19 June 2010
Today Elise and I were paired together to spend the morning as one of the maasai. I was really thankful to be paired with her knowing I wouldn’t be paired with Brenna and fearing the clash of some of my classmates’ personalities with my own. But Elise and I are solid.
Our objective was to spend the morning with a Mama and learn what they do every day and their culture. Our first task upon arrival was to drink chai…it was rough (not). Then we did the dishes. It was pretty much exactly like doing dishes at camp, but there was a bed in this “kitchen”. This room had a mini generator, a hot plate, a shelf, lots of dishes, and a bed. It wasn’t really what you would call a kitchen. Elise and I sat on the bed doing the dishes and sharing our lives with each other a little. Turns out there are some parallels in our romantic lives. Next we swept the main room. Their brooms are more bristle and less handle. Elise and I were not very good at it…and we were laughed at. I suppose that is part of the process though. Next onto cooking. That was done in a completely separate unit unattached to the main house. It was quite cool though. We cooked over firewood and sat on benches. That is, until I couldn’t handle the smoke anymore and had to excuse myself. My eyes were burning pretty badly (and still are a little to be honest). We cooked ungali (made of cornflower…delicious) and made more chai (also delicious). Then we went back into the house where we were informed that our chores were over. We still had over an hour to stay there…what on earth were we going to do? There was a pretty significant language barrier too, so talking wasn’t really an appealing option. So they turned on the tv (using what looked like a car battery on the shelf below the tv) and watched a very dramatic, very poorly acted Kenyan movie (or soap opera, hard to tell). Needless to say we were enthralled by this. I was a little sad when it was over actually, especially since I was confused (the “background music” was really foreground music meaning we could barely hear the dialogue). Then Francis (one of the local guys who works for SFS) dropped off some cabbage. Elise and I were relieved to have another task-cutting and cooking the cabbage. After that we ate what we made. I was not at all expecting to like the cabbage but I LOVED it. I hope I remember how to make it later. And then we left. Nothing particularly thrilling.
I did make some observations though. Dogs do not receive much affection from many of the maasai families that own them (if any), smoke does not bother the eyes of the women here (even the youngest ones), you can make the most modest of homes feel homey with the right wall decorations (and if you’re Kenyan then a calendar and a wall clock are staples of said wall decorations), Kenyan children are adorable-and very shy, I am spoiled. I really did enjoy my time there.
Getting back to camp I was in a bit of a funk. It’s hard to explain but instead of talking (which is often one of my favorite activities) all I wanted to do was listen. I sorta wanted to be invisible so I could just step away from being the “life of the party” and just observe people-without drawing attention for being quiet. That’s my curse (brought upon myself), because I’m so social the second I don’t want to be and I just want to fade into the background I remain in the forefront because people wonder why I’m not chatty. Sigh…
My funk, however, was lifted when we visited a local preschool. I am designed to be a mother I know it. One little girl and I clicked in a big way and spent the majority of the afternoon playing. She is quite ticklish and has a beautiful laugh. Every time she’d enter a giggle fit I too started giggling. It was the best therapy ever. I look at these children here and I am so happy. The kids here, by the way, are incredibly friendly once they aren’t so shy. They especially love to run out to the road to wave to us as we drive by. All over Nairobi this is true :)
Today was full of ups and downs, highs and lows, but yet again I am ridiculously happy to be here.
Today Elise and I were paired together to spend the morning as one of the maasai. I was really thankful to be paired with her knowing I wouldn’t be paired with Brenna and fearing the clash of some of my classmates’ personalities with my own. But Elise and I are solid.
Our objective was to spend the morning with a Mama and learn what they do every day and their culture. Our first task upon arrival was to drink chai…it was rough (not). Then we did the dishes. It was pretty much exactly like doing dishes at camp, but there was a bed in this “kitchen”. This room had a mini generator, a hot plate, a shelf, lots of dishes, and a bed. It wasn’t really what you would call a kitchen. Elise and I sat on the bed doing the dishes and sharing our lives with each other a little. Turns out there are some parallels in our romantic lives. Next we swept the main room. Their brooms are more bristle and less handle. Elise and I were not very good at it…and we were laughed at. I suppose that is part of the process though. Next onto cooking. That was done in a completely separate unit unattached to the main house. It was quite cool though. We cooked over firewood and sat on benches. That is, until I couldn’t handle the smoke anymore and had to excuse myself. My eyes were burning pretty badly (and still are a little to be honest). We cooked ungali (made of cornflower…delicious) and made more chai (also delicious). Then we went back into the house where we were informed that our chores were over. We still had over an hour to stay there…what on earth were we going to do? There was a pretty significant language barrier too, so talking wasn’t really an appealing option. So they turned on the tv (using what looked like a car battery on the shelf below the tv) and watched a very dramatic, very poorly acted Kenyan movie (or soap opera, hard to tell). Needless to say we were enthralled by this. I was a little sad when it was over actually, especially since I was confused (the “background music” was really foreground music meaning we could barely hear the dialogue). Then Francis (one of the local guys who works for SFS) dropped off some cabbage. Elise and I were relieved to have another task-cutting and cooking the cabbage. After that we ate what we made. I was not at all expecting to like the cabbage but I LOVED it. I hope I remember how to make it later. And then we left. Nothing particularly thrilling.
I did make some observations though. Dogs do not receive much affection from many of the maasai families that own them (if any), smoke does not bother the eyes of the women here (even the youngest ones), you can make the most modest of homes feel homey with the right wall decorations (and if you’re Kenyan then a calendar and a wall clock are staples of said wall decorations), Kenyan children are adorable-and very shy, I am spoiled. I really did enjoy my time there.
Getting back to camp I was in a bit of a funk. It’s hard to explain but instead of talking (which is often one of my favorite activities) all I wanted to do was listen. I sorta wanted to be invisible so I could just step away from being the “life of the party” and just observe people-without drawing attention for being quiet. That’s my curse (brought upon myself), because I’m so social the second I don’t want to be and I just want to fade into the background I remain in the forefront because people wonder why I’m not chatty. Sigh…
My funk, however, was lifted when we visited a local preschool. I am designed to be a mother I know it. One little girl and I clicked in a big way and spent the majority of the afternoon playing. She is quite ticklish and has a beautiful laugh. Every time she’d enter a giggle fit I too started giggling. It was the best therapy ever. I look at these children here and I am so happy. The kids here, by the way, are incredibly friendly once they aren’t so shy. They especially love to run out to the road to wave to us as we drive by. All over Nairobi this is true :)
Today was full of ups and downs, highs and lows, but yet again I am ridiculously happy to be here.
