The end...

This has definitely been long awaited and I’m sure most of you can understand that since I have been home I have just been busy. Well let me be honest, business isn’t the whole part of the problem, I knew writing this would be a challenge and have been well, avoiding it. I think since it has been over a week if I wait much longer my readers will be gone and disappointed that I never finished, so let me finish.

Finals were interesting. What you do is write…and write and write and write. You answer anywhere from 3-5 multi-part questions by writing. So I will see how I did in a while, probably not until February – that is Kenya you know. Some exams were fair and some I hadn’t even heard of what was being asked but there isn’t really anything I can do about that now.

The last week I stayed on campus nearly the whole time. I spent a lot of time with friends. Raija and I had a few sleepovers, I spent time talking with Adams and just hanging out. I climbed to “the rocks” with a group of people so as not to start any relationship rumors (because that is what happens). I hiked to some other rocks outside of campus with my friend Octavian, had an awesome meal of cookies at Alice Matthew’s cookie party and tried to enjoy myself the best I could.

On Thursday, Raija accompanied me to Nairobi at 5:30 in the morning. We began our day at Gi Kom Ba, the biggest market in Nairobi. There were clothes EVERYWHERE; they even had shoes, towels, drapes, hats, and toys. It was the biggest “rummage sale” I have ever seen. When we were shopping for shoes the number of people was countless and you got pushed around and it was just crazy! The deal here is, almost everyone – especially in the morning – was shopping for massive amounts of items at a really cheap price to sell in other markets for a profit. I bought some tops and shorts for 20, 30, 40, or 65 cents. It was very cheap!

Life had been very good until Friday at 5 o’clock came…and everyone began to leave. It was this realization that some of these people are your best friends in the world and the chances of you ever seeing them again are slim. I mean I promised them I would be back in 2-6 years but if cell phone numbers change or contacts get lost it may be hard to find them. It is all about accepting what you have though. I am so grateful for everyone I met on this trip and I wouldn’t change that for the world. You learn a lot in making relationships. I remember being hesitant, not even long ago about making relationships you have to lose because once the two people are separated, what is left? But relationships are so much more than what is left physically. The memories you make in life, most of the good ones, and most of those that will ever stand out are the ones with people you are close to.

Being back for more than a week now and sharing my experiences with others I touch on all of the things I did, everything that was exciting and everything that was different than home. Than I am asked if I will go back and yes of course I will go back but what I’m not sure if people realize is my real reason for going back. It is all in the relationships – the country is beautiful but the people who became my friends and welcomed me there are the reasons I want to go back. When telling someone about the trip it is difficult to explain those relationships, they just sort of blossom out of something and eventually become strong. I have friends who may not exactly be my “Alaina” but for the amount of time I spent there we definitely made a strong bond.

I was so nervous going that I would have a hard time making friends, and it did take a while. The last night in Kenya when I had a “sleep over” with Raija we talked about how making friends is difficult and how deciding how much time to spend with a person is even more difficult. We both had feelings the first weeks we started hanging out about how much time can I spend with this person – does she think it’s weird if I always want to go for meals with her? Does she want to spend so much time with me? You waste a lot of time being bored worrying you are spending too much time with a person who actually wants to spend just as much time with you. I think looking at a lot of my friendships – especially those that developed in the last couple weeks I wasted a lot of time in the beginning not spending time with them.

I can prove to you in a very simple way how it was these relationships that made the trip worthwhile. Friday when everyone left I began to get teary eyed, it didn’t escalade to full blown tears because Raija and I began our girls night together. The next morning Monica, Lora, and Raija all left about 9 o’clock. Monica and Lora said good bye and loaded the bus. I stood waiting for Raija because she had run back to her room to grab something. As I stood there alone realizing hey my best friend is leaving and I don’t know when I will see her again I definitely began to cry. As soon as she got on the bus I walked back to my room – the back way. I had other friends loading those busses but I couldn’t stay to say goodbye because I couldn’t stop crying. My roommate, an RA, was the last good friend to go. There was a special bus for them at 11. She was the last one to load because she was writing me a goodbye note so we ran down to the bus and quick said goodbye as she hopped on. I walked back with someone which helped hold the tears in but once I was alone I got that bad feeling.

I spent about 8 more hours at school that day. I was still in Kenya and still had the beauty of the country but it just no longer felt right. I had a few friends still hanging around the school, but no one I was really close with. I spent about 45 minutes talking with one of the security guards, and a lot of time on my own just messing around on my computer. I had lunch with some guys and ended up with a Kenyan scarf because Map just said I had to have to have one.

