Things in My Car

Maybe we need a lighter post so I thought I'd share some of the interesting things I found in my car. I just finished cleaning it (well, it still needs to be vacuumed) for the first time in weeks. Ok, maybe it's been more like years, but who's counting!?

- A hand-made wooden cup from Nigeria. We must have meant to give it to Eric when we drove to Georgia for Christmas 2008!

- Maps from Arches and Canyonlands from Chris and my road trip in Sept. 08.

- Special cat food from when Tiger was feeling sick in July 08.

- Grease from somebody's head on the back window.

- Grand prize: Exploded mini-coffee creamers I picked up at Ted's Place on the way to a yurt about 2 or 3 years ago. If you've been in my car in the last year and wondered why it smelled, this is probably why!!

My Friend Alfred

There were many kids who hung around the Peanut Butter House site, and they were all great. But something about Alfred stood out to me. He’s probably about five and has a sweet smile. And, we understood each other, which to be honest was hard to come by. Even though the Liberians speak English, it can be really hard to understand! After a while, he said to me, “My pa is sick.” I asked him if his mom was alive and he said no. We’d been to a few orphanages by then and I just thought, “I do not want this boy to end up on his own.” I said maybe I could come see his pa one day to say hello. He said he didn’t live far so it was a date as far as I was concerned.

A couple of days later the opportunity came up to go to Alfred’s house. I decided that going along might not be the best idea, so Cindy and Chris came with me. We were also escorted by Abraham, another little boy who lives close by. We started to walk – past some houses, through a field, through a garden, past a school, past some more houses, up a hill … I guess Alfred’s idea of far and mine are different! Finally it became apparent where we were headed – to a burnt-out concrete building at the top of a hill. Honestly, it looked creepy.
The house on the hill is not actually where Alfred lives, but his house is just next to it and looks very similar.

We approached the house. It was three stories high, but completely gutted. No windows, doors, roof, or floors. All that was left was a concrete shell, blackened by the rains that fall in the summer. Alfred took us to where he lived – just one room – with his father Jerome. Jerome was healthy until about 8 months ago, when he fell (maybe he had a stroke?), and now he has lost feeling in half his body. I would guess Jerome is around 50-60, and Alfred has a brother and sister but they are both older than him and don’t live at home any more. So Alfred helps his father, he brings his cane and a small chair for Jerome to sit in while we visit. We said a prayer with him, and I could feel God working on me to do something to help.

About 2 or 3 other families are also squatters in this home. One of the women, Fatu, gave us the grand tour. The house must have been pretty magnificent before the civil war. It used to belong to Liberia’s former President Samuel Doe’s brother. Now the only decorations that remain are a few tiles in the bathrooms and some drawings on the wall. The drawings are of soldiers with large guns. Some of them have “boy” written above them. One looks like he is holding a knife and the head of a corpse that is by his feet. It says, “War in the city.”

A few of the kids who live in the house. 2nd from the left in pink is Abraham, and Alfred is in green next to him.

You can see the hardship in these people’s lives. Jerome can’t work anymore and can’t afford to send Alfred to school. Other boys living in the house have huge bellies from malnutrition. But they are all smiling and grateful to God for what they have today. Fatu was as hospitable as any woman wanting to welcome you to her home. Another older man who lives there took his machete outside and came back with 2 big sticks of sugar cane for us. And they have a poster of Barack Obama, who has brought great pride and hope to everyone we spoke to in Liberia.

After a while, we left but Alfred’s situation stayed on my heart the rest of the trip. The next day, I asked Christine for advice on the best way to help Alfred. Something hard to figure out while in Liberia was how to help people well. We have enough money to temporarily fix people’s problems, but setting up a pattern of sufficiency isn’t really the answer. She said she would go with me to see him and ask his father what we could do. So I know this is getting long so I will leave you in suspense for part two!
One of our gracious hosts showing us how he will get us some sugar cane! :)

Day 14: Domhutte to Zermatt in pictures

I can't find the journal I kept on the trail so for now here are some pictures from our final day on the Haute Route.


The view from the Domhutte as the sun rose was amazing. We wouldn't have seen any of this if we had stayed at the Europahutte or descended the night before because of the thick fog in the valley. So it was well worth the trek!

These are the stairs leading to the part of the hut w/ the beds. I met an interesting guy up here who said he had fallen on a glacier the day before trying to summit Dom. He asked if I could look at where he fell to make sure he was okay, and then pulled down his pants and showed me his butt! Luckily Chris was there but I tried to not make a big deal of it and kept talking to him. Then he pulled out some ointment and asked if I was a nurse! Eek! Apparently the whole time we were talking he was rubbing it ALL OVER but I was determined to keep my eyes on his face and no lower. Crazy Europeans!

