KITALE

We decided to hole up in Kitale where, as John Wanyonye says, “Jesus lives.” And, he could be right! We are at an elevation of almost 7,000 feet and it rains almost daily; it’s green and lush, trees, monkeys, tons of brightly colored birds and it’s the hub of agriculture for all of Kenya. There are seasons of commerce based on the wealth of the harvest season or the drought of the current beginning season of monies have long been spent on school fees, housing rent, food, new shoes and clothes and now the long wait from now til November when the maize will be harvested again. The favorite food of all Kenyans is ugali…I have been told over and over again, “If there is no ugali, we have not eaten!” This is why this region is so important to all of Kenya…most of the maize that’s ground into flour to make the ugali comes from this area.

City center of Kitale

One seller in the huge outside market. This lady is selling tilapia; the man in the red hat beside her is selling cassava.

Ready to eat ugali…cut into wedges for eating.

Ugali is typically eaten with “greens” pinching off some ugali rolling it into a ball, adding some greens and then eating.

And a very big treat is chapati, a whole wheat Indian-nan-like flat tortilla, cut into halves or fourths. The greens pictured are an all-time favorite, sukuma wiki (kale) that stretches any meal by sometimes adding bits of meat to it instead of serving a whole and hardly ever gotten big piece of meat.

We “live” in a small guest house compound with various tiny structures situated here and there…kind of like camping only way better! At one time belonging to a wealthy British somebody, there’s the main house with glass panes and a big front porch. We are enclosed and secluded from the outside world by tall hedges and massive trees, a beautiful lawn, kept short by forever grazing sheep and a bamboo gate with the typical and needed guard posted…well most of the time! And also most of the time we have electricity, hot water in the showers, but not the sinks, purified water in tanks, accessible clotheslines, access to a somewhat tepid fridge, and the warm friendship of owners, Kenyan Ibrahim and British wife Theresa and their various adopted or fostered children…oh and yes, the assorted folks coming or going working with NGO’s from all over…although this time we are mostly on our own except long term Kenyan residents who have found Karibuni Lodge their home.

Some of the resident children

Main house where there are more individual rooms, where we eat and where there is a small, sometimes working tv in the living room where we all hang out.

Some of the various structures on the property

The garden

One of the many interesting types of birds…this pair screeches at the slightest thing and are ALWAYS compelled to announce when it’s morning!

Last week we were busy with Liberty School, as you might have seen, and then we traveled over to Kakamega for a training…more about that later…

We are using this week to catch up, research for our upcoming trek to China, continuing to connect with John Omondi and John Wanyonye…which means walking to town for either supplies or finding a place to talk. I so wish you could be with us as we pull on socks and hiking boots, mainly to keep the red dust or as the rains come intermittently, the mud, off of our feet, as we walk the two miles into Kitale. Even a walk to town is a welcome adventure…we walk amidst cows with their shepherd close by either stretched out in the shade napping or coming behind with stick in hand prodding the cows onto greener grasses; ladies with sometimes enormous bundles balancing precariously on top of their heads—even while talking or texting on their cell phones; women with babies strapped to their backs cooking huge batches of french fries in large woks or roasting ears of corn over open fires to sell to passersby; students dressed in uniforms trudging home for lunch before returning to school for the afternoon session; small children whispering “mzungu” as we pass by and timidly trying out their English by saying “How are you?” hopeful for a response and the customary handshake; and the ever present sheep or goats straddling the railroad tracks chomping away at the green, lush grasses…well, you can see just walking to town is a pretty wonderful experience!!!!

Carrying her bundle while talking on the phone! :)

Lady carrying bundle of banana leaves.

Children in their school uniform, resting on the walk home for lunch.

Our neighborhood 7/11…where we can get air time, avocados for 6 cents each, and candy to share with kids like these:

And, who could resist taking your dog for a walk on such a fine day in Kitale town?