Living in the village is quite interesting.. why do i say this? based on my upbringing which was basically in the village and my love for anything village and my friends in the villages coupled also with the fact that it is very natural staying in the village.
People of the village:
Usually this lot is very original in every meaning of the word. I remember when we were growing up, we had a tendency to go strolling in the evening most days either to the nearest market centre or just lazying around by the roadside. But the interesting part was the preparation that was always put in this endeavour. we would spend endless time trying to polish our cracked soles with some special stone from kamasia known locally as "kit kamasia". It was a black rugged stone usually of very rough edges that was curved to try and control our huge gullies of cracked skin and our wildly growing toe nails. Mark you this was not a preserve of men only but also of women especially when they were preparing to go to the market to buy or sell their wares, my Aunt Lorna Nyar Awino would spend so much time scrubbing her legs that most of the times she was always left behind by my mum and had to run some kilometres to catch up. After all the preparation of polishing the soles we would put on 'Akala' shoes made from car tyres and decend on the road to adventure, only those who were very luck could put on 'Lada' some rubber shoes from bata Shoe company and very famous for their strips of blue, white and red labels.
These 'maraoundis' the rounds we made to the roadside or market places were meant to expose us to life and also to show another species (gals) that guys existed in a certain village and hence were capable of mingling and mixing in the hope of creating a lasting union.
Chores
Males and females had different sets of chores as dictated by culture but some of us were very unlucky 'coz my mum never believed in male or female you were children and must work as scheduled. You would find me in many instances washing dishes and cutting sukuma wiki but what i loved most was gathering firewood in the bushes. I still think i had a natural talent for identifying dry hidden trees right in the middle of the bush and had to get help to heave the bundle onto my head for the trip home. After learning to ride a bicycle sometimes in 1986 I found myself new status as the bike man. I would undertake all sorts of errands most of which used to be done by my uncle Tong'a. I would be sent to go buy household goods at Bondo market, send stipend to my grandmother in Asembo about 60kms away, relay messages of death and invitation for ceremonies and take my mum on her errands as Chairperson of Ndwara Womens' Goup.
I remember one time during these trips to my grand mother, I was on the bike and had covered about 15kms when suddenly in my ignorance I tried crossing the road and since these were murram roads the middle part was raised due to constant use by motor vehicles and my bikes front tyres could not go up the embarkment. The next thing I remebered was I getting up, tidying myself, looking around and talking to myself and smiling at nothing in particular. I had been thrown off the bike and had bruises on my hands and legs and worse still was the bike with twisted wheel. I abandoned the journey and trekked back home a very dissapointed person. I still bear the scars on my hands, a constant reminder of what happened many years back.
Foods
Plenty and variety of foods abound in the villages and most of them are free. The best times in the village are during the harvesting seasons when fresh produce is removed from the gardens and households cook something fresh from the gardens. As growing up lads we were lucky to have our grandmothers around and several aunts and uncles, so during meal time we would make rounds and have our fill before concluding with your own mums delicacy. I particularly liked Nyoyo gi nyuka ( mixed maize and beans and porridge). There is however a very bitter vegetable called 'Achak' in my language, most people ferment it with milk for a week before they can take it but i had a love for this veg so much that we would cook it and i would demand it in it's bitterest state and go ahead to swallow it without blinking an eye lid.
Other favourites that i liked were obuolo(mushroom). These grew naturally on anthills and once you spotted them sprouting all you needed to do was put a mark of ownership, something similar to a copyright label called 'tach' and anybody else seeing this would not dare touch them. But Obuolo had to be shared out once harvested with neighbours. Omena, rabuon(sweetpotatoes) were also very good delicacies. You can see why we withered hostile weather and never had malaria or pneumonia.
Make sure to read more on the same topic in my next posting focusing on social issues and ceremonies as seen from the village perspective.
People of the village:
Usually this lot is very original in every meaning of the word. I remember when we were growing up, we had a tendency to go strolling in the evening most days either to the nearest market centre or just lazying around by the roadside. But the interesting part was the preparation that was always put in this endeavour. we would spend endless time trying to polish our cracked soles with some special stone from kamasia known locally as "kit kamasia". It was a black rugged stone usually of very rough edges that was curved to try and control our huge gullies of cracked skin and our wildly growing toe nails. Mark you this was not a preserve of men only but also of women especially when they were preparing to go to the market to buy or sell their wares, my Aunt Lorna Nyar Awino would spend so much time scrubbing her legs that most of the times she was always left behind by my mum and had to run some kilometres to catch up. After all the preparation of polishing the soles we would put on 'Akala' shoes made from car tyres and decend on the road to adventure, only those who were very luck could put on 'Lada' some rubber shoes from bata Shoe company and very famous for their strips of blue, white and red labels.
These 'maraoundis' the rounds we made to the roadside or market places were meant to expose us to life and also to show another species (gals) that guys existed in a certain village and hence were capable of mingling and mixing in the hope of creating a lasting union.
Chores
Males and females had different sets of chores as dictated by culture but some of us were very unlucky 'coz my mum never believed in male or female you were children and must work as scheduled. You would find me in many instances washing dishes and cutting sukuma wiki but what i loved most was gathering firewood in the bushes. I still think i had a natural talent for identifying dry hidden trees right in the middle of the bush and had to get help to heave the bundle onto my head for the trip home. After learning to ride a bicycle sometimes in 1986 I found myself new status as the bike man. I would undertake all sorts of errands most of which used to be done by my uncle Tong'a. I would be sent to go buy household goods at Bondo market, send stipend to my grandmother in Asembo about 60kms away, relay messages of death and invitation for ceremonies and take my mum on her errands as Chairperson of Ndwara Womens' Goup.
I remember one time during these trips to my grand mother, I was on the bike and had covered about 15kms when suddenly in my ignorance I tried crossing the road and since these were murram roads the middle part was raised due to constant use by motor vehicles and my bikes front tyres could not go up the embarkment. The next thing I remebered was I getting up, tidying myself, looking around and talking to myself and smiling at nothing in particular. I had been thrown off the bike and had bruises on my hands and legs and worse still was the bike with twisted wheel. I abandoned the journey and trekked back home a very dissapointed person. I still bear the scars on my hands, a constant reminder of what happened many years back.
Foods
Plenty and variety of foods abound in the villages and most of them are free. The best times in the village are during the harvesting seasons when fresh produce is removed from the gardens and households cook something fresh from the gardens. As growing up lads we were lucky to have our grandmothers around and several aunts and uncles, so during meal time we would make rounds and have our fill before concluding with your own mums delicacy. I particularly liked Nyoyo gi nyuka ( mixed maize and beans and porridge). There is however a very bitter vegetable called 'Achak' in my language, most people ferment it with milk for a week before they can take it but i had a love for this veg so much that we would cook it and i would demand it in it's bitterest state and go ahead to swallow it without blinking an eye lid.
Other favourites that i liked were obuolo(mushroom). These grew naturally on anthills and once you spotted them sprouting all you needed to do was put a mark of ownership, something similar to a copyright label called 'tach' and anybody else seeing this would not dare touch them. But Obuolo had to be shared out once harvested with neighbours. Omena, rabuon(sweetpotatoes) were also very good delicacies. You can see why we withered hostile weather and never had malaria or pneumonia.
Make sure to read more on the same topic in my next posting focusing on social issues and ceremonies as seen from the village perspective.
