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A little after noon we left the park and headed into Voi. We ater our packed lunches at a gas station/ rest stop. Anne, Ruben (our teachers), our food and other supplies joined us there. We then clombed back into the vans and began our way inot the Taita hills for our week village stay.

Welcome to Mgange-Dawida

Rachel Buhr
2006-08-21 18:26:53

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(farm). In the cornere there were 3 narrow rectangular rooms. the first was the washroom, then a storage room and then the toilet room. that r oom consistted of a little square hole in the cement over a large hole in the ground. when you were done you covered the hole with a piece of wood.

(A little culture side note while I'm talking of bathrooms. It's very interesting here that people are very indirect when expressing needing to go to the bathroom. You don't just say "I have to go pee" or "I have to go to the bathroom". In Swahili you say "Ninahitaji kuenda kujisaidia" meaning "I have to Most of the people living in the Taita Hills are substince families meaning they grow the food they eat (for the most part). The average size of a plot of land is 4 acres. Enough land to grow food to feed your family. The main crops are beans and bannanas. Families also have their own cows and chickens along with a few other cropsgo help myself". In Taita you have to gof ro a "short call" or a "long call" and that's very important because sometimes the place you go depends on the type of "call" you have. Just thought you would all enjoy that. )

After I got a tour of the house I met the rest of the family. I had 2 younger brotheres, Eric - 18 and Alphus - 14. My host dad Cassian returned from Mombasa right before dinner. My host-parents are both in their 60s and have 3 other children in their 20s and 30s but they live in Mombasa and Voi.

We were going to sit down for milk tea, which we did everyday at around 6, but first I had to bathe. I was soooooo dirty. I had red dirt caked all aver me from the safari. My host-mom put some heated water in a bucket and took it into the washroom for me. I followed with my flashlight and clothes. It felt so nice to take a hot shower, even a bucket shower. It's amazing how little whaiter you use for a bucket shower and yet you still get as clean as you do taking a regular shower. I do have to say though that bathing by flashlight is pretty interesting and has its challenges.

The chai (tea) was very good. They drink it all the time there so I'm glad I liked it. With tea we had white bread with butter and maple syrup (which seemed to be the staple food). We ate dommer early beacause I was exhausted from the trip (and speaking Swahili. They only spoke to me in Swahili which was great but also exhausting). Early, however, is relative. We ate dinner at 9:00 that night. the rest of the week we ate between 9:30 and 10:00 which was still early by their standards. My family was catholic so we prayed befroe dinner. I've never seen anyone pray that long before a meal. Cassian and Romana took out their rosaries. They said the prayers in Swahili so I didnt' understand anything. Prayers must have lasted about a good 15 min. or so.

Then we set the table and ate dinner. The food was very good but they wanted me to eat waaaaaaay more than I could. They eat so much I don't have any idea where they
put it all! I finished dinner with a very full stomach and them saying I hadn't eaten nearly enough. With that they sent me off to bed. I curled up under the wool blanket and settled in for a very peaceful night of sleep.