I have a plane ticket.
I'm going to Kenya.
Showing posts with label Kenya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenya. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Home Sweet Home.
I made it!! After essentially 4 straight days of travel, I am officially back on American soil, snuggled into the folds of freezing Burley, Idaho. I've been home now for about 60 hours, so I'm already forgetting some of my first impressions of being back.Some Thoughts:
1. There a lot of white people in America.
2. There is also a ridiculous amount of 'stuff'.
3. People are wonderfully friendly and smile all of the time, I love it.
4. Thank you Lord for Mexican food.
5. I still can't figure out what side of the car to get on, and I definitely turned the wrong way onto Main Street yesterday.
6. I love the fact I can just pick up the phone and call my loved ones.
7. No one does customer service like the USA.
8. It is cold, and I may never be warm again.
I am still all off on when I eat and sleep - I ate two tacos al carbon before 5 am this morning.
Today, my family and I are taking a mini-vacation to Sun Valley, Idaho, where my Dad has lined up a sleigh ride for us. This does not exactly sound appealing at the moment as the HIGH temperature of the day is supposed to be 6 degrees Fahrenheit (-14.4 C). I'll let you know if I make it back alive. Considering less than a week ago I was in Zanzibar, where it was around 90 degrees F (33 C), I will be experiencing more than a 85 degree temperature change in less than 6 days.
Much more coming about my last week in Grahamstown, travels in East Africa, and wonderful homecoming. The Merriest of Christmases to you all!!!
Here are links to pictures from Kenya and Tanzania, more pics coming soon:
Lamu, Kenya:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057169&l=4ca63&id=3000795
Zanzibar, Tanzania:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057190&l=e3068&id=3000795
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Next Steps
Here is my itinerary for the next few weeks:
- Nov. 23 - Nov. 27: Grahamstown, SOUTH AFRICA - Finish thesis, start PhD applications, say goodbye to my home of a year.
- Nov. 28 - Dec. 7: Lamu and Mombasa, KENYA - bask on the beach and swim in the Indian ocean, drink things out of coconuts and pineapples with the lovely Elisa!! and Jeannie!!
- Dec. 7 - Dec. 14th: Arusha, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam TANZANIA - look at Mt. Kilimanjaro (no climbing), meet up with crazy Denver people who DO climb, bask on the Spice Islands.
- Dec. 14th - Dec. 15th: Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA - stay with the wonderful family of Estelle, eat my last South African meal, say goodbye to this amazing country.
- Dec. 15 - Dec. 17th: International skies - sleep, watch movies, journal, eat airport food.
- Dec. 17th - Dec. 30th: BURLEY, Idaho - love on my family, my childhood friends, and my home town, sleep, have ridiculous amounts of Christmas cheer, finish PhD applications.
- Dec. 30th - Drive to Denver
- Dec. 31- Jan 5th: HOUSTON! Love on my amazing Houston family (best people in the world), snuggle with Victor and his family, celebrate new years, give my welcome back presentation to my sponsor Rotary club.
- Jan 6th - Jan. 11th: DENVER - bother/love Catherine and Peter and John and Meredith, avoid their dogs, look for somewhere to live, go to lots of meetings.
- Jan. 11th - March 23rd - JERUSALEM: attend Hebrew University, work with Human Rights NGO (tba).
Friday, January 4, 2008
Obama-Drama!
One thing I am terribly sorry I will be missing while I am abroad is extent of the the dirty dirty details of the 2008 presidential race that are covered on American television. I have never appreciated them more than now, as I realize I probably won't have access to them to the same extent.
I have been glued to the television all day twice in the last couple of weeks - one was in shock and horror the day that PM Bhutto was assassinated, and the other was in sheer fascination last night as Huckabee and Obama took Iowa in the first presidential primary.
The latter made for some great television. Though I don't usually get my news from television (I am far too impatient for commercial breaks and endless analysis and reanalysis), I couldn't get enough of it last night. This is the second presidential election in which I will be able to vote, and I am ENDLESSLY more excited about this election than the last.
In my opinion, there are so many incredible things about this election.
1. There are no incumbents running, so the drama is across both political parties.
2. The front runners are all fascinating people.
3. The front-runners from BOTH political parties took a hit in the first caucus.
The idea of a caucus itself fascinates me. Watching the seemed chaos of people running around in a middle school cafeteria trying to convince one another as to the merits of their favored candidate renewed in me a sense of pride over the "grass-rootedness" of our political process. Here in Idaho we don't get to see many national politicians trumping in our town halls, and I admit that I had become rather cynical about whether or not my vote "counted" or not in the last presidential election. However, watching the Iowa caucus last night reminded me that at our roots, we are essentially deciding the next leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world over the same tables that middle school students decide white or chocolate milk. There is something incredibly basal and refreshing about that.
So enjoy the Obama-drama if you are in the states, I will be watching from far away. The South African presidential election is in 2009, so I will be sure to share what that race is like from the ground, as well as how the U.S. race is perceived.
Here's to absentee ballots!
***********************************************************
I must add a side note - in between the over-analysis of last night's caucus, I have been watching news of the election riots in Kenya. My heart aches for the situation there. As drama-filled as the U.S. elections are, the drama is contained in newsreels and campaign ads.
How fortunate we are.
I have been glued to the television all day twice in the last couple of weeks - one was in shock and horror the day that PM Bhutto was assassinated, and the other was in sheer fascination last night as Huckabee and Obama took Iowa in the first presidential primary.
The latter made for some great television. Though I don't usually get my news from television (I am far too impatient for commercial breaks and endless analysis and reanalysis), I couldn't get enough of it last night. This is the second presidential election in which I will be able to vote, and I am ENDLESSLY more excited about this election than the last.
