oh yeah. I should talk a little about what we did...

See.  I get caught up in my mind and forget to write about the things that people really want to read about.  Whoops.

Well.  Yesterday we had quite the cultural experience as we delivered a microscope to a youth prison and then visited a cattle market.  The youth prison is so different than what my perception of youth prisons in the US is.  There are no walls,  just a gate for vehicles.  The grounds are beautiful and well taken care of by the prisoners.  They spend the day working and studying and those who we met really take pride in what they do.  In this place they realize their worth and are empowered to take the skills that they learn home with them.  It is really something.  

The cattle market was so fun.  We met millions of people.  Ha. and mchungaji knew every single one.  He told us that if a Masaai person asks if we remember him/her we can be safe and say yes, we met at the cattle market.  Everything is done with such pride.  Animals sold and cooked, art, jewelry and other items sold.  It is great.  It is like the state fair if everywhere had that delicious smell of newly slaughtered animal.  It was really amazing.  After walking around we were treated to a fresh hind of goat.  The liver is the best part.  If it is cooked well it is almost like jerky.  At these functions, meat is the only thing eaten so that did a number on my vegetarian stomach.  But Peter got the shortest end of the stick as he is real sick even now. Thus is life.

Today we went to set the cross on the grave of one of our close friends.  The last forty days have been spent in ritual mourning as the family of the man is Muslim.  The deceased man and his brother are both Christian (this has not posed a problem as the father of the men has noted that they are successful as Christians-even more so than the other siblings-ha, wonderful Christian/Muslim relations) so the family let them place a cross on the grave and participated in the ceremony.  As we processed the half mile or so to the grave it occurred to me how incredibly important relationship is here.  Without each other there is no life.  Everyone is dependent. This is true everywhere, but explicit and acknowledged here.  I like it.  

After the service there was a small celebration at which i got to know a young theology student named Moses.  Surprisingly, we were able to speak for a very long time in Swahili.  The classes are beginning to pay off.  Way good.