Kili or Bust

The long awaited blog about Mt. Kilimanjaro.  How do I even start? This was definitely an interesting achievement. Let’s give some background.

Left to Right: Kate, Caitlin, Me, and Paul(The Guide)

Anyone actually know anything about Kili? Other than that it’s just really freakin’ big? OK, well let’s see. The mountain itself has actually 3 peaks. They say that the “Shira” peak was first. Just a random volcano. Then during one of its eruptions, it created the second peak, “Mawenzi”. Then again later on the mountain erupted and between the two peaks “Kibo” was established. The name “Kibo” is actually Swahili for “I admire”. From a distance it looks like it’s just the top of the mountain, but, when you get up there, it looks so strange. There’s this massive “alpine desert” as they call it and the Kibo peak is just sort of sitting in the middle. The next point to mention is probably that there are 4 sections to the mountain. When you start, you are in the rainforest. Then you move into the moorlands. Then the alpine desert and finally the ice cap. Lastly, because of the snow on top, the people of the area used to go to the mountain to pray for rain or crops and things of that nature, so the mountain does hold some religious effects for the natives. Kibo is the tallest peak. Uhuru meaning "freedom" is name of the summit, and it sits at 5895m or 19 and a half thousand feet. It is the highest point in all of Africa, and it makes Kili the tallest free standing mountain in the world. This is where we were going.

Anyways, let’s break down the days.

Monday, February 4, 2013

The Alpine Desert

I’d gotten my Tanzania visa all set up, and we were leaving early the next morning. So I went to Karen to stay with the girls that night. Caitlin’s birthday was on the 6^th, the first day of our ascent, so we did a little celebrating with cake. Cake is really dense here. Yes, that sounds weird, but I know of no other way to describe it. Kate also put all the monies into little organized envelopes. She likes to be organized. Glad someone does. Anyways, after that I listened to some music on my iPod and went to bed.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

I was forced to wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:45. How terrible. Loaded into the taxi and went to the shuttle stop. Then we sat there for like 2 hours. Hurry up and wait. My favorite. Shuttle finally got there, and we loaded in. We met a few Canadians going to Tanzania as well. It was a father and his two daughters maybe 12 and 14. Apparently, they had raised money for a well or two down there, and their dad has thought it would be fun for them to actually go and see the place where the wells were. Pretty sweet.

Just hanging out on a mountain

Border was about 2-3 hours away. This is the part where I mention that in order to get into Tanzania, you have to have proof of yellow fever vaccination. Well, guess who never had that vaccine let alone proof of it. Well actually, I kind of had proof. I borrowed Tim’s vaccination papers in hopes that they might just scan it and gloss over his name looking for the words “official yellow fever vaccine” stamp. I had this whole plan to distract the teller with my plans for Kili and then pretend to forget the papers and then pull them out of my bag and all this stuff. At the very least I was a little nervous that I’d spent all this money for nothing, but I got to the teller, he took my passport, stamped it, and sent my along my merry way. I was meant to climb this mountain.

Shuttle went around Mt. Meru which was so big I initially thought it was Kilimanjaro itself. It wasn’t big enough. I remember seeing a sign for Moshi being 60km away and then I looked up at the horizon, and I realized that I wasn’t looking at the sky. There was this massive shadow that spread across maybe 80km. Even from 60km away the mountain didn’t fit in any one window I was looking out of no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t actually just look at the whole thing because it was so big. Gradually we got closer. I wanted to see the top, but it was completely covered in clouds. Wow.

We got the Moshi and went to the Kessy Brothers Agency. We talked itinerary. We talked money. We talked gear, and then we went to the hotel to rest for the night. We met a couple Italians using the same agency. They were going the same route as we were, and they bought me a beer. Instant friendship. I took the last shower I would take for a week and tried to get some sleep.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Hotel offered free breakfast. Finally something done right in Africa. Tour agency picked us up around 8 I think. Maybe 9. Went back to the office and we packed everything up. We loaded our stuff, 9 porters, 2 guides, a cook, and ourselves into the shuttle and set off for Kilimanjaro national park. Once in the park, we had to sign in and Paul, the head guide, had to do some administrative stuff. The porters started going up to the first stop so we would meet them there. Baraka, the assistant guide, started us up the path maybe an hour after we’d gotten there. It was pretty quiet at first. Then we started seeing some people on their way back down. Some were happy and fine. Others looked like they’d been punched in the face repeatedly. There were also a lot of monkeys in the woods.

We reached the first hut in the early afternoon and settled in. I sat out in the sun for a while and listened to some music. At dinner we went to a little dining hall that had been built there. We met all the other groups who were going up with us. There were the Italians, Norwegians, Canadians, Japanese, and even 3 Kazakhstanis. By the end of the trip we would have developed a relationship with each group.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

My good friend, Baraka(Asst. Guide). The
other guides call him "Obama: President of
the Mountain".

We had to go almost 12km on this day. Not too far on a road, but uphill is a little different. Baraka and I, however, took off, and we screamed up the mountain. I don’t know why, but I felt good that day. It was a lot colder at the next hut sight though. Like maybe 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  We got to talk to some of the groups more here. We were neighbors with the Norwegians. The whole group centered around one guy whose name was Kurt. This was his second climb, and he had decided to come back and bring his whole family with him. I spoke with him while he was charging his iPhone with a solar charger. More about them later.

We got in pretty well with Canadians. This mother had brought her daughter, her friend, her sister from Holland, and a Kenyan politician. Her daughter was 13, and, by the end of the climb, she would be the youngest Canadian female to ever climb the mountain. Pretty cool. Anyways, this group hella fun. We got along great with them making jokes and stuff. Really good characters.

The Kazakhstanis were a couple doors down. It was an old uncle and his two nieces. This old guy would not be stopped. He seemed maybe in his 50s or 60s. Smoked I don’t know how many packs a day, but he was as tough as nails. One of the nieces had been having a fair amount of trouble, and the other one was stronger but she’d see trouble later.

Friday, February 8, 2013

These were called the "Zebra Rocks"

This was acclimation day. We went up to see some cool rocks and then came back down and relaxed. We needed this day, too. Caitlin’s weakfish stomach was having a little difficulty switching cooks and she spent most of the afternoon into the next morning in bed. Nothing much happened on this day. It just added to the anticipation of the climb the next night. Yes I said night. More later. Anyways, only bad thing that happened to me was I ate something and got the worst heartburn of my entire life. I think I slept for about an hour that night. Miserable. Absolutely miserable.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

We got up early and left for the Kibo huts at the base of the 2000m high peak. It was about 10km away, but it was another 7 or 8 hundred meters up in altitude. It was going to be interesting from here on out. We started on our way. Of course, Caitlin still felt like total crap, and, after about an hour or two, Baraka took on her day pack to try and help her out a bit. He looked pretty funny with one pack on his back and one on his stomach, but he never once said anything. Took it all in stride. We got to lunch and we could see the huts, but they were still an hour or two off. Caitlin wouldn’t even sit at the little makeshift table. She just collapsed onto the ground. About 10 minutes later the Norwegians showed up at the same spot, and Kurt’s daughter was also having a rough time except that her ailment was altitude sickness. Dizziness and headaches and all the sort of thing. No bueno. I felt bad, but we pushed on. I walked next to Caitlin for the rest of the way just to try and push her along a bit. I don’t know if I actually said or did anything that made a difference, but she made it to the huts regardless. Good timing too because it started snowing just as we got there.

