Menyatta [a traditional Maasai home]

Yippeee!  Just finished my first final exam of the semester!  That means I'm a third of the way done with this semester, and one class closer to graduating...yikes!  I'm celebrating with a nice cold I-don't-even-know-what-flavor soda, but its red and delicious (but definitely not Red Delicious flavor)... mmmmm.  ANYWAYS, enough of that rambling!

Once upon a time, waaaaay long ago (back in mid/late January) in a faraway land called Elangata Wuas, we did a homestay with a traditional Maasai family.  Wanna hear all about it?

On our first day at Elangata Wuas, we went to the market.  This actually wasn't part of the homestay, but it was my first introduction to Maasai culture.  Lots of stuff for sale -- fabric, jewelry, food, secondhand clothes, household items, lions, tigers, and bears!  I bought a nice piece of fabric and a beaded bracelet.  I'm not a pro at bargaining in Swahili yet, but it was fun to try!  Below is a picture of me wearing my goodies and pretending to be Maasai.

Okay, so now let's get to the actual homestay experience...  Boy oh boy, I did not truly realize how comfortable home is until I stayed a night in a traditional Maasai menyatta.

As you can see from the photo below, the typical Maasai house is slightly shorter than the average Maasai woman.  Luckly I am also slightly shorter than the average Maasai woman.  It's made of sticks and mud and cow dung, and has no windows save for a couple 3-inch squares on each side.

Inside there were two rooms -- the main bedroom consisting of bed made of stretched cow hide (featured below), and the kitchen room which had enough space another bed and for a couple people to sit around a mini charcoal stove.

I was with two other students from my program, Kate and Amelie, and we were accompanied by a youth guide named Hellen.  The house we were staying at happened to be Hellen's aunt's house, so she was really familiar with the area.  We spent much of the day chatting with Hellen about life in general, and asking questions about each others lifestyles. We talked about everything from dating to development, and had lots and lots of chai in between.

The Maasai are a pastoralist culture, so when the livestock returned for the night, I got to milk one of the goats!  I was surprised at how hard I had to squeeze, and every time the milk came out, my first instinct was to pull the cup away...oops.  But after a squirt or two, I got the hang of it.  Later that night, I drank chai made with this milk, so that was pretty neat!

We helped prepare dinner (cabbage and ugali), and then went to bed.  The four of us slept in the main bedroom, shoulder to shoulder.  It may not have been the best sleep of my life, but it was absolutely one of the most memorable parts of the trip so far, and something that I am so thankful to have experienced!