Part Two

So picking up where I left off - from the little coffee shop where we got lunch and internet, we went to see giraffes! It was a pretty fun setup where you could take pictures of them on the ground then walk up to a balcony where you were eye level with them. The people that worked there gave us food so we were able to feed them. I knew giraffes were big animals, but they are actually really big! It was crazy to get to be so close to such a large animal and  try to picture something that big out in the wild - I think I forget that giraffes, and even elephants, are more than just cartoon characters haha! They have crazy long tongues and would stick them out and take each piece of food from your fingers, versus eating out of your palm like a horse. Some of them also gave kisses, so you could put a piece of food between your lips and they woud stick out their tongue to get it. So day two in Kenya and I pet a baby elephant and got kissed by a giraffe named Ed :)

There were also warthogs with the giraffes that would eat all the food that dropped. these are ugly animals - except the little baby that had to scurry all around so not to get stepped on by the giraffes' big feet. And I forgot to mention at the elephant place we saw a blind rhino named Maxwell. We also saw a couple of monkeys on our way out and a baboon later on the side of the road. 

Saturday evening Mrs. Black had to run out for a little while, so I hung out at the house, washed dishes for the first time in about two months (our Mammas usually do it), and cleaned the kitchen while listening to country music. Talk about feeling at home! Also, never would have thought that doing the dishes would be so therapeutic. I think this means that I'm growing up and I'm not so sure how I feel about it.

Sunday we got up and went to church, and afterwards went out to an Ethiopian restaurant. It was really different but I think I really like it :) It was just really interesting and not really like anything I've had before. First, there is this crepe-like bread (for lack of better comparison) that is laid out on essentially a big pizza pan and then there are piles of different veggies and sauces ladled on top of it. Then we were given a basket full of these "crepes" that were rolled up, that you hold on your left hand, tear a bit off with your right, and use it to pick up something from te center plate. Like I said, very interesting!

From there we went to this Maasai Market that was out on a balcony in this big shopping mall. This mall had glass elevators, escalators, and even was completely decked out in Christmas decorations. Culture shock after being in Uganda for almost three months! (side note - it's very clear how much more money is in Kenya than Uganda. Even landscaping wise, there is just so much more color and flowers everywhere, that I just haven't seen in Uganda). When we were leaving the mall, we ran into a friend of mine from UVA, Betsy! It was wild, and I just didn't really think that I knew enough people in the world to just happen to run into someone I know in Africa! So we all went and got coffee, and it was just really fun to catch up with someone so unexpectedly!

Monday morning I went to class with Mrs. Black; she is a professor at a theological school in Nairobi. She had an advisee meeting with some of her students and invited me along, and it was kind of fun to be back in an academic setting, even though I was just sitting and listening. Then we went to this place called Amani Ya Juu, meaning Peace from Above, and it's a business that hires women from different sides of conflict all over Africa. It not only seeks to give them jobs, but spiritually invests and builds them up, and helps them to get their feet under themselves. They make all sorts of things from bags to jewelry to quilts to clothing to Christmas decorations, and it's all absolutely beautiful. They also had a little cafe where we got lunch, and then we went to catch a matatu for me to head to Kijabe. 

I had taken a matatu to Kampala before, but this was my first one by myself and it was quite the adventure. I'll spare the details, but after about 45 minutes I made it to the Kijabe stop, then had to get another one down the mountain that was about 10 minutes, and I was dropped off at the hospital. I had to wait a little bit, but then Mrs. Kraus walked down to get me. Kijabe is absolutely beautiful and sits right on the side of a mountain that looks out to other mountain ranges as well as a couple of volcanoes - one of them being Mt. Longonot. That night we walked down to an oen field and watched the sunset and it was beyond beautiful! Dr. Kraus, Mrs Kraus, and Sam (a senior in high school), and I all ate dinner that evening and made plans for the next day. 

Yesterday was incredible! We hiked Mt. Longonot in the morning, which I mentioned was a volcano, so you get to the top of the brim and you can see down into the crater, which is full of trees and other plant growth. Apparently there is also leopards that live down there too, but nobody has ever seen them haha. But we did see, while walking down, giraffes and zebras in the distance! Afterwards we went out to lunch at Lake Naivasha and caught a boat over to Crescent Island, which isn't really an island but a peninsula where there are wild animals (all herbivores), and people can just walk around on it! It was so great and we saw even more giraffes and zebras, antelope, water bucks, wildebeests, and buffaloes in the distance. Then on the way back we saw a couple of hippos in the water! If you haven't caught on so far, a huge part of this trip I feel like is just getting to soak in God's creation:) It has been more than reenergizing!

Then today I went to the OR with Mrs. Kraus and watched Dr. Kraus do an abdominal aortic aneurysm - which I didn't know how I'd handle myself, but surprisingly didn't do too bad haha. Then we walked the surgical floor - you know, something you could totally do in the U.S. haha - and poked our heads in the windows to see different surgeries. There was one lady having a c-section and the nurses and doctors invited us in, so I saw a baby be born. Again, all so very wild! 

And now I am sitting here and we are getting ready to head back to Nairobi so I can catch my bus to head back to Jinja! As incredible this trip has been, I am a bit ready to get back to Jinja. It has been making me sad seeing the statuses and other facebook pictures from some of the people back at Ekisa, and I'm a bit ready to get back! Til next time:)