up country

I feel like I am not going to describe up country right but it is the place that their family is originally from. My grandmother's up country would be New Zealand and my grandfather's would be Idaho. Everyone has a different up country. People live off the fat of the land. Some people are in huts and so are in tin structures. There is a good chance if you live there you will have to go fetch water. In up country everything is cooked on a wood fire or a coal stove like thing. I think of it like camping for the rest of your life.

The rest of up country was just a lot of hanging out with Rispah's family. We quickly became friends with two of her cousins that were around our age. We went to the salon to get their hairs blown dry. While I was there I got lines on one side of my head. 

They also taught me how to wrap my hair. I am super excited about it. 

We met and saw a lot of kids. On our last day in up county we went to a high school and a primary school. At the high school they set up a Q&A for the kids to ask us any question. A lot of the questions where about the differences between American schooling and Kenyan schooling. They also asked questions about scholarships and what happens if you are talented. They were very smart students. Kaleigh answered the questions the best we could. There was about 150 students. 

Next to the high school was the primary school. We just went from classroom to classroom and introduced ourselves. Those kids were so excited to see us. They also think that all Americans sound like they are plugging their noses when they talk. It is so funny. 

Right as we left the school the kids were also getting out. We were surrounded. One boy tripped and fell.I got to use my first aid kit that I carry around with me everywhere. After I fixed him up all the kids wanted to greet me. It was so cute. 

After that we headed to the market. Before we went to up country my (real american) mom told us to look for a way that we could help out the people we were staying with. Rispah's family is doing okay. It didn't seem like they needed much but her uncle's family was struggling. While we were there the dad's only pair of shoes broke and most of the kids did not have shoes. We got shoes in the market for this family. 

They were so grateful. It cost us a little over $10 to do this. It was a $10 well spent. 

We left kids in the village in tears. It was an incredible experience. Before we knew it we were on our way back to Nairobi and Thika.