minimize jet lag. I even came prepared with a box of Zzzquil and a Sigur Ros album to help me get to sleep.

Nope. Not happening.

Seats in coach are not designed for people taller than 6'. I tried every conceivable sleeping position on that first flight and could not get comfortable. I faced left, I faced right, I faced straight ahead. I tried laying my head on the tray table, I tried laying my head on my chest, I tried laying my head on the guy next to me. No luck. Instead, I groggily watched half of Looper (couldn't get into it) and spent the remainder of the flight staring at the plane's path on the screen, trying to urge it on faster. They did provide us with food on both legs. I took my scone with a bit of clotted cream - despite the title of the blog. I couldn't make a play on words with "clotted cream."

Getting through security in Heathrow was an, uh, intimate experience for some of our group. Luckily, on the way there I avoided getting to second base with their version of TSA. Not everyone was so lucky. They were also very concerned about removing every item of several peoples carry-ons and swabbing them with wipes. Again, I avoided this. It must be my winning smile and charm.

British Airways was a blast. Of disinfectant. Before every flight they popped a can of aerosol and walked up and down the aisles "disinfecting" the cabin air. It was hilarious.

Arriving in Nairobi was a little intimidating. We had strict marching orders from Megan to not make conversation with the customs officers. No problem here. I got my visa and headed to baggage claim. We NEARLY collected all 39(?) pieces of luggage without a problem, but our LAST bag was searched. With some skillful convincing by our fearless leaders, we were able to get everything through the security checkpoint and loaded onto a van and bus to head to Gracehouse Resort in Nairobi.

Ryan

Tomorrow: My first impressions of Kenya and Naomi's Village