Story Time

With a rich culture of story-telling, I’ve heard several stories here. Oftentimes in the evenings while preparing supper or after eating (although my experiences suggest that far more often people go to bed almost immediately after eating supper) family members share stories. These stories are often myths dealing with animals or sometimes tales about other tribes. Having spent a few months here, I have some stories of my own. Some are funny; however, others are more serious. I’m so thankful for some of them, yet I wish others were myths. And I begin….

It should be no surprise that bathrooms and toilets may be in short supply. Thus, the pit latrine (aka out house) is a typical feature in a yard. Some are made of mud, others are less lovely, like some slick boards placed over a hole, with a few boards around it with gaping holes in between. If something falls out of your pocket, don’t ever expect to see it again. As for bathrooms, well, sometimes they exist and sometimes they don’t. Some streams are for women; others are for men. And sometimes, well, I’ve found the space between a mud home and a few rows of maize for bathing with a bucket. Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you gonna get.

One rainy day, three of my host siblings and I decided to visit a water treatment plant. Immediately upon our arrival at the plant, children of course appeared out of nowhere. They came near staring at me, although they were too shy to speak directly to me or to shake my hand. We inquired about the best way to reach cascades and were directed to a footpath. Neno and I in our skirts and Willie and Amos in their dress pants, began to descend the sloped path. We’d barely begun when we began to slide. I’m quite certain that my shoes had the worst traction, but regardless, it was as if we were skiing down the slope trying not to fall. The children were howling behind us with laughter at the top of the hill and we were laughing so hard as we struggled to maintain our balance. We all made it without falling and as we returned, we discovered a road, meaning we’d never have had to come down that slope in the first place! :) Those children sure had their fun, but so did we.

Once upon a time there was an 8-year old girl who'd grown up in a rural area and had never been to town before. I had the opportunity to take this girl to town for her very first time. With fascination, her mouth hanging open and her eyes huge, she was turning this way and that watching people, seeing so many vehicles. She feared the vans and had no idea why she was supposed to hold my hand when going places. We went into a hotel (restaurant) here to eat and she had no idea that they served food and how/what to eat there. After ordering food for her she sat there gobbling it up, unsure of what to make of the situation. Her experience was crowned with a soda. She's been living happily ever after, remembering the big vehicles, the soda and the many people and tall buildings.

Coming from the US and having only known women named Hillary, I was startled on the first day of class when I was returning exercise books and wanting to learn the students’ names, so called them out myself so as to identify them. When I called “Hillary” a boy stood up. I tried to change the pronunciation, but it was still the same kid. As it turns out, everyone here finds it very funny that (according to them) Hillary Clinton has a man’s name.

One dark night, not long ago, the market in Mogogosiek (the nearby town) caught fire and most of it was destroyed, because the nearest fire department had to travel a few hours to arrive. Sometimes people here are very honest, but as with everywhere, you can find those who aren’t. The owner of a shoe shop was through his shoes out to try to save them and people were running up and stealing them. How sad!
A baby girl was born to my oldest host brother and his wife. As Kipsigis culture mandates, the wife must stay with her child at her mother-in-law’s house for a minimum of 7 days and is not allowed to leave the compound. Any deviation from this can cause a host of negative feelings and opinions.

“I do…not.” He sure moves fast. Upon meeting me, he (a friend of a friend) actually thought I was our friend’s wife. I set him straight immediately. Yet within five minutes, he’d gone from thinking I was married to asking to marry me so that he could go to the US. Nice try buddy.

There was once a girl, who disliked giving speeches very much and would get very nervous and even begin to choke when she had to speak publicly. In high school, she dreaded doing speech and would forget everything and be unable to speak if she was not holding a notecard with every last thing written down. In the last few months, she’s given numerous unexpected and impromptu speeches without notes to groups of more than 500 people. We can all change. We can all change this world.