Walk to Water

On Wednesday, May 9th, Santa Barbara Middle Schools 7th grade decided to run an experiment to see what a few hours in the life of many people on our earth are like. The challenge: carry between one and 10 gallons from Rocky Nook park to the Santa Barbara Middle School campus. Some walked barefoot, some did not. Some made their water last for 24 hours, some did not. No matter how hard it was, it was only a taste of what most African women go through on a daily basis. It was really a sight to see, it even made the news! Here is what I went through on that morning.

At 6:15, my alarm woke me up in an unfashonable way. I dragged myself out of bed and got my clothes. I made a big mistake in wearing jeans, a ended up hurting me in the long run. When I got there, I took off my shoes, and the second I stepped on the ground, I knew that I was going to be miserable, but it was worth it. I'm sure that the women if Africa who have to transport this amount of water are not brimming with happiness either. It took forever to fill the water, because of a broken pipe. I passed the time by talking to Oli and Dia, and before I knew it, it was time to get on the road. For a while, I chatted with my friends, but after a while a started to just focus on getting to the end of the journey.

I kept walking on what seemed like a never-ending slope uphill, and the fact that I had on a warm jacket didn't help. I thought about taking it off, but I didn't want to have to take off my backpack, which was a pain to get on. After a while, my shoulders started to hurt. This was partly because that my backpack did not fit properly, but also that the backpack added an extra 6 pounds to the 28 that I already had in there. Finally, I started to recognize the landscape from what I see driving to school. I knew that we were almost there, but I still couldn't see the school. I trudged on farther and farther, when finally I saw our school. I was ecstatic to get back to school, not only because of my shoulders, but also because of my aching feet.

When I reached the parking lot, I dumped my backpack and ran into Science class, and my walk was over.

My Visit With Mirvate Days 3 and 4

I woke up this morning and realized that my prediction had been completely right. Let's say I was not feeling my best that morning, but I knew we had a big day so I had to wake up and get ready. At least I wasn't the only one in my family feeling under the weather. My parents were taking quite a while to get ready. Luckily, as we walked out of our room, we saw Mirvate preparing breakfast, which consisted of many similar things to an American breakfast, toast, jelly, eggs, and carob spread on pita bread. It was all quite delicious. Now normally Mirvate would be headed off to work, but for our trip only she has asked her son to fill in for her.

Today we decided to go to the ruins of the Baalbeck temples. It was really a sight to see. There were remnants of amazing structures, littered all around the grounds. I took lots of pictures, one of which I will show you. And to think that I barely knew this country existed just a month ago! As if reading my thoughts, Mirvate said "There are many more sights to see in Lebanon, it truly is a hidden gem.

After a while of exploring these amazing ruins, at was already starting to be late afternoon, so we decided to go get some lunch. Our lunch was very similar to tapas, where we got many tasters of lots of different dishes. Some of my favorite dishes were the baba janoush (eggplant dish), chich taouk (a chicken dish), and the mediterranean famous baklava. Of course, the was a dud every one in a while, but as a whole the lunch was very good. We had a two hour drive back to Mirvate's house, so we had to say goodbye to the quaint little town the ruins were located in. The drive back to Mirvate's house was very quiet; I think we were all just exhausted because of the little amount of sleep my family got last night. When we got home, we had a short dinner and headed off to bed so we could bank some extra hours of sleep.

When we woke up the next morning, we were all feeling much more rested, so we decided to do a little more with our day today. We had a very short breakfast, packed up our stuff and walked out to the car. We decided to go up to the Cedars of God forest, which is one of the most notable forests in Africa. The Cedar of the Gods forest is a one of a kind forest in the world, containing cedar trees that can be up to 3,000 years old! I was very excited to get to witness these trees in their natural environment.

When we got to the forest, I was in awe. The trees looked like giants, their protruding branches looking like outstretched hands. I immediately started taking pictures like a madman, until Mirvate started laughing and told me that we should start our hike. Let me tell you right now, our hike was not easy, we had to conquer steep hills, trudge through weathers up to 95 degrees fahrenheit (35 celsius). After an amazing hike, we started to approach the parking lot. I was happy to be able to sit down, but I was sad to leave the forest, because I would never experience anything like this again. Even the drive home was beautiful, with the rolling hills of of that arid country. There were scarcely trees, and lots of dry grass. It looked like wildfire central for most of the drive home!