On my way back to the room before supper I ran into Eric. Eric was a student in my Intro to Counseling class and was the first student picked to come for exchange. He wasn’t able to afford the plane ticket and won’t be able to come. We had never really talked before but on the walk back to the dorm he began to tell me his life’s story and we stopped and sat for a good hour or more as he talked. I have never heard something so amazing and the ways God has worked in his life are just unimaginable. I wish I had the permission to share with all of you but just know that if you have faith you can overcome anything.

We had a quick supper and I headed to the dorm to wait for the van that was to take me to the airport. Eric accompanied me and brought with him his friend Joseph. My other friend Peter Mathew also came with. We talked and shared some stories on the ride and it was great to have them with and not ride alone. When I got to the airport it was a quick goodbye because the driver needed to get out of there and you couldn’t walk into the airport without a boarding pass.

Well I got on the plane and in about one day I was home. If you ask anyone who came to pick me up from the airport if I was excited to be home they will tell you “no.” My face and actions weren’t exactly the overwhelming excitement you expect from someone who you have been waiting months to see – and they have been waiting months to see you as well. It was hard. I don’t really know how else to explain it, I was excited to see them but at the same time I have left a lot behind.

The transition back home has been difficult. I enjoy every minute of my life here and with these people but the “excitement” factor is relatively low compared to what I have just experienced. Just the other day I started really acting like myself again and I believe I truly annoyed my mom and Jordan. I think however that is a good thing. Just talking with someone today gave me the notion to actually think about being back and I came up with something to this extent – there are things you have to wait for – but in the waiting live life the way it comes. I think from here on out this is what I will try. I want to go back so badly and I know it will happen someday but instead of sitting here waiting for that to come; I am just going to play out life the way God hands it to me. All should go well.

As for this blog, I think I will leave it at that. You don’t need to be checking any longer to see what I have to say. Maybe one day I will begin a new one about some other exciting adventure but for a while life will simply be humdrum.

Thank you for keeping track of me and reading my experiences. There is so much more I could say and there are so many experiences I have left out but I know your reading time and my writing time are limited. Just so you know I am open to specific questions, and I like those because they are easy to answer. There are some tough questions too but I am open to those as well because they get me to really think and even realize new things myself. And if you want to see pictures just ask because I have many and am more than happy to show them!

So anyways, nice time!

mombasa...uganda...& more!

sand art!

who knew that a mombasa fisherman who likes to give people tours of the ocean when the tide is out could be such a lovely photographer!?here we go over the waterfall! (i'm the one w/ the yellow helmet in the middle)
I can sure hold on!

yay for rapids!!
woo hoo!!
So I didn't exactly jump off the right way...it's not supposed to look like that...

So I’m taking a quick break from my studying to give you all a (hopefully) quick update. There is no way I can tell you all of the amazing things I have been doing but here is a slight glimpse…

The weekend of November 20^th I went to Mombasa for roughly two days. I was allowed to bring one friend from Daystar for free and this was one of the most difficult yet easy decisions ever. My best girl friend around here Raija just went there about a month ago so I thought maybe I should bring someone who didn’t get the opportunity…but if I really wanted to have fun I needed to pick someone I was comfortable with…so Raija came with me! We went snorkeling, walked up and down the beach, rode a camel, visited fort Jesus, ate delicious food – every meal, had our own hotel room, swam in the ocean, went for a tide out safari, were “harassed” by beach boys and took 500+ pictures! It was quite the weekend, and was one of the most fun things I had done thus far. I’d love to give more details but like I said…in a hurry!

The next weekend I went to Uganda with Alyssa, yes Alyssa I’m sure you know who she is by now, a girl from WA. We stayed with a group called Empower a Child just outside of Kampala. We went to a children’s home with them and a juvenile home for a Christmas party. Another day we met with “Captain James” who is a pastor and runs some orphanages and churches. We visited one of the orphanages which is probably the worst conditions I have seen thus far, one meal a day, many kids in one room, no mosquito nets. They did some presentations and were really excited to see us though; I even taught them how to sing “Father Abraham.”

