The Story of Burt

Once upon a time there was a young boy. His name was Burt and he lived in a small town in Northern California. He was happy but he felt like he was missing something. One day the teacher asked him to go out and collect some plant specimens in the woods behind the school. She sent him with a partner, Milpas, who he didn't like. He and Milpas had been long time enemies. He was excited to go, because students usually weren't allowed to go into the woods behind the school without a teacher escorting them. When Burt saw the dark woods he was taken back. He didn't remember them being so dark, but he had to go in to collect his plants. He stepped tentatively into the woods. He walked farther into the forest, and picked up his plants. There was a ghostly hooting noise. Burt dropped his plants and ran. When he stopped running he was in a clearing. There was another kid in the clearing. Burt went over and talked to him. The both agreed on the fact that they were lost. The other kid had heard the noise too. He was from the same school and he had snuck into the woods without a teacher noticing. The other kid knew what he was doing in the woods, and he told Burt that if he just stuck with him, they would be okay. They started walking in the direction that they saw Burt's footprints coming from. Pretty soon it started to get dark and they still hadn't found anything that they recognized. The other kid said that they would have to build a shelter and spend the night in the woods and resume looking in the morning. Burt watched him make a makeshift shelter out of tree branches. Then he put a pile of leaves on the ground to keep them warm over the night. The night was cold and dark, more than Burt had ever seen before. There was howling in the woods and Burt was petrified. He didn't sleep at all, and it seemed like forever before morning came. Eventually it did and the sun beamed down on the pair, warming them in the cold morning. Burt was getting pretty freaked out, because he was lost, cold and hungry. The other person reassured him that everything would be okay. Then it occurred to Burt that he didn't know the other person's name. The other person's name was Irk. Irk said that they needed to go and find food, because the might be out for a long time. They hunted around all day and didn't find anything. They spent another cold and long night in another makeshift shelter that Irk made. The next day they got an early start and by midday they had found some berries to eat. There was a huge blackberry bush and they ate their fill. The next day, after another night in the woods, they found their way back to the school. It turned out that they both went to the same school, but had never met each other. Burt was happy to be home, and remained happy for years to come. He realized what he was missing before. He had no friends!

On the plane

I was sad to leave Kenya and Maruge. It was a wonderful experience visiting him and experiencing what life was like first hand for someone who lived in middle class Africa. He taught me how you could always learn, and go to school no matter how old you were. He also taught me to be happy for small things in life, like little achievements that add up one by one. Sitting on the plane, I opened up my suitcase to get the item that he had put in it when I was leaving. It was a wire car, like the ones that all of the local children played with. It was amazing in its simplicity and functionality. When I got back to the US, I would put it on my shelf to always remember this visit.

My Visit With Maruge 7 and 8

Today was Friday, Maruge's last day of school for this week. I went back into the town after Maruge had left for school. I went back to the market that I had gone to a few days earlier. It was bustling just like before. Though this time, it seemed like it was all different people. Some of the people that I had met at the market on the first day weren't there, and there were other people selling things at stalls in their places. I asked one man about this and he told me that some people only come on certain days, and then other people use their spots for stalls when they aren't there. So every day of the week there are different people selling things at the market. The next day was Saturday. I was tired from my whole week of adventures and Maruge let me sleep in. When I finally woke up he told me that he had somewhere that he wanted to take me today. He apologized for not being able to do it sooner, but he had school. As I had learned during my visit, he would not give up school for anything. Something really big had to happen to make him even miss a day of school. Today Maruge made us a special breakfast. He made us eggs to go with our toast. He told me that they didn't have eggs often, because chickens couldn't find anything to eat on the parched land so eggs had to be bought at a store. After we had eaten we got into a van. Maruge told me that it would be a long ride. We were going to the Mombasa Carnival. "It will take us about 3 hours to get there, and we will stay the night there," said Maruge. The Mombasa Carnival is a festival with a parade of floats representing all of the different cultures in Kenya. Maruge said that he hadn't been in years, but he remembered loving it and wanted to show me. It was good timing that I was there when the festival was being held. Maruge also informed me that there would be traditional music and dancing at the festival.  Since we left Maruge's house late in the morning, we got into the city where the festival was being held quite late in the afternoon. We got some dinner and walked to one of Maruge's friend's house. Maruge's friend had kindly agreed to house us while we were at the festival. The next morning we got up early, ate and made our way to the festival. Maruge said that there was no hurry because it would go on all day. The floats were parading around town, going up and down all of the streets. I don't think that I have ever seen so many floats in one parade. Then we went on to the music. There was a whole block that was open, with no buildings on it. There were two tribes playing instruments and singing. There were hundreds of people milling about and lots of food stalls. When Maruge and I had eaten our fill and listened to the music for a few hours we got into a van to go back to Maruge's house and home village. We got to his house late at night, and the stars were out just like the first night. It was perfectly calm and still except for the occasional animal noise and the sound of the van driving away. Exhausted from our day, we went to bed right away. The next morning we said our goodbyes because I was leaving on my plane back to the U.S. later that morning. I was very sad to be leaving and Maruge was sad to see me go. "It has been great having you; I haven't had a visitor for many years," said Maruge. As I was leaving, he slipped something into my backpack. I was instructed by him to open it once I got on the plane. I got my final glimpse of Africa as the plane flew into the clouds.

