Working and local life

I have now done 2 days at the nursery and am getting to know the children in my class (beginners). My initial observation s are that they are pretty well behaved for a crowd of 30 4 year olds, but obviously some are more mischievous than others. There is a boy who sits in the back corner who I would definitely have up at the front! But they seem to like me, they like just holding my hand and generally looking at and touching my pasty pale skin.

The lessons are quite different to at home for nursery level. In that they are lessons, to begin with. There is no colouring or drawing, no play time, no learning the clock or life lessons of any sort, all they learn is English and maths. I've not been there long, but I the impression that it is that everyday, other than Fridays when they have an hour and a half of exercise as well as lessons.

So the children I am with seem to be about 3 and 4 and they are learning the letters and counting, all in English. There is a very mixed ability in the class, with some children finishing the work within 5 minutes and others struggling with forming the letter shapes still. Unfortunately for the ones that finish there is then nothing else to do, so they are expected to sit quietly until everyone has finished. I think I will come up with some ideas and maybe suggest them, like a lesson learning about the clock and how to tell the time, etc. If anyone has any ideas, let me know, as obviously nursery teaching is not my speciality!

Children here are generally lovely. I live North of town in a fairly ordinary residential area so the are not so used to mzungu as in other areas of town and each and every one will shout out at you as you pass by them, asking how you are or running up and talking your hand to walk along with you. Very sweet. Adults reactions can, generally they are very friendly and say hello or want more of a chat. Sometimes they want to sell you things, but not in an aggressive way, or others in an aggressive way and they won't leave you alone, and sometimes they are just blatantly checking you out.

The other night we went out for Bob Marley day – the celebration of his death (is that weird?). They are absolutely mad about him here and most places will have some kind of event. I went to Via Via which a bar used by both white and black locals and tourists, so a real mix there. There was a live band singing Marley songs and a really good atmosphere, though it was weird seeing Maasai men in the robes and car tyre shoes on the dance floor! Elisa says it can be a bit of a meat market on some nights, with black men going there specifically to find a white woman. It's interesting talking to her, as she has a baby with a local man, but is constantly warning me about the drawbacks! In summation, she says that the men are very lazy and expect women to do the majority of the work. This is clearly a generalisation and not a given, but I would assume that marriages are not as equal as they are in the west.
Maasai men are allowed to have multiple wives, and regularly do. Lesaloy, who I work with at Shika, is Maasai and about to get married so I was talking to him about it. It is an arranged marriage and he has not yet met his wife, but he seems happy that his parents and community will have made a good match for him. Äsa was questioning this and asking what he would do if he found her to be dull, but then I thought that maybe arranged marriages (where everyone is willing) are not such a bad thing, as when people have a free choice they often seem to make a mess of it!

I've mastered the Daladalas and don't find them intimidating at all any more. There are basically 4 routes and each is depicted with a coloured band on the side, and I pretty much know where each goes now, or certainly the ones I need. As in Nairobi, each is individually owned, though presumably not be the driver but by someone who owns a few, and there is a driver and conductor on each and you all just pile in, 16 sitting, up to 3 standing, in something the size of a small people carrier. I think they're safe enough, or certainly as safe as the No.8 night bus, I just keep my change ready to pay so I don't have to go fishing about in my bag.

I'm also getting better at the language, due to a few hours studying. So I now have the greetings all down, and a few other essentials about transport and buying things. I could do a with a proper dictionary though, so I can learn what the children are saying to me and prepare replies! For instance Cute was talking to me today, and I had no idea what she was saying, but I heard the word 'pepe' so assumed that she needed the toilet, so told she was allowed to go, only to be told by another teacher that she was in fact saying that she wanted some sweets. Oops!

I wore a skirt this morning that I thought would be long enough (down to mid knee) but than walking to the daladala I got a lot of stares and was concerned that maybe I had gone too short. I asked Mama Tesha and she said it fine – that the young people wore all sorts these days – even to church! And that is was fashion and people did not judge on it in the way they used to. She was admiring my bag (my little brown leather one) and asking where I had got it, I said from a second hand shop in London. She was surprised that we had second hand shops in the UK, that we needed to. I tried to explain that at times it was fashionable to wear older clothes, but think that I failed with that one.
It's interesting here, as in some ways the way of life is extremely sustainable, there are not a huge number of cars in the country, goods within town are mainly transported using handcarts, excess water is reused for washing, etc. but then in other ways people are quite wasteful. I suppose like England a few years ago, the cars are absolutely filthy, carrier bags are given out for every purchase no matter how small, electricity is used wantonly (when the power is on) etc. etc.