Jambo!

Jambo (hello in Swahili)!

I'm back from Africa and... Wow!, what an incredible adventure! While I didn't get to climb Mt. Kenya due to the civil unrest in that country, my school buddy Brie and I instead headed to Tanzania for a 5 day safari to the Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongo Crater. You name the african animal... we saw it! I'm not big on taking tons of photos but I did manage to get a couple great shots (one of my favorites posted here).

After the safari we headed to the East Coast and then took a ferry to Zanzibar... God that was beautiful (note Zanzibar sunset photos)! I thought of you all often and wished you were with me.

Africa really captivated me, I feel in love with it. Despite the intense poverty and a bit of fear for my well-being here and there, it was like seeing life as it really is... I was able to step outside of my sheltered life in SF and gain a new perspective and understanding of how hard life is for many and just how good we have it.

I kept thinking about what Spiderman says.. "with great power comes great responsibility". We truly have so much power to do so much good in this world. I dream about going back to spend a couple weeks volunteering in Swaziland. Swaziland is a tiny kingdom in South Africa that has an adult aids/hiv rate of 40% and one of the largest populations of orphans due to parent death from aids. They are desperate for people to teach, help build housing for children and to just give kids some love and attention.

Since I had a stop over in London on the way home, I took the opportunity to visit my friend from school who lives in Paris. It was amazing getting a personalized tour of the city. I was there for two days. The first day we pounded the pavement and managed to visit many sites and many of Dan's favorite local pubs. The next day we grabbed bikes from Paris' community bike system called "Velib" and rode all over the place. (See photo of me with my might steed in front of the Louve).

Can't wait to catch up with you all!

Love, t