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.