The most fun and exciting thing I have done in Africa so far came while we were in Uganda…I haven’t actually told many people yet because I wanted it to be a surprise and I doubt any of you will believe me but I have pictures to prove it. So here it is….Bungee Jumping and White Water Rafting on THE NILE! Bungee jumping wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be, I really wasn’t even scared until the realization that I would have to jump off the edge with my feet wrapped together and free fall hit me…but it took awhile for it to hit me which was good! The white water rafting was my absolute favorite; we did some class 5 rapids and everything in between. I thought I was going to be so scared, and I was afraid of falling out of the boat but it was truly amazing! The most amazing part was the scenery. The Nile is so green and there are birds everywhere and it is just beautiful! If you can ever make it you really should go.

The last thing I have done recently is attend a Kenyan wedding; I only saw about ½ the service and had to leave before the reception so I can’t tell you too much about the difference, but there really were some. The way the parents give the kids away and then they sign the marriage certificate on the altar. It was interesting but the strangest thing to me was the photographer! He took pictures, went had them printed, and then was selling them during the reception! I missed half the wedding because Adams, the friend who took me and his cousins had to go buy gifts so we ran to the supermarket. They don’t care if you are in and out of the ceremony or if you go up while vows are being said to take pictures! It was very different…

Now I’m in the process of intense studying for my exams. I took two this morning and they went ok but there were some things I wasn’t sure about…you basically answer three questions or three multi-part questions – all written – and there is your exam! But this is KENYA!

I am getting so excited to come home and see everyone but honestly I wish I could go home for Christmas then come right back. I am so happy and content here that I don’t really even want to leave anymore. Mom- don’t get me wrong I want to see everyone and miss everyone so much…but there is just something about this place that I am learning to love. My friends here are amazing and leaving them is going to be just as hard as leaving home was – maybe even more so because who knows when I will see them again. Soon life will be back to normal and I am going to miss Kenya so much!

Mfangano

I have just come back from one of my favorite experiences so far. This past weekend I was blessed to stay with a family on Mfangano Island located in the eastern part of Lake Victoria.

A friend of ours at Daystar, James, lives there and arranged an amazing trip for us even though he couldn’t come with. He gave us detailed travel instructions and made sure we were always in contact with him or one of his family members. Despite getting stuck in African traveling, our 8 hour bus ride turned into 10, bargaining for a taxi took a while, and missing an early boat only to wait more than 3 hours for the next which took over 3 hours to arrive (usually a 2 hour ride) caused us to reach Mfangano at about 4:30 in the afternoon.

James and his father started an orphan and widow school on the island and the first thing we did was go there, the kids had memorized some poems which they wanted to share with us. We met with the widows and took picture of the children. We had brought with us a soccer ball as a gift, we were told it would be nice to bring two however we couldn’t fit two in our bags. The next day we found out why, the kids were wondering if it was for the boys or girls to play with.

We headed to the home and were served the typical Kenyan tea and bread, of course it was insisted that we eat and drink a lot. This filled us up pretty good and we got settled into our room, one of the son’s huts on the compound. We were all exhausted but had to stay up for supper. In the mean time we were allowed to take a shower…imagine a fence made out of fallen branches and leaves…we had a bucket of water, an empty bucket and the great outdoors to shower. That was quite the experience, but it was actually really refreshing and sort of cool. The family we stayed with were of the Luo tribe so they taught us a few Luo words and their home was set up like the traditional Luo village. The weekend went by without running water or electricity – we did however have oil lamps.

On Saturday we walked around the island. Most people would say hello and we heard many “Mzungo! Mzungo!” or “Mzungo! How are you!?” from the children around the island. Mzungo basically means white person and I’ve heard it a lot mixed in with Swahili and then you know that people are talking about you! We went to the Island museum which was sort of boring and then to a friend of James’, Gilbert, home for lunch. The food we were served was A LOT. The people on this Island clearly aren’t very rich but when it comes to guests and visitors the meals are often extravagant. We had chapatti, ugali, chicken, beef, cabbage salad, and soda. This may not sound extravagant to you but truly it is when you consider the amount of each food they have and the amount they insist you eat it really was.

We headed to the lake for swimming with Jane, James’ girlfriend and Maureen, Gilbert’s daughter. The Lake Victoria beach was like…the olden days. I don’t know if that is the right explanation or not, and clearly it’s not the olden days because it still exists but the idea was uncommon to us. As we put our swimming suits on…just in the “bush” all of the ladies and girls began to stare at laugh at us. Swimming suits aren’t completely foreign to them but considered unnecessary. This was an all girls beach, except young boys, and the mothers were doing laundry in their underwear and everyone swimming wore simply underpants or nothing. Needless to say it was a “topless” sort of beach but not in the way you would imagine one in Europe. I guess I’ve never been to one of those either but it was certainly a new way of swimming. We were the only white people there, and there were only a few more around the island. All of the children wanted to swim and play with us. I taught everyone how to play “motor boat, motor boat” and they sort of got the hang of it. On “go so fast” all of the children “ran out of gas.” We didn’t swim for long because Jane was ready to go but it was fun while it lasted.

