Day 1 of Safari

Beep, beep, beep. Rise and shine, it's breakfast time! Open those little peepers! 5:45 came all to early in the morning, but the thought of a hot shower while standing up didn't keep me in that bed long.

We hit the road around 8:30 – much delayed from our ATM fiasco. Armed with my camera manual and some cheese and crackers I couldn't have been happier to be on our way. We drove through Nairobi, marveling still at the cleanliness, the organization, the working traffic lights, the nice cars.

Along the way, there are strategically placed (about one bladder's worth) souvenir shops packed to the ceiling with ebony figurines, soap stone sculptures, wall hangings, masks, etc. Of course everything is 300% more expensive to start, because you are expected to bargain. I hate bargaining. Some great stuff, and some incredibly gaudy stuff. I could just picture the giant wooden sculpture of the lion roaring, or odd scary-looking tribal man (obviously made for tourists) holding an axe in some tragically American's tacky entryway.

After 2 harassing bathroom breaks with salesman following us even out to the van, we were on the last stretch of road…I thought Uganda had bad roads. This was worse than anything I have ever experienced. "Free body massages" as Justice referred to it, for an hour and a half. But it was all part of the amazing experience – authentic, rugged, outbackish, safari! Flailing along, frantically reading my camera manual so I would know how to use the dang thing, listening to Justice talk about the bumpy "loads" and how we can take a "lest" when we get to the lodge and starving to death we spotted our first animal. ZEBRA. Not one, not a hundred, but a thousand lining both sides of the road. As deep as the eye could see. A zebra here, 5 zebras there, 2 wildebeests over here, herds of them munching and moving together slowly. And then one stops, lifts his head, and stares straight at us. I was practically in Justice's lap trying to take pictures. I dove into the back seat and assumed the safari position: camera tattooed to my face, hanging out of the window. Zebras are totally cool at the zoo. Zebras are AMAZING in herds of thousands in the wild. They were right on the road – Justice said we were lucky. He probably says that to everyone, but I believed every word from his lips. Of course I am lucky! I am on safari and I am seeing freaking wild ZEBRAS! Then wildebeests, then impalas, and then far in the distance, 2 long necks pop up from behind the herd of impalas, through the trees. GIRAFFES. And we weren't even in the park yet! A bit further and we saw a herd of ostriches. Whenever have you seen a whole herd of ostriches? And then far far in the distance a group of elephants. That was one of the most impressive things – to see massive numbers of these incredible animals, and to see them roaming free. Zebras are so cool.

We passed Maasai village after Maasai village. I desperate wanted a picture of the lone cattle herder, black as night, standing with his herd, red shawl slung over one shoulder and licking the side of his leg in the wind, leaning on his walking stick as he watched over his animals. Beautiful. You can't take pictures of them without their consent.

We busted up to our lodge just before they closed for lunch at 2:30, hallelujah. We didn't even go to our room – straight to the dining hall. I cannot express the amazingness that was the food. Just the amount of options alone was incredible. And salad. SALAD! Real salad! It's been two months for me. Real lettuce, with tomatoes, onions, CHEESE, carrots, cucumbers and dressings galore! I could have been happy with just the salad bar. And then hot rolls – real bread, not dry, crusty, stale, nasty bread. With real butter. And chicken and vegetables! And a choice of 10 different desserts to boot! Sigh. The gloriousness that was… Our table was in a little glass nook overlooking the well-manicured lawn. Does life get better than this? But wait – it did, at precisely 4:00 when we left for our first game drive. Justice picked us up in the van with the top popped up so that when we stood in the van there wasn't anything to block the view. Every moment spent in that Penfam van was indescribably glorious.

I can't describe the absolute feeling of peace and joy and content standing in the back of the van, wind blowing in my hair, tall yellow grass and bright blue sky rushing by as we bumbled out way to find some animals. It was like playing the coolest game of "Where's Waldo" in my life. I was completely happy to just be. After about 15 or 20 minutes of driving without seeing anything I spotted the first animals – a family of 14 giraffes far in the distance! They were too far away to see well, but when have you ever seen 14 giraffes?! The excitement of spotting an animal is beyond description. Justice! Stop the van! There are freaking GIRAFFES over there. I love giraffes. I never got tired of them.

