the big three-oh!

I know I've been quiet for a long time now, I've just been trying to get my bearings with all that has been happening and now that the dust has settled let me take you through the last few months...

Firstly, I finished up my internship with the Foundation for Sustainable Development. The last few weeks were an emotional rollercoaster, with databases crashing last minute and other projects not coming to fruition, but overall I think my time spent at Iguhu County Hospital was worth it and the Kakamega FSD team are fantastic (Thanks to Peter, Pollyne and Lucy!).

I then spent the next few weeks touring Kenya - I spent a week with Mama J and her relatives at Mombasa and enjoyed the beach and the shopping, followed by a week in Kakamega with Harry and his family where we celebrated Christmas and then we went and visited his siblings in Kisumu, Nairobi and Machakos.



New Years Eve was spent with Harry in Nairobi, which is when he "popped the question"! They say when you know you know, and I know that he is the one I want to spend my days with.



Unfortunately that bliss was short lived as I jumped on a plane back to Australia the next day.



My time back home was great - summer in Melbourne is always great. Thanks to their new unlimited internet bundles I binged watched season 1 of "Jane the Virgin" (I was so #teammichael) whilst finishing off my crochet blanket. I went swimming pretty much every day, and loved chopping the dead rose heads off in the front garden.

The best part about being home was getting to meet Baby Cat (aka Simba). Oh I love him so much.



But again, that bliss was short lived as I was incredibly blessed to get a job with Epicentre and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) as a Field Research Coordinator for a project researching the antibiotic resistance patterns and functional outcomes of chronic osteomyelitis patients at the MSF Amman Reconstructive Surgical Project in Amman, Jordan. So a quick jaunt to Sydney for orientation and Australia Day breakfast with the Bowmans and Ramirezes, and then off to Paris where I  discovered I am so scared to speak French despite knowing a little bit more than "bonjour" before flying across the Mediterranean to Amman, Jordan, which is where I write to you from.

Now you're probably wondering what the title is all about - WELL, Tuesday the 9th of February 2016 was my thirtieth birthday! *cue fireworks* HOORAY! My parents spoilt me rotten and gave me a beautiful Tiffany's necklace which is too much but I love it!

I was lucky enough to have a small shindig at my parents house whilst I was still back in Melbourne, to which I discovered the majority of those people who came to my party this year also came to my 21st - I am so blessed to have a great bunch of friends who have stuck around despite my not actually living in Melbourne full-time for a while now.



On my actual birthday I was given a beautiful hand-drawn birthday card and box of chocolates from my Aussie flatmate, and a handmade beaded necklace from one of the Dr's whose wife runs a charity for the mentally challenged in India, and many, many blessings from the rest of my colleagues.

So as you can see, my life has been a bit hectic and unsettled, thus the radio silence from my fingers to the keyboard. But now I'm here in Amman for the next four months getting this project off the ground, and (hopefully) that means I'll be writing here a little bit more as I explore the (safe) parts of this glorious region and discover what it means to be an NGO worker.