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| So an update on my life....
I got tattoo number 2 a couple weeks ago. It means Truth in Ancient Greek. I'm a total Classics nerd I know. I also plan on naming my daughter that but my current prospective husband is adamently against it. He said it could be like a forth middle name or something. I'll admit Aletheia isn't exactly a typical first name so I suppose I could handle it as a middle name. As long as it's there somewhere. Tattoos are so damn addictive. I'm already planning my next two. I think I want to collect words that means something to me but all in different ancient languages. So I have chinese and ancient greek down. I think sanskrit and an egyptian will be next. Ha i can only imagine what I'm going to look like when I'm 70 and all wrinkly.
Next update, how random is this I actually have a boyfriend. Fuck I never thought I'd see the day. After 4.5 years living the single life I thought I forgot how to play the game. But anyway, we've been friends forever and I love his family. We're so boring but I'm ok with that.
Last thing... I've been offered the job at the BC Children's Hospital Foundation again. So I'll be back this summer to do that. I've applied to a MArch at UBC and UofT as well as the undergrad program at UWaterloo. So depending on where I get in if at all I may or may not be staying in BC after July of this year. I'm sure everyone is so used to me never being around anyway but this is my heads up to say after this summer I may move out east and not come back. It's pretty up in the air right now but Jo (my friend who visited over Christmas) keeps pushing for me to stay and I'll admit it's pretty hard to spend an extended period of time too far away from her. And of course there's the boy. I never thought I'd move somewhere for a guy but who knows, this one could be different.
Well thats about it.... | | |
| It's that time again! I'm coming home!!! ... to an empty house.... oh well, at least I have my cat. But yeah I'm going to be around from Dec 21 to 31. Anyone want to pick me up from the airport?!?! I arrive at 10:30am... maybe? Anyway can't wait to see everyone at Cmac's! | | |
| So I'm back in Canada now. First and foremost it was a worth while experience going to Tanzania, I'll never doubt that. I made it to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro and I can't express the feeling of acomplishment I felt making it to the top. It has been the hardest thing (physically especially) that I've ever done. There was a point when I didn't know if I was going to make it to the top. I honestly thought that I may have to go back down the mountain and this was just going to be one of those things that I ALMOST did. But fortunately our head guide (a local) Frank was amazing. He made me promise I was going to make it to the top. Even though my body was fine and full of energy my head was so cold and throbbed so badly I could hardly balance or see. So Frank took my had and basically guided (more like dragged) me all the way to the top. Thank goodness he was there because goodness knows our "leader" was a useless asshole.
This brings me to my more negative points of this trip. Had it not been for the sheer amazing experience of being in a part of the world more foreign than anything I'm familiar with I would have said that this trip was a total waste of money and possibly the worse experience of my life. Shocking I know. Our "leader/organizer" is a total idiot. Even though he said that he was providing down jackets and sleeping bags for the entire team, he forgot to bring mine. Kind of important considering it's around 0 degrees at night on the mountain, let alone -20 at high camp. But did he apologize and accept that he made a mistake? NO. Instead he blamed ME for not reminding him. Right because I have to remind someone to bring something he's suppose to bring for the ENTIRE TEAM. Did he rent me a sleeping bag and down jacket? NO. He took a pathetic thin summer synthetic sleeping bag from the goddamn porters (who hardly have enough to keep them warm as is) and borrowed a ratty smelly jacket from the local organizer. I mean honestly! I got more and more angry with each night that I froze on the mountain. By high camp (which is 18 000 feet) I was crying I was so cold. I felt like I was sleeping on a block of ice (probably becauase I was, we slept about 300 feet away from a giant glacier). So finally I said I can't handle this anymore I needed to have his down sleeping bag. So ok, he gave it to me but would he bring it to my tent where I was huddling and crying? NO. He wanted me to walk outside to his tent to get the goddamn sleeping bag. Ok so that is bad enough, but he was not only incompetant, he was also petty and passive-aggresive. So for the rest of the trip he kept making stupid comments and trying to blame me and the other 2 women for everything. THEN to add to this, the other man on the trip was also petty, annoying, and an acoholic. Imagine the most immature 14 year old boy you can possibly imagine, a boy scout that never grew up. Someone who always needs to be recognized, needs to push others down in order to make himself feel better, and just needs to lash out in general. Then imagine that this person is a 46 year old fire fighter. Honestly, I don't even have words to express how bad this guy was. He radiated negativity. He had a toxic aura about him, to the point where you could almost expect all living this to die just from being too close to him. Quite frankly by the end of the trip I was freaked out. He had murder in his eyes. To add to this I'm pretty sure I got ripped off during this trip, because the cost of things just doesn't seem to add up to what I paid. And oh gee, guess who owns the travel company we booked our safari with? Yep, the founder/organizer of Summits of Hope. How unethical is that?! Anyway that's just a brief rant so you get the picture of what I went through.
