Hiking the Rocky Mountains

Hiyaaa! First thing's first: I completely forgot to add the pictures of Tanzania at the end of the last blog so I just put those up if you want to go back and check 'em out. PS - tons of pics coming your way in this post...get ready.

So we started off yesterday by going to a Swahili mass at a church in our village.  Everyone and their mother (literally) was staring at us and they escorted/insisted that we sit in the front rows. The service was 2+ hours and didn't understand a word, but it was so great. I mean, lets be honest, their choir used tribal tones and scream-ish sounds like you would hear on the travel channel, there were 2 kenyan boys who danced up and down the aisles to every single song, little nuggets swarmed to shake our hands, we had to do gestures with the lyrics, AND best of all, they had a woman dance the Bible up the aisle! These Kenyans really know how to spice it up.

After mass, we spent the morning at the house (pancakes for breakfast btw...amazing...so much better than toast & PB for a change). We hung out with all the village kids who live near the house and constantly linger by the door and wait for us to come out and play. We pretty much stuck to frisbee and photo shoots...which is probably their favorite activity on the face of the earth. Surprisingly, these kids are much better at taking pictures than kids on any other trip I have been on. Still makes me a little nervous giving them free reign with it (pretty sure everyone reading this understands my relationship with my camera) but honestly, they take some of the best shots. 

Belize Group

playing frisbee in the backyard

At 2:30 we all piled into the vans and headed into the Kenyan wilderness to hike the "Rocky Mountains." We all thought it was hilarious when he told us that because I am fairly certain its not their actual name, buuut he ended up being extremely accurate. First of all, the ride there and back was ROUGH. I would have bet money that we were going to lose parts of these poor vans. I mean, they have a rough time on the normal roads, and this was all through the backroads on streets filled with rocks, potholes, ditches, you name it. Could hardly hear myself think with all the clanking. I kind of felt like I was a tiny person living inside of one of those "machines that electrocutes your abs" (Cards Against Humanity reference anyone?!?) But anyways, we ended up making it there (my favorite is passing through the little villages along the way and hearing little kids yell "MIZUNGUUU" and run after the van waving). We hiked for about 2 hours...and by "hike", I mean climbed some ridiculous rocks, shimmied through crevices, army crawled under stones, and stood on cliffs. It was incredible. Pants would have been a great choice because we got pretty scraped up, but its no big. Josh and all the little kids were climbing in sandals or even barefoot.  All the kids from the huts nearby flocked to the mountains we were on and helped carry each other up. They were not sure how to handle us...they were a mixture of excitement and fear...some cried, some laughed, some wanted pictures, but most just stared. There was one boy on the rock across the field, just laying on a cliff. What a life.

scaling the rocks...no big deal

view from the Rocky Mountains

Team Tusker

Tiny space under the rocks where people pray 

crevice in the rocks to get to the prayer spot.
...felt like we were being birthed form the mountain.

nugget hanging out on the rocks

THE LIFE.

spectators from the local huts

the group

kids who climbed with us

found some millet fields!

rough trek to the rocky mountains

Got back from the Rockies just in time to scarf down some dinner (PS food is LITERALLY all this group talks about, so if anyone cares to send us some guacamole or cupcakes, it would be greatly appreciated). Then we were to the Calabash Hotel down the road for Kate's birthday. Kept it super chill, then came home to play an epic game of Cards Against Humanity. Went to sleep at 1...definitely didn't make it up for our run at 6am.

The hospital was uuber slow today. Started out with maternity ward rounds...oooo the babies here! Too freaking cute. And the moms are all so proud. They told us that Kenyans generally get married/have their first child around 20, and then have another every 2 years or so. I never knew they used birth control, but the doc on duty stressed it a lot so that they can be sure to support their children. After rounds, I wandered to just about every department, but had trouble finding work because it was low census and there are just so many of us volunteering. Really wish they would put a cap on the amount they take because it gets really frustrating sometimes. I hung out with the HIV counselor for a bit and then the pediatric PA, but then headed back up to the house to get some RD exam review in. Again, makes it a lot easier when you can sit outside in the sun with the cows, chickens and little kiddos. Went to the corner store for a Coke, played a mean game of Monopoly, went to the market for water and chocolate (we are all struggling without desserts here), and then came back, had lentils and chapati for dinner (incredible) and played with the kids again. They SPRINTED up and gave us hugs when we got home...Can't beat it. I made a little friend named Michelle. Oh my gosh, she is the definition of a nugget. Such a sweetie. In the meantime, the other kids worked together to essentially give me dreads. I think its a sign that I just need to do it. It's on my bucket list...so this might be my chance. 

getting our chocolate fix

Sean Paul

Carley getting her hair done

michelle :)

He was trying to rub off my tattoo

buddies

We just walked back the the hotel for the evening to spend some time with our group....got a few newbies!!! Pretty awesome now that both groups are bonding more...having a blast!  Goodnight!