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Greetings from Kenya once again! The last two days have really broken me I into life in Kenya. Yesterday, Sunday, we started class bright and early at 8:00 AM, while most of you central time zoners were just a few hours into your night's rest. Thankfully, the topic first class was Kiswahili (Yes that's the same as Swahili, Kiswahili is used to refer to the language and Swahili is to refer to a cultural aspect.) I can't say that I know much yet, just some greetings and a few phrases, like my name is Amy. Luckily, the vowels in Swahili are pronounced the same as Spanish vowels. So in the end my Spanish has served me well in Africa!
The rest of the day we spent meeting our professors and getting introduced to our classes and the directed research project that we'll finish the semester off with. All the professors are Kenyan, and two of the four did their masters and Ph.D. work in the States. Anyway though, I won't bore you with the details of the classes, but you should know that the professors are great, so excited and energetic, class is going to be a lot of fun.
Today we had class again this morning for 4 hours. It was again your typical first week stuff, going over the syllabus, reading expectations and piling on readings to start the semester off right. This afternoon was much more exciting! We visited a nearby Maasai Bohma. Bohmas are I guess equivalent to a neighborhood in the States. We were greeted by all the Mamas of the Bohma dressed just like the Maasai you see in National Geographic. They sang for us and in return we sang to them, our selection was a never out of style Girl Scout Camp song! (The Moose who drank a lot of Juice for those former scouts out there.)
There were several dozen families all living within the Bohma which was fenced off by piled Acacia tree branches which are thorny enough to keep out most intruders. Each family has its own hut that is made out of cow dung and sticks. The men of the tribe find the location for the Bohma based on how much space is available for grazing the cattle. Then the women are responsible for building the huts, which they successfully do in two days. The huts are just about five feet tall, I was unable to stand straight up in one. They have beds made of cow hide and straw which are divided in two, one half for the man, the other for the women and children, and some families have as many as 10 children. Mind you the hut is only about 8 feet wide, so imagine yourself and ten kids in one bed that's about 5 X 4 feet. Men can have up to five wives, and they may all live in five different Bohmas. The huts also have a small fire ring where the food is cooked. Women usually get married around the age of 12-15, but may be promised to a man while they're still in the womb. Men marry when their father decides they are done with their schooling, but they may have a woman promised to them while they are a small child.
The children at the Bohma were so happy and good natured. They shook our hands and took pictures with our cameras. One student gave them a blow up globe which they'll probably be occupied with for hours.
After we sat inside the huts and visited with the Mamas, they laid out all their bead work and handicrafts for us to look at and bargain for. I came back with my wrists full of bracelets and some earrings, all for about $20. It was a truly amazing experience and I'm so lucky we were able to see Maasai life up close. Several of the staff members here, including three professors are Maasai, so they have already given us a wealth of information on the tribe, but it's hard to grasp and understand it all until you see them in their own homes.
Well, this is getting long enough and I have plenty of reading to do before and after dinner. Tomorrow afternoon we're going into the town of Kimana to visit the market and practice our bargaining skills once again.
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