I kissed a giraffe

I'm just going to ignore the crazy long amount of time that has passed since my last blog point, and jump right back to my trip to Kenya. You don't mind, right?

I spent a lovely morning at the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi. The center is home to a number of Rothschild giraffe, an endangered breed native to East Africa. Connected to the center is the incredible Giraffe Manor, a lodge where the giraffe are free to roam and visit the guests.

The giraffe were highly motivated by the treats the staff gave us, and would whip their heads around searching for the people with the goods. They were quite gentle, but definitely made their intentions known. They were in it for the food. It was hilarious and amazing and I loved it.

People around me were holding the treats in their mouths and the giraffe would come in for a kiss. A kiss from a giraffe? I HAD to join in. Can you sense the romance from this picture? There was definitely a spark.

Giraffe Manor, where a giraffe might stick its head through a window to say hello!

Out of Africa (AKA where are you Denys?!)

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon I visited the home of Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa. Despite the sometimes uncomfortable colonial perspective, I loved the book and the movie. Real-life Karen made quite an impact on the surrounding community (now called "Karen"), though some remember her as an unlikable figure who used to boss Denys around. She did have a light on her porch that indicated whether Denys was allowed to visit. Bossy? Or appealingly practical? I'm undecided. She was certainly a firecracker.

The tour started with the guide reciting her painfully long monologue as fast as humanly possible. Honestly, I heard every third word. When I took a few pictures while she was still talking, I was instructed to sit down and wait until the monologue was over. Oops!

Waiting for Denys to fly in over the Ngong Hills. Sadly, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford were no where to be found. Next time. 

No sweating!

I have been called a klutz a time or two in my life. Or every day. But who's counting? This leads me to one of my favorite parts of my visit to Kenya. Whenever I dropped something, tripped or ran into something, the people around me would say, "Sorry!" They apologized for my misfortune with no irony or mocking in their voices. No one laughed and no one rolled their eyes. (Looking at you, DAVID!) This was my kind of place!

Another favorite? Going for jogs in Nairobi and not having anyone call me a mzungu ("foreigner," or literally "aimless wanderer" after the early European explorers). No one pointed out my whiteness at all, at least until I left Nairobi for more rural areas. Instead they just thought I was weird for jogging. A young security guard in blue yelled, "No sweating!" and an older man said, "Getting ready for the Olympics?" followed by bursts of laughter. Too much laughter.

Jambo!

Hi, friends! I am currently in Kenya for a work trip, enjoying the fast internet and good coffee of Nairobi. The purpose of the trip is to visit/monitor our HIV program sites in the western part of the country, and to prepare for a cervical cancer assessment taking place next month. The trip is two and a half weeks, with one week spent traveling around Nyanza Province and the rest of the time in Nairobi.

The visit was planned at the last minute, as they always are at my work, and it was not the best of timing.... While I'm gone, David has moved all of our things out of our basement apartment and into our new condo. Oh, yeah! We bought a condo! It is in the Brookland neighborhood of DC, and we are feeling very blessed.

Though I'm sad to be away from my family, I'm having a nice time practicing the Swahili I learned from a foray into Rosetta Stone Swahili combined with extensive watching of The Lion King as a child. Or should I say, The Simba King? Impressed, no?

Hakuna matata, rafiki!

Letting go of fall

As expected, fall was far too short and winter is here far too soon. This fall was perfect for a birthday picnic at the National Arboretum, the mixing of new friends and old, trying out the "best new sandwich in America" (doubt it), walks involving the carrying of large sticks, and learning to feel at home here in DC. Now, to winter and a brand new year. And learning to appreciate the cold (impossible).

Summer in DC

On a hot day toward the end of summer, we took a long, leisurely walk around the mall and the monuments. The tourists are in full force during the summer and into early fall, and I'm enjoying the slower pace now that the cold is imminent. But this day, they were everywhere. Tour buses lining the streets and a variety of languages floating past. People taking pictures of squirrels (who knew they were so exotic?). And I get to walk to the mall from my house. Lucky.

Anna and Greg

(Map of the farm, made by Anna.)

Anna and Greg got married this summer on their farm in Maryland. When we found out we were moving to DC, we had no idea Anna would be there too. We were overjoyed when we learned that not only was Anna marrying her perfect match, Greg, but they were going to live and work just 45 minutes away from our new home.

At the reception, David gave a speech about his first interactions with Anna back in the dorms during undergrad. She would sit in her room and play an old, broken guitar, and even though it was old and broken, she could make it sound beautiful. David wished the same for their marriage- that when Greg was feeling down and broken, Anna would bring the beauty out of him. That she would make him sing.

