The Christmas Mouse

‘Twas three nights before Christmas and all the through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse.

We named him Stuart; he was grey and fat,

And when I walked in the kitchen, there he sat.

He ran for the counters, the window, then stove;

He crawled in somewhere--nobody knows.

We waited with angst for him to appear;

For the tiniest movement, we waited with fear.

Then with a groan the stove started to slide;

We screamed, ran for cover, and all tried to hide.

Then it dawned on us, mice can’t move stoves!

So within a moment, laughter came in droves.

The mouse is still hiding; we hope he soon finds the door,

Because if we find him, we will settle the score.

17 Kilometers...6 hours...1 volcano

Ok, I know some of you have been waiting for this post for a week, so I am finally posting it. Last week I volunteered to climb to the rim of a dormant volcano and then walk around the rim all the way to the summit of 2800 meters (1.7 miles) above sea level. I may have been slightly insane to have thought this was a good idea. The thing was that although everyone else who had done it said they were in so much pain the next day and that it was so hard, they all said it was worth it to see what the Great Rift Valley looked like from the summit. So I decided to give it a go (especially since it only cost about $7). So I, along with about 11 other people, boarded a bus at 7:30 in the morning and drove out into the Great Rift Valley to Mt. Longonot. I decided early on that I was going to take my time and not try to keep up with everyone else (even though it is slightly terrifying to be alone since the Rift Valley is home to water buffalo, giraffe, lions, and leopards among other things!). Another staff member from the school, Lori, was kind enough to stick with me throughout the journey. She had already climbed this mountain a few weeks ago because she is preparing to hike Mt. Kenya in just a few days. This was her training. As soon as we started walking I knew that this was going to be one of the most physically challenging hikes of my life because not only was I going to have to climb to an altitude that makes you feel like you are breathing through a straw, but it was also extremely hot (since it is summer here in Kenya). To top it off, imagine that you have to climb in those conditions up a mountain made of sand. See, volcanic rock is a very soft rock that tends to crumble beneath you. After many years of people hiking this same path up to the top, the ground has become what almost looks like sand. If you step up a foot, you slide back 6 inches. You feel like you aren't getting anywhere. We would climb about 20 feet and then need to rest because our muscles were sore and our lungs were burning. It was going to be a very long day! After hiking for over an hour (that felt like 5), Lori and I finally made it to the rim! It was gorgeous up there to be able to look out over the valley. There is this tiny little hut when you reach the top that is a great place to sit and eat. It is also a great motivational tool as you can see it while you are hiking and it helps you to know how much further you have to go. Lori and I took some pictures and then had a seat in this little hut to eat our lunches. Just as we get settled, the Athletic Director from our school, Drew, comes sprinting passed us. Now, I don't know about you, but when I have just barely made it to the top of a volcano, you think that some who can sprint it must be insane! He sits down and says he made it around the rim in just over an hour. This guy is a marathon runner, so we knew that comparing ourselves to him would be pointless. We just decided to finish our lunches and then take our time to walk around the rim. As we walked, Lori and I talked about what it might look like if this place was in the US. First, it would have guard rails so you don't fall over the edge. Second, they probably would have turned it into a tourist attraction in which you could take a gandala to the top where there would be a restaurant with super expensive food. Lucky for us, Kenya has left this place as natural as possible. It took us over an hour to make it half way if that gives you any indication of how much better in shape Drew was than we were. But again, I reminded myself that i didn't need to be the first person done, or even the eighth person done. I just wanted to finish it for myself to prove I could. By the time we made it to the summit (the half way point) I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish. It was beautiful up there, but looking at how far I still had to go and then knowing that I had to climb back down the mountain, well let's just say I was doing a lot of praying (I may have also sang Miley Cyrus's song "The Climb" in my head to keep me moving...don't judge). I thought to myself, well at least it is all down hill from here, so it must be easier than climbing up. Boy was I wrong. I was reminded of an excursion that I took while in Australia. We had gone to some giant sand dunes and took these pieces of polished wood and went sand sledding. It sounds fun, but it is slightly terrifying. Hiking down from the summit of this mountain was very similar to that. Imagine skiing on sand with just your sneakers on. I slipped and slid almost the whole way down that first hill. At one point it was so bad that I had to sit and slide down for fear of falling over the edge and into the crater. When I was about 3/4 of the way around the rim, Lori decided to just keep hiking and not take breaks. I decided to hang back and just take my time. Just as I saw Lori, from afar, about to reach the hut and head down the mountain, some giant storm clouds started to form overhead. I thought that if I didn't pick up the pace I was about to be soaked with some freezing cold rain. Rain in Kenya is very cold because of the high altitude. The drops are also very big most of the time and can be painful if it is raining hard. Miraculously the rain held off for the rest of my hike. By the time I finally reached the hut I didn't think I was going to be able to make it down the mountain. Many of you know that I have some issues with my knees. I was wearing my knee brace, but it didn't seem to help much. I thought for sure my knees were going to give out and I wouldn't be able to hike down the rest of the way. My feet and toes also began to hurt from sliding down the mountain so many times. Your feet slide to the front of your shoes no matter how tightly they are tied because it is so steep. About half way down the mountain I caught up with another member from our group. She was also in pain and was just very tired and hungry. We stuck together until we made it back to the bus. Even with stretching, I was sore for a few days. My knees have yet to go a day without some sort of pain in them, but they are getting better slowly. I may be crazy, but in a few minutes I am actually going to go jog/walk 3 miles (Paul, they didn't give me my number to pin to my shirt yet, but I am working on it!). This is my life in Kenya :)

