TOBIKO!

When we arrived into our new home we were immediately warmly welcomed by the family. We began to tell them about us, get to know them and to play cards. They made us some tea and we explained we didn't drink tea so they made us some hot chocolate instead.

One cool thing is they said they need to give us a Maasai Name. I was so excited. My own Maasai name! They started with me first and said I will be named TOBIKO. This is pronounced Toe-Bee-Koh. It means to live forever. They said I should be very proud of this name. Cool! Heather was given the name Nemaiyan meaning blessing.

After getting into my new bed and sleeping well we woke up with not a lot planned. School did not start until Monday so we didn't have teaching to do.

I was so excited to wake up and see what the land near us looked like since we arrived at night. When we woke up breakfast was served, bread and butter with hot chocolate.

First reaction of Olmaroroi and the Maasai Land? Holy crap the flies are awful in this village!!! Seriously everywhere and all over you. Second reaction? Wow this place is beautiful!

Nanu, Sima and Naiya from left to right. Playing Kenya cards I think is what they called it. Throw a rock up and move one rock out of the whole before you catch the rock in the air...


So the village has 5 homes. One for Joshua and one for each of his wives and one where guests/volunteers and some kids stay. This wife is Mary. All day and I mean all day the 3 wives make Maasai Jewelry. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings. And the flies are all over them. Woman on the right is Coco, a different wife's sister who lives here.


Teresea is on the left, one of the wives. These two little boys rock! Lery on the right is the happiest little boy in the world. Timan on the left cried a lot lol.


Notice the flies on Timan. Gosh they are bad. You wipe the flies off and they are back in 5 seconds. The wet season is the only time flies are like this. 4-6 months out of the year. I also loved how the boys wore no pants or diapers. Just go wherever! They are trained to poop outside though lol.


Now let's look at the village, so freaking humble!

Home on the right is Joshua's. Left is Teresea's. The one straight ahead is where we stayed and where some of Grace's kids live. Also has a sitting room.


Here is Grace's home. Literally a mud and stick home. Grace is our host mom and technically the 1st wife of Joshua. Her home is on the left. Where we stayed is on the right. About 3-4 other kids stay in there too and we have the sitting room.


A cow got in the kitchen this morning lol.


Grace's kitchen. And yes that is her bed right there. It's crazy because her kitchen is a big hang out place. She has 8 kids! 7 live at home. Her bed mat is cow skin. Wow wow...

You can also see the cooking is done over a wood burning fire. The smoke builds up and her kitchen has one tiny window. The smoke killed our eyes and throats but we got used to it. The kitchen is so small too. About 8 of us can sit in there.


Heather eating breakfast in the sitting room. Nice but the flies were bad.


The latrine lol. Or more like the hole in the ground.


Heather had a nice girl moment because there were spiders all over inside. I cleaned them out with a stick for her. Heather is a trooper though, she can rough it with the best of em!


I'd say my favorite hobby all week was watching the goats, those are some crazy animals! They also have sheep and lots of cows.





Kenya is so green right now! It is beautiful.


After eating some breakfast and checking out the village we had no idea what to do. We definitely recognized how much slower life is here. They call it African or Kenyan time. No one shows up on time and everyone takes things slow.

We decided it would be fun to go check out the school where we will be teaching. We are off with Sima on the left and Nanu. I kept referring to Nanu as a boy because I couldn't tell. They all shave there heads and as a Mzungu (English speaking white person) I cannot always tell unfortunately.


That closest building is the church.





They showed us the song and dance they do in church.


We then headed to the school. As you can tell we walked hand in hand with them. Theses are such warm people.


The preschool classroom.


Where some of the teachers stay in the weekdays.


School water tank. If the water runs out the kids don't eat.


They then showed us the awesome view behind the school.















Sima is adorable. She is warm but shy. She won me over from day 1. This is how they brush there teeth.



Awesome picture and view!


Sima and Nanu said they could show us their relatives home that is being built. As you can tell not a ton to do except be outside and check stuff out.


This is actually about a $25,000 home in USD. Extremely nice for these parts. Actually have running water and toilets.



Sima is so cute.


They both loved my sunglasses and wore them for a while.





That blue gate is the front gate.


We returned home for lunch. Ugali and cabbage. Two staple items in Kenya. The Kenyans are crazy about Ugali but it is so bland. Just flour and water. It's not bad though.




More to come on life in the village and school!