They put us in this big group room. There were 12 beds. There were the 5 Canadians, 2 Spaniards, and 2 French Canadians. Just enough room. I slept for maybe an hour that afternoon. Everyone was pretty jazzed up about climbing this mountain. We could see the peak, and it was really high up. Pretty daunting. We ate dinner, and I got heartburn again. It was so confusing to me. I’ve had heartburn maybe 6 or 7 times in my whole life, and two days in a row I get right before I make this crazy climb. What luck! Anyways, it wasn’t as bad as the previous night, but I only got around 2 hours of sleep because we had the wake up at 11pm.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Yes, you read correctly. I’ve alluded to it twice now. Time to explain. The final ascent of the mountain began at midnight. I don’t know whose idea it was, but that is how it is done. We stumbled out of bed and put all of our gear on. The porters had carried the cold weather gear the entire trip simply so we could wear it on this night. We walked away from the hut at 12 and didn’t look back or even forward. Wasn’t worth it. Couldn’t see anything anyway except for the headlights of all the people ahead of and behind us climbing the mountain.

About 30 minutes in, Caitlin, still reeling from the previous two days of being out of order, knelt on the ground and had some minutes of personal questioning time. Paul, who I had not really built a relationship with up until this point, showed why he was the head guide. He told Caitlin to suck it up and keep moving. She did, and I didn’t hear a word out of her for a couple of hours.

The first part of the night’s climb was the hardest. We had to climb straight up to the ridge and then hook a left up the ridge to the summit. It was literally straight up. The angle of this beast must have been close to 60 or 70 degrees. We zig zagged across it watching for loose rocks which were everywhere. About two thirds of the way up, Kate, who had had no real issues up to this point, began to have a few things go wrong. She got a really bad headache and even threw up a couple times. For a moment, I believe she thought she wouldn’t make it, but Paul stepped up once more. He said, “There’s no crying in baseball!” Wait. That was Tom Hanks. Sorry. Um. I think he just said, “No crying.” That was embarrassing. Anyways, she pushed on as well. We finally got to the ridge. It was called “Gilman’s Point”. It’s the first milestone, and, if you make it there, you get a little certificate when you get back to the bottom. Paul hugged the girls, and the group felt rejuvenated.

We pushed onward. The next 30 minutes were relatively easy but super scary. We were literally walking alongside a cliff. Couldn’t see a darn thing, but it was mostly flat. Then it opened up, and in the waning night we could see the peak, and off in the distance I could see the sign. It started getting hilly again, and with every step I felt like my muscles were giving way. My worry here was no longer could I make it all the way up, nothing was stopping me from that, but rather how in God’s name am I going to get back down!

We got to the sign. There were some germans hogging the sign taking a bunch of inane pictures, and the girls sat down. I said no way. I just wanted to touch the stupid sign. The germans gave me some weird looks. Didn’t care. At 6:20am I smacked that Uhuru sign, and I looked to the east. Almost at that exact moment the sun popped over the low hanging clouds. I could see everything. I looked around and saw the massive glacier just chillin’ on the side of the mountain. I could see a few hundred miles in every direction. Caitlin had mentioned months earlier how cool it would be to have an epic kiss on the summit, so, even though my lips felt like they were falling off, I went up and planted one on her. This random guy said congratulations in my periphery and then I went and sat down and just stared at the sky. I remember posing for some pictures and I’ve even seen them, but pretty much everything from that point to when I got into bed for an hour 4 hours later after descending the peak is a blur.

I knew I had brought my pocket knife the entire way for something.

I got awakened at 11:15 for a late breakfast and then pushed out the door to walk the 10km back down to the huts at a lower altitude. It had been almost -40 degrees at the summit accounting for the wind, and then, even though I’d remember the huts there being cold, they were a lot more tolerable. We saw the other groups make it back to those gradually. Some had gotten there before us, but we had actually done pretty well timewise so most groups were behind us. The Italians, Spaniards, Canadians, French Canadians, all the Norwegians but Kurt’s daughter, the Kazakhstani uncle (we passed the stronger niece curled up in a ball on the ground at one point her altitude sickness was so bad), and the Japanese. Almost all of us had made it. Some of us exchanged information, and then said good bye because when we left in the morning we would never see them again.

Monday, February 11, 2013

It was Kili Time.

And leave we did. Holy crap. We hiked down in 5 hours what we had hiked up in the first two days. Caitlin and I literally ran the last kilometer. We caught hell from Kate for that. Definitely deserved though. I dunno what got into me. We weren’t supposed to reach the bottom until like 4pm. We got there right around 1. We got our certificates. Ate some lunch and were driven back to the Kessy Brothers office. They were really excited for us and for their business. Successful trips are always a good thing. They gave us each a free T-Shirt and then took us out for some beers of the “Kilimanjaro” brand. They also have a “Serengeti” beer that’s pretty good, too. We went back to the hotel. I took a shower. A loooooong shower. Then I took a nap and then went to dinner. We got some celebratory drinks afterwards courtesy of Kate. Thanks Kate.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Once again, I had to wake up at 5:45 to get a dang cab to go to the shuttle back to Nairobi. It was OK though. It was a nice ride. It was a little longer than last previously, and the border took longer than before. We got to Nairobi around 2:15. I said goodbye to the girls and then booked it to the immigration offices because my *Kenya* visa expired THAT day. Got that all fixed and good to go so I could stay for another 3 months. Then I went to the Nairobi Java House and got a milkshake.

Yes I know there were a couple days before and after this epic tale that I didn’t talk about, but those days were mostly filled with me telling people I was going to Kili and then telling them about how I climbed it. Also, this blog is much too long as it is. It was an epic trip, and so much more happened than I can write here. Typing the story just doesn’t do it justice, but I hope I communicated the obstacles and the successes and the experiences well. Kate and Caitlin both have their own blogs with their own perspectives. Maybe reading all three will give you a better idea. All I know is that week is gonna stick with me for a while.

If you’re interested in a Mt. Kili trip or a crazy legit safari or both, we found the Kessy Brothers to be incredible. One of the cheaper agencies, but they give you everything you need and provide a truly great service.

Elections and another trip to Uganda are coming up! More about that later… Haha

-Harris

Us with our certificates and the guides. Good times.

Oh Chesongoch, My Chesongoch

Oh. Yea. Got my hair braided.

Ok so I have a lot to fill everyone in on. So much freakin’ stuff has happened since the last time I posted!

Week of New Year’s

So our friend Augus invited us to one of his friends’ homes for a little New Year’s party. We got there around 6:30 or 7, I think. Anyways, we chilled for a couple hours and had dinner. It didn’t sit very well unfortunately, so I decided to go back. Vinny, who was also at the party, coincidentally had to leave as well to go pick up his kids from their grandmother’s house, and Henry decided he’d rather go back as well. Tim and Mike were on the coast doing their thing. We had to take a matatu to downtown Nairobi, and then pick up another matatu back to Amani. While we were in town though, there were some activities had, and Henry wound up with a broken leg. We dragged him home, and then after all the stuff had happened I decided to go to the pub around the corner for a drink. They were throwing down of course and one lady came up to me and poured a whole canister of glitter on my head. Took weeks to get it all out!

Over the next couple of days, I tried to convince Henry to get his leg checked out, but he was convinced he had just strained it our something. Long story short we finally had a day where we went to the dispensary next door. They sent him to get x-rayed, and they told him it was a fracture. He ended up having to have minor surgery. He ended up going back to the States earlier this week, in fact. I, however, was in Chesongoch when he left. It was a bummer, but everything happens for a reason!

During this time I also did some more work on the wall. It was a ton of fun, and the kids from the area loved to come and help out. The girls came for a couple days and added some of their own flare as well!

The Great Rift Valley

By January 7, I was in the valley, and boy was it a little different. I’d visited a couple places like this before, but living in place like that is a lot different than visiting. It was a million degrees outside, and there was no water, and more importantly no toilet seats.

