Sounds Sticky!

For the squeamish around bees (ahem, my best friend), it’s probably best if you skip this post.

The Women of Hope Bible study has a hive in their possession that is an absolute train wreck. Abandoned for who knows how long, the bees are aggressive and unaccustomed to people. The hive is full of holes and is unsanitary with leaves and dead bugs inside. And on top of it all, the last time Dad and I went, the stand underneath had completely toppled and a corner of the hive was in the dirt and the whole hive was askew. No wonder I got five stings all over my body and Dad’s hand is swelled up like a balloon.

My book knowledge of beekeeping is substantial but my experience is a grand total of three visits to the hive. My ultimate plan of action? Keep going down through the banana trees to the hive until the bees aren’t so testy. To pacify the bees, my father and I have to literally start a fire in a bucket and waft the smoke to the hive. So far, the smoke doesn’t even seem to be helping. We cut off a honeycomb and run, bees often chasing us, shrouding our shelves in smoke that does not subdue our tiny oppressors. This last time, we were there longer than usual moving the hive to a proper stand of cinderblocks, and things started to get scary even for me.

You could hear the hum go up an octave every time we took off a layer, this only added intensity to the situation. The bees went crazy around our netted faces and you could feel them buzzing in the palms of your gloves. Not an easy way to work and it makes me nervous. We try to work fast. We step back every now and then to see if the bees will settle down, they don’t. The bees are landing on us as we cut off a comb, their buzz up three octaves since we arrived. It’s really hard to keep a cool head, we’re programmed to not want to be around angry bees. Why do you think almost every superhero show has a villain with bees? Because it’s very unsettling! We place the comb in the bucket and decided we want to leave before we get stung. So Dad put the hive back together and I gather our supplies and the honey and then something very scary happens. I feel a bee crawl into my rubber boot. I freeze, trying not to freak out. Another one crawls in the other boot and even though I’m not afraid of stinging things, I’m not too thrilled with my situation as another bee joins its trapped sisters. My heart and mind are both racing, if I move too much I could get stung. So my body decides that the best thing to do is stand as still as a stone as I feel the bees buzz around on my bare feet. I knew I should’ve worn socks. Dad asks if I’m okay and I slowly explain my current problem, he suggests we walk slowly to the clearing away from the hives and then take off my shoes. Thankfully, my feet weren’t stung but I did get one on the knee and another on my shoulder and three of my fingers look like fat hot dogs.

My overall ultimate plan of action? Get these current hives cleaned, these bees happy, and then start two more hives that we have already bought. Once I feel confident (otherwise known as, “When my experience roughly equals my book knowledge”) I’ll teach the Women of Hope. From there on, we start the “Bee Hopeful” business by selling honey and beeswax products in their communities and markets. The grand scheme is to raise enough money to get the ladies who are interested their own hives. Bee keeping doesn’t require a lot of strength or time and if you start it right, it’s also pretty easy. At least that’s what I’ve read, so far these bees are proving me wrong... 

Walter E. Kitty

Meet Walt, the cat formerly known as Squeaker, the newest addition to the Clark family! We got him the day after Liesel's birthday. He's named after Walt Disney because he has a spot that looks just like a Mickey Mouse head. He playful, adorably awkward and exactly what we needed. We've been surrounded by animals our whole lives so even though there are monkeys in the trees outside, it's not quite the same as having a pet. I’m so sorry for taking so long to write this. We’ve been waiting to write this post to see if I could get over my allergies, we didn’t want to announce getting a cat if we had to find a new home after a month. It was rough at first, but the asthma has finally subsided without a hitch so Walt gets to stay!

When you uproot your entire home and shift it across the Atlantic Ocean, it’s a bit disorienting. Because of this, we often look for things that are familiar, sort of like when you move into a new house and start filing it up with sentimental things. When there are things that remind us of the world we left behind, like letters from friends, Cheeze-Its and a kitten, it makes our house seem more like home.

In our family, we have a strong belief of what HOME is.  We are quite skilled in “making it work” and can do so for long periods of time. But frankly, I’m tired of saying, “Back home…” As much as I don’t want to believe it, Africa is home now. It doesn’t feel like it yet, but we’ve only been here six months. You know the things you do when you’re in a sad mood? Maybe watch your favorite movie or eat something yummy or talk to your friends or whatever? For me, it’s creating. I get out my big suitcase, which I filled to overflowing with craft supplies, and just make something. But sometimes, I find myself longing for HOME. And glitter glue can’t fix everything (I know, I find it shocking as well).

