Baby Elephants and Giraffe Kisses

No, not the name of my newest children's book. Just a day in the life...

While the BFF was visiting in March, we hit up the famed suburb of Karen where we visited an elephant orphanage, as well as a giraffe observatory (if only we could stay there, too! Mom and Dad???)

It would literally take DAYS to upload all my pictures to Blogger, hello Nairobi wifi! So here is a link to see the pictures on Flikr. Sorry they are so orange...I was trying to be artsy and use the miniature setting on my camera. I'm sure Miss W has better pictures somewhere on the web...

The elephant orphanage is so much more than just oooohing and ahhhing at cute elephants. They take about 20 minutes to explain how they save all the babies in the wild (victims of accidents, poaching, environmental issues, ditches/wells, and human encroachment/cruelty). Some of the stories blew my mind, it's all funded my private donors, and it's awesome how far they'll go to rescue one of those cute little (huge) guys. I actually learned SO much there, like how sensitive and emotional elephants are, and how they can die easily simply from trauma, stress, or depression. They rotate trainers every single day because the elephants will bond so much with one trainer that if he/she takes a vacation it might literally die due to sadness...crazy, huh? I wish I could remember all that I learned there, it was fascinating to hear how they take around 12 years to rehabilitate these elephants back into the wild. At the end of their time, they are 100% wild again, and go on to mate and live with wild herds. It was so amazing to see these tough, huge, animals and see how they really are like little babies/toddlers, drinking out of bottles, playing, fighting, etc.

Ironically, one of the toddlers got a little riled up right in front of me, and I ended up getting body checked by a ginormous baby elephant...but I loved it! The crowd gasped, Whitney and I laughed, and I felt special the rest of the day.

After that we ate lunch at this hidden little gem of an inn, complete with...a dragon fountain/sculpture at the pool. Then it was off to the giraffe observatory where we hand fed giraffes, and then each got a kiss by strategically holding a food pellet in our mouth to tempt the (lady) giraffes to kiss us with their incredibly long, purple and scratchy tongues. It was an incredibly strange and magical moment.

Needless to say, a beautiful day with the bestie and the beasts!

Happy 4th and 150th!

Today is my 150th day in Kenya. Don't worry, I didn't know that until I decided to count it out for this post. And it just so happens it's a nice, round, momentous number! Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and for the first time 3 years I won't be in a dinghy with my parents and friends in Marina del Rey watching fireworks from the channel. And apparently no one will, as my lovely state is flat broke. I will be celebrating the way that any patriotic American living in Kenya should...at Diamond Plaza, eating Indian food with my hodge podge group of friends that are in town. What says God Bless America more than naan and butter chicken? I'm hoping to make an apple pie, which should round things out.

With 150 days of life in Kenya under my belt, there is a lot to celebrate, reflect on, and laugh about:

My first birthday in Kenya, and my first fancy dinner out in Nairobi at Zen Garden, and my introduction to Kim's idea about what constitutes a picture opportunity...

A trip to Uganda to raft the Nile...in which I didn't drown, but thought I might. Also worth mentioning were the giant rats that fought it out in the roof 8 inches from my head on the top bunk, directly under a giant hole in the bamboo ceiling...and I went right back to sleep. Who says I'm high maintenance? The dead rat the size of a Yorkshire terrier outside our room the next morning proved some didn't fare as well as I did...

Matatus...van-taxis that abide by no apparent traffic laws, have incredibly crazy names like "Radiant Dancer" and "Blessed" and more than occasionally cause traffic jams, accidents, or Kim to lecture out of the car window. Just last week I took my first ride in one, which was happily uneventful. 

Whitney's visit! Sharing my new life with my best friend was an unmeasurable blessing. Not only did we have an epic safari in Masai Mara, but we visited baby elephants at the elephant orphanage and kissed giraffes. And that is giraffe food I'm holding in my mouth...not my tongue. 

They really are amazing, otherworldly creatures. Out near camp, we see them in the wild fairly regularly. Did you know that when they run, it looks exactly like slow motion? It's kind of crazy. I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing giraffe, baboons, monkeys, zebras, and antelope in "regular" life. 

Getting used to a no voice-mail world, which means a lot of texting, "flashing" people (where you call them once and they call you back), and people calling you 2-4 times in a ROW when you don't answer, letting it ring approx 15 times each. Add into that that the camp phone is my iPhone, and that parents call me at all hours of the day (9am on a Sat, 8:30pm or 7:12am any old day...) Love it. 

The beginning of my love affair with Ethiopian food at Habesha. A taste of LA at The Tribe. A re-discovery of chocolate mousse and a taste Europe at Art Cafe. $12 massages and incredible food at River Cafe. Stove-popped popcorn...even our housekeeper makes fun of how often I eat it. 

My first foray into middle school theater

A week on the African coast, complete with a sail in a wooden boat potentially held together by rope and scotch tape. Tide pools, cliff jumping, sea anemones, and a million stars by a campfire on the sand with friends. Ahhhhhh

Banana and taro chips. Tree tomatoes. The complexity of baking in another country. Shopping at a market, a green grocer, and a butcher every week. 

Trying to (and failing at) making homemade lard. For a pie. Which involved a flirty butcher, free fat, and the fact that I no longer shop there due to sheer awkwardness...

