November….a month of firsts

Ok, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!

First first!!

I am officially published!! For reals guys!! Yes, after all this time and work, I am finally in print! I can’t believe it! A quick re-cap from ground zero to being published….

It all started one day soon after spring semester started in my junior year at Chapman. I walked into Dr. Shears’ office and proposed the idea that I wanted to do an empirical study. From there….it can only be described as pure chaos and can only be understood by a few, particularly my girlfriends from psychology, aka my fellow ‘lab rats.’ During such time, after many long days in the lab, countless hours of research, hypotheses, late nights, journal articles, grant writing, DirectRT, programming, stress, hundreds of participants, paperwork, hours in the lab, coffee, writing, SPSS, pep talks in Shears’ office, college graduation, follow-up experiments, editing, more editing, presentations, journal submissions, and 5 years later, I am a published author. WHOO HOO!!

If anyone wants to check it out, it is in the current fall issue of Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research. I will put the reference up soon, so it will be easier to find.

Second first!!

I CLIMBED MT KILIMANJARO!!!

As you know, my friends came to visit me! We had such a wonderful time; I was so happy that they came to visit. We had decided to meet up at the Post Office in Tanga. It was so fun when Lindsey and I first spotted each other from across the street because we ran like crazy and landed into one big bear hug! We were so funny because we just kept saying ‘lets hug again!’ and we would :)

In Tanga, we got fruit, went to the grocery store to get food and snacks, went to the market, and ran a few errands. Then we headed to my friends house to stay with 2 other volunteers for Halloween weekend. We had a great lazy time. All afternoon we just sat around, hung-out and chatted. Then for dinner I made pasta primavera and I must say that it was quite delicious!! I had never made it before in this country but it turned out yummy. And Sarah made a pumpkin pie which was also super delish, which we ate while watching a movie. All in all, we had a very nice Halloween.

The next day Lindsey and Paul came to my village with me; I love having visitors!! We arrived in my village on Sunday and they stayed for 5 nights….they’re troopers!! They had no troubles with village life and we had a wonderful time. During the week they went to my biology classes, met with my health group, had lunch with my health group, walked around my village, visited the health dispensary, the primary schools, and were warmly welcomed by all my mamas. In between the village activities we relaxed at my house making lots of scrambled eggs and crepes for dinner. We also watched (on their computer) the 3 Twilight series movies!!!! I hadn’t seen them and I was so excited!! I loved them and I’m going to have to wait until I return to America for the 4th to come out, dang it!

On Friday we left to go to Moshi and Mt Kilimanjaro. We arrived in Moshi Town in the afternoon, got lunch, and met up with our guide who was going to take us up the mountain the following day. With our guide, we walked around Moshi to get stuff we would need for our expedition, like food and supplies. After finishing, we ate dinner in town and went to my friend’s house to spend the night, sleep, and get prepared for our adventure.

Day 1. Saturday morning, we got up, readied ourselves for our expedition, had cereal (with COLD milk) for breakfast, and headed out. We met our guide near the house and got picked up around 10am. Thereafter we headed to the mountain. After arriving we registered to climb/enter the park and paid the OUTRAGOUS fees. We met with our guide, his team, and porters who would be climbing with us. In total, we had the 3 of us, our guide, 2 assistant guides, and 7 porters. After going over routes, rules and regulations we started our climb!!! For the first day we climbed about 4 hours, reaching 9900 feet (starting at 5900 feet). The hike was fairly simple; we were able to hike at a good pace and get to our camp at a good time. However, around the base of the mountain there is a lot of vegetation and it is a rainforest, so it RAINED A LOT. We were completely drenched (including our bags) by the time we made it to our camp. But we didn’t let that get us down!! We did our best with what was dry and tried to dry some of the necessary things with water bottles filled hot water. We ate dinner (fish, french fries, veggies, fruit, and tea…our cook was really good) and went to sleep in our tent. First day hiking Mt Kili…DONE.

