Home again....

Mt. Kilimanjaro summit at sunrise, from the airplane


It took us almost 48 hours to get home but we're back; safe and sound. The whole year went by so fast and now seems like a dream. I really can't put into words how happy I am with the way my trip turned out or how much all my experiences mean to me... so I won't. It's weird to eat vegetables and not have to worry about getting Typhoid, and living out of a closet instead of a suitcase, and not seeing Becky and Phil everyday, and hearing only English, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
In a lot of ways I'm different now, but home is the same and I'm glad to be back. Thanks for reading or at least looking at pictures.

Rachel

More from around

Mt. Kilimanjaro

When in Africa...go to a 50 cent concert?

The three of us decided that for our last weekend the hot, stinky, long, bumpy, cramped, not-so-safe, 16 hour in 1.5 days bus ride to Dar Es Salaam was completely worth a 50 cent concert. Firstly, because it was our last "big adventure" and also because when the hell would we go see 50 cent, let alone in Africa. A few other people were thinking of coming but it ended up being just Becky, Phil, and I; typical. I blame this weekend for turning my sporadic back pain into a chronic problem. Regardless, and as usual, we had an incredible time and it was well worth it.

50 and Lloyd Banks (Tony Yayo - not pictured)


Pictures from the bus:

Another continent, another pretty sunset

Rawanda

I mentioned before that CCS does a lot of cultural activities and programming. Moshi (the town I live in) is an hour and a half drive from another city called Arusha, which is where tribunals for the genocide in Rwanda are held. Some of the trials are open for public viewing and although it took two trips, we were lucky enough to get to see one. I've never been to a real trial before (although it's hard not to include the many times I've seen Legally Blond) so for something such as this to be my first one, was a definite once in a lifetime opportunity. The first trip we made to Arusha was a bit of a bust because the witness was deemed unfit to testify since he hadn't eaten in 48 hours (I was not happy because despite Malaria, I decided the trip was worth getting out of bed). Luckily, the second time around we saw an interesting testimony of a man who was the Belgian ambassador to Rwanda during the early stages of violence. Bittersweet is the only word I can think of right now to describe the experience. Witnessing some thing so closely related to an event such as a genocide is unsettling because it adds a level of reality to the stories; a reality that textbooks, the news, or Hollywood could never create. I felt the same way every time I heard my Grandma Lisa speak about the Holocaust, or any other survivor for that matter. On the other hand, seeing this process of exposing truth and bringing people to justice was in a strange way, comforting. The judges and others involved in the trial, were all from different countries. It may seem like a strange adjective, but to me, seeing people from all over the world unify to honor the victims as well as the cause was nothing short of beautiful. It's a relief to know that there are substantial efforts towards peace in this day in age. Although the everyday media makes it difficult, there's no harm in taking time to focus on, and appreciate the positive efforts of humanity.

We are Step-Up, the kids of Step-Up, everywhere we goooo

Anneti

Gladness, one of the smartest kids in school

My boys

Raymond

Juma!!beautiful LuLu

From top left: Teacher Moses, Teacher Ishmael, me, Teacher Olivereh, Becky, Teacher Louis, and Naseem.

His smile will change your life

Africa - pictures from around

Visit to the Masai tribe:
On the first day of our safari we stopped to visit a village of Masai Tribe members. The village is made up of a fire pit and about seven huts made of cow dung. In each hut lives one of the chief's wives and her children.


They wear shoes made of tires so as not to be tracked when stealing cows that they believe are rightfully the tribe's.
Hike to the waterfall: Phil's birthday!

us at the Bilbao