Thursday 12 September 2013

The journey, not the arrival, is what matters.

Hello from Northern Ireland!

I would just like to begin by saying a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me this summer. For those who prayed for me during my time away, for those who sent me messages of encouragement before I left and while I was away and also for those who contributed financially. It was/is greatly appreciated and I would like to just say thank you to all of you.

It feels like a long time ago that I was sitting at my kitchen table trying to summarise my trip and everything that was to come! And yet, at the same time, it's hard to believe the time has passed and I'm back again! I've had a week at home trying to readjust to the cold and rain! I think it rained maybe 3 or 4 times while I was away! So having rain every day here is quite refreshing, for now, although I think this will wear off quite quickly! Especially when I return to Edinburgh this evening and I have to walk or cycle everywhere! Need to bring out the waterproof trousers!

Anyhow, I would like to share some photographs with you that I had hoped to put into blogs along the way but the internet was often too slow to upload pictures. So I will try to briefly summarise the context of the photos as I don't want to just reiterate everything previously said. So off we go...

The Random Day I met a couple from the UK in Jinja and went to visit their girls home

The girls forming an archway on the way out

Gary teaching the Masaai

Masaai Church

Wilderbeest on the way back from church

Zebra on the way home from church


Samaritan Village lunch

Snake Park trip

Friendly baboon

Flora cheesy grin

Holding a snake! (Sorry can't turn it!)

David

And of course I had to aswell!

Camel rides

Doughnuts and juice on the way home

Wedding party showed up to give donation to the orphanage

Baby Hosea

Daniel

Rice and dodo

Kitchen

Indoor washing up area- if there's water!

Mama making doughnuts

Plaintain/Matoke

Simon and Daniel studying hard

My final breakfast

Eliah

Funny faces :)

Baby Lightness

Lunch time

Emmanuel

Jeremiah

Flora

Simon

Baraka (name means blessing)

Mount Meru from my window

Lunch time in a bedroom

'cooker'

Baby Sunday

Baby Lightness

Eliah and Jeremiah

Jeremiah again!

Little Isaac

Daniel

Zanzibar shores

Sunrise at 06:30

Relaxing on the beach

continental breakfast

Zebra fish- trying out my underwater camera

Tortoise aged 20 years

my octopus curry

drinking fresh coconut

stonetown harbour

church in Dar Es Salaam

Blue Mosque in Istanbul on my 24 hour stop over

So that hopefully gives you the pictures that went along with previous blogs. I'm heading back to Edinburgh this evening to begin final year of university. So I would like to thank you all for reading and following my summer progress. And goodbye for now! Maybe I'll see you again if I go on another adventure in the future!

Sarah

"And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives… and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted."     - Nate Saint