Hi all!
I have heard rumors that my last blog wasn't showing up for some people. I will copy and paste the last blog below and then add on new things.
Over the weekend we decided to go to Kitale. We had originally thought we'd go to Mt. Elgon, but we did not do enough planning or let Reuben know in time. We are going to go to Mt. Elgon this weekend and Reuben will drive us in a van which will be much nicer than matatu transport. Anyway, Kitale was interesting. We had some awesome fried chicken and french fries with ketchup!!! and an ice cold Coke. Yum. Then, we took a taxi to a nature conservancy which we heard was some sort of animal orphanage. It was kind of a horrible place. Basically, there are animals (mostly cows and sheep) with severe disabilities. The thing about it is that the place runs to make money and only keeps the animals there as attractions. For example, there was a cow with a large hernia there. We asked the girl who was guiding us around if it could be fixed. She said it could, but they didn't want to fix it because it is an attraction. There are more stories similar which I don't feel like going into detail about... but the place was just not very nice. We found out about it because the schools sometimes take the kids their on field trips, which I can't even imagine. So we left there pretty quickly and explored Kitale town a bit. It was a nice place, they have huge vultures that fly above you and look like batman!
Otherwise, things have been pretty easy going on the farm lately. Mama Betty told us to relax for a few days before we started doing more work, but we decided one day was enough for that. We went to town yesterday and gathered supplies for the school so that we could start working today. We painted a few of the classrooms today and will continue tomorrow. It is kind of tricky because everything is so dirty. We thought of cleaning the walls first, but when we started we realized that was a task we probably did not have enough time to tackle, so we just started painting. It looks alright, better than what was there before!
We will soon go to the orphanage with Mama Betty so that she can introduce us, and then we can go back whenever we want. We also plan to go back to Kisumu one day to look around the market again, we are going to bring Mama Betty with us. Reuben wasn't too happy about this (he was kidding). He said that he just won't eat all day! Reuben tried explaining that men are lions... which I assumes means that they do nothing all day. He said that if he was seen in the kitchen, people would begin to worry that he was trying to control everything because the kitchen is only a place for women. We told him that we didn't buy it and he should give Mama Betty a break ;-) We also plan to go to Eldoret for a day trip. We read that Eldoret has really good cheese, and cheeseburgers! So that's the only reason we want to go... otherwise, my time here in Kabula is soon coming to an end! Collin and I have sort of planned our 2 week adventure here and I'm very excited.
I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! I will hopefully get to have a turkey at the place we are going to celebrate.
New entry:
We have still continued painting in the classrooms, it is taking quite a while. I'll have to do quite a bit of painting this upcoming week to finish the 3 classrooms we started.
Last weekend we took a trip to Mount Elgon just for the day. Reuben and Betty both came along and we took one of the big vans. I didn't realize before we left but the vans they have are actually similar to safari vans so the top pushes up. It was really beautiful and fun. At the entrance we hired a guide to come in the van with us and lead us up the mountain. We saw a lot of water backs and other elk like animals. Mount Elgon is also full of zebras and monkeys that we got to see a few of. There are caves on the mountain that the elephants go into in the evening and we got to go into the caves as well. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any elephants and even more unfortunately there were about a million bats in the caves. It was pitch black and all we could see was the many many pairs of red eyes above us. Then the guide would shine his flashlight at them and they would fly at us... Not my favorite part of the trip. There were elephant tusk marks on the walls and even some old elephant bones on the ground from them being smashed by rocks. Elgon was an active volcano so all the caves are formed from the lava flow which was cool to learn about. We also climbed a bit to get some good views. Betty and Reuben had a really good time and we were glad they came along. At the end of the trip we saw some baboons walking from afar but by the time we got to them they were gone.
The next day on Sunday, we went to town in the morning to gather a lot of food to cook lunch at the orphanage. We got rice, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, bananas, juice, and a lot of meat. We had to hire a boda (bicycle) to carry our food over to a piki (motorbike) so that we could drive it all over to the orphanage. When we got there, the boys were at church (this is an all boys orphanage) so we just started chopping up all of our food. The knifes were not sharp at all and I ended up having to rip the meat apart with my hands so that was interesting. The kids got back and we gave them the things we brought for them to play with: paper, crayons, a ton of stickers and other crafting items. The parents of the orphanage wouldn't let us cook because we were their guest so we just hung out and played until the food was ready, which took quite a few hours. Everyone was so happy and appreciative and I made sure all of the very very skinny bony kids with big bellies ate a lot. They were so sweet and wanted us to stay forever. We left them the bananas to have for breakfast. A lot of the kids leave for the holidays and go to stay with relatives so I was glad I got to hang out with them while they were there.
This weekend was my favorite weekend I've had so far and probably also one of the craziest I've ever had. We headed to Uganda on Friday afternoon and crossed the border which of course took quite a while. We had to pay for our visas in US dollars but they would not take a bill that looked too fresh or too old, it was strange, and of course there was a language barrier so the man would just say "give me another note". Thankfully Danny had a lot of extra US dollars to help us get in. We got into Jinja, our final destination, later than we thought and it was dark. I called the accommodation and they came to pick us up. We are burgers and fries and had beers and it was very refreshing. The next morning we woke up to be ready for rafting by 9. We got into the trucks to take us to the river and they gave us a breakfast of fruit and chapati with egg inside. It was delicious. We got a quick safety talk and were fitted for life jackets and helmets then headed into the Nile for 30 km of rafting. Hassan, our guide, trained the 6 (the 5 I traveled with and one other girl from Ireland) of us for only about 15 minutes about the commands we will need to know, how to hold on, how to fall off, how to flip the boat back over, and how to get back in the raft. Then, we headed off toward our first grade 5 rapid. For the first one, we stayed in the boat. There were 8 total rapids between grade 3 and 5. Our boat totally flipped over 3 times and I fell out one other time as well. We are told to hold onto the boat when it flips but sometimes it is hard and you are left on your own. Being left in the rapids is pretty scary as all you can do is wait until you are out of the rapids. You might be held under the water for a few seconds which seem like years and you just have to stay calm and wait, swimming against it will hold you under for longer. The guide, I think, purposefully flipped us one or two times but one of the times seemed pretty unexpected. We asked afterwards if that was normal and he said, no, it was a little crazy. It is pretty freaky getting stuck under the raft or held under the water for a while. At the last rapid when I was pulled under the water, it was rushing pretty quickly over me and I was smacked on the mouth with a paddle someone had lost. Thankfully, all of my teeth were there when I surfaced. When we were finally done with the 5 hours of getting beat up by the Nile, we were rewarded with a large meal and cold beers which I was happy to be alive to enjoy. I'm very glad I got to experience that, but also very glad it is over and I am uninjured.
We are back safe in Kabula after using 8 different vehicles to get back from Uganda, it was a crazy travel day. It is my last week here in Bungoma and I am getting sad to leave the family. This week I am going to visit the home of the child I have decided to sponsor through her education. I am also going to one of my student's home for a party. I have a few school related things to take care of before the end of the year before I begin my two weeks of travel throughout Kenya.
Let me know through email if you all have any questions about things going on here, especially Whittier Elementary before you leave for break :) Pictures soon!!
