Market, self-esteem and more

Yesterday the volunteers, two CFK administrators (Cantar and Ben) and I all went through the Toi market. We met at 11am and started at the top of the market and weaved our way through. There were hundreds and hundreds of booths selling mostly used clothes, bed sheets, shoes, and fruit. Apparently many of these items are leftovers from the US goodwill donations that get shipped out here. It was probably about one square mile of market. It was hard to look at everything because the dirt walkways are riddled with mud, garbage and big rocks so you can constantly looking up and down trying not to fall down but also trying to see the booths. Haha, it is a workout! Once we made it through, we stopped a little hole in the wall Kenyan restaurant. We ate beans (ndondo), chapati (tortilla-ish), and fresh avocado. Delicious! Then we walked about a mile to a primary school where some of our CFK boys were having a soccer tournament. Many of the boys played barefoot because they don't own cleats, it sure didn't slow then down though! After the game, I walked back with Ben and Blair down the railroad tracks toward CFK. We got a fantastic view of Kibera and beyond that I will take a picture of soon. (The railroad cuts through all of Kibera). Ben said that during the violence, people had put dynamite under the tracks and blown it up. It has just been reconstructed. Sure enough we peered over the edge of the walkway and say a rusted destroyed railing. We eventually got back to CFK and broke into small groups with the Binti girls and talked about self-esteem. What is self esteem? What are the advantages of self esteem? Do you have self-esteem? Are you proud of who you are? Many of the girls said self-esteem helped them make good choices, respect themselves, follow their values, say no when they mean no, etc. One of the leaders asked the girls who had their menses. A few scattered hands hesitantly were raised, followed by a few more. The leader then asked why they were embarrassed about a natural thing that made them women? She said we must be proud of our womanhood, and not be embarrassed of something that half the population experiences. Good advice I think.

After the small group discussions, I watched the girls rehearse their skits again, then we went home. Blair and I came home to a wonderful Kenyan meal; ugali (boiled water and flour which forms a dense cake like starch) some sort of boiled greens, and beef with tomatoes/onions/spices. I tried some of the sauce from the meat which was delicious. Eventually I'll tell Jane I am vegetarian, but I don't want to be picky. We squished the ugali in our hands and flattened a small ball so we could pinch some greens with it and eat it together. YUM. The power was out so we ate by candlelight. After dinner blair and I made coffee improv style. The coffee maker didn't work so we boiled water, added coffee grinds and poured it through a hand held coffee filter into our cups. It was messy, but tasted good. Then we went to our room and watched "Something's gotta give" on my laptop. A few ginger snaps later we fell asleep.

Blair, Yaniv and I woke up this morning at met at Java, which is a local restaurant with wireless internet. We treated ourselves to banana pancakes, french toast, and fish and chips (Yaniv doesn't like b-fast food!). I am still here at Java, but at 2:00 James (our FAVORITE taxi driver) is taking us to a monkey park. We have our cameras and I will post pictures soon! James said last time he went the monkeys jumped in the car, took all their fruit, and then jumped out and ate it right in from of them. Haha, I can't wait.

much love.