I went with the girls, and we got to work in the Pre-Primary school and the dispensary run by the sisters there. There were only four sisters (Jacinta, Bernadette, Angela, and Tekla), but they do all the work! Sr. Angela taught in the school; Sr. Bernadette and Sr. Tekla in the dispensary; and Sr. Jacinta made the whole thing work.

We got to play with the kids on a regular basis and even do some classroom work. Those kids have far too much energy. No matter how much I ran or carried them, they always wanted more. It was hysterical.

At the dispensary, we sorted a lot of pills. They told us later that we actually sorted enough pills to get the dispensary through the next year apparently! We also made cotton balls and folded gauze strips. They also had us painting a lot. We painted the maternity ward, some of the staff quarters, and even the front gate of the convent. I kept pushing to have a good, old-fashioned paint fight, but the girls wouldn’t have any of it. I did manage, however, to turn the shower on while they were painting one of the bathrooms. I prefer to remember their screams of shock as screams of laughter. It’s all about the perspective, right?

*I* know how to strike a pose.

If there’s a specific day to note, though, it would definitely be the day we hiked the mountain. It stands a little over a mile high, but it was not a mile hike. I guess I’m used to paths and stuff. This mountain path, if you can call it that, was this winding trail that went through all the little villages and maize fields on the side of the mountain. There was also this massive escarpment that we had to cross like three times. It was also incredibly steep. Steep as in, I almost fell off the side like 4 times. I attribute that to my shoes as opposed to my talent as a walker.

It was the tallest mountain peak on our side of the valley. The other side bordered the Sudan, and there were some pretty big mountains there. I still felt accomplished.

That is Sr. Tekla. We had fun with this.

Finally, the day came to leave. It was a very interesting experience there. I became pretty good friends with Sr. Tekla, and, despite the fact I’d barely been there three weeks, she cried as we drove away. It’s a different life down there. Back in America and even in Nairobi, people seemed to always get bored. They come home from work, and they don’t know what to do with themselves. The Marakwets(the tribe mostly associated with the area where we stayed) don’t seem to differentiate work from pleasure. Not that they don’t have either, but they seem to have a seamless transition between the two. Living life as whole instead of in parts. Sometimes it was difficult for me to figure out how to work with that, but by the end I could see the benefit of it. It was pretty cool.

Post Chesongoch

Anyways, I came back from the valley a few days ago, and I’m already gearing up to leave again. I got my visa for Tanzania today, and I will begin my ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro on February 6^th. I won’t lie. I’m slightly nervous but totally stoked. Kate got me some Diamox pills to help with altitude sickness, and the company we’re using has all sorts of gear ready to do. 3 porters for each climber, a chef, an assistant guide, and a head guide. It’s a full entourage on a 5 or 6 day hike. We’re supposed have a midnight hike on the morning of the last day, so that we reach the peak at sunrise. I can’t wait.

Side Note:

The application deadline for volunteering in Africa through the BVC program at Belmont Abbey is coming up. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if you don’t know if you want to go, just apply. You can always say no when the time comes, but give this a chance. Apply. Find Fr. Chris or Michael Becker. Feel free to ask me or the girls anything(although I think I’m better :D). You’re finishing college. Do you really want to go into the real world and tie yourself down just yet! Go experience something new! Broaden your horizons! Heck, if the experiences don’t do anything for you, learning a new language and spending the better part of year in 3^rd world country never looked bad on ANY resume.

Anyways, thanks for tuning in this time around. I'll send out another update after I climb Mt. Kili!

As always:

To Mail Me Anything: 

Benedictine Fathers

Amani Conference Centre

P.O. Box 32101-00600

Nairobi - Kenya

To Donate Anything: 

Southern Benedictine Society

100 belmont mount holly road

Belmont, NC 28012

(Write "BVC - Harris" in the memo section of the check)

 Here are some bonus pics:

Clearest Rainbow I Have Ever Seen

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Bedford Falls!
Merry Christmas You Old Building and Loan
Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!
Merry Christmasss!!!!

Ah the classic finale to the greatest Christmas movie of all and also my mother's favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart.

I'm 8 hours ahead of the East Coast right now which makes it almost exactly 7am there. Most of you will wake up in the next 2 hours or so I imagine. Just so you know, the world didn't end, christmas is here, and even in Kenya you get Christmas cookies and I've heard the sisters are going all out tonight and cooking turkey and stuffing!

Anyways on with it! Last week we did some more painting! That exterior wall is really coming along now. The whole thing is black with a red stripe going along the top and a green one going a long the bottom. Then we started filling in the wall sections. So far we've got a map of Kenya, the flag of Kenya, a cross, and two Benedictine quotes. I chose the quotes as well as I could. One is the overall motto of the Benedictines, "Ora et Labora". It means prayer and work. I put it there for a number of reasons. One, it's a Benedictine establishment. Two, it's a quote of the founder of the order. And three, I think it reminds us why we do what we do. The paint job isn't just about painting a wall. It's about the activity itself. Painting can be pretty monotonous and boring or it can be therapeutic and healing. Everyday that I painted, kids flocked to me for the chance to hold a brush or just to hang out with the big white kid, the "mzungu". Most of those kids either aren't in school for holidays or the aren't in school all together. I gave them a week with a protected place to play and maybe even sort of learn a trade. It was a big deal.

The second quote I put up was from St. Anselm, another early Benedictine. He is the namesake of my High School and this quote is my school's slogan, "Pax in Sapientia". Literally, it says peace in understanding, but you can also say peace through understanding which I believe to be more accurate. There is a lot of misunderstanding and disagreement in Kenya. From matatu drivers to the intratribalism to even the Catholic Church, understanding is something that is missing. I thought I would post that quote as a hopeful reminder that peace is only totally found when both sides try to understand the other.

This above painting went from Wednesday to Saturday. On Sunday, I went to Karen to spend the remainder of the Christmas Holidays with the girls!

Monday was where some fun started. I got the girls some chocolate ice cream on Sunday and hid it in the refrigerator, so when Christmas Eve came around, everything was closed, and there was no real celebration during the day, I broke out the small pints and distracted them for awhile. It worked pretty well I gotta say. Throughout the course of the day we went to maybe 5 different prayer services. We had vigil mass around 10pm and afterwards there was a little get together in the refectory with cookies and muffins and hot cocoa. Then we went back to the apartment. I exposed my second surprise to be a bottle of white wine! So we popped it open and watched "It's Wonderful Life" as is tradition in Kate and my's families. Caitlin just went along for the ride.

We all passed out and woke up again at 7 to go to 7:30 Lauds and Mass. At a good size Brunch and then I took a 3 hour nap. Glorious. That pretty much takes you up to right now.

I know this post is little early in terms of how often I post, but I figured I give you all some reading material for the lulls in your day if there are any!

I posted that quote at the beginning because I can actually picture myself saying it all if I was back in the states. Don't be surprised in late April if you here of some crazy kid running around Charlotte, North Carolina screaming "Merry Christmas!" at everything.

Also since today is a day of Thanksgiving, I would like to appreciate all the donations that everyone has sent me. I'm not entirely certain of everyone's comfort level with me posting their names, so I won't do it. But you all know who you are and so do I and so does God! You're all amazing. And all of you who haven't been able to send money, don't worry! Your thoughts and prayers have been carried by the wind and skies over to me and they lift me everyday. I feel like I have the energy of a thousand people on some days.

Merry Christmas, America!! Sing an extra carol for me! I miss and love you all!

God Bless and Enjoy You Christmas!!!

Harris

It's a Wonderful Kenyan Life!

To Mail Me Anything: 

Benedictine Fathers

Amani Conference Centre

P.O. Box 32101-00600

Nairobi - Kenya

To Donate Anything: 

Southern Benedictine Society

100 belmont mount holly road

Belmont, NC 28012

(Write "BVC - Harris" in the comment section of the check)

Hey everybody!

