11th June-Masaii village

I visited a Masaii Village today with my room mate, Chloe, another volunteer at the hospital who did one month at the orphanage and then her final month at Tengeru with me.  We didn't actually go to the village in the bush, a typical Masaii village like what we saw during the safari but instead we saw the kind that have integrated into the community and wear western clothes. It was really cool/unfortunate to see how they live, more like the poorer villages that I imagined Africa to be like and it's just kind of amazing that they can live their whole lives in places like they do and then you think of all that we have.  Their houses are made of wood with mud or dung walls that have to be re-plastered every few months, no floors-just dirt, one bed for multiple children, a kitchen that consists of a fire pit and few pots and pans. 

The typical housing unit.

Kitchen house

Typical kitchen with rice boiling

Coming out of the hut with the double bed (which is a modern convenience)

Main living house, made of dung.

Double bed for the children...there were about 5 of them.

The farm animals are right next to the house, and they have a garden that looked like it had banana, mango and/or avocado trees, this one house did at least.  Before that we went to a traditional Masaii market, one that is ONLY for people in the Masaii tribe both Warusha Masaii and traditional...and ofcourse Mzungos [white people] with tour guides.  There was were they all gather to sell/trade goats, cows, donkeys etc.  It was so crowded! We even had to have another guide to speak Masaii because Swahili wasn't spoken there, or hardly, which made it more fun!

In those 'houses' are the women making tea and beans/rice

Not a clue what he was saying, but he was all smiley and very animated!

One of the Masaii men who spoke english asked Chloe if she was married, she said no, and he told her to take the young man standing next to her! Thought it nice of him to allow her to choose rather than the opposite way around ;)   She said she was too young, she had too many things she'd like to do.  He said, she is old, most Masaii girls marry at 16 or less. He just gave me his goat herding stick because I had a ring on my right hand ring finger, so most people assume that I am engaged and I just go with it...

Very good day! Enjoyed seeing more of the local culture and it was interesting to realise that I have been living in a relatively affluent part of town...and even that is saying a lot! We take SO MUCH for granted back home (UK and US).