Masai Market
The Masai have historically been a pastoral people in eastern Africa and now have settled into central Kenya. As mentioned before, cattle are their way of life. They disdain permanent settlements and despite encroachments of modernity, consumerism, and governmental controls, little has changed their customs and traditions. They have shunned most things that Westerners seek and/or prize. Many tourists to Kenya travel north of Nairobi to the Masai Mara to view the Masai way of life, view the wild game nearby, and to purchase Masai hand crafts.
Now, the Masai may have shunned much of what the West holds dear, but they must make a living. So, every Friday at the Village Market, an upscale outdoor mult-level mall, that looks something out of Beverly Hills or some other swanky Southern California enclave, the Masai (or some "pretending" to be Masai--so much so that the Masai where offical ID badges) bring their wares to sell. One may wish to think of this as a flea market or craft show, but they'd be mistaken. In the states when one visits such an event they are going expecting to see clear signage on prices and other such things. At the Masai Market dickering is the name of the game.When I was in Kenya in 2002 I went to the market with Don Penney. Don grew up in Senegal and had been to Kenya several times, so something like a free-wheeling bazaar was not something new to him. It was for me.
When I was quite young my mother taught my brothers and I to swim by taking us to the edge of a large body of water and throwing us in. With Don I was learning to swim again. There were many things that I learned that day, some which I don't wish to revisit. Suffice it to say, I'm the type of person that wants to know what something costs and make a decision based on the information provided.As you travel through the market vendors are calling out to you "Papa, see these wonderful "X" (insert item name here). Touching is free. Now the one thing that you do not want to do is say anything commital, such as "I'll be back" [...flashback to 2002...]. Do Not! promise anything--they will find you.... Simply say something like "You have nice things" or "I am not ready to purchase yet." Generally, it is good to get an overview of what is for sale, by whom, and what is the quality. Fortunately, on this visit, Don's wife, Patrice was along to negotiate once we found what we were looking for. Phew!!!
The wares at the Masai Market range from small soap stone items, like painted bowls, napkin rings, plates, and even nativity scenes, woven goods, jewelry, beaded items, and much much more. As I walked through the market many individuals wanted to trade things for my watch or anything else that could be viewed on my person. These included the run-of-the-mill disposable ink pen in my satchel to the "Number 1 Dad" key chain hanging off it. For the latter I said that it was a gift from my daughter and I couldn't part with it. For the others, I just wasn't interested in getting into it with someone--I viewed it as the whole "foot in the door" situation. I wasn't interested in giving an inch.Just like my previous trip to the Market I came away with many items that I was pleased to get and that friends and family will get to enjoy. This time I feel much more comfortable about what I paid--not too little and not too much...just right.
posted by David Malone at 7:52 PM
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Greetings from the other half of the Wheaton librarians' great Kenyan adventure.
The Masai (Kenyan tribal herders) believe that they own all of the cattle in the world and I'm sure that some of the students at NEGST would have something to say about that. The students here run several cooperatives. One of them are the shared gardens that are about the campus and the other are the few cattle that provides milk. Patrice Penney mentioned that in suburban American the poor are encouraged to do everything to keep their cars--it is their lifeline. In Kenya the life line is one's shamba, or garden.
For the students at NEGST the cooperative gardens and lifestock help them to divert what monies they have available to them to pay for tuition.
The picture that you see simply cannot do it justice. This "little" friend appeared on the way to dinner one evening. "He" (who knows how to tell gender on these things, I'm certainly not going to pick it up!) was roughly 4 inches long, which would make "him" rather young. The last time I was in Kenya I saw one on the ground that was closer to 8 inches and much more colorful. You can likely tell why it is called a banana slug, especially when bananas here are more like chubby thumbs than cucumbers.
Maybe I should find another way to the cafe (where a bottle of coke is 20 bob, or 20 shillings, about 25 cents).
We were able to see all sorts of game. We were able to see Thompson's gazelles, Impalas, Dik-dik (tiniest deer--about 14" tall), Water Buck, Zebras, Giraffe, Grey Fox, Colobas (monkey), and Warthogs
As I shared earler, one of the things that Mary Sue and I will be working on will be to aid NEGST in honing its online library catalog. A library's catalog is its life blood. If a catalog is not reliable is not worth much. You have to be able trust a catalog to tell you what you have, where it is, and is it available. Additional nice features are to be able to locate related materials and to know how many tables an items has or other physical dimensions.
Again, back to Alice. Above you saw the search interface for the Windows software--pretty straightforward, but somewhat vague for the uninitiated. Here you see the web version. Not much of an improvement, however, the improvements come via the hyperlinks that can occur once a search is done--hyperlinks to other books by a particular author or subject.
Therefore, an experienced cataloger is unable to get into the guts of what constitutes the core of a "bibliographic" record--the nitty-gritty detail of a book--essentially what is the book about, who wrote it, who published it, how big is it, and where do I find it. Most of the aforementioned is also how you tell if a book is worth reading. In Alice the access to the real nitty-gritty, the MARC (MAchine Readable Cataloguing) record, is blocked. It is facilitated for you, much like a Microsoft product doing the thinking for you--excuse me I meant to spell that word that way!!
