Day 6

    The more I see of this country the less I believe it exists. The landscape is something out of a dream. On Sunday, the other volunteers and I took the kids to the river for a swim. What they refer to as a river (I assume because it’s the biggest body of water near by) looks much more like a stream to me. To get there we trekked through numerous crop fields and climbed a fair amount of fences. About 20 minutes later, we arrived to this “river” which sat at the base of a mountain. There in the water were two cows waiting to greet us. I imagine that they had ventured away from their home to enjoy a drink of water. As we hiked down the trail we passed two Kenyan women and one of their daughters carrying wood on their back UP the mountain. It amazed me that even with such a heavy load these women still took the time to smile and acknowledge us with a friendly “Habari”.

    The other night was one of our boys’ 11^th birthday. As a gift I gave him one of the glow stick necklaces that I brought from home. To say he cherished it is an understatement. Not only was he in love with it when it glowed that night, but he continued wearing it while he slept and throughout the entire next day.

    Yesterday the volunteers and I took a trip to Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. To get to Nairobi we took a “Matatu” which is a narrow bus that fits about 12 people comfortably however, it usually has up to 20 people crammed in. Needless to say it made for an interesting ride. Once in Nairobi, we sat down for the first cold drink since I arrived. After, we took a taxi to “The Wildebeest” where we slept that night. We rented two quad tents each fully equipped with running water, warm showers, down comforters and electricity! In the US, a night at this hotel would probably go for at least $200/night. In Kenya however, it only cost us $25 each. After dinner we went out for a night in Nairobi. I met two locals who took us to one of their favorite spots in town. After a much needed peaceful night’s sleep, we journeyed on over to the Masaai Market where handcrafted items are displayed all over a large empty lot. Everything there is beautiful and dirt cheap. I bought this amazing decorative bowl made from soapstone for 800 shillings. Easily sold in the US for around $100, it cost me about $10. The prices however, aren’t the only memorable thing about the Masaai Market. Once we arrived, about 15 Kenyan men looking to “help” us throughout our Market experience, basically as a middleman, greeted us. After repeatedly telling each of them that we were fine to shop on our own they finally backed off, sort of. Inside, the bartering only got more intense. It was very difficult to walk away from a seller without buying something. It was extremely overwhelming at first but by the end when it was time to go I got the hang of it and I now pride myself a little on my bargaining skills. From there, we all crammed into a “Tulaga” which is a tiny bit more spacious than a Matatu but still very tight. After a long, bumpy ride we made it back to Njabini just after the rain had stopped. We were gracious we missed the rain but the muddy mile long hill it left behind was unfortunate. Caked in mud after having to walk barefoot up the road, we arrived back at site where we were once again greeted by all 19 kids (we welcomed a new boy to our family on Monday), each with big smiles and even bigger hugs.

      The way of life here is so much slower than it is at home. It has been very difficult for me to connect to the internet still. This is why I haven’t written that frequently. I miss everyone back in New Jersey so much (especially my family and animals). I love receiving texts when I wake up in the morning, so keep them coming, just remember I cant text back. Love and Kisses – “Auntie Steph”