Similes, analogies, and poetry. Oh my!

I am in the middle of a tedious process of combing through my stacks of field notebooks, transcribing every word, and then attempting to organize them for analysis.  Wow, what fun.


In so doing, I came across some great similes etc. authored by various girls.  And oh boy do they love constructing similes (and some are quite ingenious!).  Below are a few examples... Maria

“I was happy as a king.”

“I was as happy as a lark.”

 “I didn’t even get a pin drop of sleep.”

“I was as happy as a puppy next to its mother.”

"The results were out, and I was as eager as a bride and groom to see the results."

“I was as flabbergasted as moses when he broke the ten commandments.”

“I was as happy as Barak Obama when he was given to be president of America.”

“I was so happy that now my happiness could not be compared with that of Isaac Newton who discovered the force of gravity.”

“She was as happy as a barren woman who gave birth to a bouncing baby girl with a golden spoon in her mouth.”

"As long as diamonds remain priceless and the ocean wet, I will never ever forget Daraja Academy until I drink my cup of death."

"All in all, God lifted out love that now I can sing and stand out amazingly with no fear and I can speak in front of people with my futuristic voice that glitters and shines at the daytime." 


Below are some pictures I took at the football/volleyball tournament that Daraja recently competed in.  The competition was held at Il Polei Primary (although the events were for secondary students), about 35 minutes north east of Daraja.  We were at the location from 8:30 until sundown.  It was extremely hot and dry, yet the girls managed to play two games of football before breaking at 4:30 to eat something.  Truly amazing. 

In Kenya's version of volleyball, players can link arms before the ball is served, and then as it glides over the net quickly switch places.  One can also kick and head-butt the ball over the net.

Keeping oneself entertained between games

The primary school kids were particularly thrilled that a couple of wazungu were in attendance.  At one point we were completely encircled by 50+

Lilian and her game face.

Not much shade in Il Polei.  Boys here taking advantage of one of the few acacia trees near the field.

Jamaica doing her thing.

Volleyballers Monicah, Lilian, and Pascalina

Volleyballer Zeki, Jacinta, and Shamsia

Wildlife sighting and chicken soup.

I was so happy to sneak a picture of the dainty and faint-hearted Kirk's Dik Dik: Madoqua kirkii.  This species is the most common Dik Dik in East Africa but they are vigilant, either tiptoeing in the brush or waiting for that crucial moment, making an unforgettable and death-defying appearance as they dash in front of your car.  This elongated nose of this small antelope serves as ingenious cooling gadget. These photos were taken from behind a window of our banda, so I am surprised they turned out!

The subsequent three photos are of our very bold daily visitor "Mother Hen" and her sole surviving offspring who spend the daylight hours pacing in front of our doorway (often, and repeatedly, tempting entrance) waiting for vegetable scraps.  Dish washing hour is their favorite time to stop in; yesterday the daughter was bathing in our pressure cooker filled with soapy water.  

Oh yes, and I conclude the post by throwing in a cow photo for Mark :) Maria

Taxi cab confessions

Sometimes the most interesting conversations spring up out of nowhere. I was taking a taxi home from town, and I was talking to the driver who is also my friend. He is a good man and is usually up to date with all that is going on in the area. He has a vast network of taxi driver peers that he meets with to discuss various cab-related affairs such as rates and local dangers. Up to this point he appeared to be a very peaceful person. We were discussing the quality of the roads in Kenya and why pot holes are everywhere. He told me:

"They overfill the lorries. The weight breaks the roads and it is illegal." A large truck drives by filled with rocks that Leonard points out. On top of the rocks are about ten additional people getting a ride to town. "But with enough money you can pay the police and keep the lorries overloaded."

"It seems you can just about pay for anything in this country" I said.

"Yes, anything. See that man?" Points to a man walking on the side of the road. "If you wanted to kill that man I can get it done."

"Really? How much would something like that cost?"

He holds out his fist in front of him as if holding a punch in the air. He is holding something non-existant, clenched between his fingers. " For half a million shillings, I will show you his head." I realize he is holding an imaginary head by the hair.  

I quickly changed the subject to the weather. It appears that my peaceful and insightful friend has a darker side.

Bennett

A special event

         Over the last couple of weeks I have been volunteering a great deal more at the Likii special education school. Last Thursday the principal invited me to participate in what she called "Education day." I asked her what "Education day" was and she described it to me, yet I was still unable to figure out exactly what  it really was about. A miscommunication like this occurs almost daily for me. So I showed up to the school early the next morning to find several of the kids singing and dancing in the courtyard outside of the classroom blocks. I immediately joined in, and participated as well as I could. About twenty students stood around in a circle with three of the teachers, and we were singing and dancing a Kenyan version of the hokey pokey. This was followed by choreographed marching and the occasional pointing to the sky and praising of the Lord. I facilitated the process when necissary. After about fifteen minutes of this, we gathered up and hiked to the nearby Catholic church. The Church grounds were enormous and littered with statues of Jesus and well-kempt bush hedges that lined sturdy concrete buildings. As we walked behind the Churches' main building there appeared a rather large stadium made of wood and tin. It was oval shaped and looked like a soccer pitch surrounded by tiered benches for sitting. As our group entered a woman approached me and pinned a ribbon on my chest that read "guest." I guess it was easy for the women to assume that I was in fact a guest, because I was the only white person, in a crowd of attendees of about three to four thousand people. I felt the entire crowd watch and stare at our group as we entered through the mouth of the stadium. I heard mutterings of the word "mizungu" (white person) throughout the crowd as we walked the entirety of the field. After our group found our seating amongst the audience, we watched performances provided by different local schools. Each group dressed in their unique school uniforms. The entertainment was mostly military marches and praises for the Lord and president of Kenya. Several political dignitaries and bank managers were perched above the field in order to spectate. They received the performances that were directed towards them. 

After about thirty minutes there was an announcement in Kiswahili over the loudspeaker followed by applause. Suddenly my group of students marched down onto the field with me in tow. It dawned on me that we were performing the dances and marches that were practiced in the school yard earlier that morning. So there we were, in front of thousands of Kenyans, singing and dancing the hokey pokey. We were putting our right hands in and then taking them out, followed shortly by shaking it all about. Meanwhile we were making sure the audience knew that "that's what it's all about." The crowd thundered with approval. I was no longer confused about what "Education day" was. It's about showing off what the kids are capable of. It was one of the most surreal things I have ever experienced. The kids were marvelous and as happy as anyone could be.  Afterwards the church provided meat pilau for the children. We sat and ate as rain clouds rolled over head and began pouring on us. Nobody seemed to mind and continued to eat. 

Bennett