Village Life

Greetings from Nyahururu!

So much has happened in the last few days and I don't think I have time to write it all down. We are on a tight schedule. We left the village later than expected to catch a mutatu to Nyahururu. We still have to get to the market and try to get home before dark.

The drive from lamu was long, but really great. We saw girraffes, baboons, and zebras...all just hanging on the side of the road. We won't even be on safari for another 8 days! We took a back way to nairobi and drove through dozens of villages and some really incredible landscape. We even drove through Tsavo national park which is known for it's man-eating lions. Don't worry mom, we stayed in the car. That night we stayed at the hostel and hung out in Nairobi most of the day on Thursday.

We left for the village late that day and drove through the Rift Valley. I can't wait to come back to this place when we leave for safari.

We received a very warm welcome into the village by joyce and her family. We were greeted with chai and a warm meal. Chai is the drink here. It's about half water, half fresh milk (from their cows) and black tea with sugar.

After "elephant proofing" our door, we got some much needed rest. Saturday was Kenyan Independence Day as well as Brian's (Issac's son) manhood ceremony. Brian had spent the last 30 days in a private room away from his parents where he received advice from other villagers. About 100 neighbors showed up for the ceremony. Brian came out of his room with the help of a local choir and was greeted by everyone. Many people spoke on his behalf and then donated money to him. After the ceremony, there was dancing. Aunty Em pulled me out in the circle and we cut a rug. It was really neat to be invited to particpate with them.

On Sunday we went to church. That was an experience. After about 2 hours of worship, we were greeted in song by the choir and then introduced ourselves to the parish. We then enjoyed a short break and came back to our seats for the auction. Among things being auctioned off were, belts, 10 goats, 12 chickens, and a cow. It was definitely an experience. I bought some bananas, austin bought a belt, and jill bought sugar cane. I've never had sugar cane, but it was really good. I guess it's good for your teeth and they encourage kids to chew on it.

Other than that, we've just been relaxing. It's a great place to nap and the weather is very agreeable. I did my first load of hand washing clothes yesterday. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated.

We've been having a lot of fun with each other. I've enjoyed our walks that we've been taking to see other parts of the village. The local kids are really interested in us. They like touching our skin, a lot. They were also really interested in my sunburn and peeling skin.

Now, it's time for the market. We have a lot to get done before dark!