maasai mara- day 2

Sunday morning, Justine (both my roommate in Nairobi and my roommate for the weekend) and I got up at 4:40 to see an African sunrise. Unfortunately, we seemed to have had some miscommunication with the Maasai that told us the time, because it wasn’t actually light until almost 6:15. But we did get to see seven shooting stars, and were super awake for our 6:30 game drive.

We didn’t actually see the “Wildebeest Migration” (…think the Lion King) which is supposed to be one of the wonders of the world because I guess it happened earlier this year- and most of the wildebeest are already in Tanzania. But we did see a big herd of stampeding wildebeest and lots of zebra. And the most exciting thing- was that we were able to get really close to a bunch of mama and baby lions- actually eating a wildebeest!

Later in the morning, we got to visit a Maasai village, which you can pay to have a tour of. The Maasai men and women each came out and did some kind of tribal dance for us. Then they brought us into their fenced-in community- to show us how they make their fires from sticks and their huts from dung and mud. Apparently, the Maasai’s diet mainly consists of milk, blood and meat, which I guess would explain why they’re so small! We also learned that they wrap their stretched-out earlobes around the top of the ears, so that if they are running from something it won’t get caught, and that they pull out four of their teeth so that if they get tetanus and have lock jaw, they will be able to take whatever herbal remedy is prepared from them. So the Maasai Village was very cool. We got to talk to the Maasai a little bit- although there was a bit of a language barrier, as their main language is Maa and they only speak a bit of Swahili and English. But the Maasai guys came up with a nick-named for me- Longashu- which I later found out means many cows.

On our afternoon game drive we were on a mission to find a cheetah, which we amazingly did actually spot. We also saw buffalo, which means that we saw four of the “Big Five” (leopards, buffalo, lions, and hippos but no rhinos.) Then at night, the big excitement was that it was Lindsey’s (one of my other roommate’s) 21st birthday. So after dinner, we had a cake and then this troop of Maasai comes in to where we were eating to do one of their Masaai warrior dances. It was very cool because some of the Masaai we had met who worked at the lodge, (including the chef in his chef hat) were all part of the dance.

So today, we sadly had to go back home to Nairobi--- back to school and work and other equally exciting things.

maasai mara- day 1

Well- I don’t even know where to start about Maasai Mara. It was probably the most amazing weekend I’ve ever had, and we packed soo much in but it still went by way to fast! We left in two vans early Saturday morning and drove an incredibly bumpy six hours through part of the Rift Valley and to the Mara. On the way there, even though it wasn’t officially a game drive, we saw monkeys and warthogs and giraffes and antelope, just on the side of the road. We also saw tons of Maasai out in the fields with their herds of cattle and goats, and lots of little Maasai villages. (The Maasai are the nomadic tribe that live in Kenya and Tanzania- and usually dress in lots of red and beads- kind of the Totem tribe that you always see pictures of in books or whatever.)

So we decided the luxury camp we were staying at was probably the nicest place any of us have or will ever stay. Every “tent” (and you could really only call it that because of the zipper to get in and the cloth walls) were basically like honeymoon suites. Also the food was amazing! We had three course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner that were soo good!

So on our afternoon game drive in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve we got to see impalas, hippos, elephants, hyenas and a leopard. We saw the sunset from the van on the way back, and then upon arriving back at the camp, our driver told us that we were supposed to report to main area for our sadona. We weren’t exactly sure what the entailed, but some of the Maasai led us down into this dried up river bed, behind the camp, where they had made us a camp fire, and had a little bar set up to make us “Crocodile Tears”. (The Maasai working there were fully decked out in their traditional attire and escorted us around at night, because although it’s really not unsafe or at all, you can actually hear lions in the distance.)