Day 2. The next morning we were incredibly lucky to have the sun shining with no rain. So we quickly put a bunch of our stuff out to dry, which saved us immensely! Note to self: you cannot climb mountains with all wet cloths. Then we started our second day hike which took about 5 hours, ascending to 11,500 feet. The hike was good and challenging but doable!

Day 3. The morning of our 3rd day we awoke to a nice crisp cold day, but again no rain YAY. We hiked for about 6 hours and ascended to 15,000 feet. Though we reached 15,000 feet we descended back to 12,800 feet to camp and sleep. We went up to get acclimated to the elevation but came down to sleep at a lower elevation which is better. The third day hike was marvelous!! It just got more challenging and colder the farther we went, but we had a great time. Hiking is one heck of a workout!!! When we got to our next camp site we ate, changed cloths, and rested, as usual.

Day 4. The fourth day was a kick in the pants!! It was our hardest day yet because we climbed for 7 hours to get to our next camp site and it was the most challenging route up until that point. We ascended to 15,800 feet and reached our camp site about mid afternoon. For the afternoon we rested the best we could while being sick (we were defiantly feeling the effects of altitude sickness at this point) and with it being so cold. About 15 minutes after arriving at our campsite it started to snow!! Snow in Tanzania, crazy! Over the course of the afternoon/evening we huddled in our tent while it continued to snow about an inch!! It was soooo cold….I was shivering quite a bit! In the evening, we got prepared to summit that night. To prepare we got in our hiking cloths, ate dinner, tried to warm-up, and went to bed early to (try to) sleep. Then our guides woke us up at 11pm for tea and cookies. We then went over the plan for the night and started hiking our way to the summit! We started our hike at midnight so we could reach the top of the summit at sunrise. We had our guides, walking sticks, and headlamps and started the rigorous climb to the top!! It was one of the most challenging and difficult, yet extraordinary experiences of my life. It was insane feeling sick from altitude and tired from lack of sleep but still continuing to climb a mountain in the dark and below freezing temperatures.

Night of Day 4/ Day 5. As dawn was breaking we reached the top of the summit!!! Good morning day 5!!! It was astonishingly beautiful!! I can’t even explain how gorgeous the view was; it was unbelievable. From the top we saw the city at the base and just how far we had climbed. And you are above the clouds, so when looking out we could see a beautiful sea of clouds. It was AMAZING!! We took lost of pictures and walked up to the highest peak of the mountain. We were at 19,000 feet!! NUTS!! And it was sooo cold…about 40 below…I thought I was going to lose my toes haha.

At about 7am we started to climb down. Descending is the least exciting part. We came down a different trail, but we were tired and had already reached the top, so it does not hold the same excitement as going up. We also descended at a rapid pace to feel better at a lower elevation. Normally on the 5th day after summit-ing, you would descend to a camp site a few hours short of the end, camp, and finish descending on the 6th day. But we decided that since we arrived at our campsite within good time, we would just keep going. So after 7 hours hiking, a short nap, another 7 hours hiking to the summit, and 6 hiking down the mountain, we decided we would just keep going the last 3 hours down the mountain to the end. So that’s exactly what we did!! We descended close to 13,000 feet in one day…talk about crazy!!

Still Day 5. We reached the bottom of the mountain at 4:30pm. We grabbed our bags, paid our guides/porters, signed out, and headed to dinner of burgers and fries. After getting back to my friends house, we showered, ate ice-cream, and went to sleep for 10 hours. Aaahhh sleep…a beautiful thing.

Day 6. We woke up and did nothing all day. We were EXTREMLY SORE! And not from the actually hiking up, but mostly from hiking straight down the mountain all in one day….our calves and thighs felt it for sure! All day, I read, ate, wrote this blog, played on the internet, napped, and walked to the fridge for juice and water which is actually a lot harder than it sounds when your legs are SO SORE. Haha.

Here are some mountain facts….
- Mt Kilimanjaro is 5895 meters tall (19,000 feet!!!)
- It’s the tallest free-standing mountain in the world
- While climbing you go through extreme weather changes due to the elevation: tropical/rainforest, desert, and snow.

And that sums up my Mt Kilimanjaro expedition!

With love,
Jessie