Prayer Requests:
- For my friend Tina. She is going to South Africa in a few weeks to do an internship there. Pray for financial help for her and for an easy transition to life in SA.
- For my friends who are doing missions in China, Mexico, and many other places around the world.
- For the people of Connecticut. My prayers are with the families who lost children in the shootings yesterday.
- For finances to be able to bring a student from our school who is an orphan to the US this summer. (Contact me if you would like to donate toward this trip my roommate and I are gifting her with.)
- For safe travels for my parents as they come to visit me for Christmas and for my brother to survive 18 days on his own :)

Verse of Encouragement:

“But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of this father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:30-33

It's beginning to look a lot like.....summer?

There has only ever been one other time in my life that I was in a tropical climate during the holidays. We went to Mexico for a family vacation and I decided I never wanted to be away from the cold weather during this time of year again. Being in Kenya this Christmastime has not changed my mind. I know so many people in the US are thinking, "Are you crazy?! 85 degrees and sunny with very little humidity and you aren't happy?" Yes, the weather is beautiful here, but it is really hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it isn't cold. Having grown up in a place where I have actually woken up to a snowy Christmas morning, makes it very difficult to believe it is really December here in Kenya. Last week Lancaster got it's first snow and I made my mom carry the computer outside during our Skype session so that I could see it. Anyone who really knows me will know how much I love snow! I also got a video of the snow from Ginny Bailey and I have it saved on my computer so I can watch it whenever I want. Even with these things though, I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Christmas is in just a few weeks. Some of the businesses have put up Christmas lights and there are even fake trees for sale in Nakumatt. There is Christmas music playing everywhere and we attended a Christmas craft fair this weekend to buy gifts like ornaments and nativity scenes. But it still doesn't feel like the holiday season is here. I told my roommate, Jenn, yesterday that sometimes, if I can't see through any windows, I imagine that it might be snowing. The burst of hot air through the doorway quickly takes that image away. My parents are coming to visit in 3 weeks and I am happy that I will at least get to spend the holiday with some of my family members.We will be going on a lot of day trips while they are here and will also be going for a 3 day safari. This will be my first safari as well, so I think it will be a good time.

