Hospitality

I really cannot say enough about how nice and welcoming the Kenyan community is. With my job at FAIR I have gone to three different locations and at each one all of my coworkers have been very sweet and helpful. Walking around Nakuru, people say hello and if you have a question they are more than willing to help you. Last night we had dinner at Rita's house again because a woman named Grace invited us all back. She had so much fun on Monday that she wanted to see us again. It was so sweet of her and she offered us to come visit her in Nairobi anytime. The people I have met are so welcoming and they have made my trip wonderful. It is amazing how quickly strangers become friends!

                                                  All the piki piki drivers lining the street.


Work this week was interesting because I moved around a lot and did different things everyday. Yesterday (Friday) I went to the farm that FAIR owns. They have workers who maintain it and they provide food for families in need. I was a little apprehensive about going because if you know me at all, you know that manual labor is not something I get particularly excited about. I met the workers at the farm and we started off the day with Chai tea, which is very popular in Kenya. It is a big batch of tea with lots of milk and some sugar in it. Its hard to describe the taste, but it is very nice. Then we went out to the fields and I started to get pretty nervous, everyone had workers there for years and were very experienced.  Luckily they were great about showing me what to do. I learned how to harvest greens (similar to collards), rake over a row to make it flat, furrow the row, and plant the seeds. The work was hard but I enjoyed it a lot. We would do a few feet then stop to rest and chat for a minute, so I got to know the workers better. After a few hours we took a lunch break and ate Ugali. It is the staple dish in Kenya. It is basically a big chunk of corn meal that is more spongy than bread. It is typically eaten with vegetables. They showed me how to pinch off some ugali, roll it in my had, pick up some veggies, then eat it. (This is all only done with your right hand, because eating with the left is considered to be rude). It was a really good meal, after I got used to eating with my hands. I wasn't sure if I would like the farm, but after going I definitely want to try and go once a week!

                                                              The farm I work at