We headed back to Gilbert’s for tea, we were also served bread, biscuits, and even boiled eggs. When it was time to go we certainly didn’t leave full. Meeting this family was interesting, when we arrived we were greeted and told to sit down for lunch. A prayer was said, we ate, and then we left for swimming, came back had more greetings, had tea, and then when we were finished there were proper introductions and we introduced ourselves. We never had much of a conversation but still felt very welcomed.

We took motorbikes back to the family’s home. This was so scary! Imagine going 90 km per hour on a dirt road that had random speed bumps! A few times I was flying up off my seat and I wanted to tell the driver to slow down so badly but I didn’t!

At night we spent time talking with the ladies of the family, eating again, and heading to bed! Over the weekend we found out that the family was polygamist and keeping track of the brothers, sisters, and mothers was a bit of a challenge. All of the children we ran across wanted photo after photo taken and many people just wanted to give us their greetings. From the home we could see the lake and at night it was covered with lights from all of the fishermen. The life we lived this weekend was different than ever before. It was sad when we had to say goodbye Sunday morning to go back to school.

We made the trip back and ran into a small problem in Mbita. This is the city we boated to from the Island. We were catching a taxi back to Homa Bay (where the bus station is) and it was having some problems – it needed to be jumpstarted and they didn’t even have jumper cables to do so. We were sitting in the back seat and just saying, “this is Africa”. We were getting fed up with the fact it wouldn’t start and Monica got out and in a matter of seconds had tripped and fallen to the ground. About the same moment the car started and the driver was like let’s go let’s go! Monica already had a messed up ankle and this just made it worse. She got back into the car and with the three of us in the backseat and her leg elevated the driver tried to shove another person back there. They make money by having 7 or 8 passengers in a 4 passenger vehicle. Eventually we got to Homa Bay but it was a painful ride for her.

We spent a few hours in Homa Bay, Alyssa and I walking around while Monica sat in the bus station. Eventually our bus left. We travelled over night and ended up stopping roughly every 15-30 minutes for the first couple of hours to pick up and drop off people who live in the area along the way. At one point I looked out the window and saw a bunch of fluorescent looking gowns, I put my glasses on and noticed these women were dressed like nuns in white, orange, and blue outfits. It was ridiculous how long the ride took and we arrived in Nairobi at 6:30. We were told the bus would be there between 4 and 5, we barely caught the 7 o’clock bus back to campus, but we made it!

The weekend was truly amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better trip overall. I was so happy to see something different than the westernized areas of Kenya. I wish I had time to go back, the family hopes that we can someday and I hope it happens.

I cannot think of a good title...

