Happy New Year!

It is good to be home, in the land of plenty and fast internet connection. I nearly wept at the sight of the welcoming arms of the green mermaid (Starbucks, people, stay with me now) at the Minneapolis airport, and stood in thankful amazement in front of the washing machine as it cleaned my clothes at the touch of a few buttons. No more handwashing! Yes, it is good to be home. The over-consumerism of the holidays was a little nauseating to see, however. Seems crazy that two very different worlds can co-exist. It's the tragedy and blessing of awareness that comes with travel, I suppose. We are such lucky people, and hope I remember that long after the jet-lag has passed, the pounds are packed back on, and the tan has faded!

I hope everyone is off to a great start in this new year! This will conclude my blog, thanks to all for your emails while I was abroad. If you want to be in touch now, you will actually have to call me. Or you can still email. I am in the process of getting adjusted back to this time zone, work, reality, etc... my head is spinning a bit, but I am excited for the next chapter of life. Love to all and Best Wishes for the New Year!

Amber

Favorites

Alas, it is as they say, "All good things must come to an end". What an incredible few months it has been! Looking back, there have been many priceless moments, but some of the highlights...

Favorite quote: "I'm lazy. Lazy like cow." Riziki, 15, precocious but honest teenager.

Favorite food: Chipoti with cabbage and red beans. Wednesday was everyone's favorite day at the orphanage! Who says the kids need any food??

Funniest moment: Watching two friends scramble out the top of the safari truck (it was stationary) when a monkey jumped in to grab the banana on the dashboard.

Best sound: Elias (cook at the orphanage) banging the pots and pans around at 5:30 in the morning. Not really, but it was reminiscent of Mom and Grandma. Not to be cliche, but the kids giggling is pretty endearing!

Favorite driver: Jonas. That man could drive a Land Rover straight up Mt. Kili in a rainstorm with elepants charging us, and I would still be whistling Dixie.

Memorable moment: Heading out at sunrise for the early game drive on the Serengeti, singing Christmas songs to wake ourselves up.

Toughest realization: No matter what I do, no matter how great, there will be more sickness, more poverty, more sadness than I can ever touch.

Best reality: Even though what I do may be small, forgotten tomorrow, it will at least help in that moment, and sometimes that's all we have.

I could go on and on about the great things of this place, but I do also have mental list of the first things I want to do when I get back to the USA. Now, it goes without saying that what I am looking forward to the most when I return are all you guys, a big hug from Nolan, seeing my family, etc, (you can put yourself on the list somewhere), but mushy stuff aside, here is what I can't wait for:

1. 8 hours of undisturbed slumber...or 10...or 15...

2. Starbucks! I know, I know, I know, but it's a comfort thing! Caramel macchiato, thank you very much.

3. A long hot shower without flip-flops. Oh, to be squeaky clean again!

4. A wiggly welcome from my dog--the little bugger better remember me, even though she IS getting the royal treatment at Grandma and Grandpa's!

5. Sushi, salmon, goat cheese, fresh green salad, dark chocolate, grilled chicken breast, mint chocolate chip Haagen Daaz, pie-any kind that's homemade, real milk, real coffee, okay, better stop my drooliing is getting out of hand.

6. Manicure and pedicure. Oh, dear, it is BAD. Missing a toe nail after Meru, think I can get a discount?

7. Seeing the world from the saddle of my bike again...

Looking forward to talking with and seeing everyone again...I head out tonight for my 36 hour airplane odyssey...Lots of love!

Piece of Paradise

White sand beach. Hammock. Good book. Can't imagine a better way to wrap up my time here.

Zanzibar is a little island off the east coast of Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean. We are on the east side, which is a little less touristy...but with the holidays, it is still more white people than I've seen in a while...bit of a culture shock.

It has been relaxing, once we finally arrived. The friend of our taxi driver was arrested at one of the police stops on the island. Was mayhem for awhile, including 6 white girls encouraging him (um, very strongly) to get out of the car, because he wouldn't get out, but we couldn't go anywhere until he did. There are no rooster crows to wake us here...just the prayer calls at 2am and 5:30am. We ventured to Stone Town yesterday, which is the hub of the island, and it was like being in yet another world, as the Muslim influence is very strong there.

It is hard to believe my time here is almost done. As I reflect on the last 3 months, and think of living in the developed world again, I know what I will miss the most is the simplicity of life here. Doesn't matter what you look like, if your clothes match, if your hair is a mess. Hamna Shida, No problem, Hakuna Matata.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon, and I will savour my last few days here in this little piece of beach paradise. Happy Holidays!

Safari

Wow. I just quickly read my blog, didn't remember what I wrote. Guess I was pretty tired. Nothing like camping for 2 weeks straight to make you appreciate a bed! And a shower.

