Lion's Escape Plan

So while my friends and I have a plan to escape from lions… I couldn’t help but wonder about the lions' point of view. Are the lions at the animal orphanage and in the safari walk developing their own version of an escape plan from humans? Food for thought, right? I know, I’m deep-- like the ocean.

Here we are at the lioness' side. I don't know what my friends are doing but I'm secretly praying the lionesses don't execute their escape plan right now.

Here are some pictures from the festivities—the icing on the cake was going with a group of children :)

My friend studied in Uganda and told me that one of Uganda's traditional dances is patterned after this bird

Intently watching the rhino. FYI, rhinos are HUGE. Don't mess.

The older kids and the cheeeeetah. (speaking of which, I miss hot cheetos. And yes, I know, I just proved that advertisements do work. And yes, I am slightly ashamed...slightly.)

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Don't let this photo fool you--she looks like a serious child but...

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She's quite the ham :)

Photoshoooooot!

Me&Tia

Thanks for joining us!

Until next time!

Y

Lion Escape Plan

In the event we see a lion ready to pounce... here is our course of action:

Friend #1: Grab lion's tongue

Me: Grab lion's tail

Friend #2: Hit lion with stick

---haven't quite figured out how we'll run away from it yet...hmm

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It’s interesting how I find giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, lions, etc to be so exotic… but the truth is, they’re relatively common outside of Nairobi. For instance, when driving on the roads, instead of cows or horses on the side (animals that we see in the states)... we see zebras grazing. Or when hiking, instead of rabbits and deers, we see giraffes and gazelles. It’s crazy.

On Saturday, we drove out of the city to hike Longonot—an expired volcano… and it owned me. It took us 5 hours to hike to the top, around the volcano rim, and back down… and by “us,” I really mean I slowed everyone down, haha.. everyone was nice and said, “Oh, you’re just not used to the altitude and climate here in Kenya.” I was more frank and said, “No, I’m just out of shape”

While hiking, as a [ongoing] joke, one of my friends asked, “Yvonne, what will you do if a lion jumps out onto the path?” With that question, came forth the development of our lion escape plan (above) Perhaps we should patent it? Haha—but the “pulling on the lion's tongue” step is another story saved for another post—it really works!

But it was breath-taking at the top—in the middle of the volcano grew a forest… it was seriously like a hidden city. And when we looked out onto the country, it was a wide array of geographical features--- there was a rainstorm in one area, a lake in another, a forest, a rift... I kept repeating: this is so beautiful… but after describing what I saw as “beautiful” by the ump-teenth time, I finally realized there really aren’t any words that could adequately describe it. Seriously, God is amazing…

Since pictures are worth a thousand words:

The hidden city.





My fellow adventurers and friends who have the two key roles in our Lion Escape Plan
We conquered!!

My friend chillin and waiting for us on top of the ridge

Views of the country from the top

Oh-- And I never did finish posting pictures from last weekend and I haven’t finished with this past weekend… but I’ll be better, promise. In the meantime, enjoy! :)

You know you’ve made it big when…

…even an obscure telecom company in a developing nation makes it a point to congratulate you.

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“We cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself”


Hearing the inaugural address, I was reminded of the Kiswahili word: ubuntu. This word makes a philosophical point about humanity and the significance of our relations/interactions with each other---> essentially, we must recognize that we are a part of a whole. Our individual worth does not diminish, but at the same time, it does not take precedence over the good of others. A Kenyan writer describes ubuntu the best: “My humanity is wrapped up in your humanity”

May we always treat others with the utmost dignity and respect.

God bless America.

Lessons from a Local: Street Edition

Before coming to Kenya, I was connected with a colleague’s cousin who lives here and she is amazing. Serious. I think my transition into life here would have taken a few weeks longer had she not been such a gracious host. Furthermore—she has been commentating on certain life lessons and nuances as we tour the area… nuances that may take a mzungu like me way longer to catch on. I’m so thankful for her.

Here’s the first of many lessons, I’m sure.

1. There are no crosswalks in Kenya and cars won’t stop for you if you just stand and wait on the sidewalk. So just cross and do so with absolute confidence.

2. When walking back from work one day, we were crossing the street and she told me, “hurry.” So what do you do when you “hurry?” You run. At least… I run.

I dashed to the other side and looked back to see her walking calmly amidst the oncoming cars. When I inquired about why she didn’t run like me…

Friend: As a kid, I was taught to never run when crossing the street.

Me: Really? Why?

Friend: Because when you run, you may trip and fall… then it’s over!

I laughed because there is so much truth in that logic. I now walk (at a speedy pace) when I cross the street.

With these personal, cultural tips, I’m becoming more Kenyan, everyday, eh? Now I just have to brush up on my Swahili words—somehow, I think just knowing basic greetings/plesantries, the word for ear, stomach, and food is insufficient for survival here… hmm..

Anyhoo—here are some “pichas” from this weekend—enjoy!

My friends and I took a trip out of the city to a rural area called Thika. On the side of the hill, those are tea farms-- there were maaaany along the way

One of my friend's sisters went to boarding school out here-- their school grew vegetables and raised cows. I wish I went to school out here.. it's a breath-taking view

My attempt at being artsy to show the rain. Yes! It finally rained here! It's a great thing for Kenya because there's been a drought--which consequently resulted in a famine. So when rain came... I could not have been more happy. Although, we still need more to make a huge difference

These two cuties came with us; Kelly and Sean. These brothers were absolutely sweet, funny, and utterly amusing. Sean (the baby) tried to grab my camera... apparently he's quite the photographer at the tender age of 1.5 yrs


We stopped at an inn for a drink-- it overlooked the dam and had a beautiful view... it got cloudy when we reached there...hence the fog-ilicious picture. Oh! And when the owner saw me taking pictures, he tried to make me pay. I didn't. heh.

Sean teaching us how to relax and enjoy life :)

On the way to the rural area, we passed by a lot of people walking, buildings, small towns, and just tons of colors. I especially loved the clotheslines... there were some buildings we saw that just had multiple clotheslines per floor... it looked amazing-- all the colors hanging and waving in the sun. This one didn't have as many as the other buildings-- but I'll definitely try to recapture it for you another time.

Well, alright folks, I had more pictures from this weekend but I'll post those later-- I need to finish up at work so I can get out and beat rush hour :)

Peace,

Yv

Mzungu, I am.

I’ve been in Kenya for four days now and I’m soaking it all in…. my new, daily soundtrack comprises of the neighborhood kids laughing and playing in the street, car alarms going off, Swahili conversations, and humanity…I enjoy it.

Interestingly, I didn’t feel it was too difficult adjusting and, as I said above, I’m enjoying it immensely. Comfort-wise, I feel the same as I would in another U.S. city (sans internet connection and with a slight language barrier)—maybe those Social Work Diversity classes helped with this process, hah--who knows?

Anyhoo, just wanted to let everyone know that I have arrived safely, that I, sadly, do not have frequent internet access, but that I’m thinking of all of you. I’ll post more interesting things soon.

xoxo,
whyvon-turned-mzungu