Everything Glorious

"My eyes are small 

but they have seen

the beauty of

enormous things."

(David Crowder)

Well kids, today is June 9th. I stepped back onto American soil around 3pm ET (10PM Tanzanian time) yesterday, on June 8th. I suppose that means I'm due to update this blog? Had the internet not been slower than molasses in Moshi, I'd have jotted down a handful of scatter-brained blog entries throughout the 31 days I spent in Africa. But the internet was slower than the herd of elephants I saw waltzing across the Serengeti National Park, so I just signed on every few days to update my amazing family and closest friends. 

It's too hard to write about it all at once, or to write about all of it at all since I learned and experienced enough to write a book. So bare with me as I piece together stories and memories bit by bit. It's likely that this will be chronologically jumbled. Hakuna mattata. ("No worries.") I'll continue to write throughout this month... 

An overview: 

I was in Tanzania for one month [May 8 - June 8] through a UGA study abroad program. There were 8 of us in the service-learning group and about 15 or so in the more academically-focused 'Maymester' group. The service-learning group stayed in Moshi, Tanzania for the first two weeks while the other group traveled through the country to Arusha, Dar Es Salaam, and Zanzibar before we all met up to go on safari throughout the Ngorogoro Crater, the Serengeti National Parks, and the Oldupai Gorge for the third week of our trip. Fourteen of us climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for the fourth and final week of our time in Africa.

Our service-learning was concentrated at the Kilicentre for Orphans and Street Children. We raised the money for and built a chicken coop (and contributed something like 100 chics to inhabit it), developed a library system with additional books and a check-out system for the school, and taught several classes including English, Swahili, Art, Music, and Math. Each of us took a morning or two to work with a small group of students in a manner that reflected whatever we're studying back at UGA. Accordingly, Anne and I worked for two mornings with about 10 children, aged 6-10, in documenting their life histories and assessing, as best we could, the status of their mental health.

For an entire week straight while on safari, I saw lions, elephants, giraffes, a migrating heard of thousands of wildabeasts, antelope, impalas, baboons, ostriches, pink flamingoes, warthogs, water buffalo, jackals, hippos, eagles, vervets (sp?), zebras, and several other incredible creatures. One day a bunch of funky monkeys were hanging around our safari vehicles. Two of them started to get frisky. We later concluded that their monkey business (ha) was a ploy for another monkey who had jumped from the tree to the truck and reached down to snatch someone's banana out of her lunch box! The monkey then jumped back up onto the tree and ate his banana. I am reminded of the Dave Matthew's song, "Big Eyed Fish." Later in the week, just meters from our camp, thousands of wildabeasts began their annual migration. It was just like the Lion King with a forceful stampede of hundreds and hundreds of seemingly magnetically driven animals, obeying the laws of nature as they ran towards the next source of food and water. I never would have guessed I'd have seen a migrating heard of any creature in my lifetime. My favorite animal was the male lion. Probably because it reminds me of King Asland in The Chronicles of Narnia and all that he represents. "'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver... 'Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.'" (The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe; CS Lewis). 

I have more pictures of God's art, especially in His sun that faithfully and beautifully rises and sets each day and night, than I ever could have hoped for.  

Less than four days ago, I was on top of the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, Mount Kilimanjaro, along with nine other fantastic guys and gals from our group. I wasn't originally going to climb Kili because I expected to get an internship that would have started yesterday. But I didn't get the internship (because God had a better one in mind). My parents ROCK and shelled out the money for me to climb last minute. Fourteen of us trekked the Marangu Route over six days and five nights, June 1-6. Due to altitude sickness and other unavoidable ailments, only ten of us made it to the top at Uhuru's Peak at a whopping 5,895 m (over 19,000 feet). I didn't think I was even going to make it to Gilman's Point because about two hours from that landmark, my head literally felt like it was going to explode from an earlier bout with minor sun poisoning and a build up of fluids in the brain - the beginnings of altitude sickness. I was beginning to stumble like a [mildly] drunk skunk and I started to feel a little lightheaded. Fortunately, the guides were exceptionally experienced and kept a close eye on me the whole time. I never got quite sick enough that I had to turn back. 

I also uttered a small and desperate but powerful prayer: "Lord, if you want to show me your a picture of you and your glory from the top, you're going to have to carry me there. I cannot take another step on my own." It took an incredible amount of mental energy to focus my words enough to pray that, but God did hear, and delighted me with an eternal picture of His glory by helping me get to the top. The sun beamed its first rays amidst the pearly white glaciers on this dormant volcano while the moon and stars faded into the receding night as the biting cold wind sung high and sweet. Yes.

I don't have the words to begin to describe what I saw and experienced. I can say, simply, that I was blown away. I can say, simply, that I had never seen anything like it, that it was beautiful, that I saw His glory, and that I am changed. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was the most amazing thing I've ever done or experienced for several reasons, most of which I can't fully or adequately articulate. It was also one of if not the most physically demanding feat I've ever accomplished. (Considering I've busted my butt for 15 years on the tennis court, that's saying a lot.)

On the mountain, I saw Everything Glorious.

"My eyes are small but they have seen the beauty of enormous things."

I'm working on uploading pictures onto a dotphoto account and when that's finished, I'll post the link. 

We began the climb on Monday, June 1st. On Friday, June 5th at 12AM, we began our ascent to the summit. We hiked 5.5 hours in the black of the freezing night under the brightest full moon and billions of stars to reach Gilman's Point at 5:30AM and then, after a restless break where I became exhausted from chewing and swallowing a forced handful of granola in hopes of receiving even an ounce of energy that I so desperately needed, we hiked another 1.5-2 hrs to the very top at Uhuru's Peak. After just a couple pictures, I had to start going back down (the lack of oxygen was hurting). We began the descent around 7:30AM and got back down to Kibo just before 10AM. (That's right - 7 hours to get up, 2 hours to get down). A short nap and an early lunch later, our exhausted selves began the trek back down to the oxygen-friendly Horombo huts.

We flew for something like 20 hours to get home: Kilimanjaro to Dar Es Salaam to Amsterdam to Atlanta. Obviously I'm still processing everything from this past month - heck, I haven't even begun to write about my time at the Kilicentre with the amazing, beautiful children - but one thing I do know is that I was not ready to come home. I am so grateful for the experiences of this past month. All thanks and praise and glory to Him.