Here is one of the acts we saw at the carnival:

My Visit with Maruge Days 5 and 6

As usual Maruge and I got out of his house early. He went off the school, and I went back out onto the plain and sat down under the tree. I watched the animals all day, before going to meet Maruge. The animals that I saw in the morning were pretty much the same as the ones that I had seen the time I was out under the tree a few days ago. I ate my lunch, which attracted the attention of this animal that looked like a coyote. As Maruge would later inform me, it was a jackal. The rest of the day was the same as the morning. I met Maruge and we went back to his house. The next day I walked with Maruge to school, and watched his first class. All of the children, and Maruge, were tightly packed on their desks. The lesson that I sat in on was writing. The teacher would write something on the chalkboard, like a letter or a number, and the students would copy it into their notebooks. After I had watched the lesson, I wandered back outside. I walked up the road aways, back towards the airport. After a few miles I saw a man herding his goats. He didn't speak any english, but he was happy to see me. I watched him herd his goats until I had to go back to meet Maruge after school.

 

This is the jackal that I saw.  

The goats grazing in the field.

My Visit With Maruge Days 3 and 4

Today was Monday. Maruge woke me up because he had to go to school. He said that he always left early, because it took him a long time to walk to school with his bad leg. Before he left, we had some toast for breakfast. I left with him and walked about half way to school with him. While we were walking along the road, we came to a trail. The trail went up a small rise and out of site. "Walk up there, for a pretty view," he advised me. He gave me a bottle of water and told me to meet him back at this spot after school. "There are plenty of people around, just ask someone if you get lost," he said. He waved as he disappeared up the road. I started walking up the hill. It took me a long time to get to the top. It didn't look steep, but it sure felt like it. It was extremely hot walking up the hill in the hot sun. When I got to the top, a spectacular view greeted me. I could see for miles out on the open plains, where no people lived. I walked down the other side of the hill, which was much smaller than the part that I had climbed up, which made me think that the village was in a dip in the land. I saw a lone shade tree in the middle of the plain, and it appeared to be only a few hundred yards away. I started walking out to it, and it turned out to be more like a mile. It is funny how distances are deceptive in open ground like that. But anyway, I got to the tree eventually and sat down in the shade. I sat leaning up against the tree and I watched the grazing animals go about their daily lives. It was amazing how the time flew by, sitting under the tree and watching the animals. But before I knew it, it was time to go back to meet Maruge on his way home from school. The walk back seemed a lot shorted than the walk out. I met Maruge, and he told me about his day at school. He said that he liked being with the children, how it made him happy to see them play. We took our time walking back to his house, watching the townspeople bustle about, going about their daily lives. When we got back to his house, it was getting dark. Like the night before, he made githeri and goat for dinner. "We will have this dish for the whole school week, as it is the only thing that I can cook quickly," he informed me. That was okay with me, because the taste and texture was growing on me. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted from my hike. The next morning we woke up early, and had the same breakfast of toast before heading out. As I was to learn, toast and githeri were the staples of Maruge's diet. We ate one or the other for almost every meal. I went with Maruge all the way to the school, and then continued on up the road to the town. There I found a market. It was huge, taking up a whole block. There were rows of stalls, all with meat, produce or handmade crafts. Some of the handmade art was the most beautiful that I have ever seen. I got some beef stew for lunch, and then hunted around the town. Eventually I found what I was looking for. I found an "American" store, where I got a loaf of bread and some peanut butter and honey so that I could make myself lunches to take with me for the rest of the week. Like the day before, time flew by and it was time to go and meet Maruge after school. We went back to his house, ate our dinner and went to bed. 

