Funerals

Yesterday I went to my second Kenyan funeral. It is a really big event here. Everybody goes, not just close friends and relatives. We had two girls lose parents last week. The principal made a point of saying that she wanted at least 20 teachers and 30 – 40 girls to attend each. I hadn’t planned to go to either funeral as neither girl was a student of mine. I had even forgotten that one of the funerals was yesterday.

However, all of a sudden it was obvious that I was expected to go. Teachers were gathering their things and getting ready to load the school bus. A couple of teachers were telling me that I ought to go while others were telling me that they expected me to go. It always takes people longer here to get around to go places, so at one point I decided to stay. I even sat back down at my desk in the Staff Room and resumed working thinking no one would miss me. I thought the bus had left. Then my phone rang. It was one of the teachers asking where I was. The bus was waiting for me to leave!

The funeral was for Eunice’s, a Form IV’s mother. Eunice is from Kitale and her mother was a well known person, very active in the parish life of Immaculate Conception, the cathedral. She was one of the leading members of the choir and her small Christian community. The Sunday before they had mentioned her and requested prayers for her. She had suddenly taken ill and transported to Nairobi for treatment. She died while in Nairobi. Eunice’s father passed away when she was a Form I student, so she is now an orphan. She has two older siblings and a younger one.

Usually funerals are held at the home of the deceased. However, the homestead was extremely small, so the service was held in the cathedral. That was highly unusual. We arrived about 11:00. The emcee was recognizing groups of people as they entered. Shortly after we arrived they announced the presence of St. Monica’s. Then our principal and one of the teachers had to go forward to speak. Our girls were asked to sing a song.

Politicians use funerals as an opportunity to campaign. Of course, they are given a chance to speak. Much of it was in Kiswahali so I didn’t get all of what was said. I do know that one of the politicians promised to pay school fees for the children so that they could finish their education. You should have heard the clapping. My fellow teachers laughed and said it will never happen. Funerals are a place where all kinds of promises are made and very few carried out. I asked them if most Kenyans realized they were empty promises. They said, unfortunately no.

Before the funeral started our girls sang again while there was a viewing of the body. Caskets here are made with a window in the top half for viewing. There really wasn’t any choice but to go forward with the procession. My fellow teachers thought it was strange that I didn’t really want to go. There was an offertory box for contributions by the casket that would go to the family to help pay expenses. I understand it took about $800 to bring the body from Nairobi to Kitale for the funeral. That is an overwhelming amount for a Kenyan. It took a couple of weeks for them to be able to raise enough money for that.

At one point the priests were ready to start the Mass, but the politicians were still talking so the politicians made the priests wait! Because this woman was so active in the church, there were five priests officiating. It was a typical funeral Mass as we know it. St. Monica’s girls served as liturgical dancers, readers of the Scripture and servers. At the end of the service I realized that I did know Eunice. She had brought extra English work to me even though she isn’t in my class and we had spent time going over it together.

I haven’t seen a hearse here so I’m assuming they don’t have them. To transport bodies they are tied in the back of trucks or on top of vehicles. In this case, it was tied on top of a jeep. A funeral procession then went to the home. People are buried on their own homestead rather than in cemeteries. It is seen as a huge tragedy if the family doesn’t own land on which family members can be buried. Our school bus joined the funeral procession. We even passed a bunch of vehicles to get directly behind the car with the family. Then we even passed the family and the casket. Due to the narrow road, we had to park the bus along the main road and walk about a kilometer to the house. At that point it started raining.

At the homestead they had erected a couple of tarps for protection and a couple of tents. Kenyans sense of personal space is very different from ours. They squeeze into the tiniest of spaces. At that point I got separated from my fellow teachers yet I kept close to some St. Moncia’s girls. I was able to find a space under a tarp, but still got dripped on during the heaviest downpours. I didn’t even try to get close to the grave site for that part of the ceremony. The choir sang for at least an hour at this point.

After probably an hour and a half, huge kettles of food were brought out. The family is expected to feed everyone that attends. The food is usually served by close friends and distant relatives. We had cooked cabbage Kenyan style, rice and beef along with hot milk tea.

By then it was after 4:00. We called Eunice to come out so we could have a small meeting with her. Since it was so crowded, we moved out onto the road. Teachers and students formed a circle with Eunice. Again, the principal, counselor, head of the PTA, and one of the teachers talked. Along with other words of consolation and advice, they encouraged her to return to school as soon as possible. Naturally we closed with a word of prayer. Then it was time to load the bus and head back to school.

