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"May your cup of joy not just fill, but overflow" - Okello

Let's see, these past couple of days I've not only ventured more out of my comfort zone, but as a group, we've also ventured outside of the gates of KBC.

Last monday, we visited a boma, which is basically a little Maasai village. There we saw all of the mommas (women) and their dung houses. Its actually quite amazing that their houses are completely made out of dung and straw. If some of you recall from an episode of MTV's Exiled one of the Super Sweet Sixteen girls went to Kenya and lived in a boma. The women in the villages have numerous tasks. Not only do they have to care for their children, but they are also responsible for building the houses, making jewlery to sell, and for livestock and agriculture as well. When we visited, the mommas sang us a traditional Maasai song, which was accompanied by the jingling of their bead jewlery as they jumped and danced around. Bead craft is very important to the Maasai because for some reason, they were able to fill the niche as bead jewlery makers. So out of the 42 tribes in Kenya, the Maasai are known wide and far for their bead jewlery. In return we decided to sing the "the Moose song" in return. For ya'll out there who don't know that song, it's a camp song. The mommas really liked it though because there are a bunch of hand gestures that go with it. We got to visit some of the dung houses and talk to the Maasai women. Before we left, all of the women took out their bead work and we got a chance to purchase some awesome stuff.

The next day, we visited the nearby town of Kimana. It was market day and funny enough we saw most of the Maasai mommas from the boma the day before. The market was very crowded and everything from donkeys to batteries were being sold. One of our fellow SFS-mates tried to bargain for a donkey. The experience was interesting but some of the students thought it was a bit uncomfortable that they were constantly stared at and singled out. The kiswahili word for white person/ foreigner is "mizungu". And the whole time vendors left and right were pully us aside, shouting "mizungu", and basically trying to push all sort of goodies onto us. All in all, however, I loved the new experience. I had never seen a busier market and it was awesome getting a chance to meet some of the locals.

Since then I've also climbed a giant hill for an Environmental Policy class. It was extremely rocky and tumultuous in general, but I made it. The climb down was actually way worse. But the view was beautiful- it looked like Pride Rock from The Lion King. Seriously. But the view from the top of the hill was absolutely necessary for the lecture. We were talking about Kenya's different climates and soil zones, and from atop the hill, the distinctions were very visible. It was amazing looking at the clear distinctions between the green agricultural zones and the brown dry areas.

Yesterday, we traveled to a bigger town Oliotuotok. It was also the town's market day, but this town was much larger than Kimana and so it was more developed. There was an actual paved road, and more houses and buildings. Since it was going to be one of the SFS student's (Tori Suarez's) birthday today, we piled into a bar/retauraunt and proceeded to celebrate. Good times '08. The 1+ hour bumpy car ride back was amazing.

Then today, to learn about group ranches and the human effect on wildlife, we drove in to another nearby town and climbed another hill so we could get a broader perspective. Interestingly, according to the Kenyan Wildlife Conservation group, only about 5% of land is used for agriculture and about 90 something % is unused for wildlife. But, the land that is used, is land that is crucial for the sustainability of wildlife, and tends to be good nutrient filled land that wildlife would want to live in. Once again, it's all a matter of perspective.

Before I sign off. I would like to explain the top quote. Okello is my professor in Environment Management and his love for wildlife is contagious. As he always says in class, looking into wildlife always makes him fill with joy, especially when he sees a lion or an elephant. But it is his enthusiasm that I would like to leave you all with. Do whatever it is you do, but do it to overfill your "cup of joy".

Kwaheri,
Kim