It’s been forever I think since my last post so it’s about time I do so. In fact, I’ll do you one better and post two! I’ll give the general summary post, and then if you look at the tabs above you’ll see one tabbed “MCF”. Definitely click that after reading that. I got a chance to have a pretty in depth interview with a beautiful woman who lived through the election violence in 2007, and the interview goes into that and what she’s had to deal with since then.

Firstly, let’s get back on track a little bit. I got a good amount of rest after the Mombasa trip. In fact, probably too much. I had wanted to get going on my painting project at St. Maurus, but I was dealing with some banking issues, so I didn’t get started until later in the week. I got back to Nairobi on Wednesday of that week. I had stayed in Karen to help the girls pass out all the gifts to the elderly that they raised so much money for! It was very impressive. I think they got around 5 grand in donations, and now that whole group is going to have a wonderful Christmas.

I got back to Nairobi and started making arrangements for the painting job. I went down and got a decent idea of what we wanted to do. The walls originally were painted yellow with a broad white stripe going across the middle. In the stripe were a bunch of children holding hands all the way around the wall. Good design and good idea. Couple problems though. For one, all the children were white, and, secondly, the paint job was over ten years old and the paint (as well as the wall) was horribly chipped in cracked all over the place. So on Monday, I got the funds I needed and I bought two huge buckets of spackle and 3 4 liter buckets of black paint. I spackled the whole wall that day. Used up every bit I had. On Tuesday, we sanded and washed the wall and popped open the first can of paint. I got about half the wall although I was skipping the pillars. The next day, myself, Henry, and a bunch of random kids who showed up to help finished painting the first coat. We finished all the pillars and the remainder of the paint by the end of the week.

I didn’t originally plan on it, but I’ve decided we gotta put a second coat on. On a couple of the wall segments the little children underneath are poking through. Pesky kids. I went back to the paint place, and they told me they won’t have the base they need for the paint until tomorrow (12/19/2012). So I got a few other things and put the project on hold for a few days. I’m planning on putting a red and green strip across the top and bottom to be in line with Kenyan colors. I also want to put some good quotes from their culture and the Bible up there as well. Maybe across the top. Big additions that I’m planning on is putting a painted version of the Kenyan flag on one of the walls, and then I want to take another wall segment and dedicate to St. Maurus. Then when all the kids come back to school, I’m gonna have them put their hands in white paint and have them put their hand prints on the wall and maybe put their names under them as well. I’ve the creative juices flowing. Any suggestions would be welcome!

On the Saturday, I went to Karen because I hadn’t seen them in 10ish days, and they also wanted to see the elephant orphanage. It was pretty cool. They facility houses about 25 elephants ranging in ages 3 months to 3 years. We only got an hour with them though because the end game is to let the elephants out into the wild at some point again, so they limit the amount of outside contact to one hour a day. Kate kept scaring off the elephants otherwise we’d have gotten some pictures touching one. I did touch one’s butt though. That was cool. After the orphanage trip we went to see The Hobbit! I was definitely a little surprised they even had the movie, and there were only maybe 8 people in the theater total. I greatly enjoyed it though! I know there are haters out there, but I think peter Jackson did a fine job translating a great book into a great movie even if he did take some license in some areas.

I took it easy Sunday, and yesterday and today I’ve been working on the article on the interview I got last week. I’ll save most of the details for the actual article, but it’s an intense story of a 16 year old girl who was just trying to get home the night after the election results in 2007. She unfortunately got a lot more than just a little trouble. It’s a pretty graphic story. Some people may rather not read it, but I’m gonna post it anyway. It won’t be on this main page, but rather another page listed on the tabs above “MCF”. I’ll also post a bit of information on what MCF(Mathare Children’s Fund) does as an organization.

Anyways, it’s been perfectly eventful as well as uneventful depending on the day.

Here are some extraneous thoughts.

1)      How can a paint warehouse not have the base paint for black? Or red? They were missing that one, too. Although, I was able to get green. Things are always at 80% here. No one is ever at the top of their game, and it doesn’t really seem like anyone cares to be at least business wise. When it comes to the bar, they go pretty all out.  It’s just difficult to get anything done in any sort of a timely manner. Still trying to switch to that mindset. America did a number on me, I guess!

2)      The past two months there have been no fewer than 3 different Norwegian schools come to stay at the Amani Center. The first two just came and saw the slums, walked around a bit, went on a safari, etc. This third one was here for two weeks, and they left this past weekend. They were different. I got a chance to talk to one of the teachers last week for a moment. They had a pretty cool little thing going. Basically, they bring 20 students and each of those students paid for one Kenyan to stay with them. They spent two weeks basically on retreat and studying… music. A couple of the girls kept asking me to come to their concert this past Saturday. As I already noted above, I went to the elephant orphanage. I did, however, get an invite to a parent’s only show. The parents of Kenyans wanted to see what they had been doing the past two weeks. The whole group did maybe 2 or 3 different song acapella. The real trick though was that everyone split off into groups of 4-8. They had written their own music, and the musical talent there was unbelievable. These were highschoolers mind you, but they were switching instruments left and right and the lyrics were fantastic and there were some incredible singers. I saw saxophones, basses, acoustic and electric guitars, pianos, jimbes, bongos, and drums. They did all kinds of music. Beatbox. Rap. Classical. Christmas. Pop. Reggae. All across the board. It was really cool to see the kids mixed together and sharing their talents. It really was awesome.

3)      On the Christmas note, if anyone wanted to send me some Christmas music, that’s be awesome because I’m missing the automatic music on 97.1 WashFM for the entire month of December.

4)      Hail to the Redskins.

Remember to take a look at the interview article by clicking on the MCF tab at the top of the page.

Thanks for listening! God Bless and I'll post again around Christmas!

-Harris Moriarty

"Untitled" by Artist

To Mail Me Anything: 

Benedictine Fathers

Amani Conference Centre

P.O. Box 32101-00600

Nairobi - Kenya

To Donate Anything: 

Southern Benedictine Society

100 belmont mount holly road

Belmont, NC 28012

(Write "BVC - Harris" in the comment section of the check)

I left you slightly over a week ago, and, when I left, I slept for 2 days. I slept and ate and watched videos on my computer and pressed repeat. I was SO tired from weeks of traveling. Of course, I'm not done or anything. I was just taking a break and well deserved one at that!

Monday I started my life again. I woke up early and went into town to send my money to Tanzania for our Mt. Kilimanjaro trip and secure our seats on the bus for Mombasa! I got to town and went down to the Modern Coast Bus Lines booking office. It was kind of in the ghetto, but the buses were really nice looking. Did that and then I walked to the other side of Nairobi to find a western union to transfer the funds. The company we are using for Kili told us the price in dollars. So I went to barclays bank and took out some money from the ATM. First problem. My bank account wouldn't let me take out enough to pay for Kate, Caitlin, and myself. So I went to the western union and changed the shillings I had over into dollars and then I went home and watched entourage.

Next day. Took my time in the morning and went back into town. Took out the rest of the money in shilling at the barclays. Went over to the western union and changed it into dollars. Then I found out that they couldn't transfer USD to Tanzania. I had to changed it all back into Kenyan Shillings and then change it into Tanzanian shillings. Huge hassle. I know I got screwed somewhere in there. THEN they said they were going to charge me an absurd amount just to make the transfer. aaaaand I didn't have enough money on me to cover the extra charge. So I walked out of the western union with far too much money in my pocket and no plan. I went to Barclays to see about opening an account because I could just use the bank to make the transfer but I had to have an account with them first. They made me jump through all sorts of hoops but the last one was I had to have a friend with a Barclays account fill out a form for me. Couldn't find one. So I talked to the girls and we put the extra money together.

