So after the emotionally draining day yesterday, Whitney and I met Olungah and his friend Frederick at a bar and had some beer and then two other students met us. Rose and Jackie. Rose is from Tanzania and Jackie is from nearby and they both live in the hostels at the University. We hung out for a while then went to a place to hear traditional Luo music. They dropped us off at Whitney's place and we met up with her sisters and went to a club in the Westlands (kind of like the Main Line of Philadelphia.)
The club was all open air and it was almost like being at a sweet 16 party from MTV...a lot of very wealthy kids. Michelle (Whitney's sister) and her guy friends were cool though and we danced and hung out with them. We had some interesting fellows come up to us (us being 2 of about 4 white people there). I haven't had guys dancing on me in....a long time...maybe since summer camp dances. One guy came up to us and was of middle eastern descent with a beard. He said "Just because I have this beard, doesn't mean I am the enemy." I said, "I didn't think you were the enemy". They he lit up a cigarette and said "This one is for Osama!" haha.
Another guy came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder and said "I have always wanted to talk to someone like you" Whitney chimed in and said "What do you mean? Someone with white skin? We're just the same as you, I promise". He said he was going to take me out some time. I said okay sure, then we left. When people our age go out to clubs, they leave around 11/12 and come home at 4/5. Clubs generally close at 6am. So we got home at about 4, slept for 4 hours, then woke up to go to the Elephant Orphanage!!
It was so amazing. This was the one we saw on 20/20 over christmas (for Dad, Vicki, and Laura). We saw three baby elephants who were between 4 and 7 months old. Then we saw a lot more that were between 12 and 24 months. I rubbed an infant elephant's head!!! Ah, it was amazing and I took a ton of pictures. I wish it were easier and faster to post pictures from here. They were adorable and played soccer and splashed in this big water/mud hole. They fed them too, so they drank from bottles and some of them even held their own bottle. They are funny animals and it's pretty apparent that they have widely varying personalities and interests. We were also going to go to the giraffe center where you can feed giraffes, but we were pretty exhausted, so we're saving it for another day.
Anyway, I am feeling much better since yesterday, though extremely tired. I'm going to head home soon on the dreaded matatu :)
Thanks for all your comments, I love reading them.
If touching a baby elephant's head can't pick up your spirits, nothing can. The question is, does a baby elephant's head smell as great as a baby human's head? Or a puppy's head?
ReplyDeleteI just found this in a NY Times article from October of last year:
"Elephants, when left to their own devices, are profoundly social creatures. A herd of them is, in essence, one incomprehensibly massive elephant: a somewhat loosely bound and yet intricately interconnected, tensile organism. Young elephants are raised within an extended, multitiered network of doting female caregivers that includes the birth mother, grandmothers, aunts and friends. These relations are maintained over a life span as long as 70 years. Studies of established herds have shown that young elephants stay within 15 feet of their mothers for nearly all of their first eight years of life, after which young females are socialized into the matriarchal network, while young males go off for a time into an all-male social group before coming back into the fold as mature adults."
Perhaps the University should try the same approach! For one thing, it'd make for better poetry readings, eh? (I threw that in for your Canadian alter-ego.)
Here's a link to the rest of the Times article:
http://tinyurl.com/2qsmly
Love your blog. You are a brilliant, evocative writer.
xoxoox
Joy
I'm glad for your emotional elasticity and resilience. I love the picture of baby elephants playing soccer (: I can't wait to see your pictures. (but I will) -- love, Mama
ReplyDeletenot sure why I have to be anonymous sometimes...I don't like that (:
ReplyDeletesarah, i miss you!
ReplyDeleteYour Friday experiences aren't too far removed from those I find in New Mexico...if you want to experience them again a Little closer to home :) Your writing is wonderful...I feel like I'm there with you and can't imagine being able to do all that you are doing. You are my hero!!!
ReplyDeleteDear friend-of-the-Ndovu( elephant friend)
ReplyDeleteI see you are living the full Kenya experience, which means that clubs don't close till the sun is up and we make politically incorrect joks at times, and we love to laugh.
I hope you see the full range of our Big Five animals, and that soon, I can join you all on Safari!Save some excursions for me please...LOL
All my best wishes.
KenyanAtPerry