My spot out on the open plain

One produce stall at the market in Eldoret

My visit with Maruge Days 1 and 2

Today was my first day visiting Maruge. It is Saturday today, so he doesn't have school. Even though I left early in the morning from the US, I got to Kenya late in the night. When Maruge came to get me at the airport it was late at night, with stars twinkling in the sky. After we started walking back to his house from the airport, in the dark, there was a strange laughing noise. The noise was high pitched and sounded close. I got pretty freaked out, and Maruge assured me that we were not in danger. He said that it was a hyena making the noise, and that since there was only one of them there was nothing to worry about because there were two of us, and he had his stick. We continued walking along the road. In a few minutes the hyena left us. It was so dark and still out on the road, away from the village. I saw the stars like I have never seen them before, because there was no light from any cities blocking them out. After what seemed like a long time, but Maruge said was only 15 minutes, we got to his house. His house was round, with mud walls and a thatch roof. There were many houses in the village, but it was dark and still. Everyone was sleeping, and there were no electric lights to light up the place. It was eerily quiet, like a ghost town. I have never been in any town or city that quiet or dark. Maruge wasn't fazed by the stillness, but I was quite freaked out, because I had never experienced anything like it before. Maruge and I slept on the floor of his hut, side by side. I thought that it would be very uncomfortable, but it wasn't that bad. I slept very well after my long day on the plane. In the morning I awoke to Maruge shaking me by the shoulder. "Come outside, quickly" he urged. "There is something you might want to see". I jumped up, rushed outside with him. We walked around the back of his hut, to where we could see the open country. His hut was on the edge of the village. Walking along about 100 feet away was this creature. It looked like a huge, spotted dog. It hung its head low, but somehow didn't look like it was doing this because it was sad or ashamed. Maruge told me that it was a hyena. It was the thing that we had heard last night on the walk from the airport to his house. It was the animal that was making the laughing noise. After seeing it in the daylight, I couldn't believe that he had been so calm the night before. He told me that they usually hunt in packs, and a whole pack can kill an animal like a lion. After the hyena had gone we went back around the front of his house. It was the first time that I had seen his village in the daylight. All of the huts in the village looked like his, with mud walls and a thatch roof. The paths around the village were hard and dusty. Everywhere was dry and parched, dusty where people had walked and covered in dry, scrubby grass where people hadn't walked. I stood there in silence next to Maruge and listened to the sounds. I heard goats bleating- and shepherds shouting and singing. It was the most beautiful singing, in a language that I couldn't understand. "They are singing in Swahili" said Maruge. We remained for a few more minutes, standing in silence. A gust of wind came, whistling through the huts and rustling in the grass. "Let’s take a tour of the village," said Maruge. We walked side by side through his village. All of the mud and thatch huts looked the same to me, but he could recognize them all, and he told me who lived in them. He pointed out some of the houses where his classmates from school lived. After that we walked up the road, back towards the airport and away from the village. We stayed out on the walk for a long time, and when we started back the sun was setting. It was an amazing sunset, with a bright orange background fading into red as the sun set. At one point on the walk back there was a tree silhouetted in the sunset. When we got back to Maruge's house, he started cooking dinner. He didn't have a stove, but he cooked over an open fire. It took him a while to get the fire started, but before I knew it he had a blazing fire. He was boiling something in a pot, and frying meat in a pan. "I am making githeri and goat," he said. He explained that githeri was a mix of beans and maze and was eaten often in Kenya. After we ate dinner, we went to sleep. In Kenya, people go to sleep early because they have no electric lights, so there is nothing they can do in the dark. After my long day, I slept well. 

Here is the Hyena that we saw:

The sunset that was happening on the walk back:

My stop in Eldoret, Kenya

On my way home from South Sudan, I stopped in Kenya. I was invited to the village of Eldoret. Here is where it is:
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