After dinner, we sat out by the fire again to look at the stars, which are truly indescribable. Nairobi is so smoggy and polluted that just being away from the city for the weekend was incredibly refreshing. I don’t think I’d seen stars the whole time I’d been in Kenya, and I’m not sure how or why- maybe something to do with being on the equator- but the sky seems sooo much bigger here.

day with the clowns

I spent this morning at Kenyatta Hospital, this gigantic concrete complex that is apparently the largest hospital in East Africa. Sarakasi has a program there where they bring in performers and clowns to sing songs, perform, and play with the kids in the pediatric wards. Many of the kids staying in the wards have been there for months or even years, and hardly ever get a chance to go outside or interact with anyone other than their families and the hospital staff. And many of their families stay at the hospitals with them, so there are rooms and rooms packed with 20 beds and tons of kids and family members.

The kids were absolutely adorable- especially this tiny girl named Suzie, who followed me around all morning. A guy named Steve and I, went around to the different rooms of the kids who couldn’t get out of bed, with puppets, but most of the other kids could come down to the playroom to watch the clowns perform and color and run around. But being there was also definitely the hardest thing I’ve done here so far. There were kids with malaria and AIDS, and in one of the wards we visited, all of the kids had cancer. Lots of them had so much energy, it was hard to believe they were sick, but some of them would sit there and cry and cry. The other terrible thing was there was a whole room of children who had been abandoned at the hospital. The nurses feed and care for them, but with only a few nurses for hundreds of kids, they really don’t get much attention at all.

That particular program through Sarakasi is running low on funding, so I’m not sure how much I’ll be back in the next couple of weeks, but I was really glad to actually get to go out and see it for myself.

Then this afternoon, I had my class on Development of Culture in Kenya class, which is pretty exciting to be done with- since it’s three hours long and the last thing we have to do on a Friday afternoon. And this weekend we’re all looking forward to even more than usual because we’re going on a Safari at Masai Mara. (It’s supposed to be a really great time to go because right now is the middle of the wildebeest migration, and I literally cannot wait!) Our bus comes and picks us up at 6:30 tomorrow morning, and then we drive 6 hours, through the Rift Valley, to where we’re staying. I think we get to go on three or four game drives and we’re staying at the lodge there for two nights. I’m definitely planning on taking a lot of pictures (and I promise I’ll figure out someway to actually post them!)

Today was day number three of my internship and I still have no idea what I’m actually going to be doing at Sarakasi. I’ve gotten to watch the acrobats and dancers (who are truly amazing) and meet most of the trainers and staff. I worked on creating a donor list- and sending out the monthly newsletters today, but I think this it still part of my “orientation” to the organization. I’m still hoping to go see the program where they bring performers to a local hospital, see some of their community training centers, and see the “Ghetto Radio” run out of Sarakasi. I have to say though, although I’m still kind of floating around in terms of what I’m doing, I’m working with a really great, energetic team of people, and the building itself that we’re working in is amazing. It used to be this old, abandoned cinema that was just renovated within the past year, so there’s a huge stage where practices and performances are held. There is a huge spiral staircase that goes up three stories to where the offices are, and if you go up on the roof, there’s a great view of the city.

Some of the other girls have really cool internships as well. My roommate Justine is working with youth in Kibera, an informal settlement or slum in Nairobi, at the Initiative for Sports and Social Arts, and Sophie, another girl in my apartment is working at Umande Trust, where they’re helping communities to create these bio-toilets, where waste is turned into fuel for local schools. But really- all of the internships that everyone has are super interesting, and very different. Definitely lends to some interesting dinner conversation, and I think we might be able to work together with some of our organizations on certain projects.

I just have to add that as I write this, I am being serenaded by the Imam in the mosque down the street. This is actually a very Indian neighborhood, but it is Ramadan after all. I’m amazed on a nightly basis at how well a voice can carry through closed windows and be heard over the Al Jazeera playing in the background as we do our work. Mornings can be pretty loud too. We have a gorgeous view out of our apartment, but there are some homeless people who occasionally throw rocks at their tin shack before the crack of dawn, and some stray dogs who also don’t hesitate to make their presence known. The rest of the time though, Njema Court is actually surprisingly quiet.