We were very lively that night, talking about all that we had experienced that day. Even Mirvate had never been to that particular forest, and I am led to believe that she had as much of a good time as us. We said our good nights and then headed off to bed, we needed to bank some more sleep; another big day was around the corner.

My Visit With Mirvate: Final Days

I couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning, we only had two days left on our trip! "Time has gone by so fast," I thought as I put my jacket on. Luckily, we might be able to do something on the last day of our trip, as our flight didn't leave until later in the day. Mirvate greeted us this morning with a cheese knefe, which is like a pancake that is filled with gooey cheese. It was delicious, and I had a feeling it would fill me up until our next meal of the day.

Today we decided to go big, since it was our last day together. We decided to go to (I know, this is very American of us) Waves Waterpark. I had looked them up on the internet, and they had tons of long and fun looking slides, so after lots of begging from me my family decided that we could go. We packed up our swim gear and headed off to the waterpark.

When we got there, we nearly had the place to ourselves, but we had a feeling that it would become more crowded as time went by. We knew the crowds were going to show up, so we hit the waterslides hard. Mirvate was a little scared to go on her first ride, but after that she was laughing alone with the rest of us. She was a maniac! She would do 180s, she would go down backwards, just watching her made us have more fun. After a while of riding, we decided to take a little break and have our picnic lunch that we prepared, but none of us were done with the slides just yet.

After lunch, we looked at the time and saw that it was already 2:00! Since it was a three hour drive back to Mirvate's house, we had to power for a few more hours and then we had to throw in the towel. Since there were six different slides, we could have stayed the whole next day, but before we knew it, we had to get back in our rental car and make the long journey back to Mirvate's house.

When we got back, we ate our dinner in silence. I suppose the meal was good, but I couldn't really taste it. All I was thinking about is that we had to leave the next day early in the morning. We had been avoiding thinking about this for days, but there was no mo denying it. It was our last night together. We all said our good nights and headed off to bed, with visions of our departure dancing in our heads.

The next morning, we woke up and solemnly started to pack our bags. There was a deep sadness building up inside me, this was started to be like a second home to me. I was getting so used to the delicious cuisine and scenery that going back home was starting to seem like a vacation itself. I was dreading having to say goodbye to Mirvate, she had been so good to use and so excited to see us, but our bags were packed and we were cramming them into the car.

We spent the car ride recapping the best parts of the trip. My favorite was the initial look on Mirvate's face when she recognized us. My dads favorite, no surprise, were the epic water slides that we went on the day before. Also not surprisingly, the water slides were also Mirvate's favorite part of our journey. Also, we watched the sun rise over the horizon, casting a peachy pink glow over the surrounding mountains.

Finally we had to say goodbye to Mirvate as we were walking through customs. We all kept our composures, but inside we all had a gaping hole. We promised to keep in touch, and then we turned our heads, and left Mirvate standing alone in the terminal.

My Visit With Mirvate: Days 1 and 2

"May I see your passports, please?" "Of course." I was nearly jumping up and down in anticipation. We were finally getting to go to Lebanon! Of course, it was still about 22 hours until we got there, but after 2 weeks of waiting in anticipation, a day seemed like no time at all. Either way, I knew these three flights were going to seem like forever. After what seemed like forever, we finally boarded the plane to Chicago. However, to my surprise, the five hours to Chicage seemed to go pretty fast, between my iPad, talking, and sleeping, we were in O'Hare International before we knew it.

The next 17 hours went by in a blur, and before we knew it, we were arriving into Tripoli, Lebanon. I was so excited! My parents once again warned me that her english was limited, but I didn't care. We waited in our rental car for about 10 minutes, until we saw a small figure lacking up to where we were parked. It was Mirvate! I don't think she recognized us at first, but then as she drew nearer, she realized it was us and a smile appeared on her face.

Unlike my visit with Maruge, I did not expect or give a hug this time, just a firm handshake and a warm smile. I had actually researched this ahead of time, so as to not offend Mirvate or her family. It was getting late, so we decided to just have Mirvate give us a quick tour of her neighborhood and her business and then it would be time for dinner.

