Yesterday was Sunday so our day started out with church at 9 am. The children get very excited because they get to ride in a van and wear their nicest clothes. Not all of the kids go to church every week, but instead there is a very relaxed roating schedule. The church service was three hours long. There was lots of singing. Lots. But it was interesting and the actual sermon was very good. Reverand Peter, whom created HLCH, spoke to the people about the election on Monday. He said that what CNN is saying about the riots and violence is fabricated. That Kenya is peaceful and their will not be problems like there were during the last election. He told them that they should vote "not by tribe, but wisely". Apparently people often feel obligated to vote for the candidate that is in their tribe, even if he or she is not the best choice. Everyone prayed for a peaceful election and quick results. After the service eveyone went to the lobby for tea and bread. In Kenya there is tea and bread for a midmorning snack everyday, in which even the smallest of children enjoy. When everyone was finished and had said goodbye, we piled into the van with the kids.
VIDCA specificly told us many times to stay at our placement Sunday and Monday because of the elections. So, of course my mother and Rachel decided we would go into the city center of Nairobi for lunch. To get into the city you must take either a taxi or a Matatu. A Matatu is a fourteen passenger van that takes you from stop to stop. Even though there are only fourteen seats, there are normally sixteen or eighteen people in each, 1/3 are children sitting on laps. A man who works in the Matatu hangs off the side of the van telling where the van is going. Oh yes, the side door is rarely closed. When the van is not passing a stop the man will sit in an empty seat or if there isn't one he will hold on to the side of the van even as it goes on the highway. He taps each person on the shoulder and collects their fare. It is usually 70 shillings (82 cents) to get from the Roysambu stop to the city center.
After our first Matatu ride we had lunch downtown at a coffee shop. The city was very calm because most people go to church and stay home on Sundays. 85% of people in Kenya are Christian. There is only one synagogue in all of the Nairobi area. After lunch we went to the Kenyatta International Conference Center. It is the second tallest building in all of east Africa. A man named Peter gave us a tour of the city from on top of the building. He knew what every building was in the whole city. He said that he loves his job because he has "the best office in the world". The view was amazing. In the distance we could faintly see Mt. Kilimanjaro. Peter was well educated, spoke English fluently and dressed impeccably. But he did admit to us he is from Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya. Mom asked how does someone get out, "you don't, I live there."
We then went to he Masai Market. We were the only white people there. We were literally harrassed be salesmen. Some of them were friendly but others were obnoxious. One man tried to sell me a cheap manufactured necklace for 67,000 shillings. That's 788 US dollars. I told him he was a horigan, that's crazy person in Swahili. When we tell them we are from the United States all they want to talk about is Obama and forget for a moment what they were trying to sell us. As we were trying to leave, a man followed us for three blocks trying to get my mom to buy salt and pepper shakers. She had already spent her money and didn't have any but he insisted that we were lying. We got a Matatu back to the Roysambu stop and walked from the stop back to HLCH.
We returned just after the 4:30 feeding had finished so I played with the big kids until it was time for them to have dinner. One little girl, Leah, asked me to help take out her hair. She has twenty two cornrows. I think it would go much faster if she would stay still, but at five years old it's difficult at times for her. She looks like a mad scientist with crazy hair all over the place. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said, "One day I'll be a doctor. I will come back here and tell all the kids that I used to live here then they will want to be like me when they grow up. I will also make their messy noses go away because that is what doctors do." Cutest thing ever. She's the best.
At 8:30pm we fed the littlest babies again. Just as the last baby, who has no name becasue she has only been here for two days, was finishing her bottle she puked. All over herslf and me. After they were all asleep we watched The Lion King with the six oldest children, Leah, Louise, Fred, Charles, Ann, and Erika. One of them can understand the song in the beginning of the movie, but doesn't know the words to translate from his tribal language to English. Halfway through the movie we paused it so they could go to bed. We will finish it tomorrow night. Monday is the election so we will be staying in until about Wednesday. By then we will know if it is safe for us to go out. During the days after the last election, riots started in the streets and it was dangerous for people, especially foreigners to go outisde. We will see what happens but I think it will be ok.
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| Mutatu |
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| Mutatu Line |
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