Karibu Kenya #11: Ranger walks, the world cup and running water.

So, in my previous post when I said cold weather had arrived, I was actually mistaken-it has now officially arrived. Without central heat and air, the house seems a lot colder when it’s in the 40s and 50s.  Being cold natured to begin with, my daily attire consists of a scarf, boots and jacket. Wet hair has only added to the freezation seeing how Aimee broke the only blow dryer in the house before I got here. To remedy the situation, Grandma has broken out the hot water bottles and Aimee and I added a second blanket to our beds. This must sound like we’re living in Antarctica but in reality we’re just a really dramatic /cold natured family. 

On Friday, Aimee and I went to the Masai Market that is set up outside of the Village Market Shopping Center. Several vendors bring their arts and handicrafts to sell every week.  It’s a bit overwhelming when you see the quantity of items they are selling, not to mention the fact that you will have to barter if you want a fair price on anything. Aimee and I decided that we prefer to barter with women as the men can be quite obnoxious. So that’s what we did. My Swahili bartering skills are slowly kicking in, and thanks to Aimee, I left with a handful of beaded necklaces and kitenge clothing items.

Saturday was another exciting day as we made the decision to do the Walk with Rangers to raise awareness and support against elephant poaching. Our walk was scheduled for 9am but seeing as how we were on Kenyan time we didn’t get started until about 10:30 or 11.  Once it was time to start we headed over to the lawn area to do warm-up dance exercises. Of course, this was one of my favorite parts! I’m not sure who I get my dance crazed obsession from but I absolutely LOVE it! After dancing, they introduced the original group of people who had walked all the way from Arusha, Tanzania. They had spent the last 13 days walking from Tanzania to Nairobi to raise awareness for the cause. It was a nice surprise to see how many different countries were represented within the group.  A woman from Texas came forward and shared her experience about the walk and went on to say that she was going to do everything she could to put an end to trophy hunting in her state. Minutes later the minister of environment and conservation from Tanzania took the stage and pledged specific commitments in putting an end to poaching within the borders of his own country. It was an encouragement to hear how helicopter surveillance and foreign policies against ivory trade were to be implemented.  Once the speeches and interviews were conducted we began the 10km walk through the streets of Nairobi.  We made our way through the bustling traffic as we came around the Madaraka roundabout.  One of the Tanzania walkers had brought his ukulele and began to play Kenya’s welcome song. We all joined in, clapping and singing, as we marched on.  Not long after, our singing turned into chanting: “Ndovu wetu, Twiga wetu, Simba wetu, Fisi wetu…” (Our elephant, our giraffe, our lion, our hyena).  As cars and buses passed by, we made it a point to try and get them to honk in support of our cause. Each time we got a honk, we would let out a cheer.  As we walked, we invited others to join us and before we knew it our size had almost doubled. I had an opportunity to talk with a Tanzanian native named FIlipo who lives on the crater highlands. He had also made the trek from Arusha.  He told me about how they had camped along the way and how one of the campers got scared when his tent was surrounded by hyenas. Apparently his experience had turned into a huge joke amongst the walkers as one of them would shout out “Where’s the fisi?” followed by cackling and howling from the other walkers. After about 2 hours of clogging up the streets of Nairobi we made it back to the starting point. Heading back to the car, we played with the idea of doing the 2 week walk from Tanzania during next year’s Walk with Rangers.

Sunday was another cold day as we headed to church. The worship service consisted of familiar Swahili hymns while the sermon detailed the discipline of prayer. Later that afternoon, we decided it would be a good idea to take the boys who had privileges to the Mexico vs. Netherlands game at Village Market. The game started at 7pm, so we bought some drinks from Nakumat and ordered a pizza to share. Of course, Mim and I were the only two cheering for Mexico. Guillermo Ochoa was making impressive blocks until the last half of the game when the Netherlands finally broke through Mexico’s defensive line and scored. Needless to say, everyone in our group was grinning ear to ear while Mim and I were emotionally scarred. The second night we were even more disappointed when we watched Nigeria lose to France- in my opinion the French play extremely dirty. So now that Africa is officially out, I am going to continue my cheering for Costa Rica! Pura Vida all the way!

With all the excitement of the World Cup, I’ve decided to get off my own matako (booty) and do some athletic activity. Just this week, I joined Aimee and Mim as they started back with their weekly workouts. On Monday we “ran” the 5k trail out at Windsor Golf Club. I can’t forget to mention our run in with a herd of 50 plus Sykes monkeys. I was a little apprehensive about running through them but we did it anyway. Aimee ended up getting chased by one of the babies while I got the sweeter end of the deal and stepped in a pile of their poo! Yesterday we did an hour of core and weight training which had me panting like hippo. Did I mention my knees are now black and blue from bear crawls? This morning’s routine was a little more “bearable” as I attempted a 3k tempo run in our neighborhood. I decided I run a better pace when I listen to one song on repeat. This week’s song of choice: Coldplay’s A Sky full of stars. Now, Aimee and Mim are trying to convince me to train for a 10k with them while I’m in the States. I’m contemplating the idea but definitely need someone to do it with me. Any takers? J

In other news, I am happy to announce that our water has been turned back on after 3 weeks. Our family friends Tim Doggett and Tammy Harvey had joined us yesterday for an afternoon lunch when we got the call from the water company saying they were going to come out and turn it back on. Aimee and I couldn’t resist jumping up and down and screaming. Even though it took a while for the main tanks to fill up, we were able to take hot showers this morning. I spent the first 15 minutes of my shower in prayer and thanksgiving before getting the machete out to shave my legs. It’s funny how much you appreciate things when you have them taken away.

As I close out this post, I’m realizing that it is already July. Today is the day that Dad and Nery are returning to Japan with Micah after their short stay in the States. Time has definitely flown by and I am sad to say that I will be boarding a plane in just 22 days. I have to keep reminding myself that I am a teacher and that it one month’s time I need to be mentally prepared for 150 kids. Good thing I’ve been integrating myself with the Kenyan wildlife. Until then, let me continue repeating my mantra hakuna matata, hakuna matata, hakuna matata.