Heather Goes Abroad

Well I guess you could say that today was a one of a kind experience. Our day started when we left The Castle at 9:30 for a hike with Simon, one of Debs and Thiemo’s workers. We thought we were going to go for a nice stroll around the area and I guess that was true to some degree… This adventure ended up being a 2 hour hike up and down the mountains over rocks and tree roots, through prickly bushes, and down slippery slopes. As you can see though, the beauty of everything we saw was so incredible, it made the struggle worth it! Our first stop was at a lookout where we could see for hundreds and hundreds of miles over the Great Rift Valley. The next stop was a Maasai Cave where they perform trades and certain traditional rituals after male circumcision as a teenager or young adult. From there we continued stumbling downhill where we eventually found a little spring with beautiful water flowing over the rocks! We continued down to a flat area where Maasai from all over the surrounding area come to get water, which was in the middle of nowhere at the bottoms of the mountains. After taking a much needed hike we began our trek back home on a different path. By the time we reached The Castle, I was extremely nauseous and lightheaded as it was about 27 degrees and high elevation. We sat for a few minutes then everything was good and we had time to relax and were given an assignment to write a letter to ourselves for us to read at the end of the semester. I wrote mine while sitting on the edge of the cliff right in front of the Castle overlooking the Great Rift Valley, and in that moment it really hit me that I was in Africa and that this was actually happening! After that we had lunch and then Lorna (the lady our group installed solar panels for who is the cleaning lady for Debs and Thiemo) came over to teach us how to make Chapati! We made nearly 60 chapati (similar to tortillas) and they were pretty incredible! They were so easy to make I cannot wait to try some at home. We had chapati and veggies and rice for supper then we spent the evening relaxing listening to Daniella song and play her ukulele, while some people played poker while gambling with Emergen-C, crayons, and gum. It was pretty entertaining! I guess it is safe to say it was a great day!