The Tony Wilmot Memorial Library at NEGST was named after the first Chairman of the Pan-African Fellowship of Evangelical Students (PAFES). Wilmot graduated from Oxford in 1938 and sought to encourage Christian witness by taking secular posts throughout Africa where churches needed support. He served in the military in Zambia, Somalia, and Ethopia during World War II. After the war he served as Permanent Secretary in the Gold Coast (Ghana) until 1957. While there he had an extensive preaching ministry and helped establish Christian camps and student fellowship groups. After 1957 he was West African Co-ordinator of the Colonial Development Corporation that was based in Nigeria, while there he and his wife made their home in Lagos. Due to his work with students he became concerned about opportunities for Africans to pursue advanced theological education. Together with Byang Kato, a Nigerian theologian and the first African General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar (AEAM, now AEA), NEGST was started with Wilmot as the first Principal until a suitable African could fill the post. The first class of four students began their studies in October of 1983, and in July 1986, NEGST granted its first four graduates the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree. The dream had become a reality.
When I traveled to NEGST in the fall of 2002 my traveling companion was Don Penney. I was traveling under the generous auspices of Wheaton College's Faculty Missionary Project and Don was using vacation time. Don was helping complete the wiring and networking of the newly built library and I was there to help the beginning stages of library automation and to assist the library in applying the new network to the library setting. Well, a few more vacations later Don and his family are now missionaries at NEGST where Don is the Director of Information Technology. Since 2002 NEGST has built a large library, a classroom building and a building housing faculty offices. The campus technology needs are expanding, especially with the introduction of a doctoral program that will provide a laptop to each student. 
The Penney family consists of Don, Patrice, Elaina, and Jordan. Jordan and I have been enjoying each other's company when we are together (Our first night was spent taking over Jordan and Elaina's beds as our rooms were not prepared). My daughter is receiving a nearly 4-week vacation from the pestering that now will be my generous gift to Jordan.
On our jaunt off-campus this morning we traveled from Karen to the far side of Nairobi, not far from the new American Embassy. Like many other countries, Kenya has a large working class. Unfortunately, Kenya also has a large unemployed population, which reaches nearly 50%. Rather than being able to afford expensive products sold in upscale malls or shops, individuals express their entrepreneurial spirits and set up shop-often within a coin toss of the side of the road.
As we drove through town we saw individuals selling nightstands, beds, dining room furniture, baskets and other woven goods, portable toilets, tires, landscaping plants, and refurbished mufflers, which could be installed with the oxyacetylene torch just feet away. The ramps were planks leaning against a rail that was bolstered by large blocks of wood underneath. This gives new meaning to "Trust the Midas Touch...."
The guests at ISAR, which serves as the guest housing and conference center for NEGST, eat at the NEGST cafeteria that is managed by NEGST staff. On most days, Mary Sue and I will have our three meals there. Generally the Kenyan culinary selection is rather simple. As with many cultures, meals served midday and later can often center around beans and rice, along with chicken. One of our morning meals consisted of "pancakes" and bacon (of a back bacon sort, similar to bacon in England--American bacon is England is called "streaky bacon"). We also had fresh pineapple, which is always good.
A good deal of the produce for the meals comes from a large garden that the staff of ISAR manage. In this photo is "Mama Bear." Mama is the generic name for Kenyan women (and papa is the male name--I will often be called "papa"). The remainder of her name comes from her eldest son, whom she calls Bear, as in teddy bear. Under this scheme, my wife, if she were Kenyan, would be called Mama Katie. Mama Bear helps manage the huts at ISAR. She also helped me get a room that had a wifi connection. Yea Mama Bear. Just right......
Well, Mary Sue wasn't quite sure what to think when I told her we were staying in huts. However, I knew that they would be good. I hadn't seen them physically, because the last time I was in Kenya they were simply an idea on paper. Well, today at least two of the planned four huts are in place.
Interestingly, these huts are part of his vision and strategy. When completed all four will be in circle with a conference center. Another circle is the one found in the center of each hut where residents may gather and talk to one another, thus learning more about each other's "realities."
Well, for many of you what you know of Africa is what you've seen in the news. Movies like Black Hawk Down, The Mummy, and many others paint a picture of dry sandy dunes or of ramshackle squalor. However, Africa is so much more, and this is especially true of Kenya.
Well after struggling with luggage limitations off to the airport we went. The "we" is my colleague, Mary Sue Preisler, and me. Much our trip can be explained as sit and wait. Sit at the airport and wait for the plane. Board the plane and then sit and wait to take off. After take off, sit and wait until the movie starts. As you can see a lot of sitting and waiting. Some of it with anticipation and some with dread. Anticipating getting to where you are going, in this instance Kenya, and dread in thinking about the number of hours in a cramped airplane. 
The plane was fairly booked and it seemed that there were more people than seats, at least that is what if felt like at times.
While at Heathrow I had the "opportunity" to stretch out across five "seats" to catch a quick cat nap. Not too helpful, as I was awakened by a man plopping down in the adjoining seats. Scared me to death. I bought an alarm clock, liter and a half of water and a bag of crisps (cheese and onion--I stayed away from the prawn-flavoured).
