4th of July Weekend

Most of the main roads in and around Nairobi really aren't bad at all. However, when they do roadwork, the detour routes are usually pretty rough. This particular patch of road had a pretty cool pockmark design.



Once we left the main road, however, it was pretty much all dust and bumps! Our group is divided between two vans and you can see one here.



At times it was so dusty, we had to cope like this!



Along the way, we spotted a lot of wildlife just on the side of the road--like these two ostriches! We also saw giraffes, zebras, impalas and more. After a while, it got a little old and people stopped yelling after spotting more zebras and other animals.



We visited a Maasai community and spent hours observing and learning about the culture. Usually a nomadic group, the current drought has made things difficult so many of the women have formed small communities (usually around 10-20 families) and attempt other things to help them subsist, such as beadwork that they can sell. The men continue to be nomadic with the cattle. We were shown into a Maasai home, called a boma. It is considered womens work to even construct the home! They shared their songs and dances with us and gave us demonstrations as to how they make a fire (amazing!) and wash dishes with dirt and ash. At the very end, they laid out all their crafts so we could "shop." The following is a picture montage of our visit.



















Did you notice the cell phone on the Maasai guy? :)

We spent the rest of our time in my professor's home town of Loitoktok. We visited a hospital, multiple schools (elementary and highschool), and an AIDS clinic. We received amazing welcomes everywhere and were given great tours. I'll make that another post so its not too overwhelming!