There was food for the thousands, but only a few hundred bowls and spoons, so when people finshed, their dishes were washed and re-used. When I say washed, I mean rinsed with water using fingers. The girls washed mine for me and did a pretty good job. Still, I was pretty nervous. But I'm fine.
People cut the line SO MUCH. You have to stand with your toes touching the heels of the person in front of you. Every time somebody budded me, I would turn to Winnie, my friend/a teacher, and she would shrug and say that it's the African way. Have you ever seen the first episode of 30 rock? Where liz lemon buys all the hot dogs from the stand to teach the cutters a lesson? That's how I feel about line cutting. I don't yet know enough Swahili to start dishing sass, though.
People cheered when the vice president and prime minister arrived. Like stood on their chairs and whistled.
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The funeral
Yesterday I went to a funeral service about a ten minute walk from my house. Most of the students in my school were singing, so classes were cancelled and all students and teachers went to the service.
The funeral was for the mother of a minister in the government. The minister is I guess the Kenyan Hillary Clinton- she was the first female to bid for presidency but was unsuccessful. There were thousands of people in attendance including many ministers, the prime minister, and the vice president! I was too far back to see them, but I saw their helicopters. Right now in Kenya there is a president and a prime minister. Usually there is just a pres, but everybody I've talked to agrees that he cheated. After the results of the last election were announced, people were so angry that there were lots of murders. Apparently there were just random acts of violence, like a bunch of people were burned to death in a church. Note: I'm just repeating what others have told me. Internet via phone makes it too hard for me to do my own research and fact checking. So to quell the violence, it was decided that Raila, who I think got the second most votes, would be the pm. People around here love the vice pres, because he is Kamba, the tribe of this location.
So we got to the funeral around ten thirty and had lunch around one. There were even cokes! There was singing the whole time, but the actual ceremony started around two. I left around four, to head back to the farm for the weekend.
So now I've been to a Kenyan funeral. There was even another muzungo there!
The funeral was for the mother of a minister in the government. The minister is I guess the Kenyan Hillary Clinton- she was the first female to bid for presidency but was unsuccessful. There were thousands of people in attendance including many ministers, the prime minister, and the vice president! I was too far back to see them, but I saw their helicopters. Right now in Kenya there is a president and a prime minister. Usually there is just a pres, but everybody I've talked to agrees that he cheated. After the results of the last election were announced, people were so angry that there were lots of murders. Apparently there were just random acts of violence, like a bunch of people were burned to death in a church. Note: I'm just repeating what others have told me. Internet via phone makes it too hard for me to do my own research and fact checking. So to quell the violence, it was decided that Raila, who I think got the second most votes, would be the pm. People around here love the vice pres, because he is Kamba, the tribe of this location.
So we got to the funeral around ten thirty and had lunch around one. There were even cokes! There was singing the whole time, but the actual ceremony started around two. I left around four, to head back to the farm for the weekend.
So now I've been to a Kenyan funeral. There was even another muzungo there!
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