Almost Three Weeks

7/23/09
So it's been almost three weeks since I've been back in the United States and I still think about Africa every day. Whether it's the bunches of facebook pictures my fellow travelers are posting, my attempts at starting my scrapbook, my slow initiations at raising money/awareness for Mama Sarah, or conversations I have with friends about my incredible journey...Africa is not easily leaving my mind.

Although I am not going to lie and say I am not enjoying falling back into the routine of all the material comforts and luxuries of my life here in San Diego... I do want to use this journal to serve as a reminder of what I have learned from this trip, what I hope will stay with me forever. As the dust settles from the trip, I have had the opportunity to have many great conversations with many great people about my journey. Many of the conversations have detailed the amazing feats of nature we witnessed on our two safaris (and trust me I will never forget that either!), but the ones that seem to be sticking with me are those about the people I've met and the "type" of trip I went on. Something I have realized over the past three weeks is that NOT ONE person in my life this time around (as opposed to when I did a similar trip to Ecuador in 2007) said "You're PAYING to VOLUNTEER?"...and I have to say I am so thankful for this small token that further illustrates what amazing and wonderful people I surround myself with these days. I am truly blessed to have the support and love from each and every family and friend needed to undertake journeys like this one. I am so lucky to have brothers who have similar values to my own and who undertook this trip with infinitely open hearts and minds. I love that upon my return multiple people have told me they would like to take a similar trip in the future.

As far as the people I met and the culture I experienced, I have had some great instances of self-reflection as well as wonderful conversations focusing primarily on acceptance, spirituality, religion and love. I am blessed to have friends that can help me see different angles of situations: "maybe faith is faith, and maybe it's always good no matter how it begins". I am blessed to have friends that "just don't get it" either: "we never have to agree with spending the equivalent of food for a small country on something that is going to be put in the ground...no matter how famous the person was". I am blessed to have friends that stand up for the acceptance of all people: "ALL means you don't get to pick between race, religion or sexual orientation...it means ALL". I am blessed to have friends that ask tough questions and open my heart to multiple possibilities: "maybe we aren't supposed to know the WHY behind disparity, maybe we are just supposed to do our small part to change what we can of it".

Amani,
Valerie