Sugar Cane Scars

While most of you were in bed sleeping this morning I was on a journey.....one that has left to with scars, scratches and great memories.  Sylvia and I decided to go for a long walk to the river at the edge of town.  Sally a 7 year old girl (who is SO SMART) joined us and we eventually met up with 3 of Sylvia's cousins.  Together we walked 30 minutes to Sylvia's grandmothers house; unfortunately she was no home because her sister's funeral was that afternoon (she died at the age of 112).  The walk to the grandmothers house was quite hard core, I was wearing a long grey cotton skirt which I had to hold the entire way so it wouldn't get wet and muddy (I failed at keeping it clean).  We walked through a swamp and each step I took I wondered and hoped I wouldn't be stepping on a weird unknown plant or animal that would kill me (okay, maybe not KILL me but injure me somehow).  The cousins held my flip flops and made a chain to make sure we stepped in the shallow part of the swamp.  The waters current was quite fast and thankfully didn't take us away.  We arrived at the grandmothers house and took a break in a mud hut which the 3 boys live in (after circumcision they live by themselves).  The floors were dirt, the walls mud and sticks and it was furnished with various tables and chairs not to mention many calendars hanging on the walls.  They had a few cows living on the land and a few families of chickens.  We wandered outside and one o the boys pulled out a sugar cane, roots intact and cut it into pieces with a machete.  Eating raw sugar cane is very difficult because you have to peel the skin off with your teeth.  My mom and dad spent a lot of money on my teeth so I decided to not join in on the sugar cane eating.  The boys were playing with a round top to a large canister that they would push along the ground with a homemade stick handle.  One of the boys asked Sylvia in Swahili (I usually never know what anyone is saying because they all speak Swahili) where I am from.  She explained I was Canadian and he said "I have a Canadian dollar, can she use it if I give it to her."  After about an hour of playing we took the same way back and got home and I took a shower (more like tempted to take a shower) and discovered that my legs were ALL TORN UP from the sugar cane leaves!  I didn't notice the stinging while walking through the swamp because of the mud, but I can sure feel it now!  It was well worth it though.  Walking with the children on a hot Kenyan afternoon with Mount Elgon in the background is simply priceless.  I didn't bring my camera on the journey, which I actually don't regret because the camera would have ne ruined and I wouldn't have been able to take it all in.  Some memories are best kept to yourself so you can dream of them at a later time. 
I am quite full from dinner of chipati.....which is soy beans in a stew with onions and tomatoes with a pancake type of thing to dip.  It was SO GOOD!  Now I can sleep and have some crazy dreams (my malaria pills cause quite the vivid dreams).  Oh, by the way....it didn't rain today! YIPPY!
Good Night!