Last night in Kenya....

I honestly can't believe how fast the past 4 weeks have gone by!  I leave bright and early for London tomorrow and couple days excursion with my mom!  

My safari in the Masai Mara was INCREDIBLE!  We saw everything you could see, except the elusive rhino.  I was even greeted and then chased by a monkey upon arrival.  It was easily the most terrifying experience of my life, but also really awesome, because, honestly, how many people get chased by monkeys?  Not many.  Anyway, since there are far too many funny/unusual/awesome stories, I'm just going to copy and past the email I sent to my mom halfway through! It's only a smattering of everything I saw, but it's a pretty good taste I think:

- We followed a leopard that was being followed/harassed by 2 jackals.  It was hilarious.  They just kinda ran behind her barking , but everytime she turned around they shut up and froze.  I guess she just wasn't hungry because she never tried to eat them.

-I've seen thousands, literally, of wildebeasts, zebras and gazelles.  They're making their annual migration over into Kenya from Tanzania so they're everywhere.  Also, if you've forgotten what a wildebeast looks like, please google it.  They are easily the ugliest creature I have ever seen!  Our guide, James, says the joke is that it's 5 animals in one.  I can't remember all of them, but he said that it has the face of a grasshopper.  They also make really funny sounds, so I have a video!

- I've seen several lions, including a mom with her cubs.  We couldn't seen them very well since the grass was tall, but the cubs were SO cute from the glimpses I got.  We also watched several more snooze under some bushes.  They are enormous and remind be of Fred and JJ because apparently they sleep 16-20 hours out of each day or something.

- I've decided that giraffes are my new favorite animal next to llamas and slothes.  They are SO cool!

- I've seen a coupld ostrich, but they move pretty fast, so they're hard to catch up with.

- The finale yesterday was watching 3 cheetah brothers nap under a tree together.  We seriously watched them for like an hour waiting for them to do something, but they just rolled aorund every now then.  After a while, they finally got up and I think they strongly considered taking down one of the wildebeast nearby, but it got lucky since apparently they weren't very huingry.

- Today, we saw 2 separate herds of elephants, each with at least one baby!  Fun fact: elephants are pregnant for 23 months.  And giraffes are prego for 14! 

- We have yet to see a rhino, but apparently they're hard to find this time of year because they get annoyed with the noisy wildebeast and hide out.

- Thankfully, no more contact with the monkies has been made.  However, I've been told that bl ack mamba snakes are common in this area.  Awesome.  I now walk to and from my tent in constant fear of death by monkey, spider or large poisonous snake.  Otherwise, I feel pretty safe, even when I can hear the (apparenlty dangerous) hippos walking/snorting yards from my tent.  Pray that I come back unscathed!

 

The British family I'm with is hilarious.  I have a hard time keeping up with their lingo, but it's still fun.  I've heard the words "cheeky" and "daft" more times in the past 2 days than I have in my entire life.  They also live up to their drinking reputation, as they have easily polished off 2 bottles of South African red wine with dinner the past 2 nights and still maintained enough decorum to order an after dinner Bacardi and coke. Last night, though, while they were walking me back to my far off tent, Linda spoke of the possibility of previous lives and the relevance of astrology.  She also admitted to being very "daft," and told me I was a "brave lass" for venturing to Kenya all by myself.  Altogether it was an amazing experience, and I have 937 pictures to attempt to convey how truly brilliant an African safari really is.  

Now that it's my last night, I've had plenty of time to think about why God brought me here.  Obviously, I felt led to serve in some capacity in Africa, and New Life Homes just came into the picture when the time was right.  But ever y time we feel called to do something or go somewhere, I think God intends to work in us, not just the people we serve.  I think the biggest thing I learned in Kenya was in regards to my relationships with other people.  I never realized how much I depended on the physical presence of my friends and family.  Early in this trip I experienced a loneliness I've never known.  Since then, I've learned that while it's fine to seek comfort in people you love, ultimately, God is the only one who can provide it.  Once I found comfort in God's presence, the rest of my trip was no longer filled with this overwhelming loneliness.  My biggest prayer is that I remember this when I'm home.  Mission trips are awesome, but the spiritual high that follows is usually temporary.  I pray that the things I've learned and the closeness I now feel with God doesn't diminish when I return to the bustle of school, friends and other activities.  This trip has truly changed me and I want that transformation to be permanent.

love, 

emily

Romans 8:28

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