8.16.2010

I LOVE TIRIKI TRADITIONS!! (circumcision ceremonies)


My first five weeks at site I was welcomed with the Luhya-tiriki tradition of the circumcision ceremonies. They only take place once every five years and the communities basically shut-down for about a month while the male-community elders take the boys (ranging in ages from 4-15) are taken into the woods to be circumcised, to heal, and to be taught how to be a man. I wasn't allowed anywhere near the woods, no woman is. But, before they started their transformation into manhood, there was a "pre-circumcision" ceremony where the boys are led by their elders to dance with their families and community... naked. Well technically they are wearing a special plant in the form of a crown on their heads and if I (or anyone) were to cross their path while they were wearing these leaves, I would be cursed.




(here is one of the "not as" revealing pictures of the boys in their ceremonial outfits)






(here are a couple of the "elders" as they prepare the crowd
and lead the boys into the dancing circle)



(here is me dancing with one of the "elders"... my favorite part of this picture is the crowd of mama's in the background. They love to see me participating in the culture. They now call me omukhana wefwe [our daughter])





After a couple of weeks in the forrest, the boys and the elders return to the village in their masks and cow-hide clothing to dance again with their families and community. The boys who have healed will dance, while the ones who are still healing just walk. But, I believe there is some kind of symbolism in that their costumes are all the same and you cannot distinguish one boy from the next, except that their families will tie things to their masks and cow-hides (like records, cds, funnels) so that they can find their own and dance with them.







(here are the boys lined up as they make their way to the dancing circle)






(here are the boys of a nearby village called Shamakhokho (not Cheptulu)
as they follow their leader through the crowds)



(me and a couple of the boys)





(....me dancing.... as you can tell, I'm pretty intense)

8.01.2010

i look like a ninja

I think one of the first statements/decisions that I made after I was accepted into the Peace Corps was, "I'm going to get a mohawk." And, after the first month I cut it short, and the last night of training (the night before I swore in for my 2 years of service) I shaved the right side of my head.

I now have a mohawk-esque haircut and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.



(left to right: the shaved side of my head, the front-head-on-look, what I look like when it's wet, in an up-do, when i first wake up in the morning, and finally how i usually wear it: with a ninja headband.)

So, for those of you who are curious, this is what I look like now!

home sweet home


i like to refer to this as my little cottage on the hill. I think my favorite part is the view from the back of my house... except i cannot full-heartedly agree with that because i get this amazing breeze going through when all my windows and doors are open and it always smells fresh with a relaxing vibe.


(view from the back of my house... if you look at the far hill in the background you can see my favorite tree... i named it Sylvia... and yes, I now name trees.)




.
(view from the back of my house during a thunderstorm)


my cottage is composed of 4 livable rooms. (technically there are 5, but the fifth room is forbidden. it is where my 70 year old land lord, Shua, keeps her extra charcoal and furniture that should be thrown away.) When you walk in the front door you enter the sitting room. Walking through the sitting room you enter the kitchen with my "running" water... by "running" water i mean i have a bucket that i refill with water and there is a spout. I didn't create it until my 5th week at site, and it has been wonderful. My gas stove runs off of a 16 kg tank that sits in the fireplace. Next to the kitchen is my bathing room. As you can see it is an empty room, with a drain, without electricity, and with several buckets. In order to find my soaps and shampoo while i bathe i bring a carosene lantern back with me. It sizzles everytime i splatter water on it.



(this is how close i live to Shua...

my landlord who makes me pay her for ridiculous things)


(this is my living room! ... and my guest bed/napping bed.)

(and this is what it will look like [a couch] once i make pillows for the back)


(my kitchen!)




(my kitchen sink!)





(my preparation/cleaning area)



(my new dresser)



(my bed and bedside table)




(my bathtub)




(my "toilet"... the choo)



(my enormous front yard and gate)