No sweating!

I have been called a klutz a time or two in my life. Or every day. But who's counting? This leads me to one of my favorite parts of my visit to Kenya. Whenever I dropped something, tripped or ran into something, the people around me would say, "Sorry!" They apologized for my misfortune with no irony or mocking in their voices. No one laughed and no one rolled their eyes. (Looking at you, DAVID!) This was my kind of place!

Another favorite? Going for jogs in Nairobi and not having anyone call me a mzungu ("foreigner," or literally "aimless wanderer" after the early European explorers). No one pointed out my whiteness at all, at least until I left Nairobi for more rural areas. Instead they just thought I was weird for jogging. A young security guard in blue yelled, "No sweating!" and an older man said, "Getting ready for the Olympics?" followed by bursts of laughter. Too much laughter.

Jambo!

Hi, friends! I am currently in Kenya for a work trip, enjoying the fast internet and good coffee of Nairobi. The purpose of the trip is to visit/monitor our HIV program sites in the western part of the country, and to prepare for a cervical cancer assessment taking place next month. The trip is two and a half weeks, with one week spent traveling around Nyanza Province and the rest of the time in Nairobi.

The visit was planned at the last minute, as they always are at my work, and it was not the best of timing.... While I'm gone, David has moved all of our things out of our basement apartment and into our new condo. Oh, yeah! We bought a condo! It is in the Brookland neighborhood of DC, and we are feeling very blessed.

Though I'm sad to be away from my family, I'm having a nice time practicing the Swahili I learned from a foray into Rosetta Stone Swahili combined with extensive watching of The Lion King as a child. Or should I say, The Simba King? Impressed, no?

Hakuna matata, rafiki!

Last day of work

I made it through 2 years! For someone with full-time work and cubicle issues, this was an accomplishment. Really, for a while I thought I was allergic to my cubicle. To celebrate my big day, we had dinner at Buona Tavola, candy from Ralphs, and watched the Secret Garden movie (or part of it, because I fell asleep before 9). I also got a text message all the way from Uganda saying congratulations on my last day. I felt very special.

Things I'll miss about SLO #3

My coworkers. I have been incredibly blessed to work with such intelligent, talented, considerate people. They are amazing. For the past 2 years they have ignored the fact that I'm the youngest in the office and they treat me like I'm smart and funny. I can't believe I'm leaving them.

There are many memories I hold dear: Sada sneaking animals into the office (Penny the lamb and Perry the hamster), traveling to Lao with Janet, complaining about Dave not bringing donuts on Monday mornings, throwing objects over the cubicle walls, department "meetings" at the Cliffs, the constant giggles coming from Carrie and me while we chat through gmail, Stapler Mystery 2009. I love you people. You're all crazy, but I love you.

Please explain

Seriously, this is a birthday card my work sent to someone. What does it mean?! "The blessing of the Lord be upon you"... so you aren't destroyed by a gang of over-sized-robo-ducks during this next year of your life? Is that the message? 

It's hot...

And I wish I were here. Oh, to be young and free and have a pool. Only 17 more days of work, and then freedom from that artificial environment called "office." The little girl in me can't wait!

Oh, and one more thing...

By racing for Lifewater we raised $500 for people without access to safe water and sanitation. That's enough to provide 14 people with safe water for life. Woo hoo! Thank you thank you thank you to all who donated. I know who you are and my heart is big with thanks.

One billion people don't have safe water to drink, and 2.5 billion don't have a place to go to the bathroom. These are their faces.

(Photos by me on a Lifewater trip to Lao PDR.)

It's not too late to donate: http://www.firstgiving.com/ldlange

We went up a rung on the cool ladder

We are officially triathletes. You heard me. Nevermind that we did the short course while others did things with "Ironman" and "Olympic" in the titles. We have number markings on our legs to prove that we are now "elite" athletes. 

Clearly, I use that term loosely. Who knew that so many moms could kick my booty on a bike? Seriously, I couldn't believe how many middle-aged-mom-types put me to shame on the hills. It turns out that riding my bike to work twice wasn't an adequate training program. David's bike broke on mile 2 of the ride, and he had to finish in just one gear. Nevertheless, he beat my bike time by almost 10 minutes. My excuse? I just don't have mom quads.

We finished with smiles on our faces! That's the goal, right?

(Notice the guy in the orange hat. He and David shared a moment when they realized that they looked alike- tall, blond beards, no wet suits. He looked at David and said, "Brother?")

(Woop woop! Me and intern Brooke. We started and finished together without even planning it. Precious!)

(Yes, that is "Team Lifewater" written across his chest. The jerseys were too small for that hot bod.)

A .25 mile swim, 9.7 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run later. Looking fresh!

Stapler Mystery 2009

Yesterday morning all of the staplers in the office mysteriously disappeared. We first noticed when Sam came out of his office saying, "There's been a stapler rapture. Where are they?" As the morning went on, more and staplers disappeared. Laura's red one, the one from Lisa's drawer, Julie's electric one, the big ones by the mailing center, all gone.

(Their hiding place.)

8 hours, numerous "I need my stapler!" cries, and 1 angry email later, they reappeared just as mysteriously as they had left. I love April Fools' Day. Also, I had no idea how dependent my coworkers are on staplers.

(To the shock of many, they reappeared on the meeting table.)

Penny, the lamb

David and I have been hanging out with a little baby lamb. She's only a week old, and her mom at the Cal Poly farm rejected her. It makes me want to cry. They tried to graft her on to a new mom, but the new mom didn't want her either. I just can't understand why. My coworker Sada and her husband Matt are making sure that little Pen Pen grows up healthy and strong by bottle-feeding her and taking her home every night to sleep...in their bed!  

(Baby Penny cozying up in David's manly arms.)

Penny visited the office today, and created quite a ruckus. People were literally lying on the ground to look at her and oohing and ahhing whenever she baaed. She's very sweet and she'll just sit in your arms all day. Or she'll follow you around. It kind of reminds me of that Arrested Development episode where the employees are herded to Catalina. Oh, silly sheep with small brains. But cute.