Defying Gravity

I can hardly believe that it is almost November! Wow. I’ve been gone for three months and I’m still going strong. Actually, it’s the everyday adventures and opportunities that remind me to appreciate my present home. I’ve had countless experiences during the past three months that are unique to my location and I cannot go a single day without feeling grateful to be in Kenya.

Yesterday, I witnessed something so unreal. In fact, I’d be surprised if you actually believe me, because I had to see it to believe it. I went on a field trip to Machakos yesterday with my Intro to Community Development class to a visit an organization working in development in Kenya. Afterwards, we drove up the side of a mountain to a location that some call “the magic spot.” Sounds interesting, right? The rumors in the area are that in this spot water actually flows uphill, but few people have actually gone there to witness such a phenomenon. Our bus comes around a bend and stops so that we can all get out (or alight, as Kenyan would say). The road is at an obvious incline, but not too steep. We take some water and pour it onto the road assuming that they water will flow down the hill, as it has always done for the past 19 years of my life. Sure enough, the water splats on the asphalt and streams uphill! What was more unbelievable was when our bus driver drove up the hill, turned around and came slowly down the hill to this “spot.” When he got there, he put the bus in neutral and it went backwards up the hill. No joke. I wish I had a video camera. Some guys rode a bike and said it was harder to go downhill than uphill.

Anyways, I’d like to know where Newton is now. Haha. Can one of you science geeks explain this to me??? Or is it a product of the area’s witchcraft? Apparently anything is possible, even gravity that pulls uphill.