Easter Weekend Extraveganza

Maundy Thursday:

My Thursdays usually consist of going to two classes, a group meeting, and then eating fried fish for dinner. This particular week all my previous engagements were canceled so Aubrie, Kaitlan, Leah, and I decided to take a bus to town to meet up with Jake and Max. The plan was to eat at this cool Italian restaurant that Aubrie and I found a few weeks ago. Buses at Daystar rarely ever leave on time so under the supervision of a Daystar student, we hopped on some bota-botas to make it to the end of the road and then caught some matatus to town. A bota-bota is a mo-ped/motorcycle and a matatu is public transportation (either a van or bus). It was a blast getting downtown like the locals do. We got there for about $2 a person. I felt Kenyan and very independent  Then we walked around the city until we relocated the restaurant and ate some of the best Italian food I've ever had. Jake and Max ended up not being able to join us so we had a girls day. We shared four entrees and even ordered two tiramisu deserts! YOLO! It was the best tiramisu I've ever had. It was so fresh. YUM! Who would've thought that Africa is the place to go to get good Italian food?

on a bota-bota

on a matatu

waiting for our food

tiramisu!

Good Friday: 

We spent Friday eating Dara's candy (her family visited and brought her tons of goodies) and watching movies. We also did a little gymnastics too. What a hoot. It was a good Friday indeed.

Saturday:

This past Saturday over Easter weekend we went on a Daystar sponsored day trip to see the fourteen falls. It was about a two and a half hour drive to the falls. Well worth the drive. Once there, we snapped tons of pictures of the magnificent falls enjoying the mist and sound of rushing water. The majority of the group walked across the falls and then a few brave souls jumped off and plunged to the bottom. It was a thrilling site to see. Once they crossed the river, they took wooden boats back to the other side. To end the day, we went to a resort near the falls for dinner, some hangout time, and dancing. My friends from the DRC taught me how to dance with some Congolese flair :) It was a highlight of my day.

fourteen falls

He got paid to jump off to impress tourists. What a sweet job!

loving the falls!

boat back to shore

crossing the falls as a team

"hanging" out at the resort near the falls

having fun with Kaitlan

most of the girls!

Dancing with our Congo friends!

Daystar friends :) 

Easter:

(See Resurrection Sunday Post)

Holy Monday: 

On the Monday after Easter, eight people from our program and one Kenyan friend headed to Mt. Longonot to conquer it's steep slopes of ash and lava rock! The rest of the group was busy climbing Mt. Kenya which has the third highest peak in Africa- where three in our group reached the summit. When we decided to climb the volcano we thought it would be a breeze. When we got there we followed a group of school children up. At one point we were in the lead...then about 10 minutes in they passed us up along with the nuns in their heels. How pathetic haha! We made it up to the top in no time though and I felt so accomplished conquering my fear of steep inclines! Then we ate lunch on top of the crater and made the decision to hike the 7 something Kilometers around the crater. It looks easy but believe me, it is not! We made it to the summit and around the whole crater in less than 3 hours. I was really proud of us. Then we hiked back down the steep slopes and got some pizza at the mall in Nairobi to celebrate our success! We hiked over 13 Kilometers that day. It was one of my favorite days in Kenya by far. The next day we all paid for it with sore legs though! haha :)

About to start our hike around the crater!

Made it to the summit! 

Those are clouds! We were up high! 

standing on the crater!

The crater! Those are trees down there in the middle! It is really high up! 

We made it!!!

"I just want every one to know how neat nature is instead of just me and Aubrie knowing it." -adapted from Neature Walk (youtube it)