Wednesday. Went to town ONE MORE TIME to figure out the mess. Went up to the lady at the counter, and she recalculated everything. Turns out the lady the previous day was going to charge me 10k extra shilling than she should have. Ugh. Whatever. I sent the money, and then I went and sat in a coffee shop for four hours while I waited for the girls to show up in downtown from Karen. We got there and then took a taxi back to Amani and chilled/ate dinner. Then we met the German girls from next door. They had ordered a cab, and so we jumped in there cab and left for the bus station around 8pm. We got to the bus station kind of early, so we stood around and waited for a bit while people walked by giving us creepy looks. People will stare at me, but no one really wants to mess with me. I have no idea why. Hah. We got on the bus and went forward to Mombasa!

Thursday

We arrived in Mombasa in the early morning. Not really sure what time. Got a taxi to take us to the hostel. We booked the hostel online and we weren't really sure what to expect. We drove into a little town just outside Mombasa called Mtwapa. It didn't look good for us. Pretty low class. Lots of matatus and motor bikes and people just sitting on the sides of the roads being loud and obnoxious. I sat back in my seat and put my hand on my forehead. We took a right and I knew that was the direction of the beach so I became at the least hopeful that we'd be close to the beach. We drove down a broken, sandy road path for at least 7 or 8 minutes. Then we came to the top of a small hill and drove down into a little parking lot where the road dead ended. We got out. We were there. I walked in the front gate, and right there was the beach! We were actually right on the beach! Also, it was really quiet. I immediately fell in love. We checked in and I went into my room for a small nap. Then I came out and ordered breakfast because the hostel has its own bar and restaurant and everything was reasonably priced. I ate my food and begged the girls to take it easy in the morning. Of course, when you're one guy with 4 girls, you will NEVER win a conversation. So we went to the public beach which meant leaving the hostel. ugh. Anyways, we got to the public beach, and that was pretty awesome. The ocean was at low tide and the beach stretch out for what seemed like miles, and even when we finally got up to the water, I could have walked another half mile into the water and only be around waist deep. Had to watch for sea urchins though. Those things were freakin' everywhere, but they're cool to look at. We drank beers and ate lunch on the beach. Went back to the hostel. I think Caitlin and I had a drink but the others just wanted water. My plan was to live it up and I stuck to it! Got dinner and hung out for a bit before finally hittin' the sack.

Friday

Best day ever. Haha I sent the 4 girls to go off snorkeling in the morning. I didn't go for two reasons. 1) I didn't want to pay and 2) I wanted to take it really easy. Vacation, right? I woke up around ten. Got a late breakfast, and went back to bed a for a little bit. Then I went and I sat looking out onto the beach drinking a beer. I met some of the other people staying there. A lot of germans. There were a few there after taking a medical elective, couple more just in from Germany on a vacation, and then there were two on a trip from Tanzania. Germans are all over East Africa. Two moved in right next to me(I had my own room with a double bed for a single price, hell ya). Their names were Tim and Benny, and they were awesome. They were both 29 and on a bro trip for the first time in 10 years. They'd been friends for most of their lives, but they hadn't gone out together for a sweet awesome trip since they'd gone to Spain when they were 17. Anways, everyone chilled the rest of Friday. What an awesomely chill day. I felt great. I even got to go on a late night walk right on the beach! Paradise was at my finger tips!

Saturday

Slept in a small amount. Got a late breakfast and then went back to the public beach. I sat in the restaurant/beach hut with all the girls stuff while they went into the water. I drank some beers and I think I got a plate of fries. It was just really beautiful. The girls got back and I took some pics of Caitlin and Kate on a camel. Yes. A camel. Kate was bracing for death the whole ride while Caitlin I think tried to do a backflip off. Interesting experience. Check Kate's fb pics for the details. Spent the day and most of the evening there. Then they kicked us out because they were hosting a bikini party. They begged us to stay actually, but the girls weren't having any of it. *sigh* Like I said, I never won on this trip. Well not quite never ;). I'm tricky. Anyways, we got back to the hostel and as it was our last night we all sat on the edge of the hostel overlooking the beach and got a few drinks. A little while later, Tim and Benny showed up and bought a round. Then our Tanzanian-German friends showed up, too. Basically, we had a big bash on our last night and we made some good friends. Hopefully, they'll find us on facebook or something. They were fun.

Sunday

Put ourselves together after the previous evening's festivities. Got in the cab and went back to the bus stop in Mombasa. At 1:30 we pulled out. We were making great time until we were roughly 50km outside of Nairobi and we were stopped on the highway. massive traffic jam. So bad that people just straight up got out of their cars and trucks and buses and walked around for bit. I must have seen 3 separate multi-car pile-ups. We arrived in Nairobi around 10:45pm. Immediately got a taxi to Karen. I took a short shower and passed the heck out.

Monday

Woke up at 9:30. checked my emails. Found out that the matatus are all on strike. So I have no plans to get back to Amani as of right now. A couple of the sisters might be driving that way tomorrow. So we'll see! I'm certainly not dropping 4k shilling to go back. I can tell you that right now. So I'm chillin' in Karen! All is well! Always looking for letters from friends and family. Just refer to the address above!

Fun Fact:

The power of the internet is ridiculous. I've had roughly 2500 blog views from these countries:

United States

Kenya

Russia

Germany

Canada

France

Nigeria

Spain

United Kingdom

Poland

Argentina

Switzerland

China

Ireland

Venezuela

Kinda weird, yea? If you're from one of these random countries, let me know who you are! Catch ya later!

U(really)ganda Leave?

As always:

To Mail Me Anything: 

Benedictine Fathers
Amani Conference Centre
P.O. Box 32101-00600
Nairobi - Kenya

To Donate Anything: 

Southern Benedictine Society
100 belmont mount holly road
Belmont, NC 28012

Greetings ‘Merca!

Yes, I realize it has been far too long since my last post, and I am eternally sorrowful for it. I’ve come to pay recompense to the masses by posting a blog today though! So let’s get on with it.

It’s been what, 2 and halfish weeks since I last posted? The week after the funeral was pretty low key. I kept my head down and did some good works and whatnot. I’m planning on organizing a paint job for St. Maurus. I need to buy paint though. Also they want me to fix some of their floors which means I need to pay for cement, too. Man, my bills are racking up! Anyways, schools in Kenya let out last week which meant it was graduation time for the classes at St. Benedict’s primary school! What was weird though was that none of the classes 1-8 had a graduation ceremony. Only the Pre-primary class had one, but all the classes performed different acts during the graduation. Apparently, no one cares if you graduate 8^th grade, but, if you graduate preschool, you’re on top of the world.

Soon after the school shenanigans, I began another little adventure. The prioress at the convent where the girls stay in Karen invited me to go with her, the girls, and her sister who is also a nun on a trip to Uganda! This is gonna need a day by day I think.

Last Wednesday

I met Sr. Serva in downtown Nairobi at 9:30am. We were meeting so that she could help me get my Ugandan visa. We went in, and the lady told us to come back at 4pm. Super lame. Up side though was definitely that Sr. Serva ended up buying me lunch at the Java House. It was really good, and I got a pineapple milkshake. I went with her on a couple errands as well. We stopped by the Cathedral book store, a linen shop, the bank, and we made it to prayer service in the Cathedral as well. We got our Ugandan visas and went back to Karen. It took forever traffic was awful, and it was also the scariest drive of my life. Her name does not imply it, but Sr. Serva is 50-60some Korean woman who loves to talk on the phone while driving. I think I cheated death about 11 times on the way back. We got to Karen and found out that instead of leaving on Thursday, we wouldn’t actually be leaving until Friday. So I had a free day in Karen!

