Denial

I have been telling myself since January that I am only at the halfway point of my year in Kenya, and suddenly today when I looked at a calendar I realized that I'm only here for 3.5 more months. Aaah...how did this happen??
The weeks keep flying by, and I find myself making mental notes of what I need/want to accomplish/see/experience/eat before I have to return to the states. All of the things that I kept saying "oh I'll do that later" have turned into "oh wow...I better do that NOW".

Anyway, here is a small preview of some of the things I would like to do in my final months here:

Work
1) Now that the child contact register has been up and running, I'm working to get the second part of the project started which will hopefully continue into next year. The purpose of the project is to implement a 'child tracker' which is an individual who will be in charge of helping to get the exposed children identified by the register into care for TB screening and HIV testing. More details to come in a project update post in the next few weeks!
2) Hopefully we will be able to do a few more TB sensitization talks and screenings at the Tumaini Children's Drop In Center before I leave and create a schedule to continue the screenings in the future. We are also hoping to extend the screening to the street children who do not come to the center but this might be more of a challenge.

Exploring
1) The longtermers are planning a backpacking/hiking weekend through the Cherengani Hills in late April/early May!
2) Umbrella falls is only 30 minutes away and somehow I still have not made it there...it's definitely on the list...

Eating
1) I want to learn how to make Kenyan chapati, ugali and mokimo!
2) Although the restaurant scene in Eldoret isn't exactly topping the charts on yelp, I have had some of the best Indian food that I have ever tasted here. I plan to get my fill of mango lassis and malai kofta.
3) I will be planting again for the rainy season: beans, spinach, beets, parsley and dill are on the list. I'm hoping to introduce my Kenyan colleagues to borscht. :)

Other
1) Continue blogging (it's getting harder and harder to keep up!)
2) Take more pictures

I was able to do a bit of the last one this weekend at Tumaini Outreach...

on the way to the soccer field


a cow and Eldoret town in the background


jump rope with the kids


some of my (many) favorites