Forward ho! On to more animals. We came to a pond with 2 crested cranes and a chick. Instantly my head was filled with the voices of the children singing "Oh, Uganda! The land that feeds us, we lay our future in they hands." Those birds are incredible. Justice calls them "clowned clanes". I love that man. But the best was yet to come. We rolled up on a mass of safari vans right in time to see a whole den of lions walk out of the bushes RIGHT AT OUR VEHICLE. They were so close, my zoom lens was too powerful! Like we weren't even there they slowly walked up to the van, then to a puddle of water right next to us and all fought to get a sip. Like little kids pushing to get the best view, they climbed over each other and nudged each other out of the way. One was laying in the shade of our van. I couldn't believe how close they were! We were surrounded on all sides. They could have jumped in the van with one leap. It was a feeling of total respect, awe, excitement, reverence, thrill, and joy all at once. There were more than 8 in the group – probably 2 lionesses and the rest cubs; I can't remember what Justice said. Watching animals in their natural habitat is so much more exciting. The mothers licked their young, rolled around with them, walked away, nudged them along, and settled in the grass right in front of our vehicle. Talk about feeling lucky. We even got to see one feed her cubs. I could have stayed there all day. But there was a whole park to visit!

We passed fields packed with topi, hartebeests, impalas, more crested cranes, all kinds of birds; herds of animals munching on grass, looking around, walking, running. We saw 2 hartebeests fighting, crashing heads and chasing each other. You could never get that in a zoo. Just a bit up the road we came upon 5 giraffes. Giraffes are hilarious animals, and incredibly gorgeous at the same time. They are so elegant when they walk, a tall slender stick cutting the sweeping horizon with its height. When have you ever seen a giraffe run? CRAZY! It's like someone running while holding up a long pool noodle, waving back and forth in the wind. I took over 300 pictures in one day. So many I filled up my 1 gig card (on both cameras) and had to delete pictures! And the giraffes were no more than 10 feet from the car. A baby one walked right up to us and posed for his picture. I still can't get over how striking a giraffe looks against the broad lines of the Kenyan plains. I had just as much fun taking the pictures as I did watching the animals. I've decided I really love playing National Geographic. J

Park rules are you have to be in your lodge by nightfall, which was fast approaching. Speeding back "home" I couldn't help but think this must be the best day of my life when we found ourselves feet away from an elephant and her 2 babies. Justice even had to move the van because the mother was getting too close for his comfort. Mom was munching on grass, baby was munching on mom. So adorable.

I could die happy. All in one day I had seen 4 of the 5 things I wanted to see: zebra, giraffe, lion, elephant, and cheetah. That night hippos came onto the grass outside of our room.

I am the luckiest girl alive.

If I Could Be Any Animal (Day 2)

I would be a cheetah. But that comes later. Day 2, I woke up early, took a stroll, and settled in the canvas camping chair outside my room to write in my journal.

"As I sit here, 7:10 in the morning in the
canvas camping chairs on my front porch I'm watching a giraffe far in the distance. He's a tall black figure against the yellow grass and purple hills. Solitary, moving slowly and majestically. I've already seen a baby impala and the air is thick with the chatter of birds. I can see the sun through their wings as they flutter up from the grass like one giant heartbeat. The people are still sleeping, but the world has awoken. I've decided morning is my favorite time of day. I need to be awake for more of it. I'm in love with this place. This has been the most incredible trip. Yesterday was indescribable. I'm already searching for ways to stay longer! When I'm rich and famous… The rising sun casts long slender shadows on the trees and highlights the glistening grass and I can't believe I'm here."

I had toast with my omelet for breakfast. Two whole pieces. I could already tell it was going to be a good day.

Today was the all day safari drive; we left at 9:00, ate a pack lunch in the bush, and didn't return until 4:00. Our first sighting was a male lion watching us watch him, another eating breakfast in the grass (which was too tall for us to see him properly) and a little cub hiding in the bushes. Ask and ye shall receive. Just the day before I had said "Now I just want to see a lion with a huge mane!" We pulled up next to another safari car of about 6 youngish men. They immediately started taking pictures of us instead of the lion! I asked where they were from: Chile, Korea, and ITALY! I knew it. I love how I find my Italians in the most random places in the world.

Down the road a bit, Julie had to "go for a short call" as they say in Uganda. Here we are in the middle of the park, nowhere near a bathroom, and she's dying to go. Justice about had a heart attack, but she jumped out and went in the bush. Be fast! Don't close the door! Hurry! Is anyone coming! Don't close the door! I think she set a new world

record for the short call. I'm still trying to figure out how that was humanly possible.