Dinner Etiquette in Lebanon

Now I had also researched dinner etiquette in Lebanon on the internet, and it seemed to be quite complicated, with many crucial table manners. Now, I am not known to be rude at the table, but I am most certainly not acquainted with the rules of fine dining. This was actually one of the more stressful things about this trip, because the last thing I needed to do was be rude to Mirvate. Dinner went by alright though (not to mention the food was great), and next thing we knew it was time for bed.  Mirvate gave us her room which she shared with her husband, which was very selfless of her, and we had  a surprisingly good sleep, considering the time change.

The next day, we were very tired because of the time change, so we decided to take that day slow. We decided that Mirvate was just going to show us around the city. We found a little of everything in the second largest city in Lebanon, some breathtaking views, some heart-breaking sights, mansions, and slums. I really learned how opposite some styles of living could be in just one city. Even though I was hungry and waiting to get back to our house, I was almost sad when our little tour ended.

Dinner was, once again, a nervous spot for me, but I think Mirvate understood that we were not prepared for all of the etiquette that was accustomed in her household, but boy did she crack down on her child if he got out of line (which he did very little)! However, when we retired to our bedrooms, I had a feeling that I was not going to have the best night, and I was spot on in my predictions.

My Visit With Mirvate: Currency

Now that my family has both the transportation and the language worked out, the last thing we need to do is exchange some money into the Lebanese currency, which is called the Lebanese frank. We were hoping to do this before we get to Lebanon, because we don't have a sure place to do it once we are there. If Mirvate will let us, we are hoping to treat, so she doesn't have to spend any extra money on accommodating us.

We had a very hard time deciding how much money to exchange, but it didn't matter all too much if we went a little over, because whatever we had left over we were going to going to give to Mirvate's family to support their business. After all, not much you can do with Lebanese money in America!

Exchange rate (look at built in google widget)

We also had to keep a log of how much money we spent in total on our trip. My family that we would spend most of our expenses on travel in Lebanon and sightseeing, but food could also be a large factor in out finances. Overall, I personally hope we exchange a bit too much money, because I love supporting Mirvate and her business.

My Visit With Mirvate: Communication

Like I said in my last post, we needed to do some work before we could go to Lebanon. Just like we needed to book our plane tickets, we needed to be able to communicate with the people in Lebanon, or else our whole trip would be pointless. After all, some of the most enriching experiences on my trips to foreign countries is interacting with the people there, and getting to know their culture. My family decided that to be confident in speaking Lebanese, we needed to come up with the 10 most commonly used phrases in English, and then translate them into Lebanese. Here is what we came up with:

1. Hello - مرحبا (nar-haad-ra
2. Thank you - شكرا لك  (shi-kar-i-li-ka)
3. OK - موافق (moo-wey-filk)
4. How are you? - كيف حالك (kay-fa-haar-like-e)
5. Can I have the... - هل يمكنني ان يكون (yump-kin-na-a-loo-gee)
6. Can I use the restroom? - هل يمكنني استخدام المراحيض (y-yump-kin-na-en-ya-am-an-sten-da-a-el-al-mor-a-hi)
7. Goodbye - وداعا (wed-a-han)
8. Where are we going? - الى اين نحن ذاهبون؟ (el-a-ain-an-u-ha-le-he-gu-na)
9. Can you give me directions? - هل يمكن ان تعطيني الاتجاهات؟ (hay-u-kim-an-a-to-tree-lee-ah-he-te-j-had)
10. What time is it? - ما هو الوقت؟ (na-hu-a-locht)
11. Nice to meet you! - لطيف لمقابلتك (le-traif-lee-mo-ca-de-la-tica)

Now that we now a little Arabic, all that's left until we leave is exchanging currencies, and that will come next post.

My Visit With Mirvate: Transportation

Today Mark two weeks from my departure to Tripoli, Lebanon. Why was my family going to Lebanon? It's a long story but I'll start at the beginning. In Social Studies my teacher assigned me a project where I had to go on to Kiva (a micro lending website) and pick one person to learn as much as I could about. We then had to make a keynote on that person, and if it was approved, we would then get a free $25 to lend to that person. I felt I had a real connection to Mirvate, the person I was lending to, so we attempted to make contact with her through Kiva. We succeeded and before we knew it we decided to book a trip to Lebanon. Now everything seems fine and dandy, but before we could go we needed to work out some logistics.

