Tuesday 3rd August

Monday night was lovely, Alex and I chatted to two of the older boys, Patrick and Thuko about England and the differences between there and Kenya. Thuko is also responsible for preparing our food day and night and is a really lovely 16 year old! Polite and respectful but also a good laugh! He has also offered to show me how to make chapattis and Mandazi!

Tuesday was a really exciting day! Grace decided to take me to the Massai Market which is held just once a week. She promised me it was going to be an experience and it certaintly was!

I washed my hair and dried it in the sun before we went out, it's difficult to wash in the evening because where you wash yourselves is poorly lit. We caught a Matatu at around 11am, as it was my first time in one it was quite an adventure. We manage to get front seats which is apparently a lot nicer and less cramped than the back! We got off in the city and made our way to Patrick and Grace's (our volunteer company) office. We had some really yummy mango juice, it was thick like it had just been squeezed out of a mango and nothing had been added! Must get some more before I leave!

Grace (volunteer company) then took Grace and I (it is confusing with everyone having the same name!) to the Hilton Hotel, where underneath there is an arcade with shops selling souvenirs. This was so we could see how much items cost in a shop as markets will easily rip off tourists! After lunch in the office, fried potato things, we made our way to the market! It was quite a walk!

It was such a unique experience it's hard to describe. As soon as you enter and you look like a tourist, you are accosted by a couple of men who promise to take you around and get the best deals (I later found out from a shop keeper that this is not true and to always buy froma seller direct). They follow you everywhere and if you bend down, or even look at something for longer than a second they will pick the item up and carry it around and say 'this is a maybe, if you like you can buy. no pressure. no pressure' but of course there is! They will not let you walk away empty handed!!

after the market we went to Tusky's which is, I think, the largest supermarket chain in Kenya, or at least in Nairobi. It was gtting quite late by this time so we went to catch a Matatu from the main Matatu station (next to the train station). There were crowds and crowds of people and not many matatus so the price was slightly more expensive back home. The ride home was more of an experience than the rest of the day put together!! Firstly a car crashed into us which was quite scary as the brakes we slammed on and we went up an embankment! Grace told me that this regularly happens as matatu drivers are notoriously bad! Then the engine seemed to die and struggled to get us back to Mlolongo!! We didn't think we'd make it!

But we did! Alex couldn't believe that we were later than him! It was an exhausting day so I had a very early night!

Lottie x