Christmas in Kenya

Yesterday my group distributed our Secret Santa gifts. I gave (and also received) a market basket that Kenyan woman wear strapped to their heads. Other notable gifts were a Maasai statue and canteen, a drawing of a volunteer after eating too much Ugali, and a baby poster with inspirational phrase.

Today I woke up at 8:00 and began to help my family prepare food for our Christmas feast. I grated carrots, cut ho-hos (green peppers) and onions. We stopped briefly for breakfast (tea, bananas, and mandazi) and then continued cutting more ho-hos, some tomatoes, more onions. I got a lesson in making chapatti from one of my sisters. Then, I was invited to watch the slaughtering of the goat. Fortunately, by the time I got to the shed, the goat was already dead and they had begun skinning it. I went back to the kitchen and we snacked on goat liver and fried intestine while we continued to prepare food.

We set up our feast under the bougainvillea. The kids put on their new clothes and we enjoyed goat stew, cabbage, green grams(?) and chapatti. After we ate, we played a game; each person picked a few pieces of paper and either won something or had to perform something. My notes were: WON A PIECE OF TOILET TISSUE, DRINK 2 GLASSES OF WATER, I AM A SHEEP I DO THIS TELL MORE, HUG EVERYONE, DRINK MILK, DANCE PLEASE, WON A CHAIN, JUMP 10 TIMES. It was a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. My sisters took me to town to greet friends and we had “sodas.” I came home and had some tea, read my book, then had some leftovers for dinner. Now, it’s bedtime. It’s been a very nice and relaxing day.

Merry Christmas!