I made a trip with a friend this week to go visit about five different villages. Someone from the States had given me money to buy winter coats and blankets to give to those in most need of them. This area we went to gets pretty cold in the winter. It was a great trip and we were able to talk to many people there! While at one of the villages, I was asked if I wanted to climb to the top of Rock Mountain and pick some oranges. How can you refuse that offer?
The oranges were the sweetest and juiciest oranges I have ever tasted! We picked about 20 pounds worth and it cost only five US dollars....not bad, not bad at all.
This was my prize orange. I was trying so hard to reach it and no one else was tall enough. I finally got it and ate it once we got back to the village.
This is one of the villages I stayed in. I slept in three different homes while on the trip.
At this home, they gathered the chickens two eggs and then cooked the chicken for me for dinner.
I really loved this picture. It's hard to see the details when it is so small, but I just loved that I was in this really poor village, all the plots of land being worked on, very poor homes, and then the school bus drives through to drop off the kids in that village.
The water supply was just outside the home that I stayed in (which was very convenient because most of the people had to walk a ways to get the water). There were three "pools" of water that flowed into one another. The first was the "clean" water for drinking, the second was the water for cleaning (cleaning our chicken for dinner, washing vegetables, washing your work tools and shoes, and doing the laundry), and the third pool was the "dirty" water.
I got a text while I was gone from Jonathan showing my that the kids rode a double decker bus :)
Another angle of this same village...they are about to build another home, so they have marked the land off.
This little lady came by about every 2 hours to see if I was still there. She would just walk right into the house, look around, smile at me, and then go back home.
This ladies and gentlemen was breakfast! I am not a breakfast person to begin with (usually either nothing or maybe a piece of toast) so needless to say I thought I was going to pop having to eat this food with my bowl of rice. They really wanted em eating 3 bowls of rice, but I could only manage 1 or 2 at the most.
The temperature was around 40 degrees. So, anytime you talked you could see your breath. All of the steam coming up from the food did make it seem very appealing. And yes, that is my Coke on the table....a lifesaver in more ways than one. It was actually bought for me. I said I didn't need it but they said that they heard I liked Coke (it was actually Pepsi, but still). Because of the whether being cold they wanted me to drink wine all the time from their homemade distilleries...I politely refused every time and as long as I had coke in my cup they were happy.
Leaving this village...our host just put my suitcase on his back and took off up toward the road for us to catch a bus to the next village.
This 95 year old man was so happy about his new coat!
This little one was going to share her coat with her big sister.
The weather this day was actually really pretty, but it was freezing when we woke up the next morning! Glad they already had their new coats.
Sweet twin babies and their Grandmother
Our source of heat in the house....burning coal underneath the kitchen table. Be careful not to catch your shoes on fire! It actually almost happened twice while I was there. We smelled burning fabric...no big flames, but you really have to be careful! ;)
This picture was taken in town. This man sits outside and makes candy suckers...obviously very popular with the school kids.
On our way to the mountain village (by far one of my favorite places to be)
I was trying really hard to capture how steep this mountain was that we climbed to get to the house, but it's just so hard to do in a picture (especially when it was so foggy)
We were at this house last summer and the wall was still standing then. Two of the houses we had seen last summer had walls fall completely down.
9, 10, the big fat hen :)
This little guy became my buddy.
Who needs toys when you have stools? :)
He wanted me to take his picture ALL the time. I probably have over a hundred just of him :)
This one I thought was funny because he was trying to figure out how I made a fish face and it just cracked him up.
One of my favorites...this little baby boy with his grandfather.
Carrying blankets to the next village...
I love the mountains even in the fog...so pretty!
This little lady was so excited to get a blanket!
This was her home.
This little man was in shock over the kindness.
Another village.
This was probably the poorest couple we gave a blanket to. The wife was blind and I think had some form of dementia and their house was like a cave. It was dark (no electricity), cold, and damp. He was very grateful.
This sweet lady received a blanket, too. I can't put all their pictures up or the blog would go on forever...just some of my favorites.
These two ladies kept coming to check me out. I told Jonathan that about 90% of the people were all hunched over. I came to the conclusion that it was from years of cooking. ALL of the cooking areas were about knee level. I don't see how you can cook that low to the ground comfortably.
We walked through the mountain villages' school...love the expressions. They had never seen a foreigner before :)
neither had this sweet baby
my guide home :)
looks kind of like a post card, but this is where I stayed the last night (the bed is behind me)
my view from the outhouse...yes, no bathrooms in the homes, no showers, no hot water....same clothes the entire trip (a first for me, but I would do it again)
Where I could brush my teeth. The water was so cold that it literally hurt to brush my teeth!
The kitchen...one of them thought I was cold and dragged me in here to warm up. It was warm but all the thick smoke was almost more than I could handle.
We ate one meal out...good but spicy
In the city...the school kids here had a break from 11:30-2:00 for lunch and nap, so the streets were just full of kids buying snacks and little toys.
I was glad to be home and see this crew (plus 2 friends) for dinner.
Our two little friends wanted to watch a Barbie movie :)
Hudson got a haircut...he is so ticklish :) Oh, and that's his free milk tea in the picture.
Regan finished her lego airplane
School Hudson style :) He says that ABC Mouse is his favorite school :)
This kid has to fix his bike all the time...so glad Lauren gave him all those tools for Christmas ;)
Finally! Doggy Bones got a haircut! They actually cut it a little short and the poor guy was freezing so we bought a little doggy shirt for her to wear.
Regan wanted to see how tall she was compared to Ayi
This girl broke lots of boards for her green belt test!
Good job Lauren!
She then went straight from Taekwondo to a ballet dance test. She and her classmates were looking at a book waiting to be called in to dance.
too cute for words
Regan did awesome on her test. She is officially a red and blue belt, Lauren is green, and Benjamin is blue! I have never seen a kid work harder than Benjamin for his belt. I was so proud of him (and the girls, too)! After all that work, he realized that his little sister was 100 points short for the prize she wanted to buy at the testing center. He gave her his points that he earned with his belt so she could buy it. He has such a sweet heart.
The teacher taking a selfie of her and her students before the test :)