The most cost-effective flight we found cost around $1000 per person one way. It had two stops; one in Chicago and one in London. The estimated time on the way up was around 19 hours, and on the way back it was around 21. My family decided that this is the most cost-effective flight, after all with me going to Santa Barbara Middle School we had to save as much money as we could. Now all we could do is wait until the time came to board the plane.

Miles: The Heroic Adventure of an Average Boy

“Hi, can you tell me where the bread is?” “Sure, it’s on aisle 4, towards the middle.” Miles purchased the bread and went home; he was 13 now, he had more responsibility in his household, which explains why he was at the store buying bread. As he was walking out of the store, a man in a black suit bumped into him and dropped what looked like a TV remote. “Hey sir! You forgot your…,” but his sentence trailed off as he saw the man stare at him intently and mouth the words “For you.” So, on a sudden impulse, he pocketed the remote and headed home. He decided not to tell his parents about the remote, but his cover was almost blown at dinner when his dad, Ryan, asked what was in his pocket. “Oh, um, it’s just a pack of gum I bought at the store today.” Luckily, the excuse worked on his family and they asked no further questions.

In his room that night, Miles couldn’t sleep. His mind was filled with possibilities about what the remote could mean. At about one in the morning, he decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He got out of bed, and pressed the power button on the remote. It was a wild guess, but the top suddenly popped off! Inside was a recorder. Miles pressed the play button, and a rough voice came on. “Miles Malisse, you have been chosen to join the SDFS (Society of Dark Forces Specialists). You have powers unknown to you as of now, but we need to meet in private so I can explain all that you need to do. Meet me at 1226 W. Concorde Blvd, at 12 AM on the 13th. Ask the person at the door for Rick, and then say “Moriano” when asked for the code word. I know this is a lot to handle, but it is imperative that you understand. If you do not believe me, take three steps back and watch what happens to the tape recorder when this message finishes. Be there,” and then the message was over. Suddenly, there was a blinding light, and all of the particles of the tape recorder seemed to split apart. Then, they all came back together with a “Bang!” and then the tape recorder was gone.

On the 13th of May, Miles found his feet dragging himself towards 1226 W. Concorde Blvd, against all of his mental objections. He knew he couldn’t be the right person, he was just an average kid from Streeter, North Dakota. Yet his feet seemed to think differently. When he arrived at the door, his hands seemed to agree with his feet as they rang the doorbell. “I’m looking for Rick.” “What is the password?” “Moriano.” “You may enter.”  Miles walked inside the dimly lit room. There seemed to be moth balls everywhere, it looked as if it hadn’t been touched in years, much less cleaned. Suddenly, someone jumped him! Miles let out a cry and tried to fight off the attacker, but to no avail. He was in good physical shape, but Miles couldn’t inflict the least bit of pain on the attacker. “Was this all a trap?” Miles thought. However, all too suddenly, the man loosened his grip on Miles and let him go. Miles immediately hopped up and delivered a swift punch to the face, to which the attacker said “Ah, very good Miles, you are going to need those fighting skills when you inevitably fight the dark spirit.” Miles stopped mid-punch. This must be the man the recording talked about.

“Are you Rick?” “Yes, I am Rick.” “Great way to greet someone new, you could have just said hi.” After one hour of confusing mumbo-jumbo, Miles was finally starting to sort things out. He knew (to some extent) what his powers were: He could summon fire, and he could see through the outer layer of people or other animals. He also knew that he needed to defeat two minions, and then he could finally face the dark spirit. He did not know what form the minions were going to take, so he would have to be ready for everything. He was also given a sword with which he would fight all of the minions face to face, if possible. Miles was finally told that Rick did not know when the minions would come, so he should always be on guard.

The next day, Miles decided to go to the pool with his little brother, Joseph, who was 9 years old. He figured it would be a good way to wash away all of the heaviness that was just bestowed upon him. As they were splashing in the deep end, the water level started to rapidly decrease. He looked over towards the shallow end, and Miles could not believe what he saw. There was a giant water blob forming, with eyes, mouth and all! He reflexively ran out of the pool, grabbed his sword and charged the blob. When he hit the water blob with his sword however, all of the water flowed steadily out of the blob and refilled the pool, as if the blob had never been there. At first Miles thought he had defeated the first minion, but it was all too easy. Much to his dismay, the water then reformed into a completely intact water blob.