Crushin'

Last week we watched a little Boston terrier named Lucy, and Sundance was beside himself with joy. When she arrived, he spent the next hour watching her, tail wagging, while she explored the house and tried out all of his toys. One morning while I was on the computer, he jumped up on the couch and starting chewing his white plastic toy. I could hear him chewing for the next five or ten minutes, and when I looked back over I realized Lucy had completely taken over. Lucy had settled down right in front of him and was chewing his toy while he sat there watching curiously, tail still wagging. He was so amused by her, I could just imagine him saying, “You can have all of my toys. Anything. Just please say you’ll stay and play with me forever.” Followed by a deep sigh, “My parents are seriously boring.” By the way, we’ve decided Sundance’s voice is like the awkward voice-cracking teenagers from Monsters, Inc. Can't you see it?

A sabbatical, if you will

Looks like I took an unplanned break from the blog. Let’s call it a sabbatical and then I won’t feel so bad. Actually, it has been a bit challenging to find bloggy inspiration in our new life in DC, which is quite a bit different from our life in Freetown. In Sierra Leone, stories were everywhere. Our days were less packed and I had more time to think and process. There are stories here too, certainly, but it is different.

Washington, DC is a beautiful city (or...district?) and it is beginning to feel like home. Shopping for fruit at Eastern Market, jogging on the mall past Lincoln and Roosevelt and MLK, growing tomatoes and peppers in my very first garden, getting to know all of the dogs in Capitol Hill (thank you, Sundance). This is a sweet place and we feel very blessed.

However, this summer has been a bit “extreme” in the weather arena. Heat waves, an earthquake, and then the hurricane this past weekend. I have to say, Irene was a bit disappointing after all the build-up. Sundance is definitely enjoying the aftermath of branches scattered about the streets- one of his favorite things is to try to carry branches larger than his entire body. One of my NOT favorite things is getting stabbed in the legs by Sundance's branches.

As a native Californian, one might imagine I wasn't too impressed with the earthquake…and one would be wrong. David and I were eating lunch outside when it happened. First, I thought it was just the large truck that passed by at that moment. After things kept shaking, I said to our friend, “Aaron, stop shaking the table!” Once I realized it was an earthquake, was there a rush of memories from years of earthquake drills in school? Crawl under the desk, cover your head, etc? Nope, not at all. Instead, “Earthquake??? WHOA! THIS IS AMAZING!”

It is September now, and a wave of fresh, crisp air is finally pushing out the humidity. We missed last fall while in Freetown, so for the past year my soul has felt like fall should be just around the corner. The other night, after David and I had said good night and started to fall asleep, I whispered in his ear excitedly, “Fall is coming soon.” Needless to say, he was a bit creeped out.

We are going camping this weekend in Shenandoah Valley- our first family camping adventure! More on that to come.

A few pics from our vacation in California:

(My sister Leslie and nephew Conor)

(View from the amazing house we rented in Sea Ranch)

(Jen, me, Dad, bro)

(Conor mesmerized by David's mustache)

(Relaxing in Sea Ranch)

(Breakfast with Meg and the Blainster)

While we were gone, Dancer had some super fun play-dates with Annie, his crush who lives upstairs. Doesn't he look sooo sad? Like he missed us soooo much?

Too cool for graduation

Though I finished classes LAST May, my graduation ceremony was last week. Woo hoo! I didn't sign up to attend the ceremony since I didn't think we would be living near Baltimore (oops!), so we celebrated in our own way: tri-tip, cupcakes, and strawberry margaritas courtesy of my sweet husband. Plus, not going to the ceremony made me feel like one of those people who is way too cool for silly graduation ceremonies. I'm not, but it was fun to pretend.

Sidenote: Tri-tip is a strictly California thing. Like, people outside of California have never heard of it. This is shocking to me.

Cupcake master surpriser, at it again!

"I would like some tri-tip now, please. Thank you." Is it dumb to make up dialogue for your dog?

Thoughts on being a Californian

Dog shelter employee when we adopted Sundance: "You're from California? You should have said that earlier! Yeah, you can adopt him. Californians are so laid back."

Landlord about a kale salad David made: "What is this stuff?! Seriously, Californians always know how to do the coolest stuff with greens."

Friend from church: "I could spot you guys from a mile away- tall, blond Californians."

My boss while waiting for her to finish an email: "Gosh, you're such a laid back Californian, just sitting here nicely. Don't let me take advantage of that."

New friend: "You're from San Luis Obispo? How could you leave?!"

Landlord while looking at my garden: "You planted hot peppers? That is such a California thing to do."

Neighbor: "I've never met a Californian who didn't want to ultimately end up back in California."

Introducing....

The Sundance Kid!

Age: 9 months
Weight: 40 pounds
Hair: reddish-brownish (like his namesake)
Likes: socks, toys, all other dogs (especially licking their faces), tissues, my garden
Dislikes: grates, thunder, baths
Hobbies: stretching, begging, prancing, laying in strange positions, running up hills
Nicknames: Sunny, Dancer, Prancer, Dancey Pants, Sunz, Bunz, Mister, Baby Monkey
Breed: anyone's guess
Cuteness level: maximum

David at the Louvre