Finally settled in!

Hi guys! This is about to be reeeeal long, so prepare yourself. Haha sorry I haven't blogged until now! I've just been getting used to things and settling in. Plus, we didn't have internet at our house for quite some time.. But now things are solid. and I promise I'll start blogging about my experience so far and from now on! :) life is really good here in Africa. Still, even though I've been here a month, every time I actually say or write that I'm in Africa, it blows my mind. Haha it's always been a life dream and now here I am, on the other side of the world, helping people in need! It's unreal. :) On that note, thanks to everyone who has donated! I am so blessed to have so much support in whatever I choose to do in my life. I have amazing friends and family. And the money is going to some incredible and inspiring people here to use for good!

So, when I thought of Africa, a jungle didn't pop into my head. I would picture desert and a bunch of nothingness, cool Lion King trees, mud huts, and people dressed up in Maasai clothes. But to my surprise, the area we're in is extremely tropical! Banana trees, sugar cane, sunflowers, and corn everywhere! The people here love to farm. So they have amazing greenery everywhere! A lot of people carry around machetes because they're working on keeping their plants/trees looking good. And they do a dang good job at it! It's beautiful!

And the people are just as beautiful as the scenery. It's like everyone is family and they all know each other. We'll be walking down the street and a lot of people we pass either welcome us to their country or ask how we're doing. I love it! I wish we did things like that in America. Normally when we pass other people we don't even say anything. The kids here are especially cute. When we walk to our bus stop (daladala stop) every day, there's this group of about 10 kids we pass that yell "how are you, how are you, how are you!" over and over, because I'm pretty sure that's all they know in English. And it's super adorable because they'll run up to us and either hug us or grab our hands and walk with us. Like..really?! Where did they learn that?! Cutest thing I've ever seen. It's definitely one of my favorite parts of the day.

They pretty much eat the same food all the time. Like me haha.. Rice, chicken, fish, beans oogali (like a mix between mashed potatoes and cornmael), or chipotte (like a tortilla, but heavier)..I'm kinda sketched out by the meat though since you don't really know whether or not they refrigerate it at all before they cook it, or where they bought it from..so I think I might be going vegetarian for three months! Haha and drivers here are crazy. People pass each other all the time when cars are coming down that same lane in the opposite direction! And they get really close to each other when they pass each other. And on top of that there are people walking in the roads and jaywalking constantly. And a lot of people ride bikes for transportation, and they ride them in the road. Haha so many different obstacles for these drivers! But even if it seems hectic, it seems to be somewhat organized chaotic-ness.

We've gone on some awesome trips so far! We did a beautiful waterfall hike, went to a snake park (I held a crocodile that snapped at me, and a snake! so cool), went to Zanzibar, and went on a safari!! My favorite so far would have to be the safari..go figure, right?! haha it's just always been a big dream of mine to go on a safari, and the day finally came! we went to the Serengeti, Ngorogoro, and Lake Mnyara. "Serengeti" in Maasai language actually means "endless plains", and that's exactly what it is. It's just a flat desert, no hills, with a bunch of cool animals like zebras, giraffes, lions, elephants, warthogs, buffalo, ostriches, rhinos, hippos..you name it! My favorite animal was definitely the zebras. They're just so pretty, and have the coolest stripes, and I love their mohawks. haha yeah, I was obsessed with taking pictures of them. Zanzibar was gorgeous as well. Lots of old buildings, super white sand, and bright blue water. Paradise.

It's really pretty here, but it's really sad at the same time. The people like to do random things to earn money. There's people selling things on the streets, like shoes, headphones, bananas..Just whatever they have. I've seen people going through garbages for food/drinks..Some people we pass will flat out ask us for money. The businesses aren't as organized as America. Either are the streets. There are a lot of homeless people sitting on the sidewalks with cups for people to put money in. There's only a few paved roads, most roads are dirt roads with rocks all over it. People throw garbage on the ground when they're done with it. There's flip flops, alcohol, wrappers, cloth, and food scattered in random places everywhere we go. When they have garbage at their houses, they just take it to the road and burn it, because they don't have a landfill system. A lot of people walk everywhere because they don't have money for transportation. They do their laundry by hand, and have cold water all the time. Even for showers. The power randomly goes out about once every day or two. The toilets in town are all squatty potties, which is a hole in the ground where they do their business. It's just sad that they've come to this point.

I'm glad I came to Africa. Even being here the first few days, I felt a lot more grateful for toilets, warm showers, washing machines, education, a family, money, food, transportation..a lot of things I had taken for granted. I'm so grateful for the time I get to spend with my family and friends back home. I'm SO grateful for the church, and how it's the same in different countries! The people may speak different languages, but the doctrines, the songs, their standards, and what they believe to be true are all the same. And it's so cool to see in person! It's definitely helped my testimony grow.

I'll write up another post of our projects so far! But now you know I'm alive and happy! Africa is the perfect place for me. :)