If hitting it with his sword was not effective, what was? Miles was caught off guard and thrown into the center of the water blob! No matter how hard he swam, Miles could not get out of the center of the blob. He was losing air fast, was this the end? The blob started to laugh, the deep sound reverberating inside it's translucent body. Just before Miles blacked out, he had one final idea. He gathered up all of his strength, and summoned fire on his hand.

The result was instantaneous. The blob shrieked, and Miles could cut a path through the blobs body as long as he had fire on his hand. He plunged his fire into every corner of the blobs body until finally, the blob was gone. It's final words were "I am not your final challenge. Expect death to come soon....." Miles lay down on the empty pools floor in exhaustion. Many kind citizens offered to call the paramedics and the police so they could report "Whatever trickster did that to you!" Miles declined both offers: they were just mortals, little did they know that he wasn't just a trickster. And then Miles realized something he had denied completely up until now: he was not a mortal anymore, and never would be again.

Once again, his feet guided him to what he supposed was Rick's house. He reported to Rick what had happened that day, and Rick, in return, gave him a new weapon. "This is a knife with immortal poison on the end. There is only one lethal dose, so use this only when you are in a complete bind. For all I know, it may not even work on the minions, but you have to try. Do not lose this; guard it with everything but your life." Miles took the knife, put it in his pocket and left.

The next week, Miles and his friend Kevin were mountain biking on the local trails. It was summer, but it was still 34 degrees and there was a bit of snow on the ground. As they were on a gnarly uphill, the ground started to shake! "EARTHQUAKE, GET ON THE GROUND!!" yelled Kevin, but Miles stopped him. "No, I know what this is. Get on your bike and ride as fast as you can down this hill. Then do not stop until you are at least 2 miles away from here. GO!" Kevin started to argue, but then common sense got the better of him and he took off. Right in time too, because the ground started to break apart, and it formed what looked like a muscular man with unbreakable armor. It was about 7 feet tall, and it started to lumber towards Miles. He tried hitting the giant with his sword and his fire, but to both the giant giggled and said "That tickles! Do it again!" Miles knew the giant was just mocking him, so he tried a different approach. Miles dodged one of the giants punches and tried to look through the armor, but there seemed to be no weak spot on his body. But maybe his whole body was a weak spot. Right then, he saw a tiny chink in the giants armor, but it was enough to fit.... a knife!

Miles knew he only had one throw. He pulled out his knife, ran under the giants legs and threw. Time slowed down, the knife looked on track but what if the giant moved? Right before the giant turned around, the knife hit its target, and the giant turned to dust.

Miles had defeated the final minion, but he knew he might not be so lucky the next time. However, right as he finished up catching his breath, a giant black hole opened up in the space in front of him! Wait, no, it was the dark spirit! A booming voice came out of the rift "Miles Malisse, I am the dark spirit, and I have come to finish you off for once and for all! I honor you for defeating my minions, but you have no power that can defeat me!

As much as he hated to say it, the dark spirit was right. There was nothing he could do, his fire didn't work, and what would a sword do to a rift in space itself? Right as he was about to give in to the dark spirit, he knew there was only one thing he could do. It was the ultimate sacrifice, but he knew it is what he was meant to do. With one swift leap, he dove into the rift

He was in a nearly pitch black world, with only one light shining from what looked like far away. As he approached it, he saw it was a crystal. "This much be the dark spirits power source!" Miles thought excitedly. He knew what he had to do. "Mom, Dad, I love you" was the last thing he said before he plunged the sword into the crystal, and Miles and the dark spirit were gone.

My Visit With Maruge: On the Plane

I kept turning the picture over and over in my hands. Maruge taught me so much, he taught me to never give up and to stay strong no matter no matter what. He is the defenition of strength and bravery, and I will always look up to him, no matter what happens. I hope I can keep in contact with him over the years, but even if I can't I will keep the picture he gave me forever. I will always be a different person because of him.

