Visiting the Little Sister.

Greetings!

Yesterday I accompanied my host family on a trip to visit their youngest daughter at her boarding school in Gilgil, a town roughly 1 hour to our south and east. It is on a high plateau overlooking much of the Great Rift Valley, and the view was absolutely extraordinary. The climate was very much like the American desert southwest, with low scrub bushes and cacti, high temperatures, and searing winds. We took the short walk to the edge of the plateau, and looking down we saw a shepard with an enormous heard of goats moving across the valley floor two hundred feet below. From there, savanah stretched out before us for countless miles, bordered on both sides by unique mountains and rock formations, with volcanic craters and twisted piles of rock occasionally dotting the landscape inbetween. I took a lot of pictures.

The school is only a year or two old, and is an all-girls christian school with 500 high school age students. They were all dressed in bright blue school uniforms, which matched perfectly the bright blue paint on all the buildings. For those of you who know Irene, Katie Jones' Kenyan roommate from last year, most of the students reminded me very much of her.

The large school chorus performed a few stirring patriotic songs in both Swahili and English, all to much applause from the family members assembled before them. Several lengthy speeches from school officials were enough to drive me and Charles from the building, where we once again returned to the edge of the plateau. From there, we had the unique pleasure of watching a line of storm clouds move up the valley, across the mountains, and right over us. We took cover in the car when it too close, and sat there listening to a rabid politically rally taking place in Swahili over the radio. There was nothing else to do, no where else to go, and no hurry at all. So we lounged, listened, and watched the rain.

I wish I had time to proofread this or to write more, but at the moment, I don't.
Tomorrow should be much better.

Yours,
Chris