You know you've been in Africa a while, when sighting a baboon, elephant, giraffe, or zebra by the road doesn't phase you. But they still are incredible to see. Safari was incredible, saw so many animals. Lions. Check. Hippo. Check. Hyena. Check. Hyena OUTSIDE OUR TENT AT NIGHT. CHECK. Water buffalo. Check. Wildebeest, hartbeest. Check. Monkeys, several kinds. Check. Impala, gazelle, antelope. Check. Lots of animals I can't think of at this very moment. Check.

Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater were so stunning, but the Serengeti was my favorite...maybe it was the lion family, or just the incredible vastness, it's kinship to the "Lion King", not sure, but it was amazing. I can never step foot into a zoo again. Seeing these creatures in their natural habitat is just, oh, what's a good word...incredible, better than incredible, fascinating, so cool (my English is stellar right now). The sunrises and sunsets were some of the most beautiful I have seen. Truly no city lights to interfere.

Now my favorite animal--yes, the elephants are adorable, the giraffes elegant, and the lions magnificent, but the warthogs, they are just hysterical! I laugh out loud every time I see one. The wildebeests are a close second with their goofy faces.

We arrived back to Arusha last night, and I head to the coast today, will be sticking my feet in the Indian Ocean in just a few hours (hopefully). Happy Holidays to everyone!

P.S. The coffee was exquisite! And I am so proud of my brother's ability to eat! Maybe that's where I got it from.

Mt. Meru

It was beautful and brutal. My friend and fellow volunteer, Maria, and I spent the last 3 days climbing Mt. Meru, the second largest mountain in Tanzania. It is 4500 meters and some change. For us Americans, that translates into just shy of 15,000 feet.

You can do it in 3 or 4 days, and we opted for the 3 days. The plan is to hike the first day to the camp site at about 8000 some feet, then the second day hike to the next camp at 11,700 feet. You then sleep for the afternoon, and head out at 2am for the 3-4 hour hike to the summit, and then come back to camp for breakfast and the total descent. The weather had been consistent for the past few nights of pouring so hard that it would wake me up for hours as I waited for the roof to collapse. We met a group descending our second day who had not been able to summit because of the weather. Our guide suggested we could try summiting during our second day instead of waiting, as we are "strong Americans".

As also logical Americans, we figured the weather wouldn't change for our sakes. So...we hiked to camp 2, rested for an hour, then headed for the summit. 6 1/2 hours of climbing. We did it. 2 1/2 hours back to camp. in one piece. Hot tea and dinner in our sleeping bags. Many more details you probably could care less about. Like I said, it was beautiful and brutal. Very exciting accomplishment.

We descended the rest of the way today, savoured our shower, and are heading to bed for hopefully a very long night. Love to all, and good night.

Kenya

Kenya compromised some of the best days here in Africa. It wasn't so much the location, but the people I was with...friends, familiar faces, and those I didn't know at first were friends by the end of the week.

It is a 5 hour shuttle ride between Arusha here in Tanzania, across the border, and into Nairobi. And there's a whole lot of nothing between here and there, except for the border. It is wide open spaces, bush country, Mt. Meru, the occasionaly Maasai with their cows or goats, but no towns or even villages.

Nairobi was a culture shock. There were city LIGHTS and billboards in English and even a shopping mall! Crazy, crazy. It was absolutely wonderful to have real coffee with real milk, I must say. We ventured over to the edge of Kibera, one of the world's largest slums, sat at a coffee shop, and generally enjoyed spending time together.

*Important tip: DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, even though you realy really want to enjoy your coffee while you can, drink three cups of coffee before getting on a 5 hour shuttle ride with no pit stops.

Bittersweet

Last night as Benja was dancing around with his pajama bottoms hiked up and belt cinched across his pouched-out belly pretending to be Santa Claus, he had the boys and myself laughing so hard that Siadi threw up. So much for bedtime! And I knew once again that I will miss these kids when I leave.

It does not seem possible that today is my last day here at the orphanage, but time has been quickly marching on these last few weeks, and so here we are. As I was walking with my Computer Class to the library, Josephat (love that kid) called (yelled) from Kindergarten to please come play with them—if only cloning was possible. Yes, I will miss these kids and the people here. This place has become a little haven and home in the midst of Africa.

It helps that I have 3 weeks of traveling and adventure ahead of me to ease the pain of leaving here. In fact, I’m quite excited about seeing more of this country, as well as part of Kenya. It’s to Nairobi for one week where I will be meeting up with friends, even some from California! Hiking Mt. Meru is next, then safari through Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, and Serengeti National Parks. I finish at the coast on Zanzibar island before heading back to the USA.

Today is a mix of emotions, but know it is hard to leave because my heart has grown a little more, which is really a good thing. But enough of the sappy stuff! Happy days to everyone and talk to you soon!