rural home and animals!

Yesterday our language and culture class took a field trip to our teachers parents home (her rural home as she calls it). They live on a farm with the animals living only feet away from their house (more of a three room small building). The kitchen is in a separate shack and she cooked us a traditional meal (potatoes, greens, and other vegetables all mashed together looking like green play-doh with lumps haha and then a stew- both very good). The animals (cows, chickens, goats, sheep) stay just feet from their home in makeshift pens. Her father speaks a little bit of English but her mother does not at all. I felt so bad as she kept talking to me in her mother tongue (their tribal langage) but I could not communicate back. They are in their eighties and both in great shape and health. Her father takes the milk into town everyday by cycling. Edith (our teacher) is one of 9 children and all of the boys received a piece of the land but the girls do not. Her sister, Jenn, came with us and then took us to where she works. She is a prision guard traineer and we went to where all of the Kenyan prision guards are trained. Wow, quite the area- definitely not something all tourists see.

I will say it is weird to see other mazungu (white people) that aren't with us. We stopped at a supermarket on the way into the village and it was by all of the embassy's so there were a lot of tourists around, kinda strange. haha. Today was a real tourist day as well. A few of us went to David Shedrick Elephant Orphanage. They bring in elephants that are orphaned and raise them until they are two and then release them back into the wild. So cute!! They also had a baby black rhino that had such a personality and loved rubbing agaisnt everyone's legs. After that we went to a giraffee sanctuary. We went on a nature walk and saw the male gariffee and stood about 5 foot away from him with nothing seperating us! We were in an area with the giraffees on one side of a small us and us on another and we were able to feed them. They ate out of my hand but then I also put a piece of food in my lips and she ate it from there! I will say giraffees slobber when they kiss!! haha.

Tomorrow I will attempt washing my clothes by hand for the first time! This should be interesting...