Watch out for Bird Nests
As Thursday night began to conclude, Mashavuers either got some early shut-eye, played jolly-rancher poker, or danced the night away in the suite. Of note headlamps placed on the blinking setting make pretty sweet strobe lights. Everyone was able to sleep in as the day kicked off with a debriefing session at 10 am. We discussed the previous day’s events at Endarasha and laid out plans for the weekend. Everyone was excited to learn that we were going to spend the day in town running some errands, eating lunch, and perusing the local market. At around noon we moseyed out the top of our street and “hailed” a matatu to take into town. After squeezing fifteen of us in to the delightfully decorated van, we were off for town. Ten minutes later we arrived at the Mashavu wallet refueling station also known as the ATM.
We all then ate lunch at Nyama (meat) Choma Village. They had roof seating from which we could eat and observe the bustling streets of Nyeri below. While taking in the sights of street vendors, store fronts, and honking cars we realized we were one member short. James B. has fallen asleep after the meeting and subsequently missed leaving with the rest of us. Not to worry, our CYEC driver Kabu quickly came to the rescue and scooped up James and had him in town in no time. From lunch we went to the supermarket, internet café, and the local market. The local Nyeri market consists of winding wooden stalls connected by red dirt paths. From flip-flops (aka slippers) to frying pans to fruit the market has a taste of it all. While some snagged traditional African blankets and scarves, others bargained for woven baskets. Perhaps the most amusing purchase of the day was by Mike P., Mike F., and James B., who custom ordered hats. These aren’t just any hats, they are the uber-popular winter hats adorned by nearly every 4 year old in Nyeri. These hats are more of a combination between snow hat and hood, so they can’t fall off. Much to the surprise of the women vendor who told the boys “but you will look childish”, the orders were placed at a very thrifty 70 Ksh (a little less than a dollar). After returning from town everyone enjoyed a little down time before we headed to the Mashavu hot-spot Banana Leaf. Banana Leaf- part restaurant, bar, and dance club- had an Indian buffet dinner, and I think everyone was up for a change of pace when it came to our food. After arriving around 7 we had a chance to chat with Eco-Village and many people from the CYEC who joined us. Unfortunately, Therese, an eco-village team member was greeted with a surprise from one of the birds nesting in the roof of the tent. To her credit she handled it and the many laughs that ensued very well. Food was served around 8, and the massive buffet seemed to delight most pallets (even though the lighting made it difficult to see exactly what we were eating). After dinner some people headed to our home sweet home at ivory, while others stayed at banana leaf and kicked back late into the night. All in all everyone enjoyed having a day to explore more of the local community!
Ni Poa,
Julia Wittig
