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| Blue's Pool |
GABBY - I was in charge of pretty much catering to Martin for all of
his food needs since he had no car and no groceries. Martin and the German couple were all
interested in breakfast after I told them that I would be making breakfast
burritos with the leftover tortillas from Mexican Night. Not trying to brag, but they were
bangin’! Scrambled eggs with caramelized
onions, cheese, tomatoes, and avocado. Obviously
Ben and I topped it off with some sweet Thai chilli. It was a scrumptious way to begin our
morning, if I do say so myself. Today we
had people on rides almost every second of the morning. It was clear we were in the midst of the
holiday season with people off of work and school and with lots of free time on
their hands. Ben and I were able to
successfully schedule everyone’s rides without any complaints, so it was a good
day for us. I had some time in the room
alone, just cleaning and making the bed, which sparked a Christmas thought. It dawned on me that the perfect gift for me
would have been pajamas in accordance to my family’s Christmas Eve
tradition. Every year, my parents get
Amy and me pajamas to sleep in on Christmas Eve so we can wake up in a present
and open all our Christmas presents in our new pajamas. It’s simple, but it’s something that means a
lot to me. I ran out into the living
room where Ben was reading and told him that I thought of a gift for me that
would be meaningful. I saw in his eyes
that he had got me pajamas. I had a
serious breakdown. I was so happy and so
sad at the same time. I am so lucky to
have someone in my life that cares enough about me to listen. He knew that that would be the gift that
wouldn’t necessary cost the most, but would be priceless to me. I was so happy and thankful for him, but it
made me miss Christmas at home so much.
It was a bit of a rough mid-morning, but since it was scorching hot
outside, we decided to hike to Blue’s Pool for a dip. It was a great way to clear my head and enjoy
the beautiful, sunny day. It was just
Ben and me in the pool, which was a lot of fun and gave us some time to flirt. Ben jumped from the high point a bunch of
times. I still hadn’t jumped and Ben was
set on having me take the plunge. I
looked at the water from the top of the platform, which seemed a lot higher
than it did looking up from the water.
He
jumped in first and treaded water waiting for me to jump. It took me a good couple of minutes, but
eventually I leapt into the air and to the water and beaming Ben below. He was so proud and held me close in the
pool, which felt really nice. A 3 hour
ride made their way to the pool, while we were still there, which was a bit of
a mood killer. Some of them jumped off
the platform. I jumped one more time
before Ben and I thought it best to head back.
We were both in great moods, which quickly made an unfortunate turn for
the worst when Ben stumbled upon a Christmas present that I had gotten
him. I left the Word Document of a
little voucher that I had made for him.
I asked my parents to buy a case of Ben’s favorite seasonal beer,
Dogfish Head Chickory Stout. He saw it
and I lost it again. I was so frustrated
at myself for leaving it up and out in the open for him to see. I was just feeling super emotional and
fragile, so this little thing set me off into another sobfest. Ben tried to calm me down again, which helped
a lot. A little while later, Steve and
Garreth came barreling into the backpackers wanting to know if Ben and I wanted
to go on a horse ride to Blue’s Pool. I
guess Blue’s Pool was my pick-me-up activity for the day after every
breakdown. We got on our riding gear and
headed down to the Tack Room. I had
requested Jackie, which was my horse for the Lesotho trip. Steve was on Pixie, Garreth on his horse
Apache, and Ben on Storm. We all set out
cantering down the path. Almost
immediately we took off into a full out gallop.
It was so freeing to be sprinting along the farm and up on the mountain
plains towards Blue’s Pool. Jackie
followed Pixie (Steve). It was my first
time riding with Steve and it couldn’t have gone better. Ben’s horse was in last and dragging as
usual. He always gets the lazy horses,
which sucks because I know he wants to haul ass. Eventually we reached Blue’s Pool. I was filled with this feeling that I could
do anything (lots of adrenaline). I
jumped off the high platform giving little thought to how high it was above the
water! It was an amazing ride, which was
all too short seeing as the only people running the backpackers and farm were
out riding horses.
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| Guess who's the Asshole |
We got back to the
backpackers, showered and changed for dinner.
I felt a lot better after clearing my head for the second time. I gave little thought to Christmas for the
rest of the day, which was probably for the best. All of Steve’s family, including his sister
Kathy, brother-in-law Darren, and mother showed up for dinner. His mom is unfortunately suffering from a
progressed Alzheimer’s, which is always sad to see. Darren was eager to take the dinner reins and
braiied up all of the meat. Ben and I
were only in charge of the salad, which I was able to toss quickly. The German couple was playing cards, so Ben
and I joined in and learned their mindless Uno-like card game. Then we taught them a drinking card game
called Asshole, which involves hats and rules depending on which place you come
in after each round. We must have played
60 rounds, drinking as we played. The
rules got more and more ridiculous and so did the tower of hats worn by the asshole. We were definitely the entertainment for the
older crowd, as they found our antics quite amusing. Despite my breakdowns, the day turned out to
be one of my favorites at Khotso.
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