Goal Celebration at St. Judes!

Came across this video of the kids today...fun stuff!

Smith Campus dedication

This is the day after we finished our climb!  My Mom, Grandmother, and Uncle Bruce picked me up at the Arusha hotel where we got to spend our last night (SWANKY), and we headed off to the Usa River Campus. This is pronounced "oo-sah", not U-S-A like America. 

Ok wait. Yes. My family was in Tanzania. For a special celebration.  My mom was coming over to do work with the school, and Grams and Uncle B tagged along for the "Smith Campus at Usa River" dedication. It was so special, recognizing all the work my grandparents and mother have done helping at the School of St. Jude. The only sad part of the day was that Granddad couldn't travel to be there, but will hopefully be at St. Jude in October for the St. Judes day celebration!

ALL of the pictures below were taken by Simon Scott, an AMAZING Aussie photographer who was in town doing some work for the school.  You'll notice they're far better than mine I had have put up! His website is here, and he has some really stunning shots.  I linked straight to his "current projects" page, because he took some pictures of the school while they were still building a few years ago.  Check them out!  Also, Simon is a fellow youth soccer coach, so it was fun to have someone to chat coaching with. Enjoy, it was quite the morning!

Parent's committee members

Students heading to the assembly

Kim (Deputy Director of St. Jude), Grams, Uncle B, Me, Mom

Pretty pretty!

They had the American flag upside down, but fixed it up proper!

Secondary School students and teachers

Tanzanian national anthem. It's beautiful.

Family

National Anthem

School prayer

Singing some more

Kim Saville

Assembly from above

Student performances

Performers backstage!

Love these faces...

and again...

skilled drumming

Audience appreciation

Introducing the B.F.A.B.S group, "Born From A Boombox"...they danced to Lady Gaga, it was awesome.

Mr. George, who let me teach P.E at the primary school for a day, such a cool guy.

Student performance, singing and acting

Grams doing her thing!

Everyone loves Grams

Traditional Massi Dance, one of my favorites that I got to see again a few days later at the 10 year celebration!

Massi Sandals and cloth

Photo with school leaders

Smith Campus at Usa River!

Chatting it up!

Intense discussion

Uncle Bruce and Arnold...Uncle B. stayed at Arnolds house when Arnold was in 3rd grade! Now he's in secondary school.

Kilimanjaro Day 7, heading down and out!

Hussein with Moshi Town in the background. Not taking a short call, just not the best pose.

Sunshine and lower altitude. I'll take it.

Livi with a creative birthday note for "New Dad"

Back under the canopy of trees.

The last stretch of the hike...bittersweet.

Practicing our song and dance for the porters at the end...kickline!

Comparing dirty fingernails. You can't tell from here, but they were gross. Except for Christie.

Ema getting ready to help us celebrate....it was hard to realize we were finished...

Simba kicking off our post mountain climb celebration!

Summits Africa A team!

All of our awesome porters and guides

Song and dance, our favorite!

Old Trafford...I wish there were stores/bars in the Winston that had names like this and showed soccer ALL THE TIME.

Emirates in Arusha

Whoa, real clothes? Cool!

Kilimanjaro Day 6...The Summit!

Summit night. I took no pictures in the wee hours for several reasons. 

1. It was extremely cold, and I had to keep my camera in my pack. On Mt. Meru, my camera was really foggy for about 20 minutes near the summit because I kept getting it in and out of the makeshift cover I had made for it.
2. It was dark, so pictures don't come out as well.
3. I was wearing mittens. Mittens and cameras don't mix very well.
4. Did I mention it was cold?

I have lots of mental pictures from the time we spent hiking with headlamps, between the hours of 12am and 7am.  There was lots of stop and go hiking, and whenever we had a pause I found myself teetering in my boots about to fall over because I was so tired. Not from strain, but from sleepiness.  I don't think the altitude helped me out there.  The crick in my neck was pretty serious as well because to not trip over any rocks in the dark, you've got to be looking down at your feet nearly the whole time.  Keeping your head down also kept your face out of the wind, so an added bonus worth the neck crick.

BUT, when the sun came up, OVER TOP of the clouds it was pretty spectacular.  The sun peaked up around 6:15 am, and slowly the sky morphed from an inky black, to navy, and the lines of deep amber, orange, and yellow just above the clouds was breathtaking.  I wish I had been able to get get my camera out of my pack, but I couldn't be bothered.  I was feeling pretty terrible by the time the sun was coming up, tiredness mixed with some fatigue and altitude sickness.  I was definitely feeling the 19,000 feet!  Enjoy the shots I got from the summit, and a few on the way down.
 

Peter my AMAZING guide..note the trekking poles that are mine...yep, he is carrying my pack. Told you I wasn't feeling well.

Lyndall and Ema, our lead guide at the summit!

Boo ya. Climbed it.

Whoop Whoop!

America.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY AUSSIES!

Representing GB, TZ, and LUX

Summit jump shot with my oven mitt, I mean mitten.

Ema singing the Proclaimers in honor of Australia Day

Mbise led us up to the top!

Peter and I.

Teaching Hussein the Macarena at 19,500 ft. Worth it.

Crusty PB & J anyone?

Threeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Heading down now...back to Stella Pt. where two trails meet, about 30 minutes before the summit

Back at our camp....Simba greeted us with mango juice. Most delicious mango juice I have ever had!

Steph and Danny

After a hearty breakfast, we head down towards Millennium Camp for our last night on the Mountain

Rocks in the shoes. Sign of a summit day!