It wasn't as scary going down as it had been going up the night before.




We made it to Zermatt! I don't know if I've ever been more exhausted! :)

Day 13: Gasenreid to Domhutte!

The Domhutte

Chris’ stomach hurt this morning and he didn’t eat much. I was wondering if he’d even be able to hike but eventually he felt a little better. By now, our anger, or any frustration we felt about the difficult trail, was taken out on Kev – the author of our guide book. We’d already grown tired of making fun of his disdain for the ski industry. We dropped to the level of speculating why he uses the word Pennine so much and that he has wet dreams about the hamlet of Jungu. Today was the last straw, because he hardly mentions the trudge up to the Europaweg and uses the word “belvedere” to describe what I can only guess is the trail. So our insults were in full force when we could actually gasp out a few words because the first 2 hours of the hike were brutal!

There's a fine belvedere over there somewhere ....

I just might not make it!

We finally reached the fine belvedere and our moods improved with the expansive views. The day before, as looked across the valley to the slopes where the Europaweg lays, I wondered where on earth the trail could possibly be – the mountainsides were so steep and rocky. It turns out that those two words also accurately describe the Europaweg. Sometimes the going was very slow because of all of the boulders we had to pick our way through. The Weisshorn, meanwhile, continued to look like one of the most bad ass mountains I’ve ever seen and a huge glacier on one of its flanks began to come into view.

We finally reached the Europahut at 3:30, after leaving Gasenreid 7 hours earlier! We held out a small hope that they would have 2 magical openings so we could stop hiking and enjoy the afternoon. So, to say we were bothered by what we found would be an understatement! First, the hut was full because someone had rented it for a private party, and every single one of the people relaxing on the deck with a beer had been flown in by helicopter! When I heard this, I had to get Chris and I out of there ASAP because we began to think of many not-so-nice things we wanted to say to the people walking around in $50 United Colours of Bennington t-shirts. This greatly diminished the Swiss Alpine Club in my esteem. I guess I thought they harbored ideals of outdoorsmanship, but when someone offers you a load of cash to turn away all hikers for a night – the very clientele you were purportedly founded to serve – well, who can blame you for accepting, right?

Second, one of the hut hostesses kindly informed us that the Europaweg was closed between there and Zermatt. We would have to detour down to the valley floor and then do the heinous hike back up if we wished to take the famed Europaweg all the way. Yeah, right. Well, as upsetting as these two pieces of news were, I believe things worked out for the better. We began hiking to the Domhutte on the trail labeled “alpine route” on our map. It quickly went from steep to SCARY! The fixed cables, hand-holds, and ladders were usually on some pretty exposed rock. The beginning was the worst because were going along a ridge or nose of rock that began to make me very nervous. I was also anxious about the trip back down the next day. Going down always seems scarier than up, for whatever reason.

About an hour into the trail, we took a break and almost decided to turn around. But we kept going and eventually left the crazy death-defying jungle gym for a boulder field which was much easier to navigate. Still, you can’t imagine our relief when the hut appeared above us. I was so happy I cheered and gave Chris a kiss. He was too exhausted to celebrate with me. The hut is on a broad slope below one of Dom’s many ridges. It is right beside an impressive glacier spilling down the ledges of the mountain. But the most impressive part was the view! The tallest mountain around, Monta Rosa, was a huge mass dominating the upper left side of the valley. Part of the mountain is in Italy, so it’s not officially the tallest mountain in Switzerland. That distinction belongs to Dom. Directly across the valley was the Weisshorn. And between that peak and Monta Rosa was the royal queen of the Huate Route – the Matterhorn. Yes, I’ve finally seen it in it’s entirety. It is an impressive pyramid rising imposingly above the valley. That mountain is really fickle though, it is often covered in clouds. I think some of the other mountains around it don’t get the proper attention for their own individual badassness. In any case, the vista from the Domhutte is probably one of the best anywhere in the world and made the strenuous hike up well worth it.

Staying in the hut was a humbling experience. While the “alpine route” had challenged our nerves and bodies, most of the people in the hut were preparing for an epic 12+ hour climb to the top of Dom in the morning. I was very impressed and have never been around so many crazy, death-defying people!

A couple of views along the Europaweg

I was so relieved to make it to the hut!