HOME, my fleshly desire has decided is where things are always fine. It’s where you have things always right, you get to do what you want and you have your space where you can do your thing by yourself anytime you want. Notice the problem? Apparently, life is not a wish-granting factory. HOME is not about you doing what you want to do. HOME is about family doing what they’re supposed to do. And we are supposed to be here because God put us here. So yeah, I miss America and the convenience of America. We traded Wal-Mart for the African market and starlings for ibis. But until God says otherwise, this is HOME and there’s nowhere I’d rather be.  

Safari Chistmas

I didn't know I would actually turn sixteen. It was one of those things you just thought about, like if you were a gazillionare or a mermaid or a superhero. In books and movies, teens only get adventures if they're sixteen or eighteen. Do fifteen year old kids ever get life-changing news and use it to save the world? Nope. Sleeping Beauty, Katniss Everdeen, Ariel, Beatrice Prior, Jasmine, Candace Flynn-Fletcher, Hazel Grace, Lisel Von Trap, sixteen year olds get all the best parts. So true to tradition, it was only fitting I'd get my African adventure on December 25th, 2014.



The ride to the safari lodge was challenging. The staff at Simba lodge were angels, they stayed up till eleven to serve us dinner. I think I could've eaten my weight in onion soup. After sixteen hours of bumps and swerves, when we got to bed at one in the morning, I felt like I was sleeping on a boat. My bed seemed to be moving up and down as I promptly fell asleep. 

I have never been so surprised to receive presents on Christmas morning! I had no idea a package came in but clearly Santa didn't forget about us. It was wonderful getting some new stuff, we were all very thankful. Absent minded, I found myself looking around for the rest of my family. I must have counted my siblings a dozen times before I remembered that we were all there. The only people I didn't count were our family still in America. It felt depressing for the moment but the excitement was still there. My only option was to keep myself busy, which was going to be pretty easy.

We left for Queen Elizabeth park at dawn, when the animals started coming out. We couldn't have asked for a better sunrise, it was like "The Lion King". We all started singing, "BAAAAAA SABENA, BABABEESEEBABA!!!!"
There was a large group so our guide would be going in between our van and another during the safari. As soon as we entered the park, we started seeing animals right off the bat! Herds of water buffalo and gazelle and antelope, close enough to hit with a thrown rock. It was almost surreal. This is where they really live, no fences, no specialized diets, no one cleaning up poo. Completely free and wild, the only sign of humans was the dirt road we drove down, deeper into nature itself. We opened the sun roof of the van and stood on the seats to get a better view as we flew like the wind with the dust in our face. We were all completely filthy by the end but it was worth it. Then the car stopped and our guide came back into our van, telling our driver where to go. They had found lions! We drove through the dirt, off the path, parting through the grass and there they were. SIX lioness's were laying in the Sun. Truly an amazing sight! They wore tracking collars because they're endangered but other than that, they were living the life they were born to live. We had to end the tour early to be in time for the boat ride but what more was there to see? I got my birthday present from God.

 We got on the boat just in time. I made my way to the top deck to get better pictures. Immediately we saw more water buffalo and hippopotamus! They looked so cuddly and peaceful, rarely surfacing so all you could see were their big, black eyes and their pudgy snouts. We even saw little babies but it was impossible to get pictures because they only peeked out of the water for seconds. Then, in the distance, we saw them. A whole herd of majestic elephants. They were difficult to see through the brush but they were definitely there. If you looked close, a little baby elephant would shake it's ears at a passing water buffalo, as if it was warning it to stay away from such a big, tough (baby) elephant. What seemed to be the head elephant, came down to the water to get a drink and to check out the scene to make sure it was safe. He looked so happy, strutting around. Then he saw the crocodile basking in the Sun. He took two steps towards it and the croc fled to the water, faster then you could blink. I'm pretty sure the elephant was even more proud after that. It was so beautiful I could have watched it for hours.

We have been so blessed to have people that donated to make my sweet sixteen especially extraordinary. I will remember it my whole life and would gladly take anyone with me through bush to see nature as God created it.