The Massai Market and Maddy's First Week at School

Last weekend, we went to the Maasai market. It is in downtown Nairobi, and it is a very large open air market. There were hundreds of vendors selling their goods: clothing, bowls, purses, jewelry, paintings, carvings, trinkets, even machetes. We were warned not to go alone, but to take a Kenyan with us since we don’t know what things should cost, and they could help us negotiate good prices (not a skill that many Americans have). They are also able to keep the “brokers” away. The brokers are people who want to negotiate for you, but then always take a little off the top as their fee. So Jane, a very nice lady who works in our department agreed to go with us. She brought a friend as well, James. Between the two of them, they were wheeling and dealing to get us fair prices. The whole market experience is unusual (for Americans at least) in that you go and look at everything and then return to the items that you were most interested in (if you can remember where they were) and then negotiate a price. When we asked how much something was, we would think the price seemed reasonable, but that is precisely why we did not go alone. Jane and James would step in and start negotiating (in Swahili) with them and the final price would be at least half (one time even 1/10th) of what it had started at. James told us we should always cut their first price in half and subtract another 100 shillings as our first offer, and then be happy to pay half of their first price. After a couple hours of looking and negotiating in the hot sun (as this market is held in a parking lot), we were ready for a break and went to get lunch. We ate at a Kenyan restaurant. Maddy, Jane and Sandy had rice and chicken while Matt and James had fish and a brown version of ugali. With drinks, the whole meal came to around $20. One of the things that is different about life in Africa is that the people do not waste anything. To that end, the gizzards are eaten from the chicken as well as the brains from the fish. I admittedly tried the brains, but was not fond of them. One of the children in Maddy’s children’s church told us that they even eat the eggshells, so they truly do not waste a thing. The meal was excellent, and gave us the energy to continue shopping. We went to the other big market downtown and shopped some more. We bought small treasures for Maddy’s friends back home as well as a few things for her and for us to take back. Then it was time to head back to the first market which is where we were to meet the bus to bring us back to campus. We got there a little early so we stopped to get some cool drinks and then rode the big bus (a treat for Maddy since she has been wanting to ride the big bus ever since we got here) back to campus. It was a long day, but a lot of fun.

Last week was Madelyn’s first week at kindergarten here in Kenya. When we came, we did not plan on sending her to school, but she kept asking us if she could go. How could we resist if she WANTS to go to school? So Maddy and Sandy went and looked at a couple of schools nearby. The first one they looked at required her to go all day (8am-5pm) 5 days a week, but we were thinking about taking her just a couple of days a week. Thankfully, the second school said she could come whenever she wanted. She is in standard K3 (i.e. her grade is kindergarten level 3). She goes for the mornings on Mondays and all day on Friday (because she wanted to go to swimming lessons with them in the afternoon).

The playground is Maddy’s favorite part even though it is more like what our parents would have had than what she is used to in the states. She eats lunch with the other kids both days she is there. She really enjoyed the chicken curry, carrots and rice on her first day and the spaghetti and plum on her second day. However, she is not completely fond of the porridge that they eat for tea time, but we can’t really blame her since it has an odd fruity/sourness to it that we find a little hard to get used to. She does like the snack of warm milk and biscuits though (British biscuits which are like a shortbread cookie) that they serve on Fridays. She also really likes the swing.

The school is very different than what we are used to at COR. If it were in the states, you probably would never send your kids to it! There is no security mechanisms in place, and the classrooms are basically garages. Even more surprising to us is that that the bathrooms are outside! They use plumbing but literally are outside; they lock on the outside as well so it takes 2 kids to go to the bathroom, one to go and the other to lock the door and then unlock it when the child is done. I suppose the locking on the outside is pretty practical for stalls with kids so they do not lock themselves in and then not be able to get out.

We’re not sure Maddy really notices these differences, but we sure do! Regardless, she really likes it and enjoys being with other kid. The teachers are also very nice and understand our anxiety as Americans trying to get used to their system. They were surprised that we were having her eat there (I think most young kids are not as adventurous in their eating habits as Maddy).

She also enjoys practicing her reading and writing at school.

Not knowing the Kenyan systems, we were a little uncomfortable letting Maddy going swimming with them. We decided that Sandy would go watch for the first time just to make sure everything was fine. Of course, the school was alright with this, but said that Sandy would need to get her own transportation since the matatu they were taking to the resort was full. The resort were they swim (Massai Lodge) is about 5km from campus on a dirt road, so Sandy decided she would take a bota-bota (i.e. a motorcycle taxi) to the resort and wait for them. However, they never showed up. When the school called to see where she was, Sandy found out that they had changed the location of the swim, but forgot to tell her about it! Sandy was pretty irritated, and stressed since Maddy was swimming without us being there, but everything turned out fine and Maddy really enjoyed herself. Sandy meanwhile had to walk all the way back to campus since she couldn’t get any transportation from the lodge. It was a hot dirty walk, but she said that she will never take a bota-bota again!

Finally, I thought this was a funny picture. I think they chose the wrong English word. It is actually an outdoor toilet at Maddy's school! I don't think it is in use any longer, at least I hope not...