My VIsit With Maruge Days 5 and 6

I drifted into consciousness just as the sun was rising that morning, and I shoved on some clothes and raced outside to watch the beautiful sunrise. The sun was painting a black canvas red, and it truly was a moment to remember. "Beautiful, isn't it Mason?" I did a double-take, and realized it was only Maruge. "Gosh, you scared me, but yes it is quite amazing." I had half a mind to wake my mom and dad for them to see this, but I decided to let them sleep.

Once everybody arose from the dead, Maruge told us that he needed to do some work around the house and on his crops today, so we could help if we wanted, or we could have a day to ourselves. We decided to help for a few hours, and then we would write in our journals so we wouldn't forget this amazing vacation. I learned the intricate process of planting wheat, and my parents helped milk his goat.

In our journals, we all had our own ways of expressing our feelings during this vacation. We all read our entries to each other, and every one was special in a different way. I felt that I had done a sufficient job of describing the trip, so my family went for another walk around the neighborhood. By this time, some of the locals knew who we were, and they tried to have a conversation with us through the little English that they knew. After lots of stops to talk to locals, we arrived back at Maruge's house just in time to shower and get ready for an early dinner.

Dinner consisted of lots of different veggies all in a stir-fry, but we didn't have much time to eat it because we wanted to watch the sun go down that night. After the sun went down, Maruge called me inside. I asked what he wanted to show me, and he pulled out a picture of his young wife. I had already heard to horrifying story about his wife and child being killed, and so this picture brought a deep sadness to me.

He handed me the picture. "I want you to stay strong no matter what happens, because you have too much potential to just give in to the first bump in the road. Believe me, it was not easy to get into my school, but I was persistent, and I want you to be also." I told him I would treasure this gift forever.

The next morning, I realized with a pang of sadness that this would be our last day with Maruge. Our flight out of Nairobi was at 6:00 PM that night, and so we had to leave Maruge at about 11:00. Over breakfast, which was delicious but tasted bitter with all of the sadness mixed in, we talked about all of the amazing things we had done together on this trip. It turns out, we had created so many memories that it took us all of breakfast to get through all of them. Plus, we had written everything down in detail in our journals.

It was finally time to go. We all had gotten to know Maruge so well that it felt as if he was part of our family, like he should be going back to Santa Barbara with us instead of staying in Kenya. We had no say in it though, so as we drove off, I craned my neck back to get one last look at the man who taught me more than I will ever learn in school.
                                 

My Visit With Maruge Days 3 and 4

I felt a tapping on my shoulder. "Wake up Mason, I have a big day planned for you and your family." I groaned, and got out of bed. I asked in a drowsy voice what time it was, and the answer was seven in the morning. Ugh. I don't do well on only seven hours of sleep. I asked where we were going today. "You'll have to wait and see" said Maruge. He said it was a four-hour drive, so we had to eat up fast and hail a bus to take us there. Maruge heated up some of last nights dinner for my family, and then we rented a car and we were off. I later pried out of Maruge that we were going to Lake Baringo National Park, and he told me all about the flora and fauna that we were going to see there.

I asked him if he had been there before, and I was told a story about how, for once in his life, he had a few minutes to access the internet, and someone had left up a page about this national park not far from him. So he read down the page, and he was intrigued by how many birds there were. The next day, he was notified that we were coming to visit him, so he decided to take us there.

The second we arrived, we were greeted by a Cape Petrel, which was one of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen. There are only 75 species of Petrels in the world, so I felt very honored to get to see this beautiful bird.

The rest of the day was mostly the same; we saw tons of different plants and animals, and overall it was one of the best national parks I had ever been to.  I made a snap decision to drive to the nearest hotel and stay the night there with Maruge.

When we woke up in the morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotels breakfast buffet, and then we headed off for the long drive home. After a quick stop back at Maruge's house, we headed off to the school. I asked Maruge why we were going to the school if half the day was already over. "We are scheduled to give a presentation to the little ones about our trip," was his reply.

The presentation was great! We had taken lots of pictures and all of the kids oohed and aahed over all of the beautiful scenery and the amazing hiking trails.

I was then invited to teach a math lesson to the kids, and then the day was over. We had yet another amazing dinner, and we then spent the remainder of the night playing travel games such as Hangman and "I'm thinking of..." We went to bed early that night to make sure we were rested for the next day.

