As I stare my final week in Kenya in the face, I'm finally doing a lot of things that I always meant to do and never got around to. This weekend one of those things was going to church.
Lukas and I arrived in the middle of a 5 hour long service and left after less than 2 hours. Preparing for the worst (I'd heard tell of exorcisms and speaking in tongues) I was surprised at how normal it seemed, how enjoyable it was. A little more evangelical and energetic than what I'm used to - at times it felt more like a dance club than a church service - but not so different from the Baptist churches I have attended in Madison. The prayer was also intense; rather than a silent prayer, the 5-10 minute long prayer sessions just featured everyone chanting their prayers to "Baba Wetu" (our father) with instrumentals and singing in the background.
Maybe the most remarkable thing about the service was that although the congregation totally filled the big barn-like church building, there were 2 other equally crowded and loud churches within listening distance. It really resonated (ha, ha) with me after reading about what a destructive impact Belgian Catholic priests had in the perceived ethnic divisions that led the Rwandan genocide; it's quite clear that the missionaries before and after the British colonization left a long-lasting mark on Kenyan culture as well. It's hard to believe that a religion could spread so quickly and pervasively, and remain so firmly rooted in local culture after the disappearance of its proponents. (Maybe this is why China won't allow tourists to bring multiple Bibles?)
As I was marveling over the strength of their collective conviction, I realized that before coming to Kenya I hadn't even realized that people in rural Kenya would be Christian. Much less had I realized it would be a definitive force shaping their everyday existence! Which prompted a list of pieces of "common" knowledge that I must remind myself I did not know before February of 2009...
- One goat is worth 4-5 chickens (depending on the size)
- Grafting plants can result in the strongest, most resilient root system and sweetest fruit
- Swahili is a mix of Arabic and Bantu languages
- The first throw on a frisbee field is called a "pull"
- Typhoid and malaria aren't any worse than Western diseases, if you can afford the treatment
- Maize seeds should be planted 25 centimeters apart, in rows 75 centimeters apart, for maximum yield
- One goro-goro is about 2 kgs
- One bag of maize is about 90 kgs
- Indigenous African cows can be identified by their humps
- A bucket bath requires less water than flushing a toilet
- All the decent Kenyan coffee goes for export
- Shampoo and conditioner for African hair works just fine for mine, too
- One bean seed should be planted in a hole half as deep as your hand with 1/3 of a bottle cap of fertilizer
- Hakuna matata really means "no worries"
- Throw-away clothes in the US are recycled and sold at Kenyan roadside clothing stands
- People can speak 3 or 4 (or more) languages and still be poor and minimally uneducated
- There is not a single McDonald's in East Africa
3 comments:
love this entry!!
Lullit
Amber - I have a slightly different interpretation - all knowledge is local, tied to specific circumstances and conditions, and absorbed/assimilated by taking notice of particular details (the details that are noticed will vary from person to person, depending on which have the most emotional resonance to you - which in turn depend on your background and genetic endowment). But at the same time, much "knowledge" can be communicated to others and thereby transcend its local characteristics. Still, nothing beats learning by doing - or experiencing directly.
And thanks to you, we've learned too.
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