Wow, life has been streaming by at a pretty quick pace here, but I still have those days where it seems to take forever! I have had CATs (continuous assessment tests) to study for, papers, and group projects to do, life has been busy!
The weekend after Mt. Kenya wasn’t the most exciting in my life. I decided to take out my hair and that took HOURS, I watched two movies and it still wasn’t completely out! I feel now too that I am going bald; I lost so much hair in the process! I spent some time working on something I don’t really even remember what!
On Sunday I experienced some more of Nairobi. I went to town with a friend of mine, Dereje. He is from Ethiopia and an upperclassman I can’t remember what year. We made it to the David Sheldrick Wildlife trust after enduring a long walk because we got off at the wrong matatu stop! They are only open from 11-12 but we made it just in time. The workers there brought out all of the elephants they have there in small groups and we were able to see them being fed. It wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped but it was sort of cool and I got a few good photos. This was the first time I had seen so many white people since I have been here! It was definitely a tourist attraction!
On Monday I went on a field trip to ABC community development center. We learned about the farming techniques they show people and some of the other opportunities they have to promote development. It really didn’t catch my attention, the field is definitely a good one to have in existence but isn’t really my taste at all! After the field trip the bus driver took us to a “magic spot” not very far away. It is this spot on the road where gravity doesn’t seem to exist. You get there and the driver puts the bus in neutral and it climbs up hill without any help! We got out of the bus and some guys around poured water. The road wasn’t completely level and the water seemed to creep uphill versus down. A boy also rode a bike and said it was harder for him to pedal downhill than uphill. I am definitely a skeptic, the road really didn’t have much of an incline but it was a little freaky!
The week went on and I did some intense studying for my CAT on Thursday. The first one she had given required some direct memorization and I knew I needed to study hard to do well! I feel like it went ok but I’m not sure.
Being stuck around school has caused me to really want to be at home. I received some mail but it has been quite the hassle to get it, checking the mail room than the student development office and continually being asked to come back later…I’m hoping this afternoon it will be in my hands! I did however get some school newspapers from Bethel which was nice to see!
I always have these awesome ideas of what to write in my blog, to make it interesting and not just a summary of what I have been doing…then I don’t get the chance to write and when I do I forgot all of these great ideas…so sadly it becomes pretty boring! Hopefully one day it will be so random you won’t know what hit you! But it will be good!
Missing Halloween was a bummer, I love dressing up and didn’t get the chance to this year! I suppose it wouldn’t have been all that much fun anyways with friends scattered away at college! Instead of Halloween we had a “Fun Day.” A school organized activity at a place in Nairobi called Rock City. They had games like tug of war and other funny things, the place had a few rides and a swimming pool. We had fun for a few hours and then as things tend to do it got boring. I finally hung out with some of my friends in a different setting than school, chatting in the library or in a classroom.
Monica and I stayed the night with Jan and ordered pizza! I asked for extra tomato sauce and when it came it was four packets of peptang…peptang is pretty much WATERED down ketchup. It was truly a Kenyan thing to receive!
On Sunday we did some shopping and went to a place called Toy Market. I had been there before with Alyssa. It is basically a huge wooden structure…but be careful how you interpret that. Think of setting up all the random logs and boards you can find to set up tables and make an elevation in order to put plastic bags and other things to cover it to avoid rain…It was a pretty big market with a ton of second hand clothes. You walk on the dirt ground and in places it has become muddy. Bargaining for clothes is quite the adventure. Monica needed to buy new jeans and she went through about 7 pairs, trying to find ones that fit. Understanding sizes is weird because it all depends on where they are from! There were about three guys looking through their stock for ones that would suit her needs! When she finally found a couple she liked they told her 3600 for both! That is more than $40! She tried to do some bargaining but they wouldn’t accept her price. I tried the same with a top from these guys and they didn’t either, we left knowing that if they really wanted us to buy them they would show up again. A few stalls later some guy asked Monica how much she would buy these jeans for, he had the same pair she had tried on somewhere else! These guys all share their stock to help get business or something. She tried them on to make sure they were the same ones and attempted buying them again. I tried on a pair of jeans that I liked and he told me they cost 1200 shillings, roughly 15 dollars. We tried to buy both pairs for 1200, but they wouldn’t accept that offer. Knowing the real price is difficult because it is hard to buy cheap when you are white! We were trying to them buy them at 1400 but Monica did some math wrong and said 1600 for both, I said I wouldn’t pay more than 700 so eventually after a heated debate the guys sold us the two at 1500. I therefore paid under $10 for a pair of Diesel jeans in pretty good shape! I looked at it as a success and later we were told that we got really good prices, although some Kenyans can get some for 500, 700 is a decent price.
After Toy we went to Watoto Wetu, the first children’s home we had ever visited. It was great to be back most of the kids recognized us right away and came straight for our hair! One girl put a few small tight braids in my hair and I haven’t had the patience to take them out yet so they are floating near the base of my neck! The kids “cooked us food” and taught us a Kenyan child game. It reminded me of London Bridge is falling down, but instead of “shaking her up with sticks and stones” they would ask, “would you like a princess or a queen?” After you chose you went behind one of the two kids making the bridge. After everyone had been through and chosen a side they would sing a different song and then have a tug of war, the two in the middle holding hands and everyone else wrapping their arms around the person in front of them. It seemed so dangerous! When they would get pulled apart the kids would pretty much fly because they were so small!
We had to leave pretty early this time because we couldn’t go until 2 and had to be back to campus before 5 to catch the bus back here! At the end the little kids sang songs for us again and did this presentation they had learned. It was so cute! The older kids walked us all the way to the stage (bus stop) which was a fairly long distance! We said goodbye and told them we didn’t know if we would make it back again or not before we headed home. Telling the house mother it was time to leave was a slight challenge because she didn’t speak English, but the older kids helped with translation!
The matutu ride back to Jan’s (to pick up our stuff) was interesting…we were told that it cost 30 shillings each and we had just paid 20 on the way there. I asked a lady sitting next to me how much it cost and she agreed that it was 30, at the end it was clear we had been ripped off by the conductor. Some people will do anything for a little extra pocket money!
We had to walk fast in order to catch the bus and Monica was walking on a sprained, possibly fractured ankle all weekend. All this walking was not a good thing! Plus we were carrying all of her groceries but we got the last couple spots on the bus and made it back to campus!
Life has been good, it hasn’t been quite as touristy as I would like but what I have experienced thus far is truly unique and life changing. I could not be happier with my choice to come to Kenya; however, I am beginning to be ready to be home if it didn’t mean leaving some of my great friends here! But now I know there is never one place in this world I can live to be with everyone who means a lot to me, at least there is facebook!

