Jambo

Hi all, there is so much to say and not a lot of time. I am in a very small internet cafe in Isiolo. The computers are not very good but it is what it is.
So I will try to catch you up where I last left off.
Saturday night the rest of the group came in. A small group of us went off exploring Nairobi. It was quite an adventure. We did some shopping for the group in Isiolo,buying plates, tables etc. to get them established. It is not like going to Walmart to just pop in and pick up what you need. They do not have that kind of thing so it took quite some time to coordinate. It was all very good though and we got it all done.
On Sunday we headed to Isiolo very early in the morning. The drive up was pretty exciting. We traveled in a 3 car convoy and made various stops along the way. They do not have lanes or rather they choose not to drive in them. It looks like a normal two lane freeway but yah no they drive in any space that is open. Some times they make the road four or five lanes. At one stop we stopped for bananas. Mobs of people came up to the car to sell us bananas. The thing that sticks out the most is that everywhere in Kenya all day and all night there are multitudes of people walking on the roads. It is just amazing to see hundreds of people the whole 4 hour trip just walking. Some had these huge crates on there backs. There are also vender's that line the streets. Not like side streets but also the highway. They also have an abundance of these small mini van buses that they pack with people that are one of their forms of transportation. So the people walk and line the streets and some get on the buses. I am not sure how the system is set up and I am not sure there is one but somehow it works for them. We stopped at the equator and bought some souvenirs. They have a system for that as well. They take each car load into a different hut so that everything is fair. After you spend some time haggling for items they ask you for more money. It is very hard because you want to help everyone but you know that it just is not possible. It does not look like you would think. It is big city in a slumish sort of way with stretches of just buildings until you get more north.
We got into Isiolo and then went to the village of Gambella. It was wonderful. The ladies did there traditional dance and we were greeted with the sounds of the Gambella people. For about a mile down the road you could here lalalalala. We spoke with the tribe leaders and had a very interesting dinner. We learned that they had killed their goat for us. This is huge because if they eat they only eat once a day. They are extremely poor. Like so poor some of them only have one shoe poor.
The next day we came back to the village. On the way there we ran into herds of camels and sheep on the roads. They all come from miles to stop at the watering hole that is really a dirty ditch of water. The animals are in it, they get their water from it and wash in it. I guess when water is hard to get you do what you have to do.
In the village we are working on building a school room, chicken coops, and interacting with the locals. In their village they are borana. They speak borana, kiswahele and engish. The building of the school room was interesting. We went all over there village which is about 40 miles from end to end gathering rocks for the foundation. They had plenty of rocks. The ground is all dust and rocks. We laid big rocks down and then put dirt and smashed up small rocks to make cement. Then more big rocks and some small rocks. At on point we were getting rocks from a pile that we had gathered and the children started yelling "buff, buff" I had no idea what they were yelling bu they all started getting big rocks and throwing them. Nakyo is the word in Kiswahele for snake and I mad sure to memorize it. Buff is the word for snake in Boran. It was a four foot viper. Nicolle and I did amazingly well. We did not panic but just grabbed rocks and started throwing with the kids. I mean really what else are you going to do run and leave the kids with the snake?
So I am off for todays adventure. Until next time....