(the picture is not actually from anything related to Sarakasi- but we saw these amazing kid acrobats performing at a street festival the other day)

day in the life

So it’s about ten o’clock on a Thursday night and I’m about ready to crawl into bed. All I did today was go to class, but seriously life here’s exhausting. Just to get to USIU, we have a 20 minute trek to the center of Westlands, where we are supposed to bargain for fair Matatu prices with our vast knowledge of Swahili- all at the crack of dawn. From there we have to forage for seats on a USIU bus, which takes anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours to get to school, depending on the “jams”. (Although we thought the jams were pretty ridiculous at first, we’ve quickly learned that the longer they are, the longer our morning nap can be.)

Classes at USIU are pretty much a joke. In Fundamentals of Photography, our professor announced today that the board wanted to switch the course to a class on digital photography- mid-semester. (Keep in mind, this is after he insisted that every student go out and buy a manual SLR camera, and regardless of the fact that they have yet to make their photo lab digital). And I won’t even go into International Organizations, except to say that I’m going to be super good at regurgitating definitions of regimes by the time that class is over. Thank God for Swahili, which is actually interesting and entertaining and useful. Who knew classes could actually be enjoyable?

We don’t get home from Swahili till like 9- which for some reason seems like an incredibly long day. But we actually got our act together and cooked some fabulous spinach sauce and rice for dinner. Although we’ve basically been living off of cereal and peanut butter and jelly for breakfast and lunch everyday since we’ve been here (I’m talking five loaves of bread and two jars peanut butter a week for the five of us), we do actually cook real food for dinner. In fact, the first week we were back in Nairobi, some of our Kenyan friends came over and helped us cook chipati (this friend tortilla like-thing), ugali (this spongy stuff made out of maize), fish, lentils, beef stew and I don’t even know what else. And it was actually surprisingly good, considering the fact that we made it.

Sooo- I was thinking I was going to have so much free time this semester, but I think between commuting, classes, my internship, eating, and sleeping whenever possible, our schedule’s actually pretty full already. Not that it isn’t a good time too. On Tuesday night we went to this club K1 for jazz night, which was super fun and a good break from everything. Not gunna lie- by the end of my first day at my internship Wednesday, running on four hours of sleep, I was pretty exhausted. But I guess you’re only 20 and in Kenya once, right?

we finally have internet!

Three weeks today since we've been in Kenya- and it has been a crazy time thus far. The first week we randomly had orientation at a Bible Translation Center in the Central Province, but since then we've been back in Nairobi, adjusting to life here. Everything's dustier, the sky's bigger and everyone stares at us since we are the Mzungus (a.k.a. white people or foreigners) -although people have also enquired as to whether I'm Hispanic, Caribbean, Kikuyu or Obama's sister- since I've been here.

I'm living in a fabulous apartment in Westlands, which is probably the equivilent of Embassy Row in DC. It's super spacious, and we have a little verandah. (Also, apparently house cleaners and laundry women are a standard part of relatively well-off Kenyan households- which was actually kind of weird at first- but I'm having no problem adjusting in that regard ;) My roommates are great too and we cook dinner and eat together every night.

As far as classes go, I'm taking Photography and International Organizations at USIU (the United States International University) and they are definitely different than AU classes- it kind of feels like being back in high school again- that is- if the professors even show up. But we're also taking a Swahili class and a class on Development in Kenya (that are thankfully not through USIU) and I think thouse should both be really interesting.

We also found out where our internships are going to be (which is a relief-because visiting all the internship sites all over the city and having to make a case for the ones you wanted was quite a process.) But I'm going to be working with this organization called Sarakasi, which supports performers and acrobats that come from the slums. Their aim is to use art and culture for social and economic empowerment (yes- I know- blah blah blah) but they have all kinds of cool programs going on at any given time- and I can't wait to actually go and get started- whatever it is that I'll actually be doing.

So that's basically what's going on. Of course there are the unfortunate events like being mugged on way home froms school, on Matatus (the crazy vans- with blaring music- that people are packed into for public transportaiton), or more than half of the people in our group coming down with mysterius African stomach viruses. But we've also gone to some great clubs and kissed giraffes and met really great people. Overall I'd say I'm adjusting well, and very glad I came.

till next time..