Visiting Fred

Meet Fred. He is one of the school's guard. How did we end up at his house? On the way home from town, I asked Derek to stop by the open market for some fresh produce, and while I was shopping, (yes, I actually go by myself to the market now and am learning to bargain for Kenyan prices!) Fred and his wife spotted Derek and asked him for a ride home. We expected to just drop him off by his home, but were asked to come in for a "refreshment." They are sweet people. They have 4 children, cows, chickens, and rabbits. They offered us some very sweet pineapple, chapati and peanuts. They were thrilled to us (mzungus, white people) visiting them! This is how they pump their water. I told him I should be here every morning pumping his water. It is a good work out! Water is very expensive here. Most people don't have running water in their house and have to pay about $.25 per liter. Don't complain about your water, or your water bill! At least you don't have to get up in the wee hours of the morning to get water.

I told the boys this would be great for them to do when they were bored or needed some attitude adjustment!

This is how Fred pumps his water for daily use.

The boys loved this baby rabbit. I thought it looked too much like a rat! No, I didn't hold him.

They loved feeding the cows. Fred has 3, which help support his family by selling the milk. Oh! This reminded us so much of the trip we took with the Fords when we went to Maine to visit Maria's family and stopped by New York to visit Eric's grandparent's and tour the farm. Great memories guys! Did you notice Fred's shirt?

Fred said this is the least friendliest cow. I believed him! We asked if the cows had names (we should've known better!). To Africans, animals are animals, they don't name their animals. They sort of laugh when we told them they should name their cows!

Climbing Mount Longonot

Last month we began our training hikes in order to climb Mount Kenya. We had a total of about 20 people. Mostly staff and some students. The Mount Kenya hike will be in February.

This time we didn't have to have a back pack. For the qualifying one, however, we have to carry 20 lbs. up and down! I certainly hope I can make it. I told a friend to drag me to the top of Mount Kenya if she has to! I think we'll be dragging each other! As soon as the students get back from break, we will be hiking every Sunday to get us ready for the "big" hike. I am not afraid of hiking as much as I am of the effects of the altitude. We'll see.

This is what the climb looked like all the way up (or down) pretty much.

The Crutchers have done this hike before while it is raining and cold. We wished for some sprinkles as we walked through clouds and clouds of dust! I don't know which is better...walked through mud or dust?? It was a very hot day needless to say. Sometimes you had to crawl to get through. I have never been so dusty in my life!

We took about a 30 min. lunch break when we reached the top. I have to tell you a little bit about this picture. You would never guess, but two weeks before this hike, I had been battling something. I had been having body ache and chills, but never really had a fever. Many times I'd wished I could go to bed. But there was work to be done, classes to teach, children to discipline, etc... The Lord had given me strength to carry on with my work. Did I take anything? No. Some of you know how much I hate taking anything! Anyhow, everyone I talked to about it diagnosed me with malaria. "Great!" I thought. But then again, the locals think if you are sick, it is most likely malaria. Saturday night before this hike, I finally broke in to a fever. And it was a good one. I did break down and took some Advil. Slept like an angel! Woke up feeling great! Ready to face my mountain! So I thought... When I reached the top, I noticed I wasn't hot like everybody else...I was cold! I was actually shivering! And to think I still had 5 more hours to hike! Not good. This time I didn't think twice. I had brought some Advil with me and quickly took 2. Somehow I made it to the bottom. Someone told me "Climbing a mountain is all in the mind." In this case I'd say it was all in the Advil! :) I still don't know what I had, but I'm glad I'm over it.

These are some of the breathtaking views. Wow!

You feel rather small. It is a great feeling.

It was great reaching the top. What an accomplishment! Never mind how much we complained all the way up...It is a volcano; inactive at this time. I have never been to the top of any volcano, but this one was humongous!

I couldn't get the hole crater in my camera. These are from three different angles.

Quite impressive.

We were extremely tired by the time we reached the bottom. I know you can't tell. It was one of those pictures in which you are forced to say: "Cheese!"

















I love this picture of the boys! They were so filthy! (we all were!) I was so proud of them! It was a tough hike. They haven't seen anything yet, but they are determined to climb Mount Kenya. They both carried their own water and lunch. We'll let you know how they do in the next hike. Great job boys!