Mt. Kenya!

I can honestly say that God works in some amazing ways. My trip to Mt. Kenya could not have been so amazing without his power.

We were supposed to leave on Thursday, we woke up and boarded the 5:30 a.m. bus to the Nairobi campus and got there before 6:30. We weren’t going to actually leave there until 10 o’clock so we had some breakfast and went to Chapel. Time kept ticking by and we found out that a signature was missing for the money we needed to buy food and that Y-G (Mr. Waiganjo, our leader for the trip) had to go back to Athi River to get it. By the time all was said and done the banks were closed and there was no way to actually get the money. We were told to head back to Athi River and board the 5:30 am bus again on Friday. We spent nearly 12 hours on that campus, doing nothing, having missed class in Athi River only to find it was pointless. I was upset, I called Jan, (a friend in Nairobi) and asked to stay with her. She said that would be fine so I stayed the night there and didn’t have to wake up so early the next day! She served me tacos, muffins, bacon and eggs. I was so thankful I didn’t have to ride that bus again!

Friday morning we were supposed to leave about 9 or 10, we didn’t leave until sometime after noon. This time our van was late. We went to Tuskys (Super Target) and bought all of our food for the trip. Then we drove to Mt. Kenya, we were all HUNGRY. We stopped at a Chicken Inn hours away and got some fries and sausage to fill our stomachs.

After it had become dark we arrived into the Mt. Kenya National Park gate and soon realized that our van was not going to be able to take us to our base camp. It had rained and there was one hill too steep and muddy for the van to get up. This is what happened; we stopped the van and quickly unloaded everything. It was dark, and beginning to rain. We strapped everything to our bags and were carrying some others and got prepared to walk 5 km this way. Thankfully a truck that was headed to our base camp came by just minutes later and took all of our things for us. This still meant hiking for us, but after our things had been unloaded it came back and picked us up. We rode standing holding onto freezing metal bars with our bare hands through the cold wind and rain. This was just the beginning of our amazing adventure.

At the base camp we were given a room with bunk beds and didn’t have to set up our tents, which we were very thankful for. We began to prepare our supper, ugali and beef stew, but soon the porters took over. I had to eat a lot for dinner, it was not very easy to do but I understand the importance of eating a lot when you will be doing a lot of hiking.

Here are the quick details of who went. I was asked to bring one friend, so I brought my roommate, Gladwell. Another of my roommates, Janet, decided she wanted to come with, so she did. Y-G, was asked to take us because he is very familiar with the mountain and he asked two boys, Rudy and Kefa, from the group he heads here to come with. We hired 3 porters to carry our food, utensils, gas, tents, and sleeping bags. They also pitched and took down our tents and cooked all of our food for us. We each carried a pack with our clothes and personal items. I also carried a couple sleeping mats, and we carried our food for lunch.

On Saturday we hiked about 12 km from the base camp to Solo. On Sunday we hiked about 19 km from Solo to Majors. On Monday we hiked roughly 20 km to Lenana, towards the peak, and back. On Tuesday we hiked a whopping 31 km from Majors to base camp.

There are so many things I could say about the trip, but mainly it was just amazing. The scenery was beautiful. At first I was like wow, the forest looks a lot like home…just a bunch of trees, but once you get far enough on the trail there are things you have never seen before. Plants that look like they come from a Dr. Seuss book and things that are not possible to see at home. The views were amazing.