I must also point out that I had never slept in a tent prior to this and let me tell you after sleeping in a tent for 7 days on a mountain with no showers or running water I was pretty gross. And instead of sleeping in lodges during the safari we were back in tents again. I think I'm done tenting for the rest of my life. Cabins and lodges all the way.
But ok back to positive things about the trip. I saw 3 seperate prides of lions in Ngorongoro, two cheetas, and countless elephants, zebras, giraffes, and hyenas. So that was pretty amazing. I saw them really close up too. I was probably only 8 feet away from the pride of lions at one point. The locals were also interesting. The largest tribe in the area I was in (near the town of Arusha) is the Massai. You can tell someone is Massai because they wrap these large red or purple plaid cloths around themselves. They also wear very ornate earings and have incredibly stretched earlobes. The markets were also interesting. Seeing the local produce and wares. Of course I did some shopping as well. I can't deny though the difference in living standards there. You know those World Vision commercials of children running around barefoot living in wooden shacks? I figured that they probably found the most poverty stricken area to shoot those commercials. But no. That's really how people live. Most people actually live in shacks made of uneven wooden planks with holes in the ground as bathrooms. If they're better off than most they have walls made of brick or concrete. But even then it's a building the size of most of our bedrooms for a whole family of 5 or more to live in. All children beg there. Every child we passed held out their hands and followed us for at least 3 minutes hoping we would give them money, candy or some other token. We have an amazing life in Canada. I'll never forget that. Even our porters up the mountain who make a very good living only make $8 a day, and they have to carry 50lb bags on the backs and walk up a mountain. Anyway the long and short is it was a great experience but not necessarily a happy one.
Just a note to everyone: NEVER do anything that is even remotely related to Summits of Hope. If you would like to do charity work, get in touch with the charity youself. If you'd like to climb Kili, do it through a different company. STAY AWAY from Summits of Hope. | | |
| So I've made it safely to Tanzania. I've been here about a day now, we don't start climbing until tomorrow morning. This will be the last time I have access to the internet until I get back from Kilimanjaro in about 7 days. The flight was alright but it was brutal going from a 6.5 hour flight to a 3 hour layover and then another 9.5 hour flight. But I must say KLM Airlines is amazing. The service was amazing, the food not bad, and each seat has an individual screen where you can pick from over 30 movies, tv shows, and genres of music. It was also the first time I've ever been on a double decker plane. My team is great, everyone is super friendly and helpful. The lodge we've been staying at (and will be staying at after the climb) is beautiful. I'll show everyone pictures when I get back. The staff are also the most hospitable people I've ever met. After a really good night's sleep last night we went off to a market in Arusha. I bought a couple things here and there. I must say the people at the market were pretty pushy. Not in a rude way but still it got a little trying by the end. Everyone calls you "sister" or "brother" and they LOVE bargaining. I also learned a few words: Jambo is hello, Karibu is welcome, and Haribu is how are you. That's the extent of my swahili for now. Maybe I'll learn a little more in the next few days. Well that's it for my update but we do have a satellite phone with us to do daily updates. So if you're wondering how I'm doing just log on to www.summitsofhope.com and you can get daily updates on our progress. And thanks to everyone who supported me and helped get me here. Cat | | |
| Hey guys,
So thanks to everyone who said they would support me for this. I'm still really far from my fundraising goal so I need all the help I can get. Remember any money you pledge goes to the BC Children's Hospital... not me.....but if you'd like to give me money you're always welcome!! ha kidding. So the website to donate is:
www.summitsofhope.com
this is the same website you can log into to see updates while i'm actually on the climb. We'll be starting our trek on Sept 30 so mark the date and log in to see if I've died yet. again kidding.... i hope. | | |
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