Sopa!

Sopa everyone! (sopa means hello in Kimaasai, I think that's how it's spelled anyway)

These past few days have been incredibly eventful, both good and bad. Lets start with the good stuff. So, yesterday we went to a cultural manyatta. That's basically going to a Maasai boma but it's geared towards tourists. We went so that we could see what most tourists see of the Maasai and compare it with today when we went on our home stay. The two experiences were completely different. The manyatta felt superficial and fake. They really put on a show for us and threw in bits (like praying to Mt. Kilimanjaro) that are not a part of the Maasai culture.

Today, like I said before, was our home stay. We pulled up to a Maasai Boma early in the morning and all of the Mamas came out to greet us. We did the home stay in groups of two and we brought all of our food and water we needed for the day with us (trying to avoid getting sick). Our Mama brought us to her house and instantly started heating up water to make us some chai. I'm not a tea drinker but it is considered very rude to refuse food or drink so I did drink it, and it was actually really good! Our Mama, who's name was Mas (not sure how to spell it) and she didn't speak any English and I can only speak a few words of Kiswahili so the language barrier was extremely difficult. Some of the things we did included fetching water about a half a mile away from the boma and carrying it on our heads, which actually was easier than carrying it on your shoulders. We also went to collect firewood and had chai a couple more times. Mas said that she is 25 years old and she already has several children. At one point she was showing us pictures of her family and then we showed her pictures of our families, it was a very cool moment. Despite the language barrier and the immense cultural differences, we had a great time and she was incredibly kind and patient with us.

Now comes the not so fun part of the past few days. So last time I posted I said that I had some kind of stomach bug, well I'm still sick and it's been over a week. Yesterday, the pain was excruciating, so much so that I had to leave the cultural manyatta early just to sit down. At camp, the way medical issues are taken care of is that there is one person who's job it is to manage student affairs and health. He wanted me to see a doctor last week but I kept refusing and putting it off, hoping it'd get better on its own and I wouldn't have to venture into the terrifying unknown of the African medical clinic. Well, yesterday, I was forced, and I wasn't objecting anymore because I was in that much pain. The clinic actually wasn't that scary and they gave me antibiotics so here's hoping that it starts to work soon.

Studying abroad hasn't been anything like I expected it to be and that's not a bad thing either! I definitely romanticized the idea of going to Africa and the reality of it was a lot to take in all at once. I can now safely say that I am adjusting, mentally if not physically yet. I can say that I am experiencing everything Africa has to offer and even though I miss a lot of things and people from back home, I am falling in love with Kenya and these amazing people. I am experiencing the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, but what I can say is that it's real.

Well, it's getting late here (still get confused about the time difference some times) and being sick has been really draining so I'm going to bed. I'll post soon about what life is like here in camp and in about a week and a half we leave for expedition in Lake Nakuru National Park! Hopefully I'll finally see some lions!

Lala salama!

~Emily