Hello all! This past weekend (Thursday afternoon-sunday morning) we had our town homestay. Hannah and I stayed with a family who actually lived in a village just outside of town. Now don't let that fool you. I'm pretty sure our house was the biggest and nicest in the village. House quality varied throughout. We had to ride with our Mama Christina from town in to the village on a dala-dala (like their busing system in large van type vehicles). Once in the village we got off and walked up to a big gate. My thought was 'oh there must be some houses behind here in a gated community.' Nope. The gate was for their house. All around their house there were gardens that Baba planted. Absolutely beautiful. The house had 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, two storage rooms and a garage (Which contained their mitsubishi). The ceilings were all ten foot. The living room had 4 couches and 4 chairs lining the walls. We had a whole entertainment center. Hannah and I shared a bed in a room shared with their "servant girl" Zuwena.
Zuwena did pretty much everything-cleaning, laundry, dishes, cooking. I would say she is around 16. Mama is a receptionist at the Diocese of Ruaha. Baba is a mechanic I believe. There were two sons- Givin (10) and Filipo (8). They both attend school. They have a daughter, Prisca, who is 13 but she was not there as she is away at boarding school. The whole family, except Zuwena, spoke English which was super nice.
One night Baba came in to the living room and told us he was going to check on his small farm (we were unaware of this at the time) and asked if we wanted to come with. We said definitely! So we hopped in his very old but super cool mint green car. The boys also came with us while Mama and Zuwena stayed back making dinner. We drove a little bit to another part of the village. On the way there he stopped the car at a shop and rolled down his window and bought us some bottles of pop. We then got to his farm. He has 3 acres of land with mango, potatoes, maize and beans growing. He also owns 20 goats there! One was just born a few days ago. So cute! It was a lovely farm and he was so proud of it. On the way home we stopped at Mkwawa Magic Site. It was a small zoo in the middle of the village! Totally unexpected. We saw baboons, monkeys, crocodiles, flamingos, pythons, a variety of birds and two ostriches! Behind the zoo they had a playground area, grass area for events and even a huge lounge area. There were little places to hang out, dining area, drink places, music and a river running through. It was so nice and random! I think that was my favorite outing. Baba is so funny :)
We ate SO MUCH. Mama was determined we always needed more. I was never hungry. The food was amazing though! Dinner was always interesting. We ate in the living room because Baba loves the tv. We watched this really strange and poorly made soap opera. At times it was disturbing. At other times it was downright funny. Baba said it was a Kenyan channel.
Well I can go on and on about my host family but that's all I'll say til I get home. We had a great time. This coming Tuesday we are going to spend a few days with the Maasai! I am super excited. Hope all is well wherever life finds you. Love and miss you all!
Bethany
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