A Trip to the Maasai Market

Things are going well on this side of the ocean.  Swahili classes are our main priority and focus.  It seems that our lives revolve around those classes every day.  But we are enjoying them.  The Lord gave us some encouragement this past Sunday at church.  Normally, the Madory’s church that we’ve been going to is totally in English, except that they sing one or two of the songs in Swahili.  But this past Sunday, they had a national missionary in to speak.  He is a Kenyan man who is a missionary to neighboring Tanzania.  He taught the Sunday School hour in Swahili.  BJ and I were trying to catch words here and there that we understood.  We were encouraged that we understood about 15% of the words, but much of the context was lost on us.  

BJ, Seth, and I took a trip the other day to the Maasai market, which is basically a parking lot that is filled with at least a hundred vendors selling their handiwork.  I was amazed at how talented these people are.  The things they make by hand are beautiful.  Of course, most of the people they sell to are tourists, so many of them thought that we were tourists.  I had to smile as BJ did a very good job of bluffing with his limited knowledge of Swahili.  I saw the respect they had for a “mzungu” (white person) who is trying to learn their language.  We had fun and were able a buy a few things.  BJ got a beautiful Maasai blanket to wrap up in in the cool of the morning.  These “blankets” are actually their tribal trademark.  As you drive the streets of Nairobi, sometimes you will see Maasai men standing wrapped in their bright-colored cloths.   I got a “kikoi” which is a shawl type thing that the ladies wear around their shoulders for warmth and for beauty.

 The Kenyan people are a certainly a beautiful people.