So, I am headed back to Kenya.
It is amazing to see the ways and orders in which things happen. I wanted to return to Africa last summer, but I ended up working at The Mission--a special needs orphanage in Mexico. It was an amazing experience in which I learned more than I expected. I learned a lot about thankfulness. I am truly blessed to live the life I live, and I have no reason to have the opportunities I do--other than being truly and wholly blessed beyond belief. 
My dream is to travel and work in orphanages, and farms, and with people of all different kinds. How exactly I am going to accomplish that with my social work major, and get paid enough to survive on (is something I have yet to figure out). All I know is that I don't need much, and that I just want to live in community with people just as they are. That being said, it is of no surprise that I am ecstatic about returning to Kenya this summer.
I got an intership with Foundation for Sustainable Development through University of Portland, and will be in Kenya from May 20th"ish" to July 31st"ish". As of now, am unsure what I will be doing during the intership, but I have no doubt that it will be a formative and a growing experience.
Have you ever had experiences in other countries that were tremendously embarrassing? Oh golly, I have. When I was last in Kenya, I was trying to get a picture of a beautiful child squatting at the top of a giant trash heap. It seems like an impacting picture--right? Well, I took the picture and got a ton of glares from the locals. I didn't understand what I had done that was culturally wrong until I looked that the photo that night. The child had been going to the bathroom. And just like that, I learned that while it isn't wrong to take pictures when traveling, it isn't always right either. It is far too common for people to travel to countries and take photos of people as if they are at a zoo. It isn't right, and it portrays you as an outsider who doesn't understand the culture. My goal in returning to Kenya is to obviously still take pictures, but to take meaningful pictures that make the community I am a part of feel connected, and like they are a part of my life--not just like they are an exhibit at the local zoo.
Also, I am going to Vietnam tomorrow. I will update on that next week.