The people I went with made the journey amazing as well. Janet kept making us laugh with her shoes falling apart, and her whining noises because her feet kept hurting. The guys were all funny in their own way and Gladwell just had this excited attitude and was laughing (according to Y-G because of Mt. sickness) the whole time. Even though sometimes they forgot to talk in English I had an amazing time with all of them and am happy to say that I have a much better relationship with my roommates now.

The weather was….COLD. At times we walked through freezing rain in the cold wind. Other times we walked through clouds which is nothing like I’d imagined as a child. I knew it wasn’t going to be that fluffy or marshmallow experience but it was truly far from it. It is basically like walking through a dense fog with a constant mist, not what you’d hope for. Sometimes the sun would shine and we were still cold because of the air. At night and in the mornings when we weren’t walking it was truly freezing. Sleeping made us forget the cold but it would rain through the night. When we would arrive at camp we would quickly get in the tents and put dry clothes on, then we would stay in there until supper. It was hard to stay awake and warm until then and no one wanted to get out of the tent to go get the food. I’ll leave the going to the bathroom in this weather up to your imagination.

Here is where God comes in. If we had left on Thursday, like we were supposed to, we would have had rain walking up towards the peak meaning – it wouldn’t have been so easy to see and we would have been much colder and wet, making it harder to climb. On Tuesday night, had it rained, we would have had to walk 11 km to meet the van because it would not have been able to drive through the mud. Tuesday night it did not rain at all. Everything really worked out and it could only be because of him.

We didn’t make it to the peak. We were at a resting point and Y-G was asking everyone how they felt. Janet’s feet were paining, Gladwell had a bad headache, I had a slight headache and stomachache, Rudy was ok, and Kefa had stayed back. He told me that he thought that point should be our peak. I was truly upset, I wanted so badly to make it to the top. My body however was relieved, I was getting so tired, and breathing was getting difficult. I had gotten a cold since I’d been there which wasn’t helping. We made it about 15,000 ft high and were on Lenana. I am hoping one day to come back and finish the rest of the distance. I am going to abstain from calling the trip a failure, because so much good came out of it. There is so much natural beauty to be seen, and even looking at the best of my pictures cannot prove to you how beautiful it was.

Mt. Kenya has been my favorite experience so far. It was definitely a challenge at times I felt like I would get frost bite and that another step would be my last. But I made it through and had the time of my life. I cannot wait to go back, but next time I will be prepared.

The much awaited post...simply because it has been so long!

Wow, I feel like my life here just didn't have time to stop and settle down. I have had things going almost constantly! Right now I have decided to take the night off from work and catch up on a few things, laundry, Bethel things, photos, and now my blog!

To save all of my lovely readers’ time I will do my best to keep this short!

Two weekends ago I had plans to visit Kibera (the biggest Kenya, possibly African slum), have game night at the Matthews, ladies night, swim, and see some animals somewhere in Nairobi. Plans changed as they always do. I wasn't able to go to Kibera because the person who was going to accompany us had something going on with the kids from the slum. Game night, ladies night, and swimming happened, but on Sunday things changed.

Quick explanation, ladies night was a "talk show" about rejection, and then a movie, Night at the Museum 2. It was supposed to be a big slumber party with all of the ladies on campus, especially those involved in Dalafe (Daystar Ladies Fellowship). After the talk about rejection and everyone realized there weren't any refreshments, most people left! I stayed for almost the whole movie, but I kept falling asleep and the mosquitoes were bad so I ended up leaving too.

On Sunday I went into town with Alyssa, Nelson, and Godlove. (Nelson is from Ohio, but was born in Rwanda, Godlove is from Cameroon, they are both first year male students here). We did just a little walking around town and made our way to Kahawa West, where I was the weekend before. We went back to the disabled children's school to play with the kids again. This time we stayed longer. At first, the girl who clung to me the previous week clung to Alyssa because she walked in first. Once she noticed me, she struggled her way over and didn't let me go the whole time I was there. I was so happy she remembered me, but at the same time I feel awful that I may never see her again, knowing her memory is pretty good. The time spent there was good; I tried teaching some of the kids songs like "Baby Shark" and "Head, shoulders knees and toes." They loved trying to mimic the actions and make noises with me! Even though I had fun, it is sad to see the lives some children have to live, the conditions there are not great but I know they are worse at home.

After the home we went for food at Pizza/Creamy/Chicken Inn. They are all separate fast food places right next to each other, basically a food court! I had some breadsticks that were AMAZING, and an ice cream sundae! We got on the bus and headed back to campus.

