One Day At A Time....

This past week has actually been quite relaxing. Aside from the departure of my sister, visitors coming and going, and a constant running of my mind I've soent the week just prepping my English lessons for the school!
Since I last blogged the day after my sister left and yet  failed to tell you anything about our last day together, I'll tell you all about that eventful day!
Last week, Thursday, my sister was scheduled to fly out from Entebbe, Uganda at 10:45 p.m. We had discussed some plans about the day with Lary Streitzel to figure out what we could still manage to do with the little time we had left and decided to fly out to Epulu, a village West of Bunia, to visit 2 pygmy villages and see practically the coolest animal on the face of the planet.....the Okapi. I know, I know.....you're saying to yourself right now "What in the world is an Okapi? I've never heard of that..." We'll it is most likely true that you've never heard of it because they are extremely rare. Okapi are only found in one place in the world.....Can you guess it? CONGO! Good job! They are in the giraffe family and are so cute and fuzzy! Kristen and I agreed that they look like a cross between a really cute anteater, a giraffe, and a zebra. Check out a picture of one here.
Well, there is a place in Epulu where you can go and take pictures of the Okapi and even pet them! We were able to do both and had a ton of fun. :)
After we did that, we headed down the road to visit the pygmy village. Kristen, Lary, and I sat in the bed of the truck and as we drove down the road so many little kids came out of their homes shouting "Muzungu!" (foreigner!) and running after the vehicle smiling. There was one little girl I remember specifically. As we were driving, I saw a little girl of maybe 3 or 4 playing by the side of the road outside her house. As we drove past her, she got this huge smile on her face and her eyes got really wide; she started jumping up and down and shouted loudly," MUUUZUUNGUUUUUU!" She was freaking out just at the fact she got to see us. To know that we were able to completely make her day just by smiling and waving at her, actually, just by visiting......that made me so happy. I didn't realize how much these people appreciate us coming and just visitng until we got to the pygmy villages. We pulled up to a brush line and had to walk back into the bushes to get to the village. When we got there, we were greeted by the chief and invited to come sit down. They even tried to set Kristen up with one of them! It was so fun to see the way they live and just to visit and see them so happy to visit with us. Sometimes, you don't have to be bringing anything or doing anything for a person to minister to them. Just by giving of your time and taking the time to see the way they live and hear about them is enough to show you care.
Epiphany for the week. :)
Kristen left later that evening and I was very sad to see her go. I miss having her here, but am glad she made it home safely. If you have the luck of seeing her, ask her for a story! She has plenty, I promise....;)
I'm thankful every day for the prayers I receive and for the blessing God has provided me with by allowing me to come here. I see new things every day and am very excited to see what new things are in store for the rest of this time!

Maranatha.
-Kelly