In my opinion, there are so many incredible things about this election.
1. There are no incumbents running, so the drama is across both political parties.
2. The front runners are all fascinating people.
3. The front-runners from BOTH political parties took a hit in the first caucus.
The idea of a caucus itself fascinates me. Watching the seemed chaos of people running around in a middle school cafeteria trying to convince one another as to the merits of their favored candidate renewed in me a sense of pride over the "grass-rootedness" of our political process. Here in Idaho we don't get to see many national politicians trumping in our town halls, and I admit that I had become rather cynical about whether or not my vote "counted" or not in the last presidential election. However, watching the Iowa caucus last night reminded me that at our roots, we are essentially deciding the next leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world over the same tables that middle school students decide white or chocolate milk. There is something incredibly basal and refreshing about that.
So enjoy the Obama-drama if you are in the states, I will be watching from far away. The South African presidential election is in 2009, so I will be sure to share what that race is like from the ground, as well as how the U.S. race is perceived.
Here's to absentee ballots!
***********************************************************
I must add a side note - in between the over-analysis of last night's caucus, I have been watching news of the election riots in Kenya. My heart aches for the situation there. As drama-filled as the U.S. elections are, the drama is contained in newsreels and campaign ads.
How fortunate we are.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
One week to go...
One week from today I'll be on a plane headed for Cape Town.
The last few weeks I have had the chance to speak to many groups about my Rotary scholarship. Part of the requirements for the scholarship is to make around 15 presentations about your experience before, during and after you return. I was able to speak to 2 Rotary clubs in Houston, and a Rotary club, a Lion's club, a PEO group, a Senior Citizen's group, and 4 high school classes here in Idaho. It is really wonderful to be supported so strongly both in Houston and in my hometown of Burley. I am very much looking forward to sharing my experience. My heart was especially in the presentations I was able to give to the high school classes, as it made me miss my own students in Houston terribly. It is SO important that students are exposed to opportunities early on, as I believe strongly that if they set high expectations for themselves, they will rise to meet them. I sincerely hope that this experience ahead of me can be used to open the eyes of at least a few students both in the U.S. and in South Africa to an opportunity they otherwise did not know exist.
In other news, I have been saddened deeply the last couple of days about the news of new conflict erupting in Kenya, and of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It only renews my belief that our world is too small to not seek to understand one another.
On the lighter side, my last few days are filling up with last minute preparations, mainly tasks that I have put off for the last few months, like finishing my best friend's wedding present. :) I am all together avoiding my brand new empty suitcases, half hoping they will fill themselves.
I am also distracting myself with reading anything I can get my hands on, whether it is about South Africa or not. Today I began reading Kabul Beauty School, and although I haven't finished, I am recommending it to everyone - it is utterly inspiring, and I am only about 1/3 of the way through. It is the true story of an American hairdresser who is in an abusive marriage and decides to go on a medical missions trip to Afghanistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban. While she is there, because she has no medical skills, she ends up exploring Kabul. She discovers that nearly all beauty shops have been wiped out by the Taliban, and those which are still running have no supplies and the beauticians have little or no cosmetology education. Her skills are therefore actually in high demand, and she has people lining up to have their hair cut. After returning to the United States, she decides to open a beauty school in Kabul to train beauticians with the intent of empowering women and allowing them a means to support themselves apart from their husbands. It is so far a beautiful story and is being added to my list of 'must reads.'
Signing off with a week left -
The last few weeks I have had the chance to speak to many groups about my Rotary scholarship. Part of the requirements for the scholarship is to make around 15 presentations about your experience before, during and after you return. I was able to speak to 2 Rotary clubs in Houston, and a Rotary club, a Lion's club, a PEO group, a Senior Citizen's group, and 4 high school classes here in Idaho. It is really wonderful to be supported so strongly both in Houston and in my hometown of Burley. I am very much looking forward to sharing my experience. My heart was especially in the presentations I was able to give to the high school classes, as it made me miss my own students in Houston terribly. It is SO important that students are exposed to opportunities early on, as I believe strongly that if they set high expectations for themselves, they will rise to meet them. I sincerely hope that this experience ahead of me can be used to open the eyes of at least a few students both in the U.S. and in South Africa to an opportunity they otherwise did not know exist.
In other news, I have been saddened deeply the last couple of days about the news of new conflict erupting in Kenya, and of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It only renews my belief that our world is too small to not seek to understand one another.
On the lighter side, my last few days are filling up with last minute preparations, mainly tasks that I have put off for the last few months, like finishing my best friend's wedding present. :) I am all together avoiding my brand new empty suitcases, half hoping they will fill themselves.
I am also distracting myself with reading anything I can get my hands on, whether it is about South Africa or not. Today I began reading Kabul Beauty School, and although I haven't finished, I am recommending it to everyone - it is utterly inspiring, and I am only about 1/3 of the way through. It is the true story of an American hairdresser who is in an abusive marriage and decides to go on a medical missions trip to Afghanistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban. While she is there, because she has no medical skills, she ends up exploring Kabul. She discovers that nearly all beauty shops have been wiped out by the Taliban, and those which are still running have no supplies and the beauticians have little or no cosmetology education. Her skills are therefore actually in high demand, and she has people lining up to have their hair cut. After returning to the United States, she decides to open a beauty school in Kabul to train beauticians with the intent of empowering women and allowing them a means to support themselves apart from their husbands. It is so far a beautiful story and is being added to my list of 'must reads.'
Signing off with a week left -
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