The week went by pretty fast, I did the usual classes, school work, aerobics, and sleeping! When it came time for the weekend I was hoping to make major plans, but found out I needed to buy a few things for my Mt. Kenya trip. I stayed in school Friday and worked on my paper (that was due today, but I was 1 of 3 who turned it in and everyone else was given an extension of 2 weeks!). On Saturday I went into Nairobi with my roommate, Gladwell. She took me to her Aunt's home for a little while and then we headed to the City Centre to do some shopping. The funniest thing about the day was trying to buy warm sweatpants. We found a man on the street selling them, asked the price, and went on. She assumed that someone further down would have the same items at a cheaper price. This was a line of people selling off the street or from small hole-in-the wall shops. We didn’t find any and on our way back, the man was gone. Almost everyone selling off the street had disappeared, in a matter of twenty minutes! The police had come, and you could tell!

On Sunday I went back into Nairobi for church and to visit a different children's home. It didn't really end up being worth it. The church was Nairobi Pentecostal Church, Valley Road. Like the one I went to earlier, but a different location. I just cannot get myself used to that type of service! The children's home was a bit of a failure too, we arrived at lunch time so the children were eating. Afterwards they did the dishes, and then had to do laundry. By the time they would be done with laundry they had choir practice. I only got to play with a couple kids for a matter of minutes. It was nice to see the facilities and the way it was set up but I really just wanted to hang out with the children! The home has about 170 kids and 9 houses. Each house looks like a regular home with a kitchen, sitting room, and bedrooms. Each one also has a house mother who looks after the children. It was really neat that they organized that many kids that way, rather than a big dining hall and bunk houses. The children were all pretty well-behaved as well!

Sorry it has been so long since the last update! I have been doing really well for the most part and am starting to feel very comfortable here. Going to my dorm room is like going home for me and I feel like I have a few good friends who will look out for me! I have begun to plan out the rest of my time here, hoping I can go everywhere I want to before I must leave. It doesn't look like I have enough time to do so though! Time has flown and I will be flying home sooner than I know!

On Thursday morning I am leaving for Mt. Kenya. I will be there until Tuesday or Wednesday. We are hoping to Peak Pt. Lenana. This is the 3rd highest peak in the National Park, and the highest that doesn't involve rock climbing. I am still worried that we may not make it due to little training. I have another roommate coming with who hasn't done anything, and says she won't. I don't know how to talk to her so she will realize how important it is. I know that if she is the reason we don't make it she will feel bad herself, I am thinking I would rather not be able to make it and know I tried to get in shape than not be able to because I didn't put in the effort. Gladwell has been running with me as much as possible but her schedule is very busy! I am very happy that she is making the effort though! I look forward to telling you about the trip after I get back. I cannot wait to go and hope that even with all of the physical strains I will have a good time! At least I know I will be seeing something beautiful!

Anyways, as they say here in Kenya, nice time!

Tid Bits About the Week

Not much has happened since the weekend. I have gone to class and worked on some assignments…THANKFULLY! I find it hard to get myself to do class work because I would much rather talk with people from home or organize all of my photos or hang out with friends!

I spent one night, I believe it was Sunday watching a movie with my girl friends which was fun, another night I hung out with some of my guy friends and watched a new episode of family guy which was also fun and made me feel at home! Apart from that and talking with people from home I have been actually reading, gathering information, writing papers, or sitting in class.

I had received an e-mail saying that I should begin jogging and exercising before I climb Mt. Kenya…which is coming up in two weeks! I have been doing this but my roommate who is going to climb with me hasn’t. I had been thinking about asking her if she would start exercising because it would be difficult and then the e-mail came which thankfully made it much less awkward for me to ask! When I told her what she said she said she would begin and we went jogging together this morning! Hopefully we maintain the exercise, I am leaving early tomorrow morning so won’t be going but I am hoping she gets the motivation to do something! Gladwell, my roommate, told me that she hasn’t exercised since primary school! That is up to grade 8 here but still was very shocking because it doesn’t look like she hasn’t! I am hoping all goes well climbing the mountain with only two weeks of preparation; it should be fun even if we don’t make the top though!

One of the greatest things this week was receiving a birthday card from home. My dad’s side of the family (almost) all signed it and my aunt Nancy sent it over. It was great to know that they were thinking of me and to see it! I showed my roommate and asked her if they make cards like that here because it was a hand stamped and put together card. She said not really but she loved it and thought it was so cute!

Well, I am going to be getting back to my homework now. I hope life is going great for everyone!