all the small things

Jambo! It’s been awhile since I have updated so here’s what’s been going on in Kenya the last couple days.
On Sunday we got up early to go to Amboseli National Park for a safari. It was SO fun standing up in the Land Cruisers and zooming all around the park. A convertible that you can stand in? Sounds like a good time right? We saw zebras, wildebeests, hippos, gazelles, lions, a cheetah, waterbucks, and lots of elephants! At one point we saw a waterbuck charge a lion and a lioness. Then we went to a manyatta, which is like a boma but it’s more for tourists. The chief’s son, William, showed us some traditional medicine, including their version of Viagra made from a root. I’m not sure I believed him. The manyatta was much different from the boma we went to earlier; the boma was much more authentic. I think William was trying to “ham up” life as a Maasai. A Maasai man told us that his son was born the day after the presidential elections and he named him Obama. Obama is loved here in Kenya. We see lots of art with his name and "yes we can."
After the manyatta, we went to have lunch at a 5-star lodge in the park. The lunch was delicious and it was nice to have desserts since we don’t have those here at camp. We also don’t have beer, so I indulged in a Tusker. Tusker is the local brew in East Africa and it’s an acronym for the countries (Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda). It was a great way for us to re-charge for the busy week ahead. I’ll be coming back with many souvenirs, so I plan to leave a lot of my clothes and some other equipment stuff here for the center.
On Monday we had class in the morning and then we gave presentations on a paper that we wrote in groups. My group is responsible for researching hand hygiene and food preparation practices and how they may affect the declining health of the Maasai. At night, we made a homemade version of Apples to Apples, which ensued a giggle fest until midnight.
Today we had more class and worked on our objectives for our research in groups. After lunch we were told that there was a hippo stuck in the mud in a nearby swamp. Kenyan Wildlife Service was coming to euthanize the hippo and we went to go take a look at it before they came. It was a terribly sad sight since the hippo was emaciated and would have drowned anyway. Had KWS tried to get the hippo out of the water, they would be risking their own lives. It was pretty incredible to get so close to it.
We also went to the market (Tuesday is market day in Kimana) which I found to be very overwhelming. We stick out like sore thumbs and people harass us constantly to buy things. At one point a man exposed himself to one of the students from UW, but she didn’t realize it at the time. He began kissing her hand so I grabbed her from him and a fellow Kenyan student started to yell at him. Only later did we learn that he had exposed himself. It was pretty traumatizing for my friend and we decided that neither of us will go back to the market. It’s a shame that the experience had to be spoiled by that.
Today I am the MOD which stands for mwanafunzi of the day, or, student of the day. I am responsible for ringing the bell for class, rotating the solar panels, and hosting RAP after dinner. RAP stands for reflection, announcements, and presentation. I’m going to be reading a poem by Robert Frost and showing a slide show of some of the pictures I have taken here. We have a lot of assignments due tomorrow so I have a long night ahead of me.
Speaking of pictures, I have already taken over 500. Unfortunately, our internet is so fragile that uploading pictures makes it crash. I promise to upload pictures and share them with you when I get back to the states.
Tomorrow a bunch of us are paying the mamas to do our laundry. We are so busy that we never have time during the day to do it and it’s good to support the local community. Plus, I know that I won’t do as good of a job as the mamas.
Everything else is going really well. We have a lot of work to do and I can't wait to share all of it with you! Thanks for reading!