Update 3: Days 6-8
“You can learn something from absolutely every experience.” – Father of the Bride
Day 6
Trenton and I meet James at his sons’ school right as he is picking them up. We toss our bags in the back and make sure to buckle up. The ride there takes longer than usual; traffic is terrible. We arrive safely at the house that James grew up in and are quickly playing soccer with his sons in the yard. His house is near the top of a hill and there is vegetation everywhere we look. From his yard we can see out across a valley, ringed by more hills. Much of the visible hillside is terraced for agriculture. Once it becomes dark, lights from houses and campfires dot the terrain. We eat a late supper and James gets his kids to bed. He asks us if we would like to go to the first event of the weekend, saying that we’ll be home by 11. Trenton is still suffering from jetlag and decides to rest up. I’m pretty tired myself, but can’t turn down James’ offer. We start off for his cousin’s house on foot. There are lots of ups and downs, with one section of road containing a gulley 20 feet deep. It has been washed out since the previous rainy season. After about 30 minutes of walking we arrive at the house. This is the start of the prewedding celebration that will be taking place all weekend. The bride and groom are there, along with both families. James’ family is used to him bringing mzungus to gatherings, but I still feel all eyes on me as I enter the yard. Muthokoi is being served (a mixture of dehulled corn and beans) and everyone is delighted that the mzungu likes it. So delighted that as soon as my bowl is empty it is taken from me and refilled. This game is not destined to last long, as I have just finished supper at James’ house, but I put up a good fight. I follow James into the house and take a seat in the living room. Elders from both families shuffle in after us, along with the bride and groom. All the items on the bride’s dowry list must have been brought by the groom’s family to this event. James is in charge of verifying all the items on the list. As he’s doing this the elders give hard-won marriage advice to the couple. Unfortunately the advice is given in Kikamba, the mother tongue of the Kamba tribe. Still, I feel honored and a little out of place to be included in such a private part of the Kamba prewedding celebration. By 2AM I am feeling less honored and am fighting to keep my eyes open. James quietly apologizes to me, saying he had no idea the elders of his family could talk this late into the night. As soon as we’re able to, we say our goodbyes and start the journey home.
Day 7
We are up early playing games with James’ sons. After a short car ride we arrive at a local primary school. The day’s activities are being held outside. A short (in Kenya ‘short’ means less than 2.5 hours) church service is followed by food and dancing. We settle in for an afternoon of fundraising games for the couple. First, the bride is bundled up in blankets and wrapping paper. People are called on to pay a certain amount of shillings to ‘unwrap’ the bride. The game is over once she is left in her wedding dress. There seems to be some banter about who is giving more amongst family and friends. Again, most of the talking is done in Kikamba, so it’s hard to say. One of the hosts, the bride’s father, is sure to welcome Trenton and I and give us a summary of the day’s events in English. He is so happy that we have decided to join him on this special day and hopes that we bring back what we learn to the US. Some of the younger boys decide to hang out with the mzungus for the rest of the afternoon. We are able to have some very basic conversations in Swahili… we’re getting better every day! A woman around our age approaches us with a bag of dunda (loquats) and we try some. She can’t believe we’ve never had them before. Over the course of the last week I find myself enjoying Kenyan music more and more. An afternoon filled with Kenyan music and dancing continues this trend. Back at James’ house we wind down with a couple (maybe more) glasses of his homemade Muratina around the campfire. It tastes a little like kombucha and has us laughing over stories from our times at SJU until late into the night. It’s strange to think that without us all being alumni from the same university, none of this would have happened.
Day 8
An early morning for us again. James’ sons are getting more comfortable with Trenton and I. A major consequence of this is that they have no problem going into our bedrooms and waking us up. Shouldn’t have had quite so much of the Muratina last night! We play until it’s time to go to Sunday Mass. James plays the drums and is also part of the church choir. Back at his house, he tosses two goat legs on the grill. While they are cooking, we eat lunch together. Goat legs are for dessert. Time to head back into Nairobi for the start of our second week. Google maps tells us we should expect to arrive in 2 hours and 37 minutes. James does it in an hour ten. After the weekend we’ve had, Trenton and I decide to skip supper and go straight to bed. I spend a moment running through the last 8 days in my head. It feels like months since I’ve left home, but I simultaneously can’t believe my first week is already over. I’m more excited than ever to see what the next 10 months have in store!
Future of the Blog
I am going to be moving away from day-by-day updates and instead picking 2-3 stories or lessons learned each week. My hope is that this is a more entertaining reading experience for you and a more enjoyable writing experience for me.
As always, thank you for reading!