The Gorillas

Hey everyone,
I am feeling normal again! Thank you so much for your prayers! It really means alot and helped! Sunday afternoon we travelled two hours to a smaller town. The ride was up mountains and there were tons tons tons of curves. Both me and Claire got car sick but the view was beautiful! This is a beautiful country. On Monday, we woke up at 5:30 in the morning and headed to the Goriallas. There are only 700 Silverback Gorillas in the world. We hiked up the mountains between Congo and Rwanda. It was amazing. It was green and just breath-taking. As I looked out, I couldn't help but see God's glory. We had military escort for our safety since there is a genocide going on in Congo right now. After a hour of hiking up hill we found the gorillas. We saw nine gorillas in all. A huge Silverback male and several young ones. We also saw a baby gorilla that was a year and half. We were so close I could reach out and touch them. During one part, we had to jump in the bushes because gorillas were coming up behind us. One touched Brian as she was walking by. It was crazy and alittle scary. I am so thankful for this opportunity. My favorite part of the trip was driving through the villages to the mountains. It was a hour drive from our hotel in town to the mountains. Claire and I had to ride in the back of the pick-up because there was no room in the car because our guide rode with us. We got to see "real Africa," the mud huts and the true villages. It was crazy though because it was like we were famous. The children would run to the side of the road waving and shouting. Some yelled "I love you" and others "Good morning." Some just would die laughing when we drove by. Christy said it was because we were riding African style and they have never seen white people ride like that. One little girl started yelling "White people! White people!" in Kenya-Rwandan as we drove by. Some girls chased us down the road for a while. They were so nice and friendly. Even the older adults would smile and wave. It was the best experience I have had. Brian taught us to say "how are you" in Kenya-Rwandan. The kids were shocked when we greeted them in their own language. On the way back, three Africans rode with us back into town. People were shocked to see two white girls riding African style with three African men. The looks we were getting were so funny. The villages was very poor. Many of the younger children wore only a t-shirt. It was very sad. Today I am up at the school helping out in the classrooms. The children are very funny and I love working with them. Keep praying for God to work through us! Thank you so much for all you have done! I am truely grateful for the experiences I have had. And Happy Birthday to my little sister! She turned 14 on June 8th! Much love Whitney :)