So after breakfast I got kitted up with my white shirt, black tie and smart suit trousers and made my way with the girls from the house to Kimilili Boys high school where the ceremony was going to be held. This morning Matthew was off early with the role of recording the ceremony at both the Bride and Grooms homes and also some of the ceremony at Kimilili Boys. He had left looking very smart in a lilac shirt with matching tie and felt also very privileged to attend and also be asked to do the recording. I left around 10am with Bithian, Joy, Naomi, Merriam, Rebecca and Lena and walked up and along to the high school, trying to avoid the wet and muddy patches as a result of the heavy rains the day and night before. The house was now very full with the schools all breaking up for the students well deserved holiday, so there were a lot more new people around and walking on to the service was an opportunity to talk and find out a little about each new face.
We arrived at the high school to what seemed like too early. There was hardly anyone present with only the guys setting up the keyboard equipment and a few small dancers ready and waiting just below the stage. I stood around talking and taking pictures with the girls until finally more people began to arrive and fill the up the hall that occupied many dust, turquoise benches.
Once the people had been shown to their seats by the Ushers, I spotted Matthew outside with his cameras taking pictures of both the lines that were to march in the hall with both the Bride and Groom. The dancers and people in the lines were dressed very smart and had lots of decorations on them including glitter, ribbons and flashing badges. After sometime the lines began to enter the hall and in first was the Groom with his nine other members leading the way. Leonard’s line had the dancers at the front and towards the back were some young boys and men. Among the young boys was Chris, Solomon’s son, who was dressed up very well in a grey suit and tie. It took them about 20 minutes to make their way from the back of the hall to the front as they walked very slow dancing and making what was definitely a big entrance. Following this, once the line had made its way to the front and the people were seated, in came the Bride with her line all dressed in very pretty pink and brown suits with glitter in their hair. They made an even bigger entrance which found them not even get a quarter of their way in after what was a long but interesting 15 minutes.
Having missed lunch and the ceremony starting two hours late at just after 1pm, Matthew and I decided to nip out and get a quick bite to eat and soda, as our tummies were rumbling and our concentration was beginning to drop. We made our way to the end of the road which joins on to the high school and stopped off at Spring’s café which was becoming our new regular dining place.
Arriving back 10 minutes later after settling our stomachs and re-hydrating ourselves, the Bride’s line still hadn’t arrived to the front of the hall. Soon enough though, both the Bride and Groom were now stood on the stage and were in the process of performing their vows. This part was in English with the traditional vows being spoken and it was nice to see two people going through their promises as I hadn’t seen this in a long time. After leaving the hall for some fresh air and a break from the Swahili speeches, I got a phone call from my good friend Aaron who called up just to say Hey. Speaking to him for a short time I then found myself following a few people back from the service just before it finished. The sky looked like it was going to rain so we made our way back quickly to the guesthouse, stopping off at the cyber to pick up a few things such as a heavy guitar and case.
Back at the guesthouse after a short rest, Emily and I helped Helen once again make the chapattis for Saturday evening’s meal. Helen was very tolerant whilst we attempted to help make a good job of the meal and I'm sure tried her best to keep a smile on her face as we so poorly rolled the chapattis.Following dinner we spent the evening acting stupid, playing King of the Jungle with the new arrivals from Holland’s as maybe a way of breaking the ice. We sat discussing similarities and differences between the UK and Holland and talked about the different accents and how they had connotations with difference classes, especially in the UK. One of the guys from Holland pointed out that the guys from Oxford spoke more elegantly, where as I spoke Irish. It was quite a fun and enjoyable evening and we all left for bed much more confident in how well we were going to get on over the next few weeks.
Sunday morning we all attended St James church where there was a lot more Mazungu’s present than usual. We took up most of three rows in the church and sat through what was most an inspiring and interesting service. Unfortunately at the end the church was taken over by a mad man who was clearly not part of the church, but saw it as an opportunity to get some money out of the generous people who had attended. He had brought some eggs and was acting pretty crazy trying to give everyone an egg and get money from them for it. He even began to use children as a method of seeking funds, getting them out to the front and giving them eggs and insisting that others paid for them. I’m sure many of us were getting worked up and frustrated by the fact he was so insistent in getting money out of us and that he was using children as a weapon also. John quite boldly gave out some money just to get rid of the children from the front and to stop using them in such an embarrassing and manipulating way.
Back at the ranch before lunch I began to do some washing out on the grass. It was soon lunch time and I had almost finished, so I left a few things to soak and came back to them after I had eaten. Towards the middle of the afternoon I began writing up my blog on the laptop but soon decided to head to the offices with Matthew, John and Emily, so that they could look up a few things on the internet to organise something for their remaining days in Kenya. We weren’t at the office long and then left for Springs Café to be treated by “JF” and Emily to Chai and a Mandazi.
Arriving back just before dinner I went across to the house where the Chelsea, Manchester game was on the television. I watched this for only a few minutes but still managed to get a few reminded feelings of being back at home. Back in the guesthouse after dinner John, Emily and I sat around watching the Pianist on the DVD player until the end of the evening. I received a call from my family during this, so spent about 20 minutes on the phone to them breaking away from the film.
It had been a nice weekend, seeing new things and getting to know the new visitors a little. I knew I didn’t have long left to stay with them but never the less was very interested to find out as much as I could in the little time I would have left at the guesthouse with them.
Sunday morning we all attended St James church where there was a lot more Mazungu’s present than usual. We took up most of three rows in the church and sat through what was most an inspiring and interesting service. Unfortunately at the end the church was taken over by a mad man who was clearly not part of the church, but saw it as an opportunity to get some money out of the generous people who had attended. He had brought some eggs and was acting pretty crazy trying to give everyone an egg and get money from them for it. He even began to use children as a method of seeking funds, getting them out to the front and giving them eggs and insisting that others paid for them. I’m sure many of us were getting worked up and frustrated by the fact he was so insistent in getting money out of us and that he was using children as a weapon also. John quite boldly gave out some money just to get rid of the children from the front and to stop using them in such an embarrassing and manipulating way.
Back at the ranch before lunch I began to do some washing out on the grass. It was soon lunch time and I had almost finished, so I left a few things to soak and came back to them after I had eaten. Towards the middle of the afternoon I began writing up my blog on the laptop but soon decided to head to the offices with Matthew, John and Emily, so that they could look up a few things on the internet to organise something for their remaining days in Kenya. We weren’t at the office long and then left for Springs Café to be treated by “JF” and Emily to Chai and a Mandazi.Arriving back just before dinner I went across to the house where the Chelsea, Manchester game was on the television. I watched this for only a few minutes but still managed to get a few reminded feelings of being back at home. Back in the guesthouse after dinner John, Emily and I sat around watching the Pianist on the DVD player until the end of the evening. I received a call from my family during this, so spent about 20 minutes on the phone to them breaking away from the film.
It had been a nice weekend, seeing new things and getting to know the new visitors a little. I knew I didn’t have long left to stay with them but never the less was very interested to find out as much as I could in the little time I would have left at the guesthouse with them.
See you sooner x
1 comment:
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