Hiking

All break, Mary has been persistently asking “Auntie Kathy, when can we go hiking?” After wimping out time and time again, I finally became set on taking the kids before school started again on Tuesday. Saturday morning, after the kids finished washing their clothes, we set off on a hiking adventure.

Me and Mary :)

We live right across the street from an area of Ghana called Shai Hills, an area known around the country for its plethora of quarries. Daily we hear the blasting of rock that we like to pretend is gunfire… “Didn’t you know? Ghana’s actually in the middle of a war right now!” These hills are more like mini-mountains (or REALLY big hills) and it’s a treat to take a few hours away from City of Refuge and head over for a hike.

Emily, Grace, Theresa, and I!

Grace, Theresa, and Evelyn

It ended up being the perfect day… We are transitioning into rainy season, so the morning was overcast and “cool” (probably 75 degrees). Quickly (as in before we even left our property), I was reminded that I was hiking with teenage African boys who can literally run up mountains! It was crazy to watch some of them move… They looked like gazelles bounding up the hills, even without a beaten path to walk on. We had to hold some pretty loose reins; otherwise we would have tortured the poor boys… But no one got hurt (Grace and I were the only ones to come away with any blood, as far as I know), no animals were sighted, and everyone made it back to CORM in one piece… Overall, a successful trip by my standards! My “low” for the day was definitely the blisters that I accumulated on the back of my heels… I walked back to CORM in just my socks, as that was less painful than wearing my tennis shoes! When in Africa, do as the Africans do…

OW!

About 5 minutes away from the house, it started to POUR. We had felt a few raindrops which caused us to start heading back, but as it usually is in Ghana, this rain went from 0 to 100 in just a few seconds. By the time we returned, all of us were quite wet and quite cold! The kids were asking “If it’s this cold, could it snow today?” For some reason, I don’t foresee that happening…

I am thankful for this time to spend some time with our kids, no strings attached… Just the company of those who feel like hanging out with you, which turned out to be Mary and Evelyn for the most part. Continuing to get little glimpses of their lives, like watching them all pick the leaves of a plant, crush it in their hands, mix it with water, and show me that it turns their hands red… These are little moments that I will treasure.