Change of Address for TZ

Hey guys!

I got word that our location in Tanzania has changed. So please use the following address if you decide to send a letter, instead of the one I provided in the previous post. My Kenya address is still correct!

Carrie Kern

SFS Center for Wildlife Management Studies, Tanzania

PO Box 304

KARATU, TANZANIA

Leaving on a jet plane ...

I fly out in 12 days.

Where am I going? Funny you should ask.

I’m going on the freaking BEST study abroad program EVER. It’s called the School of Field Studies. This school has set up research base camps all over the world, through which they implement 5 year research plans. University students can study there for a semester or summer term, experiencing research, wildlife, and culture. Sweet.

I’ll start in Tanzania in the Manyara area, and end in Kenya, at Kilimanjaro Bush Camp (KBC) near Amboseli National Park. My program focuses on wildlife management, and the interactions between the maasai people and wildlife, and the challenges this interaction poses to wildlife conservation.

I’ll be able to update periodically, so stay tuned!

And for all my pen pals out there, here are my addresses for each site. Like I said, I’ll be in Tanzania first, and will post when I switch over to Kenya. Postage takes about two weeks.

Carrie Kern

SFS Center for Wildlife Management Studies

C/O Haven Nature Lodge and Campsite

P.O. Box 372

KARATU, TANZANIA

East Africa

Carrie Kern

Center for Wildlife Management Studies

P.O. Box 27743 (Nyayo Stadium)

00506 - NAIROBI, KENYA

East Africa

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to Skype and probably won’t be on facebook. Our internet situation and unstable and I have to share with 30 others. I think this will be freeing, so let me go already! :P Please feel free to e-mail me (ckern09@hotmail.com) or send mail. I’ll do my best to respond quickly!

My Goodbye to Aphids

Today was my last day working in the aphid lab. My boss gave told me he'd give me a dollar if I ate one.

Baha ... well after my hard-earned dollar, here's a video. Enjoy!

Protected

I'm leaving the country soon [more to come on this!].

Since it's my last week in Madison until next spring, I received a travel blessing at my church. It was actually one of the most beautiful things I've been a part of and if nothing else, it calmed me a great deal from the nerves of going abroad.

They called a group of us up, including those going to camp for the week and me, going to Tanzania and Kenya for a semester. Ha - little bit of a difference. The priest said a prayer over us and sprinkled each person with holy water saying, "God bless you out of Zion." I got extra sprinkles because I'm going further. Ha!

My favorite thing about the blessing was that I was assigned a guardian angel. So amazing. Any nervousness I've been feeling in the last day has been mellowed by the thought that I have my own angelic being watching over me. I know (but surely underestimate) that God watches over me but having Him command His angels concerning me (Ps. 91:11) is something so ... specific.

I'll leave you with an Orthodox prayer to your guardian angel that I've noticed. I think it's beautiful, and it's opened my eyes a bit more to the world of mystical beings.

O angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from heaven, enlighten me this day, and save me from all evil. Instruct me in doing good deeds, and set me on the path of salvation. Amen.

O angel of Christ, holy guardian and protector of my soul and body, forgive me everything wherein I have offended you every day of my life, and protect me from all influence and temptation of the evil one. May I never again anger my God by my sins. Pray for me to the Lord, that He may make me worthy of the grace of the All-Holy Trinity, and of the blessed Mother of God, and of all the saints. Amen.

Teresa Needs No Title

"... the important thing is not to think much, but to love much; do, then, whatever most arouses you to love. Perhaps we do not know what love is: it would not surprise me a great deal to learn this, for love consists, not in the extent of our happiness, but in the firmness of our determination to try to please God in everything, and to endeavour, in all possible ways, not to offend Him, and to pray Him ever to advance the honour and glory of His Son and the growth of the Catholic Church. Those are the signs of love; do not imagine that the important thing is never to be thinking of anything else and that if your mind become slightly distracted all is lost."

[St. Teresa of Avila]