Day 12: Giraffe Kisses and Toi Market

Monday morning we awoke early to get a good start on the day. This week is pretty much going to be our "tourist-y" week. All of places we want to go and things we want to do are going to be packed into this week since the last week we're here we will be working with Brackenhurst and watching the kids for a missionary gathering.

We met up with Aunt Trina and Pris then headed over to the giraffe center. Although it can sometimes take 2 hours just to get across town, traffic was light because people were still traveling back to Nairobi after "the Christmas" so we made excellent time.

The giraffe center was pretty cool. There were also warthogs. After we got up to the platform, we grabbed some food and let the giraffes eat from our hands. We had to make sure our hands were flat or else they would bite your fingers (kind of like horses). All of us took turns feeding the giraffes, then Ruthie insisted that I feed one with my mouth. I had heard that she and Julia had done that, but I needed a demonstration before attending this feat :) So, she grabbed a pellet, stuck it between her lips, then moved in. The giraffe swiped the food right out of her mouth with its super long tongue. After Ruthie had done it about 3 times (we had to get good pictures after all), it was my turn. So, I followed suit. The giraffe's tongue was rough like a cat's and it pretty much licked the entire left side of my face. Although it was slightly gross with all the saliva, it was still fun. And I also had to do it about 3 times before all the picture-taking was done. Then Julia and Priscilla did the same.

One of the guides gave us a short talk about giraffes (the types, what they ate, their weights, lifespans, etc), and let us hold a giraffe's jaw. He told us to "be free to make a picture," so we did. Haha! Check f/b to see the results...

After the giraffe center, we stopped by a place that made Kazuri beads. The women workers were not there making the pottery because of holiday break, but we got to tour the places were they typically work. Then we browsed the store. I wasn't too interested in buying any of the merchandise though because the jewelry was kind of big and heavy and I didn't want to chance any of the other products (like mugs, etc.) in my carry-on. It might just end up in pieces.

We continued on to Toi market after stopping at the Kazuri bead store. I had been told that Toi was like a big, used clothing place where Westerners buy most of their clothes while living here. But I didn't know it was all outside. We headed in to the mazes of booths set up in line after line. They were covered with roofs, so you felt like you were in a building except for the dirt/mud floors. The smells were almost overpowering...At one point, Aunt Trina said that the shows that display the sights and sounds of other countries should also try to capture the smells! It would be quite overpowering. Lots of body odor, constantly surrounding everywhere. I'm not even sure most of the people were wearing deodorant.

We spent some time at the front of the entrance, then headed deep back into the buried shops. There were mostly clothes just in huge piles that you had to pick through. Then there were shoes set up that you had to guess if your size was there. The owners were constantly trying to pull you into their shop, and shoving possible articles of clothing in front of you as options. And that's all before the bartering even began. I was told that you never take the first offered, but at least offer half of that price. Then the friendly (or not so friendly) back-and-forth negotiations occur. Usually a middle ground is reached. However, yesterday, many of the owners did not want to barter much. We only ended up with a couple of shirts and some scarves.

Then on our way out, we hit the gold mine of pirated dvds. There is also another place here in Nairobi known for producing quality pirated movies (haha! It's so common here, it's not even really looked upon as wrong), so we were kind of holding out for that place, but this vendor only was charging about $0.65 for his movies and seasons. So, Ruthie and I spent some time there - trying to not to go too extreme and buy everything :)

All in all, the day was quite a new experience. I loved being part of the typical Kenyan culture. There were many new "firsts" included bartering. Although I didn't think I would like it, it was so bad. It's expected here so you don't feel like you're manipulating in the slightest like I would in the States. We were only called "wazungu" (white person) about 10,000 times, but then when we started bartering, they quickly knew we (or rather Ruthie) weren't ignorant and couldn't be overcharged.

The rest of the evening was spent at home as a family just relaxing. We had a lovely dinner, then watched "Taken" together. Ruthie's dad had gotten the movie for Christmas, so we all enjoyed seeing it.

Last night it rained. The past two nights it has rained actually. Both times the first thing I thought was "God bless the rains down in Africa." Then I have that song stuck in my head the rest of the night :) It is still beautiful weather outside though. The rains just cool everything down a little and keep the grass/trees/plants green.

There are still so many things I want to relate to you all about Africa: the British influence, the basis 101 of good missions teams, the little -isms of Kenyans. But they will have to wait for another time. Hopefully, you all are having a wonderful holiday season. The New Year is only a few days away!!!