A Trip to Chukudum

Abbi and Bakita on the hike down to Chukudum.

This past weekend Abbi and I threw our toothbrushes, a bottle of sunscreen and a batch of chocolate chip cookies (you know, the essentials) into a bag and hit the trail.

We hiked ten miles down the mountain to Chukudum, the metropolitan center of Didinga.  Our plans were simple, we hoped to visit friends and drink a Coke.  

We were successful on both fronts.
  

Chukudum, located in the lowlands, is much hotter than our Nagishot mountaintop oasis.  

The days were a little too warm for my liking, but the evenings were starry skied, warm and beautiful.

Bakita, one of our former students, and her sister, Evelyn, were our amazing hosts for the weekend.

They poured over us as though we were some sort of American, poorly dressed, royalty.  

They made us chai, arranged cool places, away from the afternoon sun, for us to sit and stuffed us with chapatis (fried flat bread), beans and rice.  

They insisted that Abbi and I sleep on their mud sleeping platform, while they spent the night on the floor.

Abbi and I hoped to head back home early Saturday morning, well before the mid-day sun, but our plans were thwarted by cow meat.  We were detained as Chukudum prisoners - waiting for one final feast.

Bakita and Evelyn have certainly taught me a thing or two about hospitality.

Abbi performing the ol' "removing" a finger trick....

and this time, a few small people actually fell for it!

Meat is a special treat, a meal of importance, so Abbi and I did our level best to clear our plates.  Commands to, "Just force it!" were offered, but there is a limit to my cultural appropriateness, it is called, "I am going to throw up!".  

Anyhow, we finally waddled out of Chukudum a little after 1pm.

We hiked the ten miles back up the mountain with some friends we just happened to meet up with along the way.

The hike was hot!!!

In fact, it was so hot that I stripped down nearly naked, hid behind a banana tree and bathed with another local lady at the stream. 

Abbi filtering some drinking water.

We made it home a little sun-burned, a little tired, surprisingly hungry and thankful for these moments, these people, this time God has given us in Didinga.