More GIRAFFES. Like I said, I never tired of my spotted friend. This time there were over 7 all chomping on the same acacia tree. Justice took us off-roading for a closer peek. We love Justice. I'm not doing a good job describing how phenomenal it was to see a "gilaffe" 5 feet from the van, and then watch all 8 of them walk right by us. I could watch them all day long. Justice was always pointing out the male and female animals. "Justice, how can you tell which is which?" Thinking he would say something about skin or color he seriously responded, "I can see all the male organs". That one takes the cake.

If I could have seen only one animal, I would pick the cheetah. We had to work for this one. And when we found them they were off the road, so we couldn't stay long. Justice could have been fined if they found us. There were three sleeping under a few trees. I would die to see one run, but I'll take whatever I can get! This is when Justice taught us "actually, it is good to fear the law – you can land in jail because of not fearing the law".

Impalas, all kinds of birds, vultures alla Jungle Book, warthogs, more elephants (I never tired of the elephants either), giraffes on the Tanzanian side of the park (the Serengeti) and then the Mara river to see the hippos and "clocodiles". This is the only place you can get out of the vehicle. Martin, our ranger-man, took us to see the point where the wildebeests cross the Mara River every year and then to the biggest crocodile these eyes have ever seen. In all of the Masai Mara Park, who should we find walking back from the hippos, but our Italian friends! This time I couldn't pass up the chance to chat. Antonio and I were destined to be friends.

In all of the Masai Mara Park, whom should we park next too for lunch, but my favorite Italians in Kenya! There was no escaping it. It would have been too perfect if we were staying at the same lodge.

On the way back to the lodge we saw baboons, more elephants, stopped to give some rangers a lift, chased a lilac-breasted roller or "relac-breasted loller" according to Justice down the road and passed our Italian friends one more time.

Next on the agenda: the Maasai village.

The Masaai

The warriors wear red to scare away lions. They stretch out their earlobes. They still live and dress traditionally. They live off blood mixed with milk and meat, sometimes corn. They are the only people allowed to kill lions (if they are attacking their herds). Killing a lion is like earning a degree. It's the ultimate in bravery. At night when you are sleeping outside with your herd you put your spear straight up into the air so when the lion jumps on you, the spear gets him first. I met a man who killed 2 lions this way. The woman is the one to choose the man she wants to "date" and the man can't say no. She chooses based on how high he can jump. Multiple wives are normal. Female circumcision is still practiced. And however many little scars you have on your upper arm is how brave you were when they were burning you with sticks when you were 14.

For about 30 dollars you can tour a Maasai village and take as many pictures as you want. The money goes toward school fees and I really wanted to take those pictures. It was totally worth the experience. The warriors welcomed us with a welcoming dance where they ran out yelping and grunting then formed a semi circle and switched off jumping in the center. When they jump, they move their head back and forth like a chicken. One little 2-year-old boy was jumping right along with them! We danced with them, jumping, holding hands, not knowing what the heck was going on. When they dance with the women, they also run at them, yelping and then flick their long fake braided hair on the women. Apparently the women like it. I didn't. Now that we had danced, we were Maasai and could enter the village.

The women greeted us with a song, always doing the same neck thing. They were gorgeous! Bright blue, orange, yellow, and red fabrics tied around their necks, beads everywhere, ear lobes stretched out and decorated with more beads. They wanted us to stand with them and sing with them. They are so beautiful with their black black skin and brilliantly colored clothes and beads. The contrast is captivating.

They made fire by rubbing a stick on wood (don't try this at home!) and gave us a tour of the two room mud houses; the fam sleeps in one and the calves sleep in the other. I must admit I was in heaven taking pictures of all the gorgeous people, especially the really old and wrinkly ones.

On the way out we met a herd of cattle on the road and were surrounded before we knew it. That was a throw back to my childhood on the Cox's ranch. For all I knew, I could have been in Texas at that moment. J

