(not much of) Kruger and (mostly) Thoughts

Hi everyone...

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this blog up. I know some of you have been waiting. I'm also sorry that it's not going to be what you were expecting. I've been wanting to write about our spring break trip to Kruger National Park and Soweto, but it was such a long trip and so much happened that I've been kind of putting it off. Also, I knew that I would only talk about the good parts, the parts that I think people want to hear about. And in a way, I don't feel right just doing that because it makes this entire experience seem kind of glorified. And it's really not. It's just me living here. I mean, I'm getting to experience all these things that a lot of people who live here don't even get to experience, which I'm so grateful for. I do realize how blessed I am. But really, the best experiences that I'm getting here and the things that I'm learning the most from aren't about spotting a lion or getting a picture with an elephant. It's just about life. It's about living in a country different from the one that I've grown up in, a country that is so wonderfully different in so many ways. It's about interacting with the people here and learning about the culture and the way that they live everyday. It's about making a cup of coffee for the car-washer who lives on the street outside our house and taking his advice when he says to look at the mountain because it's looking beautiful today. It's about experiencing diversity in all shapes and forms, and it's about observing firsthand a country that has been through so much, so recently, and getting to watch it grow stronger in itself every day. It's learning about people, about perseverance and struggle and hope.

So basically, I can't write about our spring break trip like I had wanted to and like a lot of you were expecting me to. I will say that it had some really low parts and some really high parts, and if you're curious to know specifically about any of it or have any questions, feel free to ask me. I'm happy to talk about it, I just don't think I'm going to post it online. The pictures pretty much document all the good stuff that happened (by the way, if you haven't seen the pictures and want to, let me know and I'll email you the link...) and I don't feel like I could explain everything else in just a blog post, nor do I really want to try. So...again, I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone, but I do hope you understand...these are the experiences that it's about for me.