my first coffee in Egypt!! pretty, isn't it? :)

Today I went to church here in Egypt for the first time. It's a big international church where everything is in English, so it was easy to understand and really cool to meet people from literally all over the world! Here is the website if you'd like to check it out: http://www.maadichurch.com/ This is the church that is sponsoring a team from the US that i'll be working with for a week in January. We will be doing health screenings for over 2,000 sudanese refugee children. None of them have ever even been seen by a doctor! It is crazy to imagine how much people don't have. And how much we do have, that we take for granted. The whole Darfur issue has been something i've really had a heart for, so i am thrilled to be able to help out even in the slightest bit. I met three Egyptians today that are around my age...their names are Moody and David (they are brothers) and a girl named Miriam. They are all really great! We also took a trip to the clinic today and held the reading/book club for the little girls. The area the clinic serves is sooo poor. But yet they are so friendly and loving. It's so sad to see how these people live - the children dont go to school and age 10 they don't even know the letters of the alphabet! so the reading club works with them to get them reading and writing. This weekend we will be cleaning out the clinic to get it ready to reopen next week. We had a Christmas party tonight for the clinic staff, and again i got to spend some time with all the wonderful people i will be working with. I am truly blessed to have such a great group here. Us 4 girls (me, Kayla, Leslie and Miriam) are sitting here watching Nacho Libre - reminds me of what i'd be doing at home with my friends! Aw, i miss everyone. But i am really enjoying it here so far. There are animals everywhere! Tomorrow morning the slaughters start, and i am very happy that i wont have to hear the giant moose outside my window anymore. Has anyone ever heard a moose? Not a pleasant sound. Oh! We also watched Madagascar today while we had dessert at the christmas party. I had never seen it before - it was hilarious! Alright, i will leave you all with some pictures and then hopefully be in touch soon. I pray all is well with everyone back home and that you have a fun-filled new years eve celebration!!!

Love,

Nicole

....i don't know why that coffee picture loaded and i can't load the rest. i'm sure it's just a glitch in the high quality internet connection i've got here in the middle of nowhere...butttt, i was able to load them all on here: http://community.webshots.com/user/ldynicole9 When the connection is better maybe i can post some on here. but this will have to do for now :) Enjoy....comment! i love getting feedback :)