Thursday report

Sopa!

Charlotte and Varsha here… back from our homestay! We set out Tuesday night to go experience the Masai life. We headed by Jeep to a nearby boma. For those of you who don’t know, a boma is a small enclosure surrounded by spiny sticks where the Masai live and keep their animals. After being greeted by the host, we were given delicious cups of Masai chai or tea. Following the introductions, several of the Masai girls and women entertained us with lovely singing and dancing. We ate some oogali, cabbage, and potatoes, underneath the lagir or stars.

As we were brushing our teeth behind the hut, a few young Masai boys decided to watch us. For some reason, we burst into laughter with Brooke and could not stop laughing for the next 25 minutes. We aren’t exactly sure what was so funny but the situation was so foreign and bizarre that we couldn’t help laughing at anything and everything around us. All three of us were literally crying as we made our way onto our cowhide and stick mattress where we were sleeping. We finally managed to calm the hysteria and fell asleep.

We awoke to the sounds of screaming goats and barking dogs. All throughout the night, we thought we heard a goat giving birth because we had met a very pregnant one earlier. We were disappointed to find out that we were wrong. L Brooke left to head back to camp with Shani and we were given Masai names. Charlotte’s is Naserian which means peacemaker or safe place. Varsha’s is Nawuosopat which means one who brings blessings. It turns out that this name proved to be accurate when a 2-day old sheep pooped on Varsha while she was holding it. In Masai culture, this is a blessing.

After morning chai, we headed with our translator Benjamin (who was also the preacher whom we had met on Sunday) to see our host’s sheep which were being cared for in another boma. After another cup of chai there, we walked a little with the sheep and the Masai men who were herding them. They even showed us their intense-looking spears which they use to kill lions. It was very cool! When we returned to our original boma, Charlotte had brought some coloring books and crayons for the children so we spent the rest of the morning coloring with them. All of the little kids enjoyed this a lot. We had another cup of chai (lots of chai here!) before our lunch of rice and beans.

We rested for around 4 hours in the afternoon because it was too hot to do anything. We stayed inside where we had slept. We planned to journal and sleep but were unable to do so because of the children who seemed to really enjoy our company. They would come inside and we would entertain them for a little bit and then we would tell them we wanted to sleep (we actually just wanted some alone time). However they kept on coming back inside! So after a while we developed a tactic of pretending to sleep whenever the children came in. As soon as someone opened the door we would drop our journals on our faces and pretend that we were sleeping. Now they probably think that all Westerners sleep with books on their faces.

Around 4, we went for a nature walk with Benjamin where we saw an antelope! After that, we had more chai (like actually, more chai) and talked to our host while waiting for Shani. He came and checked on us and made sure we were still alive before he headed back to the camp. Varsha brought out the Jenga game she had brought for the children and we played several intense games with the Masai kids and women. Benjamin turned out to be a Jenga master and won every single game except the last one where we all chanted, “Benjamin should lose! Benjamin should lose!” Then there was more singing and dancing by the Masai kids and women except this time we joined them. They kept asking us to sing American songs, and had a hard time understanding that we don’t dance the same way to these songs. We tried though. After failed attempts at Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and Thrift Shop, we decided to do some American dancing. Naturally we chose the Macarena and the Cotton-Eyed Joe. They were not impressed; we finished our moves to blank stares. We decided to give up the thought of American dancing and stuck to the Masai stuff. For dinner we ate some more rice and beans then went to bed.

The next morning we woke up and had a gift exchange with the host before heading back to camp. Bucket showers and drop toilets have never felt this good! It was a really amazing experience, living as the Masai do. We returned to camp and had a nap before joining the others at the worksite. After work today we learned how to throw spears from the Masai warriors. Both of us were not very good at all, especially compared to the warriors who could throw practically the whole distance of the soccer field. They were having a competition among themselves and their sons to see who could throw the farthest. Whenever they threw really well, they “killed the lion.” Among us, Ycar was the only one who had any potential to “kill a lion.” We were not even close.

The boys left for their homestay today, and Laurie and Brandt joined them for an evening of dancing. We can’t wait to hear their homestay stories this weekend at Losijo, where we are spending our vacation from work. All of us are very excited for real showers and refrigeration! Looking forward to a well-deserved break!

Love,

Charlotte and Varsha

Quote of the Day: “I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.” Everett Dirksen

Hi Mommy, Daddy, and Varun! Varsha here. I’m fine and I’m having lots of fun! I almost brought home a baby goat except it pooped on me and I didn’t like it anymore. Hope all is fine with you guys. Can’t wait to see you when I get back!

Love, Varsha

Hi Mom, Popi, and Syd… it’s Char.  Someone asked me to marry them today for 30 cows.  I said we wanted more.  Hope all is well with you! -Char