Monday, August 1, 2011

Church and Hot Spring

Sopa!

Yesterday was a relaxing day here in Oloika.  We don’t work on Sundays, so everyone got a chance to sleep in and rest up for the busy week of work ahead of us.  After breakfast and a few games, we all headed to church.  When we arrived, a group of Masai men were huddled around their new keyboard trying to hook it up to the speakers. We all sat in the limited number of seats anxiously as more people walked in.  All of a sudden, the keyboard started to work and a tune blasted through the speakers at the back of the church. I jumped at the sound and the men up front starting speaking into their microphones.  One man spoke in Masai and the other translated into English, but spoke so fast I could barely understand him.  A group of girls went up front to join the men in dancing together.  All of the Groton kids just stood there and watched as everyone in the congregation danced and sang in Masai with their hands up in the air.  It was amazing to watch how the Masai worshipped God and how enthusiastic they were.  The dancing suddenly stopped and one man said to us in English, “You need to move and dance to worship God!” The music started up again and we all started to follow the moves.  The children laughed at us and critiqued our moves and everyone was having a great time.  Later in the service, Nya sang “Amazing Grace” and most of our group cried hearing her beautiful voice sing out in an unfamiliar setting.  We left a few minutes later and headed back to camp for lunch and some personality type exercises.

In the afternoon, we all hopped into the vans and went out on an adventure to the hot springs.  The water was so hot that I felt like I was burning when I put my foot in the water. Shani wouldn’t let me get out though so I was forced to get used to it.  It felt very soothing once the burning sensation ended.  Chelsea, Cayley, Talia, Fred, and I then went in deeper and sat in the hot springs up to our necks.  The minerals made our skin so soft.  We all then went into a bigger hot spring and ducked our heads under the scorching water.  Everyone went in except for Eddie and Matt who forgot their bathing suits.  Algae and salt clung to our bodies and showers felt refreshing once we got back.  Once we returned to camp, we said goodbye to Carolina and Nya as they headed out on their homestay.

More will come later! 

Xoxo,
          Charlotte

P.S. Hi Mom, Dad, and Syd! I am wearing plenty of sunscreen!  Love you and miss you!

2 comments:

charlene said...

Wow! So interesting to hear about all of your your amazing adventures! Thanks for keeping up the blog - I am sure I speak for all when I say we really appreciate it!!!! Remember.....sunscreen!!! :) :) - Cayley's mom

Anonymous said...

Hey Rachel!
It's your cousin Irys. Hope you are having an amazing time in Kenya. Your trip looks fantastic! We all look forward to seeing you in San Diego soon!
Love,
Irys

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