Thanksgiving was a few days ago and although I had been sick for the 6 days leading up to Thanksgiving day, I decided to still go on a trip I had planned to Diani, a beach on the coast of Kenya. I was still a little worn out when I got there, but after a few days in the sun (with a LOT of sunscreen) and some ocean waves, I was feeling much better. I mostly spent the 4 day vacation by the pool/ocean relaxing and swimming. I did however get to go on an amazing glass bottom boat and snorkeling tour. I have had the opportunity to snorkel in some amazing places around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef, but this was by far the coolest snorkeling I have done. The guides brought some sea-creatures onto the boat for us to hold. There was a red star fish, something called a pillow star fish, some sea spiders, and two different kinds of sea urchins. The sea spider was the most interesting one to me because it looked like a star fish with spikes that crawled like an octopus. It was really cool. When we got in the water to snorkel, we also saw a sea snake, a lion fish, some clown fish, and a few eels. I even got to hold and feed the eel. It was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done! Afterward, we went to a sand bar in the middle of the ocean and played around and took some pictures. What I have failed to mention is that although this was the coolest trip ever, we may or may not have felt like we were being captured by pirates. When the van picked us up in the morning, the guy told us to leave our keys at the front desk. We politely declined and said we would keep them. He then told us that the place we were going was not the usual place that they take people to, and if they asked, we were with another hotel. When we arrived, the gate guard asked only one question; "The yellow boat?" We then proceeded to walk through an abandoned resort out to the ocean where 4 glass bottom boats waited. Obviously it all ended ok, but we were a little skeptical for a while. One of the members of our group had even come up with couple different plans in his head of how to kill our tour guide if needed. After we returned to the resort, I decided to go wind surfing with 3 other teachers in the Indian Ocean. The same tour guide that took us snorkeling was the instructor, so I had a little more trust for him now that I knew he wouldn't kidnap us. Wind surfing is by far one of the most mentally and physically challenging sports I have ever tried. Not only do you have to balance on the board, but you also need to shuffle in a circle around the sail, have enough energy and strength to hold the sail, be able to turn the sail in the correct direction so that the wind catches it, and learn how to steer. The added challenge for us was not to fall into the water where the hundreds of poisonous sea urchins were sitting on the coral. It took about an hour, but I finally figured out the basics and was even able to sail back to the resort on my own. It was definitely worth the experience! At the end of the trip I really didn't want to return to Nairobi, and neither did my friend Danielle. So we decided to scope out some resorts that were for sale in the area. We decided on a  place that would be big enough to hold the restaurant that we plan to open some day and it even had a swimming pool with a life size cement elephant! The cost was only 12 million US dollars, so if any of you want to contribute, we will surely allow you to come visit for a few nights for free :)
We returned on Sunday from the beach, and on Monday returned to school. It was quite the week! We had the middle and high school Christmas concert on Wednesday night and I played 3 songs on drum kit. Then on Thursday we found out that the matatus (like taxi vans that are part of mass transit and used by most Kenyans to get to work) were on strike and rioting because they don't like the new traffic laws that came out last week. They are not happy about the licensing process or the severity of the fines/jail time for traffic violations. This was a major problem for our school because many of our Kenyan staff members get to school through this form of transportation. At the end of the day we were even told that we might not have school on Friday because of these riots. We were still able to open on Friday, and everyone made it to school and back safely. On Thursday we also had slight scare when the schools director came on the intercom and gave the signal for a lock down. This is always scary in Kenya because of the violence that does occur here. After about a minute the power went out for a few seconds and then it came back on. Finally, after about 4 minutes the director came back on and thanked us for our quick response and said that the lock down occurred because a 4-5 foot tall baboon had wandered onto campus and had become agitated when he got shocked during his attempt to climb the electric fence to escape. We had to turn the power out to allow him to get over the wall. Needless to say, we were happy that was the only reason for the lock down.
There are only two more weeks of school left before Christmas break, so my students and I are planning some fun activities. We will be having a Mexican Fiesta this week with the ESL class next door, and the following week we will be baking a ton of Christmas cookies!  I look forward to seeing where the next semester will take my class.
Thank you all for your love and support. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Prayer Requests:
- I have a returning student starting in January. Please be praying for his transition into my classroom (especially since he will be the only boy!)
- For more students at our school. Our enrollment is down this year.
- For health among our staff and students.
- for safe travels for my parents over the holidays when they come to visit me.

Verse of Encouragement:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3