The Last from Loitokitok

A view of Mount Kilimanjaro (right) and a nearer mountain as seen from downtown Loitokitok, home for the past nine weeks.

The guys of our training class during a hike to a nearby waterfall, dubbed ‘51’ by the locals. We've got a great group here, and we've really gotten tight over the two months of training.

The girls of our training class during that same hike.

Last Sunday, I went with my ‘Mama’ to her church, Gospel Tabernacle. Previously, I had been going to my ‘Baba’s church, St. Luke’s Catholic Church. My favorite part of the service was the involvement and enthusiasm of every single member of the congregation, singing and dancing.

Another view of the mountains with the Loitokitok market and assorted ‘maduka’ (shops) in the foreground.

A house and farmland on the fringe of the town just past my family's house. Just beyond the farmland is the ‘msituni,' or the bush. Elephants often roam to this area from nearby Amboseli National Park in search for food when the park goes dry. Unfortunately, they did not arrive before we left for Nairobi.

Zainab (left), better known as ‘Mama Abdoul,’ owns a tailor shop in Loitokitok. Molinge and my friend Milton are two of her tailors. Milton has the look of the quintessential old-school tailor from the 60's, always sharply dressed in shirt and vest.

They do amazing work, and everything they made for us while in town fits like a glove. They are also a testament to the cosmopolitan makeup of Loitokitok. Mama Abdoul is from the muslim north of the country, near the Ethiopian border. Molinge is from the Great Rift in the middle of the country. And Milton is from Nyanza, in the west of Kenya, near my site.

'Samaki!' Here is some of Milton’s handiwork: matching shirts and vests made out of local fish fabric. From left to right are Jen, Amber, myself, and Andrea. As Kenyans like to say, very ‘smart,’ in the British sense of the word.

My host family Saturday morning prior to my departure. Pictured from left to right: Steve, James, myself, Susan, ‘Mama’ Jen, and ‘Baba’ John. After working to build a school in an outlying village, Steve has been living back at home these past couple weeks since he has been posted to a project within town. So I have gotten to know him better during this time.

I have really gotten close to this family, much closer than I had been to my host-family in Mali during my first two months. This is in large part due to the fact that there has not been a language barrier to speak of, since everyone in this family can speak some English. In Mali, I was primarily communicating with body language for the first week. They have not only been incredibly generous in hosting me, but they have become my close friends. I will really miss these guys.

Yesterday, Peace Corps held a ‘host family appreciation day,’ where a couple members of our host family were able to join us for festivities, lunch, and traditional music and dance. Pictured above are, from left to right, myself, ‘Mama’ Jen, James, Susan, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is their oldest daughter who is now married and living out in Mombasa. She was back in town for a couple weeks visiting her in-laws, who also reside in Loitokitok.

The Taffi group, a traditional music group based in Nairobi, performed for us during ‘host family appreciation day’ on Saturday. They are a multi-ethnic group, with members from throughout the country. Therefore, they are able to perform song and dance from all of the major tribes throughout Kenya.

The traditional dance troop performing yesterday afternoon.

The music was very rhythmic and the dancing energetic. Hard to resist joining in on the fun, it was a great time.