{europe and baby d #2}

august 8, 2012

my sister is currently in labor and i'm leaving for the airport to fly to london in 20 minutes.  if only i could have timed my sister's childbirth a bit better...

though it may be a few minutes (or hours premature), welcome to the world baby d!  i can't wait to meet you on september 5th.  

and now i'm off to europe for a little less than a month!  see you soon london, amsterdam, paris, geneva, berlin, prague, vienna, budapest, krakow, heinsberg, and dusseldorf!

{nyc and aruba}

july 28 - august 6, 2012

after one quick day at home with my parents in richmond, i hopped a 6 am train for a weekend in nyc.  the weather wasn't the best, but it still felt amazing to be back in the city for a whirlwind weekend catching up with friends. i'm excited for what life will bring in nyc when i move back in october! 

 (happy birthday, aly!)

monday morning it was off to aruba for a week with my friend, beth.

every day in aruba (except our last day) was at least 90 degrees and sunny.  the weather could not have been better, and the beach could not have been more beautiful. we averaged 7 hours a day on the beach, i went for a run every morning, and almost every night we were asleep by 10 pm.  yes, we are lame, but it was really one of the most relaxing vacations.

 (i convinced beth, who is deathly afraid of heights, to go parasailing.  i loved it.  beth...not so much.)

(is nyc ok with this?)

 (no trip would be complete without enjoying the casino)

one night we were lured into a bar/club(?) called the zombie room and were the only 2 there.  the bartender claimed there would be 200-1000 people there (really? that's your range??) that night as the best band in aruba was playing.  we lasted about 5 minutes. i hope those 200-1000 people enjoyed their night!  

our last night in aruba we grabbed some sushi (which wasn't half bad!) and ventured out to gusto...

it was another crazy night for us and we were in bed by 11pm. 

after i went for one last run on sunday morning, we headed off to the airport for our flight home.  it was a great week, aruba.  can't wait til nex time!

{out of africa}

leaving africa

july 25, 2012

"all i know is that every time i go to africa, i am shaken to my core" - stephen lewis

as i sit here writing this, a little over a week after i've actually been home from africa, i still feel just as strange about being back home as i did that very first day.  i wasn't ready to come home.  i wish i was going back tomorrow.  there is still so much more i want to do, so much more i want to see, so many more people i want to meet. i thought this feeling would pass quickly, but as i prepare for the next phase of my travels, it's still there.  i have been shaken to my core and it's something that i wasn't really expecting.

here's an excerpt of something i wrote in my notebook in africa.  though i didn't keep a journal consistently, when you're alone with your thoughts for that long, sometimes it just felt necessary to write things down...

as i leave this amazing country [tanzania] and continent [africa] and reflect on my almost 2 months spent here, this is what i know:

-i experienced life in africa as if i were a local

-i learned a new language

-i immersed myself into a culture that could not have been more different than my own

 -i explored thousands of acres of the world's most precious wildlife reserves

-i saw the "big five"

-i visited one of the wonders of the world

-i summitted the highest mountain in africa

-there is still so much left to do, so much left to see

-i am not ready to go home

all i feel is thankful.  thankful that these amazing people shared their children with me.  thankful that these amazing people shared this wildlife, this beautiful scenery, this amazing language, this incredible mountain with me.  

i came here thinking somehow i could help, somehow i would help to change these people's lives, but i leaving knowing i am the one who has changed.  

most of these people, even if given the opportunity, would not trade what they have for a life of "luxury" in the states.  so many tanzanians that i met are maasai but are living a "city" life outside of their tribe.  they talk of how happy they'd be to go back to living in their maasai villages, where cows are their main concern and they often walk for miles each day to get water.  

these people are just so happy with what they have - which is so very little - and don't want what i have.  they just want to sit with me and share stories over a cup of tea.  

before i left home i wasn't sure what my purpose was for going to africa, but upon returning home it has become very clear.  africa has changed me in so many ways and i am forever grateful to this amazing country and these amazing people for this gift they have given me.

i encourage others to make a similar journey, but not with the intention of changing the african people to be more like us.  they are happy.  they get it.  they know what is important in life.  go to africa so that they can change you.  

{south africa, zimbabwe, and zambia!}

my last week in africa (for now)

july 19-25, 2012

as i summitted early and came down from kilimanjaro a day earlier than planned, i had another day to kill in arusha before leaving tanzania.  at this point, all i wanted was a bed and a shower, so i checked in to the hotel impala once again for another night.  i had an amazing HOT shower - yes, my first shower in 8 days - and then crashed for my first good night's sleep in 8 days as well.  the next day it was off for a night at the the kia lodge just across the grounds from the kilimanjaro airport.  the lodge was nice and i had my own little house to sleep in, but there were some crazy bugs there and after killing 10 large red spiders in my bathroom, i wasn't really able to sleep...

(my spider infested lodge)

anyway, the next day i was at the airport at 4 am for my 6 am flight (though they forgot to mention that the airport didn't open until 5 am) to johannesburg via nairobi.  i spent one quick afternoon in jo'burg where i went for a run and explored a park near my hostel (which turned out to be a small one-room cabin with no heat, so it felt like kili all over again sleeping in my thermals).  the next day i was off to victoria falls, zimbabwe!

i stayed at a $6 a night hostel in vic falls which, surprisingly enough, was perfect for what i needed.  i had a whirlwind few days in vic falls, where i:

-went for a sunset cruise on the zambezi river and saw elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and a beautiful sunset!  

 

-walked with lions: we got to play with two 18-month-old cubs and two 5-month-old cubs

(it was really cold this day and clearly no one told me that i needed to fix my crazy hair)

-visited victoria falls national park on the zimbabwe side

 -walked across the border to zambia:

(this is a shot of the falls where zambia meets zimbabwe)

-met my friend, sara, for high tea at the royal livingstone hotel

quite a few monkeys joined us for tea as well as watching the sunset over the river

-zip-lined over the gorge

-went on an elephant-back safari through a private game reserve

(with my new bff, scott, on our elephant)

(petting sylvester the cheetah)

-ate an authentic zimbabwean meal with my 3 new friends from geneva (none of whom happened to be swiss)

 (i had the warthog.  pumba is delicious!)

 (i also tried the impala which was better than any steak i've ever had.  now i know why lions love to eat these guys so much!)

 (and some zimbabwean beef)

 (my three dates for the evening)

after dinner it was off to the casino which had a total of 10 people in it, including us.  i watched the guys play roulette and then after we all lost $10 playing black jack, we ditched the casino for a friendly game of poker. 

it was a very entertaining last night in africa!  

the next day i took one LAST cold shower before catching my flight to jo'burg.  at 9:25 pm that night i bid farewell to africa from johannesburg and continued my journey home to the states...

 

a flight cancellation, a crazy cab ride from JFK to Newark, and another delay later, i arrived home in richmond after about 35 hours of travel...