Last Thursday

I slept in. Until noon? Somewhere around there. It was awesome. Then I went into town with the girls to this little coffee shop they discovered and we enjoyed the coffee and WIFI. I downloaded a rental of “O Brother Where Art Thou” from iTunes because Caitlin, scandalously, had never seen it. Then we walked back to the convent in 17 minutes which was a new record for the girls (I’ve done it in 12 nbd). Enjoyed a relaxing evening and packed for our journey.

Last Friday

4:30am came around much MUCH too soon. Sr. Michael Marie, the prioress, had insisted on getting a really early start. We got in the car, and I got to meet our driver, Evans. Yes, his name has an “s” on the end, it’s not a typo. Evans and I would be spending a fair amount of time together being the only two guys on a convent to convent trip. We started off towards our first destination in Kerio valley. It was a little village called Chesongoch. The last 40 km was on a miserable piece of dirt road. We finally arrived though and let me tell you it was friggin’ hot. It has been a loooooong time since I’ve been in an environment so sweltering. Of course, Chesongoch is the convent I’ll be staying at during the month of January. Oh boy. We got there at lunchtime and then I took a nap. I sweat myself to sleep. Then the girls and I got around 3 and Evans drove us to Endo which was about an hour away. It was another little convent in the valley. We came back. Did some vespers and then the girls and I watched Cool Runnings on my computer before we went to sleep.

Saturday

We got up and took some cold showers because they don’t have hot water, but I didn’t mind because of the heat. We went to Mass and then we got a tour of the dispensary the sisters run there. It was a really good looking facility. They’d done a lot of building and money raising the past couple years, and they’re even set up to facilitate surgery. The only problem they have now is a lack of people! They need surgeons and other workers and what not. Then we went back to the convent for lunch and headed out again.

We drove up a mountain for 15 km. That was interesting. The sites were incredible though. We got an awesome look at the valley. I can’t wait to live there for a month and get some good hiking in. About 4 hours later we arrived at Kimumu which is another convent and we sat around and had tea. Then they gave us a tour of the school. It’s a small building but they have about 500 kids in their primary school there. We had dinner in Kimumu, and I did my best to entertain all the sisters. I don’t know why but these religious women just seem to love me. Then, because there wasn’t enough room in Kimumu to house Evans, the girls, and myself, we went to another convent in a town called Eldoret about 20 minutes away. It’s a beautiful convent. Small, but very pretty. They had hot water. I took advantage. Since we’d gone up in elevation the temperature had dropped significantly. I took my hot shower and passed out.

Sunday

Went to Mass at the Cathedral of the Eldoret Diocese. Sr. Michael Marie needed more time with the sister at Kimumu so we stayed in Eldoret another day. We came back to the convent and took naps. It was glorious. Then we went out for lunch and ate to our hearts’ desires for about 10 bucks total. Then we went to Kimumu because we were supposed to be there by 4. We got there around 2:30 and hung out. Then we were told to go with this random lady back to her home with Evans as the driver. So we went and we hung out at this family’s house for a couple hours. They gave us tea, cookies, and mandazi. Then we all sat around and discussed different things. I learned something about American History that day, too. Please tell me if this was in your history books.

                The Explanation Behind the Name America as told by a Kenyan

When the settlers of the New World began to expand their lands, the Indians became agitated. One man had an idea to marry a pilgrim woman with an Indian man. The Indians were pleased. The night after the ceremony one of the settlers had hidden in a wedding present. He broke out and unlocked the gates to the Indian village. The settlers came in, over took, and killed the Indians of the village. The phrase “A Marriage Gun” was coined. Over time this phrase turned into America hence the name of the country.

I had never heard that one before, but man is it a riveting story. There were a couple other myths that I had to dispel, but it was fun nevertheless.

Monday

We left for Uganda. Jinja specifically. The nickname of Uganda is the “Jewel of Africa”, so I went into Uganda with this thought in mind. It is indeed a pretty country. The whole country is covered in green and there are rolling hills everywhere. Very pretty landscape, and there’s a ton of food.  The convent in Jinja was more like a massive compound. Everything was gated and all the windows were barred and there was this little courtyard inside. Despite that, it might be the prettiest compound I’ve ever seen. From the view in the girls bedroom, you could see lake Victoria which actually touched a piece of the sisters’ property.

Within about an hour of getting there, they had us back out again to go see the source of the Nile River. Man, that was cool. They put us in a little boat and motored around tiptoeing back and forth over the line separating the Nile and Lake Victoria. I’m not really sure how to describe it.

We went back to the convent for dinner and vespers. Then afterwards, another nun who was visiting showed a slide show of her travels around the world specifically in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. I want to go there something fierce now. That place looks awesome!

Tuesday

We got up around 5:30 to see the sunrise over the lake. That was cool. Later in the morning we got a full tour of what the convent does at their hospital and there 900 kid primary school. I have no idea where all these kids come from. In the school we went from class to class, and by the time we were done it was recess or something so I started playing with the kids. Here’s a snippet: 

After that we scarfed down some food and hit the road back to Eldoret. We stayed there for the night.

Wednesday

Back to Karen! We arrived mid-afternoon exhausted and hungry. So we took some tea and took a nap. Then we went into town to buy a few things. We came back and we cooked an apple crisp for the sisters to enjoy on our Thanksgiving Holiday. I wasn’t there the next day to enjoy, but I was told we did a good job!

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! I got driven to Nairobi and I went with the girls and Sr. Serva to go deal with some immigration issues (ironic). The girls had to renew their visas. Then we went out for lunch to celebrate Thanksgiving and St. Cecilia’s feast day who is Kate’s patron saint. Then I went to Amani think I’d have a few hours to chill. Wrong. I got back to find a note saying I was getting picked up at 4:30 which was about 10 minutes from when I saw it. We were having a big celebration at Dan the Pirate’s House. Tim and Mike cooked all evening making deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, and lamb. We also had a bunch of beer. We listened to loud music and danced around. Almost forgot, when I got picked up, I was asked to drive to Dan’s house. I DROVE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE AUGUST. It was awesome and driving around Nairobi isn’t so bad! Pedals are still in the right places so it wasn’t too difficult. We got back from the party around 2:30am. I was exhausted.

Today (Friday)

I slept in until 9:30 today and then got tea. I’m planning on doing nothing for the next couple days. It’s been a really exciting past couple of weeks though.

There are always more things that I could talk about, but I’m trying to keep these posts shorter and to the points I’m supposed to hit if I can (I know I typically fail at the short part).

Some Final Things:

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is doing well back in the States. I’m still looking for some donations for some various projects at St. Maurus, and I still want to buy a couple basketball hoops for a couple different places.

Also, if anyone has any interest in seeing pictures of me on Mt. Kilimanjaro, I’m also accepting personal donations J .

God continues to bless my mission with everything that I've needed to do to be successful here. I've made great friends, and I am becoming better friends with some that I was already friends with. My family has never felt so large as it does right now. I miss you all. Only 5 more months!

-Harris

Pole Pole Sana, Bwana. (Very Slowly, Man)

This past week was slow and fast and boring and super interesting. I'll do my best to put it all in words for you!

To Mail Me Anything: 

Benedictine Fathers
Amani Conference Centre
P.O. Box 32101-00600
Nairobi - Kenya

To Donate Anything: 

Southern Benedictine Society
100 belmont mount holly road
Belmont, NC 28012

I left you all about 9 days ago on a Thursday. From Friday to Monday, I took it easy. I went to Karen to see the girls. Kate didn't feel super great, so Caitlin and I watched episodes of House all day Sunday. It was good, lazy fun.

