215/365

215/365, originally uploaded by britrosewhite.

Saturday was the day of the party. Pastor Chola and his family didn't leave until 6 AM to come back. The rice got sorted and the program was accomplished. They slept for a little while in the van - all but Pastor Chola. He didn't sleep at all.

The party that day was supposed to start at 11:00. So we got there in time for breakfast which was SO good. They fried up these bread things that tasted like thick soppapillas . I had three with two cups of chai tea. Another great morning!

And then we sat around for awhile. I took pictures, I walked, I starred at a cow. Until we ate around 3:15. Just a four hour delay is all.

We ate chipati which is an oily, pan-fried bread, beans, and pilau, which is rice with masala, spices, and beef. They slaughtered a cow, did I mention that? No refrigerators means you gotta have fresh meat. Which explains the cow nose I found in a pot that morning. There were also cut up tomatoes, and cabbage with carrots. I ate until my stomach hurt. Still pretty much avoided the meat.

Then around 4, the program started. We'd prayed and read scripture prior to lunch. After lunch, there was praise and worship time. And then Pastor Chola got up to speak. The Chola family is all due to their great-grandparents who are gone now. They had 10 children, which Pastor Chola referred to as "The Big 10". They are pictured, some with their spouse, above. Their ages range from 65-89 and Pastor Chola's father is the last born. You can see me up there sitting with a little girl in my lap. You can bring a girl to the bush but you can't make her stop holding cute little children! Or something like that.

So Chola spoke about their family heritage and the blessings that the Big 10 have to share. Afterwards, everyone lined up and received blessings from the 10. It was really cool and they made sure that everyone received one.

By this time it was getting dark and they were still working on getting poles of for electricity. There was a generator, though, so the program went on by the light of one bulb hanging from a makeshift ceiling outside. The rest of the evening was all in Swahili, but I made out that every person was being introduced. Chola said the main reason for this reunion was to honor the Big 10 and to let the cousins meet so that they wouldn't marry each other later on.

We were told that we'd be able to leave earlier that night, so I took that inch and went a mile with it. By 8:00 I was so lost in translation and sleepy. Faustin had been missing for 2 hours trying to help the guys get the electricity going. But we found out he was sitting in the car waiting to shine his brights for the guys climbing the poles. So Amy and I hiked back to the car, plugged in some music, and sat back. Faustin said we'd be just a little bit longer while they finished. I made a joke and said, "By a little bit you mean what, 3 hours?" He laughed. I fell asleep.

And three hours later...he woke us up to leave.

It wasn't so bad, though. Amy and I slept so well that it felt like five minutes had passed. But we had to pile a lot of people in the car so we scooted over and prepared for the journey to the other house. Once again, we hiked by moonlight but this time I was practically running down the hill. And then I ran right into bed.