It's a Small World After All

I am ever amazed at how every time I leave my house, something incredible happens. Dinner after the Maasai village was no different. After helping myself to seconds of the apple crisp, one of the cooks started up a conversation with Amy and followed her back to the table. Everyone there was uber-friendly, so this was nothing new. We're chatting, and then he asks us if we are Christian. "We are." "Where do you pray from? Protestant?" "No, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is not very big in Uganda. Do you know it?" "Yes I do." "No, not Church of Christ." "No, I know. I know it. I pray from there." "No, really, are you sure? We are very few here." "Yes, I know. I was at the dedication of the temple in Helsinki ". GET OUT!!! YOU REALLY ARE LDS! I almost jumped out of my chair. I swear to you, Africa is the craziest place on the face of the earth. He met the missionaries when he was studying Culinary Arts in Helsinki. He told us his conversion story, his family's conversion story, and then we moved the convo to the veranda for some fresh air and hot chocolate. Some people have the gift of believing. Joseph has this gift. He just can't keep the good news to himself. J I asked him if he was surprised to find out we were LDS. No, he said. I was surprised. I asked if he met many LDS members at the Lodge. Nope. We were the first. But he said he wasn't surprised because he "witnesses" all the time. He's constantly sharing the gospel with staff members and guests and didn't even bat an eye when he found out we were members, like he already knew it or something. I practically fell out of my chair. He just expected it.

We talked about life, about the need to be converted, about the incredible gift we have, about how he can't keep this gift to himself. It was God that gave it to him and he must share it because it is not his own to keep. We laughed about how everyone in Finland would come to see the African member of the church. I'm pretty sure he was the only one. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in our lives and how it is essential to guiding us through this world. I'm constantly impressed by the faith of the members here. They are so humble, so believing, so strong, and so open.

Who ever would have thought I would meet a member of the church at a lodge in far east Kenya over ice cream (which he snuck for us) and apple crisp?

Day 3 of Safari

It couldn't be over already. I needed at least another 5 days.

We left at 6:30 for an early morning game drive. I had visions of watching a lion kill breakfast or seeing a cheetah chase an impala or coming across some elephants close to the road. No such luck. We drove around the beautiful countryside, watched the sun burn up over the mountains, enjoyed the cool breeze and didn't see a single animal but for a tawny eagle and our favorite safari car of Italians and Chileans. Really, it's uncanny how many times we randomly ran into them. And it doesn't stop there!

But I was content. Even without seeing any animals, it was so beautiful and peaceful I was enjoying every second. It's like a calm I have rarely felt in my life. With the early morning sun turning the long grass a golden yellow and the wind whipping through my hair, I couldn't have asked for a better morning. Ok, maybe if I saw a cheetah running.

Minutes before we reached the lodge to pack up and leave we came upon a sleeping male lion. He lifted his head for just a second, then went back to basking in the sun. Lines from The Lion King were running through my head the entire time. "Ooooo, Mufasa! Do it again."

Guys, I really didn't want to leave that lodge. The bed was nice, the shower was great, but the food was the best part. Just the toast and salad alone. Breakfast was of course marvelous – I happily overate for the long journey back. One last ride with the top popped and then it was back to free body massages, herds of Maasai cows with the lone herder, and harassing bathroom breaks.

So, I'm standing there at the souvenir place, contemplating which ebony giraffe I want to buy when I hear "Ma come mai? Sei tu di nuovo?" I could not believe it, but my Italian friends had even followed me out of the park! Antonio and I really were destined to be friends.

All in all, it was one of the most incredible trips of my life. I highly recommend it. I highly recommend Penfam tours and Justice, my favorite safari driver. How cool would it be to take your family on something like that? I can't even begin to describe the feelings, the thoughts, the sounds, and the smells that are my new love. We'll all just have to go back together. And next time, I'll do it right: 14 days and Tanzania too. When I'm rich and famous… J

I'm Writing A Book

I've decided I'm writing a book entitled "Things I have learned from my 6 year old nephew". I've already got a few incredible entries. And here is the latest. I just had to share, being the sinfully proud aunt that I am. I have copied an email that Erin, my amazing sister-in-law, wrote to the family. By the end of it I could barley read the final words for the tears blurring my vision.

"I thought I would share a quick story with you all about our sweet Carter...

His school has adopted a school in a little village in Ghana, Africa. They are raising money for uniforms $6.00 each, book bags with supplies and a kindergarten building. So, they showed the kids at his school a documentary about the village and Africa in general, no inside plumbing, old raggedy clothes, no shoes, dirt floors, and told them someone dies every 30 minutes there, etc. They explained to the kids how $6.00 is not that much money to us but it is a lot to the people in Africa. Carter was so upset by this he set about raising money for this school.

