NAIROBI, Kenya

My dream destination has always been Kenya. Even when I went on safari to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe in 2008 my heart was tugging toward Kenya. I think my love affair with Kenya started before the first time I saw Out of Africa in 1985, but it was definitely sealed upon repeated viewings. When I agreed to travel to Southern Africa, I reasoned that it was good because if I went to Kenya first I may never get to Cape Town.

Last year I answered an ad on craigslist on what felt like a whim but proved to be a divine intervention that came in a gift of many cherished dreams wrapped in one package. Within two weeks I had a job at a luxury African Safari company, focusing on programming serving children in Kenya, at a pleasant office a 15 minute walk from my apartment. What a script! One year later I am still in awe.

When I took the job I did not expect a trip to Africa would come quickly. "Maybe in a few years," I thought. But I wasn't anxious. I just loved having the opportunity to hear the safari specialists describe treks in the Maasai Mara, seeing photos of beautiful Kenyan children and knowing my efforts were making life just a little better for these precious ones. And then I was asked if I would fly to Nairobi for a 10 day work trip. So now I have been to Kenya. And I am sure of one thing: I will go back! My time on this trip was spent almost exclusively in Nairobi. I was driven through its gated enclaves, its urban-outdoor marketplaces and its muddy rows of tin-shacked slums. And I loved every part equally. I spent a day driving out to a rural village and was reminded of Oklahoma drives of my childhood and I ate almost every meal at the Norfolk Hotel and I went to a 3000 seat Pentecostal church and was the only white face. And I took very few photos because I was working hard every day. So here are a few sights that make me happy and remind me of Africa.