Monday morning I left the girls in time to make it back to Drawing at 11am. I started working on different animals. I'm not really much for actually drawing them, but it was fun trying to get the kids to think of different animals and to teach them some animals that they'd never heard of before! I was going to go to St. Maurus that afternoon, but I got called to a staff meeting at Street Children to discuss some future issues and projects. It was long and boring, but it was actually pretty insightful. As of right now, the policy is that new kids have to stay in the center for one year for rehab purposes before the center can pay for them to go to school. We are now, however, looking into the possibility of taking the necessity of a year of rehab on a case by case basis. Some kids do not need to get weened off of sniffing glue because they never had a problem in the first place. There are also some issues with dealing with kids who are sponsored. Some of the sponsors have been sending their kids money for cell phones and other totally unnecessary things, and many of the kids get distracted from school or get in trouble simply because in most schools phones aren't allowed. Anyways, we got through a lot of information.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I went to St. Benedict's for Drawing and then followed up with St. Maurus in the afternoon.

Thursday is where the fun begins. From this point forward in this blog post, you will hear detailed descriptions of experiences and some possibly heavy insights into certain aspects of life here in Kenya.

Firstly, I'll begin by saying. DUDE, KENYANS SUCK AT TRAVELING ANYWHERE IN ANY CONCEIVABLE MANNER OF TIME. Ok. Glad I got that out. So here's the deal. Augus' uncle who had adopted him and his other siblings when he was younger was hit by a car and couple weeks ago on Heroes Day(a Kenyan Holiday). James Ogutu passed away on the scene. Augus invited the four guys here at the Amani Center to go to the funeral in town called Bodi on the Nyabondo Plateau. Only Mike and I were able to go. On Thursday night after dinner, Augus came over and led us back into the slums after nightfall. We hopped on a couple motorcycles and sped away through the slums. We stopped in an area of Mathare that had apparently alluded me, Baraka. It wasn't the worst that I'd seen since my arrival, but it was pretty darn close. The reason we went there that night was because we supposedly going to take a bus the next morning around 4 or 5. Well, Augus got some friends together as well as a couple bottles of Konyagi, and we all sat around drinking until most passed out. I had brought my computer, and I sat on that for awhile. 

8am Friday morning comes around. During the night, Augus had apparently procured for us a car being driven by his cousin, Jack. Jack as I came to learn was an incredibly nice man, and also a bit simple. He lives the Kenyan phrase Pole Pole. We got in his car at 8:30. Then we drove to his house where we sat for another hour drinking tea and watching music videos for christian music on the television. Then we left his house and piled into his car. The seats were really cushiony but there was really only room for 1.8 people in his backseat. Jack was driving. His wife was in the front passenger seat, and Mike, Augus, and myself stuffed ourselves in the back. It was tight. We left his house, and we made at least two more stops on the way out of Nairobi. Then we finally began the *7* hour journey. I put the 7 in asterisks because that's how long it was SUPPOSED to take. All in all, it took about 11. We were moving nicely, and then we stopped for food where we met up with a bus that had been rented by Augus' Uncle's church. We saw all of them and chitchatted for awhile. Then we got back in the car, and roughly and hour later we went over a bump and heard a loud crack. Yay. Soon, we pulled over into a local mechanic. They removed the front left tire to find the actual frame of the car had cracked, so the man welded it as well as doing a few other things and we got back on the road. We came to where we were supposed to turn, however, and the road was closed. No one was entirely certain which direction to go. So we stopped about 4 times to get proper directions. We traversed the same 30km stretch of road 4 times, and somewhere in there it started pouring rain. Finally, we found the correct road. After driving for another long stretch of time, we got to the bottom of the plateau. It was night time, but even still it was obvious we were getting pretty deep into the Bush. The last bit of the journey was to get to the top of said plateau. We took one "road", but the rain and mud had caused massive rifts and gulleys. We struggled through the road for sometime, and finally were forced to turn back. On the second road, we found more luck, the problems arose when the road became too steep, and the car kept trying to slide off the side of the mountain. We pulled into the driveway of a local "house" and asked if we could leave the car over night. Then we collected our things and hiked through the rain and mud for probably a mile. We met up with a few of Augus' friends who had come down to assist on our hike up because we didn't know the exact way. Only problem was that in the dark, they apparently didn't know the way either. We went up and down the mountain for another hour before we finally found where the funeral party was located. We set up our tent, and then I went out to meet some of the family members. I got brought to the matriarchal house and met a lot of old ladies who only spoke Luo with very poor Swahili. There was very little conversation, but they enjoyed looking at me and laughing. Then I went to bed. Fun Fact: in each family area I guess you would say, the home of the "First Wife" or the Head wife faces directly toward the valley. All other houses face hers. It's important when traveling around to know which house to pay homage to first.

Funeral Saturday came along. I woke up and crawled out of my tent to see a few cups of tea awaiting me. I stood up and stopped.      The view. was. incredible.      I wish that I had had my camera with me. In the rush of Thursday night heading over to the slums, I'd left it sitting on my bed. Even so, my camera could not have done this view justice. Directly in front of me was the rift valley. Must have been 300 km across. Running right through the middle was the Nyando River. To the left was Lake Victoria, but only a piece of it. And on the far side extending across the whole horizon were the Bondo Mountains. I got to see it all just as the sun rose behind me out from the facade of the plateau. So beautiful. I sat and watched for a good amount of time just appreciating it.

Then I heard the microphones. In front of one of the little houses there, a few tents with chairs had been set up. The ceremony was beginning. The ceremony here was different than ours in so far as it was a Seventh Day Adventist service and the whole things last about 8 hours. They do welcoming announcements and tributes from all sorts of people and requiems and choir singing. The people who simply attend, however, do not sit for 8 hours. They mill about having different conversations and preparing food and whatnot. I was asked to go with a number of other guys to go get water from a local stream. I couldn't believe that people were gonna drink this water. The rains had churned everything up so the water was almost totally brown, but I filled my 20 liter jerrycan like I was told and brought it back. It was a long walk, and 20 liters of water is pretty darn heavy by the way. After awhile though, I drifted over to the tents. I sat and listened to a few of the tributes. I didn't understand a word anyone said, but even still. There was a man who went up to the microphone, and he began talking. I tried to be as attentive as possible. I was trying to read his face and his body language. I could here in his voice that he was losing control. Gradually, I began to hear his voice crack and his voice get louder until finally he was at the point of breaking down. At the time, all I remember is feeling for him. I had no idea what he was saying, and yet despite the language barrier *I* was getting teary eyed. Even just thinking back the moment now brings some swelling to my eye lids. After this man who I later found out was the deceased brother, another man came around passing out programs to those who didn't have one. I grabbed one and flipped through it. Oddly enough, the whole thing was written in English. Jame Ogutu was a family man with 3 sons and 2 daughters. Not accredited were his brother's children whom  James had adopted. He finished secondary school and taught in the school systems as well as drove a bus for the rest of his life. And he never missed a day of Church. On the back was a small note written by Augus' eldest brother:

     "It is with sorrow and grief that I honour God your Kind and Keeper for your demise. It has been tough to accept it Dad but you said it before your departure. The love and understanding that has been between us was great and still needed it. You lived a humble life but you made our entire family and me in particular what I am. We were wished extreme poor and hard life but dear Dad you taught us to: Love the Lord whole heartedly, Pray and Fast, be Humble always, Give to the Lord and others, Work with people with no grange, be appreciative even in the little things, be people of integrity, be full of compassion as Jesus is, Love and take care of our families. Dad the list is long. I cannot mention it all. you have left us in the hands of which you loved and trusted most, the Almighty God. You have fought a good fight. You have kept pure the faith of the saints. You have gone to your Father King and faithful friend you loved most. We will for life miss you. You molded us to what we are by the power of your God. Receive your crown and enjoy the life in that eternal house."