I suggested he do a few chores around the house and donate the money he earns. I was thinking he would earn around $5.00 and feel really proud of himself. He was not happy with that idea. He brewed for a minute trying to figure out how to make more money. Finally he came up with a plan to sell his rocks. He has this collection of rocks sorted into colors that he has collected from our back yard and a few from the dinosaur museum in Ogden. He went to some of our closer neighbors and began selling his rocks. He priced them himself. Some were a buck, two bucks, five bucks, thirty-four bucks, and forty bucks.

A few of our very gracious neighbors bought rocks for $5.00 each, his cute cousin Christopher (5 years old) bought a rock with $2.00 of his own money, his aunt Sonja and Amanda both picked out a nice $1.00 rock they liked. Tyler bought a rock for free. All my change throughout the house was plundered and added to the pot. All in all he did well.

This little rock-star managed to raise $104.72 which he will donate tomorrow at school. His star contributors were his Grandma Livsey who bought one rock, a nice size fools-gold rock for $34.00. She then donated it back to the cause so someone else would be able to buy the rock again. Carter picked the price and wouldn't budge. If she wanted that rock it would cost her 34 dollars. She tried to talk him down but he wouldn't have it. So after a little negotiation and change counting she came up with enough funds to purchase the rock she liked.

After considerable negotiation, and I mean about 30 minutes worth, Carter managed to convince his Dad to match the money he had made during the day. He had earned $52. The deal they struck was $52. for a collection of ten nicely polished rocks plus one brownie. The cool part is that once he donates this money to the school they have a donor who is matching dollar for dollar everything the kids donate which will mean Carter single handedly, (well thanks to his generous family and neighbors) raised $208 in one afternoon. Now that is some serious fundraising.

He is now very worried about the kids in Africa and his aunt Hollie (she is there teaching in Uganda right now) who he is hoping is coming home soon so she is not one of the "one every 30 minutes" who dies in Africa. He prays for you every day Hollie!

Thank you to everyone who was so generous to buy rocks for outrageous amounts of money. It was really fun for Carter to feel like he is making a difference. He raised enough money for 34 kids to get uniforms so they can attend school. They can't go to school if they aren't wearing a uniform. We can learn a lot from our kids!"

I had the most adorable little second grader write Carter a thank you card and draw a picture. You can see it on the blog. I told Noah, the child, that my nephew raised a lot of money for children in Africa to have school uniforms. That is it. This is what he wrote:

"My name is Kutosi Noah. I want you very good. Thank you for children in the Africa. My father want you mother want you sisters want you brothers want you all the family want you very nice. I am nine years old. I want to learn in the classroom. All the class want to learn. We have colour uniforms. We have red, yellow, green, orange. at our home we have three cows, four hens, and two goats. My father milk the cows. We drink that milk, my father's name is Wakoka Alex and my mother's name is Horano Betty. Thank you Carter for do that. I want very very nice. Now Goodbey.

And he drew a picture of 3 children in their uniforms (he was wearing a yellow shirt and blue shorts that day) coming to school.

Thank you Carter!!! Having experienced first hand the reality of kids not being able to come to school for lack of uniforms or shoes or books or fees, I was incredibly touched by Carter's 6-year-old heart the size of Texas. Faces that I meet every day in the village flashed before my face. It is to be noted that Carter LOVES rocks, and has been building his collection for a while now. Sacrifice is giving of something good for something better. We just sometimes don't understand how better that "better" can be. And that is why it is a sacrifice. Six years old, and he already understands that giving is better than getting, sacrifice is fulfilling, and thinking of others before yourself is what brings true happiness.

I think my book will be a best seller.

Sports Competition

You know that feeling of when you were in elementary school and you were going on a field trip… that feeling of excitement, not having to do school work all day, getting to visit a new place, waiting around for the bus to come…that was the feeling. It threw me back to sixth grade when we all went to six flags as a class, and I held hands with Wesley Schmidt for the first time, even though we had been "going out" for over a month.

The children could hardly be contained. We lined them up at 8:20 and were out of the gates by 8:40, flag bearers in front. Walking all the way down to Bumwalye field (30 minutes of trekking at a good clip) was a stream of red and white gingham, and little shaven black heads bobbing up and down. I felt like we were in a parade, with all of the villagers sitting outside of their houses along the road, waving as we passed. On to victory. We were competing against 12 other schools that day, and of course we would lead. We'd been training for 2 weeks. Which I thought was no time at all. Apparently no one else even trained at all.