Discovering my intense fear of hippos. 

Becoming hooked on Brothers and Sisters. 

New friends. New life. New challenges. Same God. 

Happy 150th day together, Kenya. I don't say this lightly, I am falling in love with you, more and more each day.

Camp=Spandex and Face Paint

Yes, I am a very horrible blogger. I got distracted by a middle school production of Alice and Wonderland, gearing up for camp, a staff of 20+ college students arriving 6 weeks ago and all the glories of being at and helping to run a summer camp. Whew. But I couldn't go a day longer without explaining something truly important to you. About camp. And spandex unitards. Oh yes, what could be more entertaining to kids 7-18 then a bunch of adults wearing spandex body suits, wigs, and face paint?

The entire camp is divided into two teams, Chumvi and Nuru (salt and light), and we compete all week in teams for the fame and glory of winning the Chumvi/Nuru bead at the end of camp. Nuru is blue, Chumvi is red, and we have a bevy of dress-up clothes at our disposal. This was for the video we filmed to show each week--Kim and I went all out, and I was first introduced to the spandex "blue-nitard" that you may see again...in case you're wondering, Nuru has won both sessions of camp. :) 

The BlueSky Avenger is a regular Camp BlueSky hero. He even has a theme-song...Living on a Prayer by Jon Bon Jovi obviously. This year, he met his new arch-nemesis...the BlueSky Avenger. Isn't she pretty? Her theme song, incidentally, is Uptown Girl. They have a video, and make an appearance towards the end of camp where they have somewhat of a dance battle...ain't camp grand? 

On Fridays we have a very special night at camp called Summit Fires, and the entire camp comes with their faces painted in special colors for each group. Staff get to use all four, yippee. This was week one. 

And this was week two, after we had all received our special camp names. It's a long-standing tradition and there is a meaning behind each name. From left to right I give you: Rock, Star, Ice, Mama, Vendetta, Legend, Bro, Jubilee, and Sunshine. Oh, camp. 

And lastly, on Thursday nights we have BlueSky's Best Dance Crew, and the judges tend to be famous characters from movies or TV. The first week was Saved By the Bell (I was Lisa) and the second week some Wizard of Oz characters made an appearance. Dorothy, Glinda, Wicked Witch and Scarecrow. 

And y'all wondered how I'd put my theater degree to good use in Kenya? 

Snaps

Suffice it to say I haven't had time to be a great blogger with Michelle's arrival, Whitney's two week visit, our amazing safari, a week of substitute teaching and now a 5 day trip to the coast (yes, I realize I've been on 3 trips in two months...TIA).

To tide you over, here is a link to some of our safari "snaps" as our driver/guide/guru Evahnsu called them. It was life-changing, epic, humbling, glorious, amazing and so many more adjectives!

Love to you all!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2652386&id=3409163&l=e96d375e9c

Good thing the BFF is a Photographer

Not only is the BFF beautiful and hilarious and super smart...she is an awesome amateur photographer. AND she has a sweet camera and even rented a cool lens for our safari adventure. So you and I get to benefit from this. I don't have to worry about taking cool pictures of my house/neighborhood/friends/adventures over the next two weeks, and YOU get to see much better photo documentation of my life here. Follow along on my Flikr photostream and enjoy the adventure with us.

Highlights so far include:

CRAZY Nairobi Friday night rain traffic (welcome to Kenya, Whit)
Being paid by the Nairobi airport to leave (seriously, they gave me money)
Whit meets the team: friendship worlds collide and i LOVE it
A turtle sighting (first wildlife)
Peanut butter eating (goes great with mini-bananas)
10 hours of sleep for Whit: she is a jet-lag rockstar

Christmas in March

As if having the BFF arrive yesterday was not splendid enough (the airport arrival was dramatic, joyous, and involved lots of jumping up and down), more excitement was to come when we arrived at the house and she started to unpack...and unpack and unpack and unpack. No, she didn't bring 12 pairs of shoes...but she DID bring half of Costco (thank you Papa Dan!!!!) to replenish my supply of American "needs". Yes, I've only been here for 6 weeks, but as she is my only visitor expected in many months and it really is amazing how exciting it is to receive goods that you just know you could never get here. It really was like Christmas. Take a look at the loot.

In case you can't see, here is what was lugged halfway across the world. 

The biggest bag of chocolate chips I've EVER seen

6 lbs of creamy peanut butter (I never knew how much I loved American PB until I was deprived)

Baking chocolate: unsweetened and semi-sweet...hello cupcakes)

Sunscreen

Puffins cereal and Tootsie Pops courtesy of my sweet friend Becca!)

About 20 bags of mini Reese's cups

Paper from Paper Source--room decor! 

And as if all that wasn't enough...a brand new pair of Kenya Stripe TOMS for my bday. :) 

I cannot wait to show Whit around, we're off for a walk in the dewy post-rain African dirt. So SO blessed. 

Climbing

Finally my climbing shoes put to good use! This weekend Jason, Stephen, Andrew, Anna and I headed out of the city for some sweet rock climbing, repelling and giraffe sighting (chasing). Take a look at our photos here.  I am beyond blessed by this adventure, and these friendships!