In the past week we studied for and took our final exams in Kenya in Wildlife Management, Wildlife Ecology, and Environmental Policy. We have done some fun things too! We had our last visit to Amboseli where we walked around in an elephant exclosure in the park with KWS rangers measuring grass biomass. This was done by randomly throwing a wire square within our assigned area and cutting all the grass within the square, with one pair of scissors... it was a slightly tedious exercise. It was cool to be walking in a National Park and helping to collect data about the differences in the exclosure due to the lack of elephants though.
Last Sunday was a non-program day and we had a chance to go into town for a church service. It was a very interesting experience! The service was mostly song, with a little bit of preaching by the two ministers. One spoke in Swahili and one spoke in Maasai to the congregation. They spoke in a synchronized tempo where one would say something and the other would immediately follow in the other language. Their energy and enthusiasm was captivating even though I could only catch a few Swahili words. The most hilarious part of the service was the accompanying electric piano backbeat with a few well placed cords. The piano was also used every once in a while during the sermon to emphasize a few important ideas with repeated pounding on a chord while the congregation yelled hallelujiah and waved their arms. The songs were very energetic too and it was so much fun to clap and dance to the music. All the churchgoers were dressed up, especially the children. Some of the boys wore collared shirts and ties and the girls were in fancy dresses that resembled princess dresses for girls in US. We left the service so sweaty from two hours of dancing in the crowded building. The rest of the day was spent hanging out in Kimana.
After our last exam we went to the primary school we had previously visited to help them paint a mural on the school. We asked the kids what they wanted to paint and they named a bunch of animals and an airplane. Some of the more artistically endowed people in our group painted an outline on the wall of the school and the kids helped paint everything. We had a tree drawn out for the kids to add their handprints as leaves. There were 100+ kids trying to have a turn to paint which turned out to be pretty chaotic. The final product was beautiful though with such a unique look from all the different kids, especially a couple kids who painted their own cars on the wall. Many of us played with the kids while the painting was happening since there were so many of them to entertain. One boy in particular, Datiki, attached himself to me calling me mzungu wangu (my white person) and holding my hand the entire time. He painted my nails with the oil paint and I let him decorate my arms with handprints. I’m pretty sure he was telling the other kids that he loved me too. It was pretty cute!
Our last non-program day consisted of a hike to a hill called Lesoto. It was a steep hike up this hill with a lot of rock outcroppings. The trees and rocks there were so different from the surrounding area. The rocks and type of outcroppings reminded me so much of Colorado. We got to the top of the hill and were able to explore the rocks. It was fun scrambling around and seeing the view from the top. After our hike some of the Mamas came to camp to teach us how to bead the jewelry they make. I worked on a bracelet that was quite an endeavor! I now really appreciate all the work that the Mamas put into the jewelry they are making. The one bracelet took me probably 5 hours… not even kidding. In the evening we made volleyball teams and all played each other. Volleyball with the staff is my favorite activity because they are so competitive and love to play.
View from the top of Lesoto
Our last day at KBC was one of my favorite days of the semester so far. We planned a big feast of different food we wanted to cook including bean burger patties, falafel, deviled eggs, coleslaw, chicken wings, fried rice, fried bananas, pineapple crisp, brownies, and cookies. It was a ton of food and it took everyone working in shifts about 5 hours to cook everything but it was really fun! We also decided to use the leftover paint from the primary school mural to paint the ceiling in the gazebo that was finished in camp while we were there. We painted a sun on one side with a sunset transitioning to a night sky with a moon on the other side. Our dinner was delicious and a lot of fun with all the staff. Afterwards some people decided to get red ochre in their hair which is a traditional decoration used by the Maasai moran during celebrations. I decided not to put any in my hair because it utilizes oil which sounded messy but I got a little body paint. The red got all over everyone and everything they touched. We all looked pretty ridiculous!
Now it’s on to Tanzania, a country that I expect to be very different even though it is right next to Kenya. I’m excited for the green landscape I have heard about which will be a huge contrast from the dusty bushland of Kenya.
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