The Colosseum 

The Moses. He was beautiful. 

I don't know if you can tell exactly how small this shower is, but it was ridiculous. And, it flooded like crazy. Oh well, at least we had a shower. This was in Rome. 

Enjoying the best ice cream in the world, gelato, in Assisi. 

Original Rape of the Sabine in Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. 

Copy of the David. We saw the original at the Accademia but we couldn't take any pictures.  

Looking down...yikes! 

We climbed to the top of the Bell Tower at the Duomo in Florence. All 414 steps. It took us about an hour to get to the top and then back down again. There were stops made along the way. The stairwells were crazy narrow and there were lots of people going up and coming down at the same time. But wow, what a view! 

Rinsing our clean laundry in the beday. Don't worry, it was clean and UNUSED! 

Florence, Italy at dusk. Abby and I were invited to a pub crawl while at this look-out point. Dr. Messner came to the rescue! 

My friend Bethany and I on a little balcony over a canal. 

A cool picture in a Basicilica in Venice. Can't remember the name right at this moment. 

A shot of our gondoleer and the Grand Canal in the background. 

Abby and I on a true gondole ride in the water canals of Venice.  

The wonderful St. Mark's Square. There were pigeons everywhere! 

The closest we got to seeing the Eiffel Tower. Actually, we flew over it but it was a bit hazy outside to see it in all of its glory. 

Abby and I in the prison next to the Doges Palace in Venice.  

A random Italian fishing in the Lagoon of the Adriatic Sea. He has no pants on... 

The Alps. How gorgeous.  

You've Got to be Kidding Me

I listened to Christmas music last night because I couldn't sleep. How pathetic is that...it is only August.

Diamond Plaza and then some...

I am stalling. I can't read anymore about the Puritans and their education. So, I thought I would put up a few more pictures that I actually have on my computer.

My friends informed me that I had to try a few different restaurants while I was in Nairobi. On my last Friday night, we drove downtown to Parklands, which is the Hindi community. We went to this place called Diamond Plaza. When we got there and got out of the car, my friends asked if I was ready. "Ready for what???" I asked. Then I figured it out. About 15 guys approached us, all of them waving their menus in their hands. Diamond Plaza is set up like an outdoor food court type thing. There are lots of different vendors and they all want you to buy from them. Since we were wazungu, or foreigners, we were a pretty easy target. The picture below portrays the frenzy that was ordering. I ordered a chicken kebab, but was warned that it would be nothing like what I was expecting. And it wasn't. It looked like three sausage links and that's exactly what it tasted like. I tried some chicken tikka (spicy chicken) and some naan (sort of like toasted bread with butter). I also drank sugar cane juice and the most amazing pineapple juice I have EVER had. It was incredible! The evening was a lot of fun and I will definitely go back the next time I am in Nairobi.

We visited Splash, which is out by the airport Chris works at. It is very similar to the wonderful Wavering Pool in Quincy, but colder, cheaper and fewer people. There weren't any lifeguards at the top of the slides telling us when to go down, so all six of us went down at the same time. I managed to rip some holes in my skin, but no big deal. It was a lot of fun! Ethan and Daniel (not pictured) liked to lay on the hot concrete to warm up. I was convinced that I would freeze, but it wasn't all that bad. While there, I tried a samosa and bhajia. More interesting foods. Bhajia is kind of like fried potatoes or french fries, but a little bit different. The samosa was a triangular shaped fried deal with minced meat and some spices inside. It, too, was pretty tasty.

Chris and Kelly live on a compound with three duplexes and one large "transitional" house. There is a small gate on their end that leads to another compound with four families and two small transitional apartments. The Salters live on the other compound, but they are really great friends of Chris and Kelly's. While the guys were in South Africa (more on that later), we went over to "Aunt Pearle's" house for dinner. The pile of kids on the couch are the Salters and the McMichaels. Good memories!

Okay, that's all for now.

Some tall friends :)

This is Mama Alex. She has worked with Chris and Kelly for almost four years. Isn't she beautiful? 

The McMichael boys and the Salters kids. (Daniel, David, me, Austin, Ethan, Hannah, Isaac, Esther, and the monkey.) 

Ethan soaking up the sun at Splash. 

Ordering at Diamond Plaza. It was CRAZY! 

AFTER!!!