Another morning with more baboons and rain. I’m realizing all my packing of short and t-shirts was not all that smart. This is supposed to be their Summer time here and all those 80 degree days we were told about seem far off. At least the rain has been consistent – a drizzle in the morning and a 3pm downpour. Watching the baboons made us start to ask questions about the theory of evolution. If we really came from these creatures how come I am not flexible like them and the one area they don’t grow fur is the one area I can’t seem to have it stop…I’m just saying.
Today is our first full “Work Day.” We met our van drivers and helpers and headed out to the location we are building the new house. Mind you these are primarily early models of Toyota Previa vans which had been gutted to bolt in as many seats as possible. We’re figuring that once Brad get’s here, he’ll have to walk because there is no way he’ll be able to get inside one of these machines. Due to the extended rain the roads are becoming more and more adventurous to travel along. During our trek we came across someone in what looked to be a decent pick-up truck which had not been able to traverse the hill and had become stuck blocking the road.
Since the driver had since abandoned the vehicle it was up to us to walk the rest of the way. I am learning that when some in Kenya says “Oh, we’re almost there. It’s just up ahead” it roughly translates to “we should only have to hike 3 miles and climb 2000 feet in elevation.” At least my kids won’t need to fudge their PE requirements for school.
The guys started working on the house. We did have some local experts on hand to lead the project. Basically, they didn’t let us do anything which required any skill. So they just told us to dig out the hillside – I’m sure this was just to keep us occupied for the day. One bright note – the only radio station they could pick up was playing 80’s music. Nothing like being half way around the world and having the sweet tunes of Journey, Boston, and Michael Jackson resonating over the landscape.
The gals headed to some other homes in the area to build new environmentally friendly “rocket stoves.” I guess it has something to do with saving the rain forests or making Al Gore something to talk about in his next movie. All I know is the girls got to play in the mud which for Ashlyn was probably her favorite memory so far.
For lunch the ladies of the village put together a wonderful meal and even taught Yvonne the proper way to cook tortilla type patties on an open flame.
Our plan was to have the van drivers pick us up at 3pm but once again we saw that we would be graced with yet another sprinkling of heaven. We ended up walking the entire way back – reminiscent of our days traveling the countryside as hobos. We arrived back at RVA right at 3pm... unfortunately the rain had started at 2:30pm but at least it help rise off all the mud all over us.
No comments:
Post a Comment