Boy how time flies!

I have just finished my third and final exam and now I’m sitting under the shade of an Acacia tree while my friend Becca does her laundry to the sounds of some Beyonce tunes. The sun is shining, I can see the very top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance, there’s a beautiful breeze, the birds are chirping, and everyone’s in a great mood because all the studying we’ve been doing for the past few days has paid off! We’re all done with academic work for this half of the semester! 

It’s weird…I feel like we just got here. I’m not ready to leave Kenya, I feel so at home here. When we got back from our camping expedition in Lake Nakuru, we all said “we’re home!” and then laughed at the unexpected fact that this really has become our home away from home. We’re going to Tanzania on the 19^th, and I know it will be great. It will be more new, more unknown, more “I’ll get used to it,” but it will also be another adventure, and another opportunity to meet great people and see new things. Tanzania is going to be really different. Firstly, the SFS facilities there are brand new and much less rustic than the ones here, so that will be weird. Also, the area where we will be (Rotia/Karatu) is very touristy (we’ll be right near Lake Manyara National Park…close enough to see the lake from our compound!) unlike Kimana which is pretty far removed from tourist traps, even with Amboseli so close by. Also also, almost no one in Tanzania speaks a good amount of English. In Kenya, English is the official language and English medium schools are commonplace, so my conversational Swahili gets me through most situations…but in Tanzania we’ll all have to use Swahili a lot more. Everyone tells me I’m really good at Swahili (not to toot my own proverbial horn, but I am damn good at it) I think it’s just because I’m good at picking up languages quickly. Hopefully my Swahili will improve even more in Tanzania because I’ll be forced to use it more. One thing I know for sure: our departure will be a teary one! I'm gonna miss the staff here SO much!

There are still a couple of things left to do before we leave. Later today we’re going back to the primary school to paint a mural for them and play some more games. Tomorrow the mamas from nearby Bomas are coming to sell us beads and show us how to make our own jewelry, and then we are having a feast! The head cook, Arthur, told us to give him recipes for anything we wanted to make and he went and got the ingredients. So tomorrow after we bead with the Mamas, we get to cook our own food. I’m making fried rice with sakura sauce! (For my family members…sakura sauce is “white sauce” :D) My friend Sidra (Dad! Sidra’s Dad is from Pakistan! We talk a lot about the food and Bollywood movies and stuff :D) is making falafel and black bean burgers, which I’m really excited for. My friend Patrick is making brownies, Karianne is making fried plantains, and lots of other people are making lots of other things…it’s gonna be awesome. We’re going to have to use the kitchen in shifts because so much stuff is being made.

So I’m gonna get off the computer now and enjoy one of my last afternoons in Kenya! Love you all!