Another good week in Kenya, though a lot busier due to the hectic social schedule we’ve introduced!!

Monday evening we went to the local ‘cinema’ to watch the Lion King (imagine more of a mud-hut which slowly turns into a sweat pit as you all sit there accumulating body heat). I think I lost a stone in sweat alone, but the movie was good!!

Me with the vilage kids

Tuesday saw my group (the Elephants) working on the classroom, which consisted of repetitive SAWING of logs (I use capitals for dramatic effect here – sawing hard wood in midday heat is quite traumatic) to create ‘scaffolding’. Ha! Not sure if I’ll be climbing up it, but it looks very nice! This wore me out, so I skipped the bonfire, opting to watch some ‘Lizard Big Brother‘ with Ann. Basically this is mine and Ann’s new past-time; we lay on the sofas on our backs staring up into the ceiling of the mess hut, watching lizards attempt to catch moths and other such insects. It’s very entertaining, though I’ve learned Lizards are quite stupid.

Wednesday saw the ‘Elephant’s’ first morning working on the Muma’s

Katie attempting Murder!

house. We’re constructing a traditional house out of wood/mud etc from scratch in order to house a very old lady and her family, as theirs is falling down. Obviously, the first thing you need to do is dig foundations, so needless to say, after 3 hours of digging holes (with a machete and our hands, I might add – no fancy tools here!) we were pretty mucky. The combination of dirt and sweat in my knee pits created a milkshake-like substance that then made it’s way down my legs. Attractive! I recovered my appearance quick sharp with a nice shower at lunch, followed by an afternoon of poster making for the kiddies’ nursery.

Wednesday evening was our first trip to an African restaurant; we chose the aptly named ‘African Pot’. The journey there was fun – we decided to take a Matatu (local public bus/mini van). We assumed we’d all have to get on different buses as they cram the people in on them so much, but as it turned out a matatu driver passing by in the opposite direction saw us and decided to kick off his 3 passengers in order to turn around and take us back the other way!! Now THAT’S service!! We felt pretty bad for the 3 Kenyans, but we heard they got their fare reimbursed; apparently it happens a lot here. I guess the drivers have to go where the money is; that’s always going to be the bottom line.

Dinner was good – it was all nice and comfortable, though the food did take an hour and twenty minutes to come out. I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d kept us waiting in order to push up our drinks bill; they were pretty keen to keep popping over to check we weren’t getting thirsty!! Not that I can blame them – that’s the way it is here – you see ‘mzungus‘ (white people) and you think ‘money’.

I ordered goat curry and loved it – though it was a bit chewy (I don’t think slow cooking exists here). Ann and I also shared some Mataha (potatoes, maize, greens and corn all mashed together), Matoke (fried green bananas in a spicy tomato sauce), Chapatis and Ugali (a bolied maize product – very starchy and bland… not quite a fan myself). It was great to try the local food… next on my list is Nyema Choma – traditional grilled meat.

Bryony at the baby weigh in!

Yesterday morning I woke with a bit of a heavy head, yes I hit the Tuskers last night, but happily trotted off to the the hospital with Ann, Bryony and Katie to do some baby weighing. Unfortunately we only had 3 babies come in as it’s the end of the month and therefore quiet, but this was kind of a good thing as we got to play with each of the babies for some time. Well – one baby burst into tears as soon as she saw us; scary white people!!

Last night it was my team’s turn to run the quiz, which went down pretty well apart from Katie and Ben’s incessant picture taking (it’s their favourite hobby, second to calling me ‘Mummy’). Then it was off to bed ready for another morning at the Muma’s house today. It was a great morning; we worked really hard and got all of the wall infrastructure finished – Duncan even rewarded us for our efforts by getting a guy to get some coconuts down for us to drink! I tried to climb the tree as well but couldn’t (cue grazes on inside of legs) …even the kids showed me up by whizzing up them!!

So… another fun week. The projects have been really rewarding – especially the house this morning; seeing it all come together really makes you feel like you’re contributing something worthwhile. The Team have been in high spirits too, what with the social calendar and group activities. We’ve been taking lots of walks around the village to buys cakes, fruit and chapatis (of which Ben eats about 10 a day), and have taken wanders around the surrounding areas – such as the nearby lake, which was gorgeous. Apparently it used to have a Hippo in it, but they killed it because it was eating the crops. Ahhhh.
It’s really starting to feel like home here… all the local boys are friendly and are quick to shout ‘Jambo Sarah! Habari?’ before

The Lake - now Hippoless!

accompanying us on our walks around the village. Then we get the little kids running at us and holding our hands wherever we go...my favourite moment this week was strolling through with about 12 of them all singing ‘Jambo Bwana’ with me. Better than when I started to offer a banana out on Wednesday; I was completely ambushed and a lady had to chase the kids away with a stick!!!

Apart from that, not too much else to tell. I’m really getting on well with Rosie, our Team Leader; she’s really nice and keeps us all giggling; she’s even offered to arrange a karaoke night for us in town; ot oh! Not sure if the rest of the team will be getting a chance on that microphone!!! :)

We’re off shopping at the market this afternoon (another Matatu ride - should be interesting to see what happens this time), then I think we’re staying out; we’ll just ride down to the beach and stay for some dinner and drinks on the sand. What a life… I can’t believe 4 weeks is already up. Maybe I should take that beach boy’s proposal up after all….. (joke mum, and Kate, and Carly – actually, everyone; JOKE).

Have a nice weekend everyone, lots of love xxxxx