After our 3 hour hike the day before, it goes without saying that we had no problem falling asleep our first night in Kemantian. Even though our sleeping conditions were far from our norm. The missionaries in Kemantian live in huts. Like straw roof, bamboo slates for the floor, strong, well made huts. We were actually really excited because we had never stayed in one before. They had bunk beds inside, so it kinda had a camp feel to it and everyones bed was covered with a mosquito net (kolumbo, as it is called here) So it was kinda like sleeping in our own little forts.
Before we went up to Kemantian, everyone was informing us that "its much colder in the mountains. So be sure to pack warmer clothes and warm blankets for night time" It wasn't until the next morning, when we woke up sweating in our long sleeve shirts with our blankets kicked to the side that these people probably had never lived in Wisconsin. The "cold night weather" was really only 60 degrees…*sigh*
Here is a video Sam took the next morning:
Becca and Joha try out the wind-up
electric shock machine.
The next morning we got a tour of the Kemantian medical clinic and the schools, both of which are VERY organized. Their clinic has an examination room, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. It also had enough rooms and beds to host 6 in-patients. And the schools went all the way up to high school. We were able to spend time getting to the know the other missionaries better.
The gorgeous hike to the George's
Then we took the 10 minute hike to Pastor and Leonda Georges home. Their house was the perfect size and the view from their living room window was to die for!
We'd love to wake up to this
everyday!
One of the reasons we decided to come to Kemantian this particular week was Mrs. George had invited us to come up and spend Thanksgiving with their group. Technically Thanksgiving was the week before (as you may know) but some of the missionaries were down in the "low lands" the week before and they wanted to wait until everyone was together. So, Thursday, December 2 was Thanksgiving for the people in Kemantian. We spent the day helping Mrs. George cook.
Sticky rice cooked in bamboo. So creative!
When we were finished helping Mrs. George prepare, we went back to the hut to take a nap before the big dinner. Around 5pm we started to walk back to the George's house. Along the way, Sam slipped in the mud. And this wasn't just a dainty-little-trip to the ground, no this was a real, literally head-over-heels slip. The back of her nice skirt and white shirt got really muddy. It was so funny. Especially because Sam had asked earlier that day, "Am I tempting fate by wearing a white shirt out here?" Answer: YES! So we headed back to the hut so she could change. Then we started out again. We weren't even 15 ft away from the hut when Sam's flip flop flung a huge splotch of mud up onto the back of her clean shirt. So she had to go back and change again. "This is my LAST shirt. So if it gets dirty, so be it!" she said as we headed out again. Finally we made it to the Georges mud free (Wee!)
Yay! A clean and successful trip!
Pastor George has a way of
becoming the life of the party.
Sam and Joha.
Dinner wasn't quite ready when we got there, so we spent the time getting to know the other missionaries. It was nice being able to fellowship with other Student missionaries, and exchange things we've learned and things we miss from home.
Thanksgiving dinner was AMAZING. Totally beats out our own Thanksgiving meal, a week earlier. There were 22 missionaries that came, so the house was a little bit crammed. And did we mention the food?? Lol, It was a good time.
During dinner Pastor and Mrs. George (who recently celebrated 15 years as missionaries in Palawan) gave us some words of wisdom on being missionaries and Life in general. It was really inspirational. Then afterwards we went around the room and everyone was able to say what they were Thankful for.
After the dinner we had to take the 10 min. hike to our hut in the dark....overall we survived (thanks to these awesome lanterns our Gpa bought us!) and the stars were SOOO beautiful!!
Thank you AFM for your
hospitality.
After stargazing we climbed into our bunks and went to bed. We really enjoyed our day in Kemantian and being able to spend "Thanksgiving" with everyone. We set off for the "low lands" early tomorrow morning. Till then....
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