dancing in a maasai circle

ooh, majorly have to go as is dark outside and have to walk home-- only a little bit but best to get home before 8 when you are alone.

having written that, a comment from a friend comes to mind. reading this blog, he asked me if i went out of my way to make my parents nervous. i see his point. but on the other hand, at least they know the worst-- there are not many dangerous escapades being hidden from them (really. i promise.) and anyway, they can't talk.

Ok...i wrote some of this the other day so i will include the beginning and then finish it:

"As this is my second entry in a row, I have to wrap up as I need, ok well want, to go and get some coffee before catching the citi hoppa home. I still have not showered in few days and am feeling a bit grimy. It is ok feeling dirty in middle of maasai land but not in central nairobi where people, as in cities the world over, dress up. I also have a presentation to give tomorrow for the 'Econews Africa' conference organised by the lady I visited at Oxfam here. I had better clean up before that.

After the night bus from Mombasa and after a cheeky serving of oh so good French toast at Java Coffee House, I hopped on a matatu bound for the sleepy town of Kajiado..."

Kajiado is a very very very small town-- a one road town. as i arrived earlier than expected, i had some chai at 'the Central Hotel' (obviously a huge glass-windowed skyscraper establishment...or rather a one roomed cafe with 10 tables and a much needed toilet out the back). What had made me laugh in this town was the comment that greeted me. when i arrived, i had looked up and down the street, trying to find the landmark my friend had recommended as the place to catch the matatu to her camp near the town of Mile 46. noticing my slightly blank and confused expression, a man standing next to a nearby shop asked, "Are you new to the area?"

...Obviously we then had a chat and he told me all about the homeowners association i could join and bingo for the over 40s at the Central Hotel as well as the charming new parents association which would definitely arrange for me and my husband to have a break from screaming toddlers....

Sorry for that tangent, but it just made me chuckle so much to be asked if i was new to the area!!

.....To be continued....

p.s. ok ok call me a hypocrite for breaking the story and not even mentioning how i managed to dance in the middle of a huge circle of hundreds of Maasai within two minutes of arriving at market day in Mile 46.... but it is dark as outside and i want to walk home before it gets darker (which i am not sure is possible). last time i walked home i walked into the support cable of a telephone pole. that was not fun. though very funny to be talking to tiffany and then suddenly bounce backwards... (for those of you in the know, kind of like the time i jumped into that door frame in the mud room at home...though not quite as dramatic. this time i did not end up lying on the floor.)