Hello From Kenya

Hello to all my students.  I am blogging to you from Kenya, Africa, where I am spending the summer here through a Lilly Endowment Grant funded program.  I hope you are enjoying your summer.  Right now in Kenya, it is actually pretty cold because the city of Nairobi sits at a very high altitude, and it is the cold season.  It feels more like the autumn weather we have at home.  I have been walking around wearing a scarf and sweater everyday.  It has rained a lot this week too.

While I am here, I am taking Swahili language classes.  Most people in Kenya speak 3 languages: Kiswahili, English, and a tribal language.  Often times people will mix the languages together in the same sentence.  So, even though people speak English, it is very helpful to learn Swahili so that I can understand what they are saying.  Every morning I take language classes.  My teachers are very nice, but learning the language is challenging for me.  Here is something I have learned to say: Habari?  Naitwa Miss Back.  Natoka merikani.  Ninapenda chai.  (The translation is Hi, how are you?  My name is Miss Back.  I am from America.  I like chai tea. 

In the afternoons, I am able to visit and learn about different art techniques that people are using to create products in Kenya.  The other day I visited a place where they take cow bones and sand them down to make beads.  They then paint them with wax and dye them with brown color to make brown and white beads.  Then they make them into beautiful necklaces and bracelets.

You may wonder what kinds of things people eat here.  Last night, I had matoke, which is fried/mashed plantains.  A plantain is kind of like a banana except that the peel always stays green, and you cannot eat them raw.  We ate them with a tomato and onion sauce.  It was delicious!

Tomorrow I leave the city to go on a safari in Masai Mara.  I will get to see lots of animals.  I will write more about it when I return.  Kwaheri, which means "bye."