Karibu

It has definitely been one of those days when it feels like the day has lasted forever but at the same time by the end of the day, you feel like there was not nearly enough hours in the day. Today was our first Massai village visit. All I really can say about it is... wow.
We left LJS this morning at about 9:30 and after some time on a bumpy paved highway and what felt like even more time on an extremely rough path through the wilderness, we arrived at the Massai Secondary School, which houses the 9th and 10th grades (after which they must take and pass a test in order to continue their education). There we dropped off a microscope for the school, took a picture with the head teacher, and got back in the car to continue down the path. After quite a bit more time with 9 of us packed in PH's car like sardines, we arrived at the Massai village. It was a lot more sparsely populated than I had imagined. In my head I had this picture of large groups of huts gathered around one central area. Instead, there were between five and eight huts in the village with the school and church. We got out of the car and got an opportunity to stretch our legs - we took a walk around the village and they showed us their water hole - most of the others had dried up - their church that John K. and Luka helped to build, and their school. The buildings (church, school, etc) were all cement/brick walls with a corrugated tin roof. Once we finished our walk, we sat outside the church and had chai tea (the best any of us have ever had!) and what Luka called 'half cake' (because it contains only half the ingredients of cake - no eggs or milk). While we ate Luka gave the four of us a very basic Swahili lesson and talked with us about people he met on previous Wartburg trips.
Then we were called into the church by the choir singing from inside. The service lasted a couple hours - but never got old. The choir sang, PH and some evangelists preached, and they served communion. During the service, I sat next to one of the elders in the village and next to another man from the village both of whom helped me follow along in the liturgy. Once the service was done we all processed out in a large line and shook everyone's hand and then joined the receiving line outside the church. Once everyone was outside, we sang some more and the pastors/evangelists dismissed us. Then we ate - large plates of rice with sauce and sodas. Finally, we took a ton of pictures with the villagers. They absolutely loved the digital cameras - the ability to see themselves in the photos and hear themselves singing in my videos just light their faces up. But the day had to come to an end... we loaded back into the car - this time only 6 of us - and drove back to LJS. Tim, Steve, Peter and I all slept for at least part of the ride back. So we got back around 7 tonight and now we have all retreated to our corners for rest and relaxation. Tomorrow will be another day and a new adventure - who knows what it will all bring.
Peace.

Our visa photos - clearly we are all very excited.

Tim looking off pensively ... or maybe he's just jet lagged.

Being summoned into church by the choirs.

Massai choir.

The post-church greeting circle - once the service is over, everyone processes out and makes a circle, shaking everyone's hand on the way.