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Brooke and Cheetah
This is at the Nairobi Safari Park. We were taken there during orientation. Well, here goes nothing. I am not sure where to even start... It's been an amazing week.
On Saturday afternoon we arrived at our homestay in Saikeri in Maasailand. About three hours from Nairobi down a long dirt road. Our family is amazing. There are four kids, two that are away at secondary school and two that live with us. One is 12 and her name is Purity and the other is one and 1/2 and his name is Nathainel. Our host mother is somewhere in her late 30's and her name is Galdys and our host father is near 40 and his name is Emanuel. He is away for work most of the week so we only saw him last weekend. The house is made of ply-wood and tin and has six rooms. It is small but a very happy place. There is no electricity and no running water. The bathroom is out back a bit away from the house. The place where we bathe is a small room where we take a bucket of rainwater that has been heated and we dump it on ourselves. It dosen't sound great, but it is actually quite nice. The toilet
Alan and Cheetah
This is at the Nairobi Safari Park. We were taken there during orientation. is a hole in the ground that you squat over... welcome to the world of pit toilets. It is surprisingly easy to use and is just as nice as a regular toilet. It really is.
The town that we live in is called Saikeri and is about three hours from Nairobi. We took a bus with three other volunteers that are working out our way. We haven't seen them since... The "town's" population is about 1,000 but that is all people located within a two hour walk. It is mosly populated with Maasai and most of the Maasai are very traditional. They wear very elaborate beaded jewelry and traditional shukas (I hoped I spelled that right). If you look up a picture of a Maasai or look at the photos in the first blog that is what 95% of the adult population looks like. Most of the kids wear western clothes. We are now the only two white people within the two hour walk. People stare at us wherever we go and people pet Alan's hairy arms and lick their fingers to try to wipe my tattoos off... it is crazy. When we stop we are instantly surrounded by 25 people who are touching and staring. It is a bizarre experience to say the least. This morning as we were walking to catch our truck to town Alan said, "Now I know what the bearded lady in the carnival felt like."
We had a rough night of sleep our first night in Saikeri. The goats and cows that live right out the front door were very loud. And they don't sound anything like the farm animals back home. The goats sound like someone screaming for help... I swear. It is super scary if you don't know what it is or if you aren't used to it. It took me about three days to sleep through it. Sunday consisted of getting used to the house and walking to the town with another volunteer named Matt whose last day was yesterday. Then back to the house for eating and sleeping. We started work on Monday.
I am working at the hospital (by hospital i mean a building with three or four rooms and some medical clinic. Small, bit serves it's purpose.) The people that I work with are great and super friendly. In fact, everyone we have met are so friendly and welcoming. I really love it. The hospital sees about ten to twenty people a day and I love working there. I generally helped out this week but will get more into providing HIV tests and working with expecting mothers more next week.
Alan is really enjoying his work at the school. The kids wear uniforms and attend class from 8.20 until 3 or so and then have sports and after school activities until five for so. Since we are pretty much right on the equator the sun rises and sets at 7am and pm... pretty much exactly 12 hours of light. So ending at 5 gives the kids enough time to get home before it gets dark. Where we live there are hyenas that come out at night... we haven't heard them yet but are assured that they are there. (on a side note we did see about twenty giraffes as we drove into Saikeri from Ngong. Amazing.) Alan is teaching for about 17 hours a week and corrects papers other times and plays sports other times. On Monday he ran with one of the classes of older (15-170) boys and girls. The hospital sits on top of the hill and from the deck I can see much of the valley including the school and the road coming in. So on Monday when I was looking out and saw Alan (a streak of white amongst the tall dark Maasai) I almost had a heart attack. It was nearly 100 degrees and the sun was blazing hot... not to mention Kenyans are some of the best runners in the world. I was sure I would never see him again. But, sure enough 45 minutes later he came back with the pack. I did have to say I was impressed to say the least... if it were me I would have been left for the lions... just laying on the side of the road... "Just go! Save yourselves!" is what I would yell to the group of confused Maasai... "Crazy Muzungo (white person in swahili)" they would think to themselves as they ran ahead without even breaking a sweat...
So things are great. Maybe you've heard about some rebel fighting around here... between the police and the Mungiki. It is nowhere near us and we are very, very safe. In fact, I think that we are more safe here than if we were in England, Ireland or America. Really. So, Mom, I love you but stop worrying.
The Maasai are amazing and kind... have I already said that? They feed us so well we are sure that we are going to burst after meals. Think that you'll loose weight when you come to a developing country? Think again. Our meals consist of rice, ugali (a flour based paste), cabbage, beans, meat, fresh avacados, perfectly ripe mangos... and other things that I don't know what they are. We also drink about five cups of chai tea a day made with fresh cow's milk.
I have to go now but it looks like we'll be able to get to the internet on Saturdays. We love and miss everyone and love reading your messages. We also have a new cell phone number. This way we have service and reception where we are so you can call anytime. We are two hours ahead of London and eight ahead of Chicago. The number is 254 720 610 603 (if you dial from the states hit 011 and then dial 254). We don't have a toilet, electricity, running water.... but we have cell phone service. It's so crazy to see the traditional Maasai old men talking on their cell phones as they tend to their cattle...
I am uploading pictures of us petting the cheetah. I am still trying to figure out how to do the photos... hopefully I'll have it figured out next week. Love and miss you all. Alan, too. He's down in the cafe at the moment enjoying a milkshake (the first cold thing we've been able to get in a week) but he'll write next week... promise.
Love,
Brooke
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Ginny and Reed Webb
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Wow to say the least
Glad that you are located in a safe place. In your pics, I notice that you have a long sleeved shirt on, I know its hot, do you have to keep your arms covered? How are the bugs treating you, haha. With all the dung around, I am sure that there are bugs. I (Ginny) can't sleep to a barking dog, so you have done great wonders to learn to sleep to all the animal noises there. You and Alan take care and we are enjoying the blogs. We are still in a mess here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast but starting to make some progress. Love Ginny and Reed