Jambo!

This past weekend was quite uneventful compared to going on a safari or to the beach, but we had a good time on Saturday at the Maasai Market in Nairobi. Every inch of the ground in the large, fenced in area in middle of the city was covered by blankets on which carvings, artwork, jewelry, clothing, pottery and countless other items were arranged for sale. As we passed through the tight walkways, trying not to step on any of the items, we were constantly pestered by the salesmen who called out "Sista! Sista! Free to look! I give you good price!" And as I passed they would plead, "Wait! Come back!" Some would walk up to me and gently pull me to their blanket to show me the items which they told me that, of course, they themselves created. Riiiiiiight. Very believable as I would find the exact items for sale just a few blankets away. After an exhausting couple of hours of bartering I completed most of Christmas shopping, which is definitely a first for the beginning of September! Now to figure out how to get it all home... After a late lunch we took a matatu back to Ngong and made it in record time. We must have been in the "Express" matatu or perhaps the driver's wife was in labor, because we careened down the roads at at an alarming speed with the rap music blaring. Melanie, Alison and I sat in the very back row and continuously hit our heads on the roof as we bounced around and held on for dear life. We laughed as we glanced at each other with raised eyebrows and looks that read, "is this guy serious??" It was quite an opposite experience from our matatu ride earlier that morning to Nairobi, which was much more relaxing due to the slower pace and music like "A Whole New World" from the movie Aladdin playing softly.

On Monday, since it was raining, the children stayed at the orphanage in the afternoon instead of going to the field for recess time. The two other volunteers, Alison and Jane, that are working at Sidai for 6 months, just moved into a new apartment and wanted artwork created by the Sidai children to decorate their walls with. We dug out paper and crayons and told the children to start drawing. It was so sad to see the children sit there for a while, with a crayon in their hand, unsure of what to do. It was apparent that they do not use their imaginations very often because we had to draw pictures on the chalkboard for them to mimic. Very unlike children back home who would have had the paper covered in scribble before they were given any directions of what to do. We drew things on the chalkboard like a flower, sun, girl, heart, soccer ball, etc. and they started copying the objects onto their paper. While thinking of other things to draw on the board, I was saddened when I thought back to a typical picture drawn by a young Kristin Moyer -- a daddy, a mommy, a brother, me, and a dog, all standing in the green grass by a house with smoke swirling out of the chimney under a sky filled with clouds, birds and the sun. This picture is something that these kids would not think to draw on their blank piece of paper and it absolutely broke my heart.

Off to lunch and then some soccer time with the kids!