Falling Into The Rhythm

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First of all, I’d like to say thank you to all of you who have sent me messages and left comments, I love reading your responses and hearing about what is going on for you outside of Kenya. I’m now into my final week here and it’s incredible how fast the time has gone. Now that my health is back to normal, the days fill quickly and sadly, the end of this journey steadily approaches.

Yesterday, Gordon and I completed our household surveys, 75 in total! Walking around the villages has been a great lens through which to intimately observe the Luo culture. I appreciate the small taste of farm life in rural Kenya and hope our research will enable the community to co-create a sustainable project in the future. Our final few days will be data entry and reporting and another Saturday soccer tournament before doing some further cultural explorations outside of Kanyawegi. I am determined to see some of the wildlife Kenya has to offer!

Today we honour the Kenyans as they celebrate their independence day. We enjoyed some performances in a soccer stadium in Kisumu: primary school singing, a young girl's poetry, lively dancing and speeches by the local politicians. A celebration yes, but still so much work to do to face the problems of hunger and fair wage.

It seems that the universe has answered my call for musical medicine. I’ve now been dancing three times the last four days and it just keeps getting better. A whole crew of us took the journey into Kisumu on Saturday night after the soccer tournament and found some nightlife to satisfy our yearnings. However, it took til about 1am for the party to really get started. The music was a clash of 80’s hits, modern rap and traditional songs, not with much finesse for transitioning. An experience to be sure.

Monday and Tuesday evenings we checked out the local scene in a market called Holo nearby. The two bars play live music almost every night, far too loud for the size of space but still worth it. Actually, I enjoyed the local music scene better than town. I even had a chance to bang on the drums for a few minutes. The locals are boisterous and energetic and come ready to dance. It’s quite a show, and I’m afraid it’s hard to describe while staying PG. I’ll just say there is a lot of hip gyrating to the smooth rhythm of the reggae inspired melodies, with the dance floor predominantly occupied by men.

On Sunday, Maurice took us to a local spiritual mecca called Kit Mikayi, meaning rock of the first wife. There is a detailed story involved its significance, which was relayed to us by one of the local men. It is said that the man who first discovered the rock formation spent much of his time there and he was devoted to the rocks as much as his first wife. It was a powerful beacon to the spirits to provide rainfall in times of drought, during which times much ceremony was enacted.

To this day, people continue to use the caves for overnight prayer in times of personal turmoil. The remnants of colourful candle wax sit as evidence of past worries sent upward for transformation. The caves are home to many bats and we heard their activity as we passed underneath. We climbed up to get an amazing view of the surrounding countryside and bask in the late afternoon sun, a breeze keeping our skin cool.

I have not been able to add photos yet as we had a power outage last night and I didn't get a chance to upload onto my flashdrive. I hope to add them in the next few days!

Sending so much love to you all!

Laura
xo

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Photos

Luo Homestead
A glimpse of rural life at the foothills of Kit Makayi

Kit Mikayi
The base of the rock monument

Tree of Life
Magnificent African foliage

View from the Top
At the viewpoint of the sacred rock, overlooking the countryside

Song and Dance
The women invited us into a song and dance of gratitude for our visit

Comments

[Karl]

cool journey!
hey laura, i've been following your blog, it sounds like you've been having some great experiences! i'm sure near the end you may think it all went by so quick but i'll bet the spiritual rewards will last for a long time to come. well, i got my full riders license now, i'm pretty excited about that! anyways, keep enjoying the music and sunshine there, and have a great time visiting ireland again, i'm jealous! I will see you before long!

[john and kate courtenay]

greetings
Hi Laura Love reading your thoughts about the visit to Africa. The country comes alive when you talk about it. I hope the remainder of your trip allows you to experience all you set out to do. However the last few days always fly on any trip so do your best. Tonight I was in the garden pretending to garden when really all I wanted to do was enjoy the evening air. Our dogs were out playing with the tennis balls...........if a satelite looked down they would see the ground covered in luminous green dots (the balls). The dogs love them and suddenly they disappear and when John replaces them they bring back the original ones.. quite an epidemic. We hope to have very good weather over the next few days and as I am going to my cousin's wedding on Friday I am looking forward to the break from work. Hopefully we will see you very soon. Love from Kate and the gang.

[D MJ Binkley]

As you have pointed out
Leaving home often allows you to find who you really are and understand the world better. Enjoyed reading your blog. Happy Travels.