My Visit With Maruge Day 2

Maruge woke my family and me up at 7:00, saying that if we were going to get to school by 8:30 we had to start getting ready. We all got dressed, and after a quick breakfast we headed off to school. We hailed a bus/van, which was so rickety I thought it was going to give out any second!

Emmanuel said if you were to convert the bus fare to dollars, it would only be 8 cents. When we got to the school, I recognized some of the kids that ran up to greet us on our first day. My family got seated kin desks, but I felt bad because the teacher made some kids sit on the floor to give us desks. I volunteered to sit on the floor, but the teacher, Jane, wouldn't hear it. She was very kind, and had a very interesting was of teaching, and not in a bad way.

Of course the work wasn't hard for me, but I learned some tricks I didn't know before for simple adding. At lunch and break, I was blown away by how much energy these little kids had stored inside them. Some of them would literally run non-stop with their friends for the whole period! I tried to keep up with them, but I didn't have the energy to.

After school, Jane came up to us and told us that she enjoyed having us in her class, which was a very nice gesture.

We then headed to the market to buy some supplies for dinner that night. We were going to have Irio, which essentially is balls of lots of vegetables mixed together, and dipped in a meat stew. It wasn't as good as the last nights dinner, but it was still very good.

My family and Maruge then took a walk around the village, recruiting people to walk with us as we went. We all told stories, and had a very good time until, before I knew it, we were back at Maruges house. The crowd dispersed, and we hit the sack. Before I went to sleep, I looked at the clock, and it was 12:00 AM! No wonder I was so tired.

My Visit With Maruge Day 1

"Flight 1455 to Nairobi, Kenya, is now boarding." I yelped with excitement, and rushed ahead of my parents so I could board the plane as fast as possible. I ran full speed up to the ticket-checker, bags in tow, and by the time I got there I was completely out of breath. I guess I needed to run more often. There was no time to think about that, though, my flight was leaving! From the second we stepped on the plane to the time we stepped off of it, I was bouncing around in my seat with excitement. We were finally going to meet Maruge! This was a once in a lifetime experience, and it was all I had been talking about for the past 3 weeks.



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 "Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, as we are preparing for landing in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. We hope you had a safe and enjoyable flight." I sighed with happiness. We were finally in Kenya. As you might have guessed, the 10-hour flight was absolute torture for me, but I managed to get through it without dying from anticipation. However, we still had a small connection flight to actually get to the village of Eldoret. My heart sunk when I realized that my family would only get to spend a few hours with Maruge on our first day, because with the time changes of travel we would be getting into his village after dinner. That was okay though, because we still had a whole week to spend with him. We would even get to sit in on a few of his classes at his school, although he would be taking most of the week off for us



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When we arrived in Eldoret, we were greeted by a mob of running, screaming kids who must have heard of our arrival from Maruge's friends and Maruge himself. These kids had most likely only seen white people a few times, and the all wanted to touch our fancy clothes which we wore on the flight there. It broke my heart to see how little clothing they were wearing. However, there were a few kids who wearing uniforms. "Those must be the kids who go to school with Maruge," I thought.

I then saw a tall figure slowly approaching the herd of kids. Maruge! I ran towards him at full speed, my body feeling as light as a feather, and jumped into him, giving him a crushing bear hug that almost knocked him over! I then remembered that he was 84, so I eased off a little. My parents came next; they both gave him firm handshakes, and he invited us back to his home.

After giving us a little tour of his village, we settled in for a delicious meal of chicken curry and rice. It was delicious, and while I am known for being a picky eater, I would definitely have it again.

After that, we talked with some of Maruge's friends until about 11:00 at night, all of us telling stories about our childhood, and them about their culture. I have to say, their culture is much more interesting than ours. After that, it was time for us to hit the sack. We were so wiped out, that my whole family just fell into bed wearing the clothes we wore on the plane.

My Stop In Eldoret, Kenya

After a few fuel level scares, we had to stop in the Nairobi airport for gas. As we were waiting, a old african man walked up to us and invited us to to the village of Eldoret, Kenya! Of course we accepted, so next stop, Eldoret. He flew back on the plane with us, and as we were flying, he told us that he was just starting primary school! His name was Maruge, and he wanted to learn to read so much, that he applied for first grade at the age of 84. That was something I had never heard of before, and I was excited to get to know him better.
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