After crossing a very sketchy bridge and hiking through the banana leaves we finally came upon the open field. Incredible, I thought. The "track" was a painted black line in a not so oval shape around the field. Who knows how they ever measured that. High jump was two wooden poles pounded into the ground. Short sticks driven through drill holes in the poles held the bamboo shaft to jump over. Tilled earth served as the landing pad. For marking the spot where the shot put, discuss, and javelin (all owned by AAH by the way) they used small sticks with pieces of paper that marked the athletes name. A good eyeball and half of a guess and that is where we are pretty sure your discus landed, so here goes your name into the ground.

Those who weren't athletes were fantastic cheerleaders. They even sang songs in the vernacular saying something like "keep running! Because at the end of the race there is tea and bread with butter on it". I guess that is kind of the same as "we're number one, you're number too, we're gonna beat the whoopee out of you", right?

On your marks, set, WHACK – the slap of two pieces of wood hinged together and they're off! Some ran in button-down shirts and pleated shorts. Some ran in ragged clothes, holes everywhere. Some ran without shirts (even girls). All ran without shoes. Shoes would just be a hindrance. They only have money for one pair. And that is the pair they wear to school everyday, black, hard soled shoes, not good for running. Barely good enough for walking. And that is if they have shoes at all…

It was interesting for me to see other schools there, and their uniforms. I understand better how much more the kids at AAH have. I think I'm getting used to seeing raggedy clothes on every person I meet, legs almost ripped off of pants, shoulders ripped out of shirts. I even saw one girl who wore a sweater where the entire right arm was missing but for the cuff at the wrist and a bit of fabric below the shoulder. Why bother? I don't even notice it anymore. It's part of what makes me love them.

Order is more or less absent at all African events. Our teachers tried to make the situation better, but it was hopeless. No one was timed, but that's not that important. The important thing was knowing who actually came in first, second and third. Apparently there were a few discrepancies…and some cheating…but you can find this in any country. They marked laps by taking a bundle of sticks – as many sticks as laps – and then dropping a stick for each lap. I never knew sticks could have so many different uses. They even use them for toothbrushes!!!

One thing I can say is that African's are incredibly resourceful. Nothing goes to waste, everything has 20 uses, and you make do with what you have. You use the flattest and biggest piece of land you have, make a crazy track around it, don't mind the herd of cows passing through in the middle of the race, or the matatu that drives up on the middle of the field, or the bicycles passing through on their way to town, or all the wasted bits of chewed sugar cane littering the track and field. It made me smile. They are not so different here than we are in the West. Vendors (a boy with a plastic basin full of some treat his mother had cooked that morning) popped up like snack stands. Sugar cane was selling like cotton candy, fried balls of rice and beans went like popcorn and hotdogs. It felt like a real sporting event.

AAH did well. The girls led in almost every race, discus, and shot put. Boys did really well too – over all we came in third and we have quite a few people going to County on Friday.

We finally fed the kids lunch at about 6:00 that evening – rice, beans, meat – brought to the field from AAH on bicycles. Julie and I served the kids. I like being able to serve them.

One of the teachers commented that she doesn't like walking around with us because of the press of children that follows us wherever we go. I've just accepted it as a fact of life. And maybe it really is true that they have never seen a white person before. I mean, that would be something to stare at for the first time. At the introduction 2 weekends ago, I saw a man that was black and white at the same time, like he was wearing a spotted mask over half his face. I wanted to stare. I can understand how they feel.

This just in: One of the schools was having secondary students competing as primary students. CHEATERS! Good lesson to teach all your kids. About 4 students from one school were found to be imposters. I'm still confused as to what this gains them – but it would be like having a junior competing against a 6 ^th grader. Not fair at all… Everyone is up in arms about it at AAH, and they want to take some of the incriminating pictures I took of the various culprits to court. I'm not sure that will ever happen, but everyone is pretty excited that I actually have evidence.

I loved watching everyone, cheering with the kids, taking a billion photos, talking with locals, sitting in the shade with a group of AAH girls just hanging out, and being a support in general. Apparently the way I cheer is really funny to everyone in Africa. But I went on cheering anyway. It was fascinating to see how things ran…or didn't… and to see how you really can make something out of nothing with a bit of imagination and ingenuity. And it works just fine. Make do with what you have, and be grateful and happy about it. A race is a race whether you run it barefoot on grass or if you run it in high-tech Nikes on a track. There is still a start, a finish, a winner, and a feeling of excitement as your team pulls into the front. Sometimes Americans are not so different from Africans, I think. We are all members of the human race, and that counts for more than we think.