The event was quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. All of the kindergarteners were dressed up in traditional Kenyan clothing and the day ended with a fashion show. I asked whether they were all dressed in clothing from a common tribe, but Ravena told me they were mixed. There are over 40 different tribes in Kenya! Rather than explain the event, I’ll let my photos speak for themselves:
The families of the students at Alexia’s kindergarten were asked to wear traditional clothing for their cultural day event. What is traditional American clothing I wondered? Jeans and a t-shirt? A cowboy hat? Something with the American flag on it? I threw on a dress and called it a day. I hoped the pattern was vaguely Kenyan...but it was probably more Native American looking than anything. I suppose that counts as traditional American clothing? The event was quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. All of the kindergarteners were dressed up in traditional Kenyan clothing and the day ended with a fashion show. I asked whether they were all dressed in clothing from a common tribe, but Ravena told me they were mixed. There are over 40 different tribes in Kenya! Rather than explain the event, I’ll let my photos speak for themselves: As we were waiting to get our car out of the gridlock I danced in the parking lot to my new favorite song, Sawa Sawa Lé, playing over the speakers. Ravena said, “You’re more African than I realized!”
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After a mere 41 hour journey I finally made it to my new home in Meru yesterday afternoon! It was only a matter of hours before I'd acquired a new best friend (and little sister) and taken a crash course in Swahili. First London cab ride with Leigh I had assumed I'd be spending my 15 hour layover wandering London alone (as I had done exactly a year and a day before on my way to Lyon), but a good friend of mine from high school, Leigh Tobiasen, happened to be there with her parents. Luckily this time the Tube wasn't shut down by strikes and it didn't take me 5 hours to get into the city! I had an awesome day exploring with Leigh and her mom (thanks again for everything!). I hadn't seen Leigh in almost 2 years so we spent some time catching up at Starbucks before heading over to tour Buckingham Palace. It has over 700 rooms, 240 of which are bedrooms! Wow. We got to see 19 of the beautiful State Rooms where the queen meets/entertains her guests. From there we went to a cute restaurant on the Thames, The Anchor, where we had a traditional lunch of fish & chips with a Pimm's to wash it down. On our walk back to Leigh's hotel we marveled at all of the people in the park feeding pigeons. One man was biting kernels off a corncob, spitting them out, and throwing them out to the birds...strange. We too stopped to look at the wildlife, but didn't let them sit on our arms, or heads, as we did so! I started to get a little nervous as I said bye to Leigh and her mom knowing that as soon as I left I'd really be on my own. The trip to the airport and my flight went smoothly and when I woke up I was in Kenya! It Nairobi I was met at the airport by my new Kenyan dad, Stephen, and my adorable 4 year old sister, Alexia, in her Red Sox track suit! I recognized them instantly from photos Fridah, Stephen's daughter who teaches at Northeastern, had shown me as well as the palm leaf hat he said he'd be wearing. Getting out of Nairobi proved to be a bit tricky as we tackled a mass of tangled, unpaved highways looking for a hidden "bypass" among all the construction. After a number of stops and multiple discussions in Swahili, Stephen found the road north to Meru and we were on our way! The landscape along the highway was beautiful and like no place I've ever been. My favorite areas were the steep hill slopes covered in oblong tea bushes interspersed with exotic trees. At the bottom of the hills I could sometimes glimpse a small river and a couple of times, waterfalls spilled out of the hillsides, contrasting perfectly with the orangeish-red soil. Alexia was shy and quiet at first but quickly warmed up to me and had all sort of things to say. She told me she was going to give me some Swahili lessons and her and Stephen started immediately. One of the first words I learned was mzungu, meaning white and in reference to a white person. Alexia had been stroking my wrists and I hadn't thought much of it until Stephen said, "You know, she has been touching your arms thinking the white pigment will rub off on her". Alexia agreed saying that by the time I left she would be white. Meru lies right above the equator which we crossed on our way there. Stephen told me the best way to tell which hemisphere you're in is by seeing in which direction the water in a toilet flushes. As we drove on we saw people carrying miraa, or khat, a drug which is grown widely in parts of Meru. It is something I will be investigating as I learn more about malnutrition in the area because it is thought that the shift in focus away from crops for consumption and towards miraa, which is more lucrative, could be a causal factor. I hope that our interviews with the parents of malnourished children in the pediatric ward of Meru District Hospital will shed more light on this topic. We drove on past an "Obama Shoe Clinic" making me think that maybe I wasn't quite so far away from home... Stephen referred to himself, Alexia, and I as the Three Musketeers and mentioned some upcoming trips we have in store to Nairobi and Mobasa. Once in Meru we stopped off at the Miriam Kanana Mubichi Foundation's (MKMF) office where I met Dorcas for the first time. I will be spending the majority of my time with her both in the office and during our site visits. This morning she showed me around town and got my internet set up and Monday we will start visiting MKMF's various projects! I can't wait to get started. Dorcas has been extremely helpful and is always checking in to make sure I'm adjusting alright. I think we'll get along really well. Alexia spent at least an hour last night plaiting my hair, aka twisting it into tiny knots. She told me multiple times she wants to take me to the salon to get my hair braided like hers. Not so sure I can pull that off as well as she can... I went to sleep feeling completely at home and full from a delicious traditional Kenyan meal. Alexia woke me up early this morning saying, "Breakfast is ready, my sister." She's adorable. |
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