17 June 2010
Twix-a staple here. Especially if your name is Jay Ballard. I am not even close to kidding. Everyone here practically lives on Twix, and I can almost guarantee you that none of us eat that many twix in the states. My theory: We are all so devoid of familiar foods that we latch onto this one thing. My craving for chocolate has never been this intense nor this persistent.
Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to go to a Maasai boma a
nd milk cows. Doesn’t sound that exciting, but oh boy was it. First we arrive (Brenna, Jay, Kara, Kayleigh, and myself) at this boma and let me tell you…not a single cow around. Confused. So we wait around and then we hear this god awful belching noise which turns out belonged to a recently pregnant sheep (NOT goat) who is cleaning her newly born lamb. (What’s the baby name for a sheep? Is it kid like a goat? Yeah…*ten minutes later* OH IT’S A LAMB!) It was not yet able to stand and we stood there entranced with the miracle of life for some time. Then…the kids came home. They thought we looked funny. Didn’t understand my braces nor Brenna’s blonde hair. Then we sat on benches to wait for the cows to come home. As we waited two of the young girls came out to talk to us. One thing led to another and all of a sudden we were swarmed by children playing with our hair and using our cameras. It was a whirlwind. Though I have to admit once I put my camera away I loved every minute of it. I so love kids! (I want to bring one home). Then the cows came home.
Here’s where the story gets really interesting. In order to milk the cows us ladies had to wear a head scarf because they lean their heads against the cow when milking. So they wrapped a scarf around my head (with my hair now completely crazy thanks to the little girl I was currently holding in my arms), wrapped Kara’s head and then…uh oh…they were out of head scarves. So I’m walking to the Land Cruiser to drop off my coat and I must have missed something because when I return the Mama was putting panty hose on Brenna’s head. PANTY HOSE! It may have been the single funniest sight I have ever seen. Brenna pulled it off though. I think the icing on the cake was that magically they had another head scarf to give Kayleigh. Poor Brenna, poor weird-ass gangster looking Brenna.
We then proceeded to milk the cows. I quite enjoyed it, minus the cow poop everywhere. Though I had to compete with a calf for a teat…wasn’t expecting that. Terrifying. But all in all, I think we had the best experience.
So today I have been making an academic poster to present my “research” done at Nairobi National Park. We also have two scientific papers due on Sunday. As much as it pains me to say this, I am far more prepared for this sort of work due to Dr. Dave Rector. Damn. Neuro 430 actually served a purpose through all that really hard work. This school aspect of our trip is really starting to pile up.
Still love Kenya.
Twix-a staple here. Especially if your name is Jay Ballard. I am not even close to kidding. Everyone here practically lives on Twix, and I can almost guarantee you that none of us eat that many twix in the states. My theory: We are all so devoid of familiar foods that we latch onto this one thing. My craving for chocolate has never been this intense nor this persistent.
Yesterday we had the wonderful opportunity to go to a Maasai boma a
nd milk cows. Doesn’t sound that exciting, but oh boy was it. First we arrive (Brenna, Jay, Kara, Kayleigh, and myself) at this boma and let me tell you…not a single cow around. Confused. So we wait around and then we hear this god awful belching noise which turns out belonged to a recently pregnant sheep (NOT goat) who is cleaning her newly born lamb. (What’s the baby name for a sheep? Is it kid like a goat? Yeah…*ten minutes later* OH IT’S A LAMB!) It was not yet able to stand and we stood there entranced with the miracle of life for some time. Then…the kids came home. They thought we looked funny. Didn’t understand my braces nor Brenna’s blonde hair. Then we sat on benches to wait for the cows to come home. As we waited two of the young girls came out to talk to us. One thing led to another and all of a sudden we were swarmed by children playing with our hair and using our cameras. It was a whirlwind. Though I have to admit once I put my camera away I loved every minute of it. I so love kids! (I want to bring one home). Then the cows came home.Here’s where the story gets really interesting. In order to milk the cows us ladies had to wear a head scarf because they lean their heads against the cow when milking. So they wrapped a scarf around my head (with my hair now completely crazy thanks to the little girl I was currently holding in my arms), wrapped Kara’s head and then…uh oh…they were out of head scarves. So I’m walking to the Land Cruiser to drop off my coat and I must have missed something because when I return the Mama was putting panty hose on Brenna’s head. PANTY HOSE! It may have been the single funniest sight I have ever seen. Brenna pulled it off though. I think the icing on the cake was that magically they had another head scarf to give Kayleigh. Poor Brenna, poor weird-ass gangster looking Brenna.
We then proceeded to milk the cows. I quite enjoyed it, minus the cow poop everywhere. Though I had to compete with a calf for a teat…wasn’t expecting that. Terrifying. But all in all, I think we had the best experience.
So today I have been making an academic poster to present my “research” done at Nairobi National Park. We also have two scientific papers due on Sunday. As much as it pains me to say this, I am far more prepared for this sort of work due to Dr. Dave Rector. Damn. Neuro 430 actually served a purpose through all that really hard work. This school aspect of our trip is really starting to pile up.
Still love Kenya.
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