Karibu Nyumbani

Last Wednesday, I hopped in a taxi at midnight to head to Nairobi International Airport to catch a plane back to the USA. Before I could leave however, our now tight-knit group had a campfire and small wrap up of the semester complete with paper plate awards, many laughs and goodbye tears. Its so hard to believe we were once a group of eighteen strangers, awkwardly saying hello in the airport just four months ago and now we have become so close that we melt to tears when it's time to go. I feel so lucky to have met these crazy kids, I know they will all go out to do wonderful things and they have shown me what I am capable of as well.

I am so grateful to have been able to go to Kenya, and to come back with a new lens on life. 
Sitting around, telling my family about all my adventures has really started to bring my experiences full circle for me. You know, when you are there, you don't really realize how much an experience has changed you, its only until you can share it with someone back home you notice the difference in yourself. I am starting to see the difference in my way of thinking, along with the occasional Kenyan habits that come out in action or conversation, like saying "sawa" (Okay) in response to a non yes-or-no question. This experience has really impacted my life in so many ways. I have a new respect for other cultures and a deeper respect for my own upbringing. I have learned to appreciate the comforts of home, but understand that it is okay to leave them behind.

Its hard to believe that my time in Kenya has come to a pause, a pause because I have other things to do, like graduate college before I can go back. I am so thankful for having an amazing group of people to travel with and to have met some absolutely inspiring people along the way. My host families really helped me to feel like family, and we will have that bond forever. Mama Maggie with Dorobo taught me to ishi sasa. I have hiked across the Great Rift Valley, hunted with the Hadzabe, lived with multiple different Kenyan families, played with orphaned elephants, became close friends with pro rugby players, gained insight to who I am, and most importantly, made a difference. 

The most beautiful thing that I have witnessed on my trip, and the one thing that really stuck out to me, was the genuine happiness of people who have absolutely nothing. Here in America, we have so much pressure to grow up, be responsible, go to school, get a job, go to more school, get a high-paying job, pay off your loans, pay for a house, have good insurance so you can what? so you can rush through life and FINALLY retire and be happy when you're 65 and halfway out the door? I am not saying I don't appreciate the opportunities I have and I am certainly not saying don't go to school and don't work hard, I repeat, STAY IN SCHOOL. What I am saying, however is find something, even just one thing in your life that makes you truly happy all the time, and use that one thing to inspire yourself to not only better yourself, but try and give other people a reason to be happy too, and maybe we can make the world a little bit brighter. I am so privileged to know what it feels like to be completely genuinely happy with what I am doing and where I am in life and I understand that not many people get that chance, but I think that if you can find at least one thing that makes you genuinely happy, you're doing pretty well.

Tutaonana