I think I died a little inside when I read that. Here's the thing. Kenyan people are pretty resilient. They are surrounded by poverty, failure, corruption, and death. Dan the pirate says that Kenyan men are bred to be super serious and never show emotion. In the villages, when they are 14, they have to be circumcised in front of the family, and they're not allowed to flinch. That's what a Kenyan man is supposed to be like. I think what threw me the most was that these big, kenyan men were breaking down over the death of this one man. At the burial, there was even a man who used my sleeve to sob. I could tell he was trying to hold it back, but he was experiencing true sorrow. My first thought was: I'm not allowed to cry because frankly I don't have the right to! Not only did I not know this man, but the men who are cracking around me are giving up years and years of personality formation and throwing it to the wolves to grieve for this man at this moment. The second thought was: I wish I had met this man. They buried him behind his house and the entire yard was full. I started considering the reach of this one man, and I realized that even I was there. This man had been so influential that two Americans who had no business being there had been sucked into his vortex. What a guy he must have been. He was 54. In 50 years of living his simple life in the slums and going to Church everyday, he had managed to reach me about 12000 miles away. If one guy can do so much and have so much effect who is to say that someone like me can't and isn't. He did nothing spectacular. He just lived a good life. Maybe if I just try to live a good life, the rest will take care of itself, too.

Anyways, a break from that. One thing about the funeral that really irritated the heck out of me were the preachers. They had about 6 preachers, and they went up in twos so that one could preach in english and the other would translate to swahili. So this part I got to hear and understand. THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHING. They talk in circles and they repeat themselves and they yell really loud but nothing actually gets said. Nothing is explained and no information is given. There's no learning. Actually sorry, I lied. They try to teach some things. Like, how all Catholics are misinformed. That's what they teach to their "flocks". How to pass judgment on someone based on their title. What gives? Their whole argument was that in the Bible it doesn't say anything about one church. What makes theirs so great then? And they also say that the Bible specifically says Jesus came with only three things and nothing else: Divine Power, Blood, and Stripes. The preacher explained the first two and then just sort of forgot about the third and went off on a praise tangent. What the heck are the stripes? WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE GUYS EVEN TALKING ABOUT!? I dunno. I was confused, but a good portion of the crowd seemed happy. So I just left and went somewhere else for awhile. Also, all the preachers here call themselves Bishops. It's ridiculous.

After the burial, everyone broke up for awhile. Some went to get food or set up for the evening festivities. I went to go alone into the town to see if I could charge my computer somewhere as it was pretty much dead. I was about halfway there when one of the guys I'd met at the funeral came and dragged me away to somebody's house. He wanted to bring me to the "Men's Club" as he called it. It was someone's backyard that wasn't kept very well. A bunch of guys were just sitting on some rocks and they were passing around some sort of local liquor. Basically moonshine. Oh and did I mention the marijuana? Did anyone else know that Kenya is full of that stuff? Literally grows everywhere.  I spent about 20 minutes there and was able to get away and get to Bodi. I paid some lady like 30 shilling to charge my computer for awhile. Sat around a bit and saw some other people from the funeral that I actually recognized from Nairobi. We went into a local pub and watched Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-1. I was bummed. I went to get my computer and then started back toward's the tent which was about a 30-40 minuted walk. Of course, on my way there it started pouring so I had to sprint. I got to my tent and got dry. Turned on my computer and I'll be darned if the thing hadn't charged at all. In fact, it had probably lost charge. So that was sad. It died about 10 minutes later. So I left the tent and ran over to the little house. There were maybe 150 people stuffed in there. I walked around and chatted with everyone for a bit and then Augus found me, brought me back to the tent, and gave me so freshly cooked fish and rice. It was so good, I couldn't even believe it. Easily the best fish I've ever had in my life. By this time, it was close to 10pm. One of Augus' brothers came in with a bottle of some kind of liquor and we passed it around for a bit. Then everyone left for awhile, and I went to sleep. By the way, lightning storms on top of plateaus are pretty scary but it's a little exciting, too!

Woke up Sunday morning around 6. Jack had told me he wanted to leave by 9:30. I got some of my stuff ready and took breakfast and tea. After mulling around for a bit, I found Jack and he was talking with his father and brothers about something. So finally, around 10 he said it was time to go. We walked back down the mountain to his car and would you believe it? It didn't start! Not only that but the driveway was downhil to where the car was which meant we had to PUSH it up the driveway. We found 5 or 6 people walking down the mountain to come help. The real problem was the ground was so incredibly muddy, we couldn't find good traction. It took about an hour to get it up. I'm pretty sure I almost died twice by that beast of a car falling back over top of me. Augus and Mike stayed in Bodi, but I needed to get back to Nairobi to deal with a couple things regarding my work visa, so Jack, his wife, and now his two sisters who needed a ride down to the bottom got in the car. The two sisters both had newborns with them as well. Jack put the car in neutral and we rode the mountain with all it's slipping and sliding mud and huge bumps all the way into a small town. The two sisters got out and walked to the local matatu station and we pushed the car into a mechanic. Mechanic worked on the car for about 2 hours. Then we just *had* to get the car washed. Pressure washer wasn't working so it was done by hand by one man. Then we finally got into the car and went on our way, and we were making such great time! A minor rain shower here and there had shown up but nothing serious. We were about 50 km outside of Nairobi when on the left we see the big bus stuck on the side of the highway that looked an awful lot like the bus transporting all the people from the funeral. Of course we stopped. Turned out the bus had run out of fuel. The fuel light had been on for over 100km. Driver thought he could make it to the next petrol station. Idiot. Some four wheel drive car came along and tried tow the bus but the hooks kept snapping. That's when I remembered I had two carabiners in my backpack. I always keep a couple just in case! They each hold a few thousand pounds. Figured two should do the trick. So we hooked them up, and they got about 150m down the road. This time the ropes had snapped. At this point the driver of the car who had just been a passerby decided it was time for him to go home. It was late. It was pretty dark. Storm was coming in, and the wind had brought the temperature down a lot. it was probably close to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. We needed a new plan! Jack and I hopped in the car and found the next local town. Wow was this town a piece of crap. Literally drunkards and prostitutes everywhere. I had no idea where we were, but I definitely didn't like it. We walked around asking for some help and we got directed to a mechanic. The issue with the bus apparently was that it was a diesel so even if we just got fuel we'd have to do something called bleeding to make sure the pipes that were only supposed to have fuel in them didn't have air too. So we loaded up the bucket of fuel and the mechanic into the car and got back to the bus. Bus got fixed. Then we went about going over the last mountain. Of course, in the time we'd been figuring out the whole issue, a bunch of storm clouds had rolled through. The entire descent from the mountain was done almost completely blind. The fog was terrible. We passed a lot of cars that had fallen off the side of the road., but we made it back. I got dropped off at the Amani Center, and I collapsed into my bed.

It was definitely a big weekend. A lot to take in. I hope that this story wasn't too overwhelming for y'all but man I had to tell somebody! I learned a lot this weekend. I learned that some emotions are not bound by language. Kenyans are not resilient to sorrow. Traveling takes forever here. And one man can truly make a difference. Not necessarily a physical one, but the kind that matters, "You lived a humble life but you made our entire family and me in particular what I am." Regardless of what you or anyone else might think, everyone has the potential. It's just a matter of what we do with it. Do we live for ourselves or do we live for others or some mixture of the two. I think it's the last, and I think I'm zoning in on the balance. Keep us all in your prayers and stay tuned! I'll be here for 5 and a half more months!

-Harris