Host Family

I am out of the hotel and living with my host family. I meet these people for one day and they already want me to call them mama, baba and sister. It’s a little uncomfortable but I am getting use to it. My new house is a small 3 bedroom, 1 choo, cottage. The main house consist of the 3 bedrooms, 1 living room and 2 small workspaces. Outside is the choo, kitchen, bathing house and barn. The choo by the way is the toilet. A hole in the ground. We are building up our leg muscles with all of the squatting. There is no shower, so if you want a bath, you take a bucket of hot…sometimes cold water into a little hut and give yourself a bucket bath. The kitchen is comprised of a fire pit. This is where all of the main cooking is prepared. They don’t have an oven or a timer so the mama will usually spend most of the time there cooking the food. It can also get really smoky. I tried to stay there and eventually had to leave because I couldn’t breath.

I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers. I have an older brother. I haven’t been able to really sit down and talk with him so I don’t know how old he is. Then I have a sister who is away at school so I haven’t been able to meet her yet. But I heard she is around my age. Then comes my 2nd sister who is about 16ish and I am in love with her. She is so cute, and so much fun to hang around with. She is my teacher in everything Kenyan. And finally comes my youngest brother. He is 1 yr old and was sort of a surprise. He is very cute and starting to get use to me.

We also have a dog and 2 cows. I have been told to watch out for the mama cow. Apparently, she does not like mzungus. She charged the previous volunteer when she had her back turned. The baby cow however has become my buddy. I am also told to stay away from the dog. Apparently she also does not like mzungus and will bite. On a side note, Kenyans do not see animals the same way we do back in the states. Dogs and cats are looked at as dirty animals, not allowed to come in and not used for pets. A dog is supposed to work as a guard dog and the cat is meant to eat rodents. When we tell them sometimes a dog will sleep on the bed with us, they can not imagine why. They are shocked.

After a few days I have become more comfortable with my family. They are sort of like my home away from home. My sister takes me to market and my mama teaches me how to cook. And my baba… well, he is just there. Men usually don’t work as hard as the women. Often my baba won’t even eat dinner with us. He says is a sign of respect for the daughter to give her her freedom during dinner. Overall, it’s a interesting culture and I am learning a lot.. It is still a challenge at times but I am taking it one day at a time.