Another different thing about Kenyan funerals, photographers are there to take pictures and offer them for sale. I had seen pictures taped on the bell tower at the cathedral for sale. I had assumed they were pictures of the deceased. Then later on the fence outside the home compound had pictures for sale. It wasn’t until one of our teachers bought a photograph that had her in it that I realized they were taking pictures of the crowd to sell!
I must admit I learn quite a bit about Kenyan culture during the day. It also gave me a chance to visit with some of my colleagues as well as help support our school and Eunice.

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is famous for fairy chimneys which are rock columns, pyramids, mushrooms and other formations that were formed when a volcano Mt. Erciyes erupted into an inland sea. The soft rocks are affected by wind and water erosion causing these unique land formations.

Cappadocia isn’t a town, but rather a historical region in Central Antolia. It is known that people have lived in this region since about 3000 BC. The earliest people to live in this area carved homes from the soft rock. They also carved out dove cotes in order to collect pigeon droppings to use as fertilizer for their own use and as a means of income.

The area was a stopover on the Silk Road which allowed travelers and their camels to rest in safety underground.

It was once under the rule of Alexander the Great and later part of the Roman Empire.

During the early days of Christianity, Christians created underground cities where thousands of people to avoid persecution. They used large round stones to block doors and even had holes in the ceiling where defenders could drop spears on their attackers. There was a huge tunnel system connecting the homes and churches. Often the lowest level was used as a stable and for storage. The living areas and churches were located at higher levels for protection. There are wonderful friezes in some of their churches that have been uncovered.

We were able to see these fascinating land formations on two days, one of which was spent on a 4 km hike through the Rose Valley. Many people take hot air balloon rides early in the morning. We got up early one morning to watch from the highest point in our guest house.

It was fun to stay in a guest house that was built into the side of a fairy chimney. The guest house only had 10 rooms but was built on four different levels.

In the town of Goreme we visited a museum the at one time housed a monstary that included a university with “dorms” for both men and women.

For addition photos click here.

Shopping in Instanbul

One of the fun things to see and do while in Istanbul is visit the Grand Bazaar and Spice Markets. The Grand Bazaar is overwhelming with over 4000 shops. We were much more comfortable in the Spice Market. It is part of the Yeni Mosque and rent for the shops help pay for the upkeep of the mosque

Turkish Delight

Pastries with dried fruits and or nuts.

Dried fruits in front, spices in the background

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Teas in front and spices further back

Scarves of all kinds and prices!

Beautiful hand painted pottery

While we were in Istanbul Daniel Craig was also there for 15 days filming the newest James Bond movie. They constructed a "spice market" as part of their props. You can tell that it doesn't look anything like the real thing. No, we didn't actually see him.

Ephesus

We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Turkey. We would highly recommend a visit to Turkey for anyone. It is a beautiful country with very friendly people. The recorded history of the area is incredible going back thousands of years.

Part of what made the trip so special is that Andrea and Melissa joined us for a week. John and I toured Istanbul by ourselves. Then Andrea and Melissa joined us while we visited Ephesus, Cappadocia and Parmukkale. For this blog, I’m only going to talk about Ephesus.

The city of Ephesus has been rebuilt five times over the centuries due to fires and earthquakes. According to the guide book it is “the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean.” The earliest recorded information about it was in the 2000 B.C. It was originally founded by Amazons, women warriors. They cut off their left breast in order to be more effective archers. Men were only allowed in the city as eunuch slaves or once a year to procreate. After that brief time, they were killed.

Alexander the Great visited this city in 334 B.C.

The third city of Ephesus was built by the Romans when this area of the world was the Eastern Roman Empire with Constantinople as its capital. Ephesus was the capital of 500 towns in Anatolia. At that point in time, it was a port city with a population of 250,00. However, today it is 6 kilometers from the Aegean Sea.

You probably know Ephesus because of the book of Ephesians in the New Testament written by Paul. Paul also visited Ephesus. While preaching he was arrested and imprisoned for three years. When released he was forced to leave the city. What you may not know is that the Apostle John took Mary to Ephesus for her protection. She lived here her final years and is buried here. St. John continued living in Ephesus while writing the Gospel of John. He died and was originally buried there.

Click here to see more pictures.

Simple Chalkholder

In the States most schools no longer use chalkboards and chalk. Why? It is messy, dusty and seems to cause allergy and breathing problems in both students and teachers. With the prevalence of asthma, schools have switched to white boards that use special markers or use technology such as smart boards or overhead projects to display information to get rid of the health hazard. We don't have that luxury in Kenya. Here it is a common practice to shake hands with a person the first time you see them each day. Often, a fellow teacher doesn't offer his/her hand to shake in the usual way because it is covered with chalk dust. Instead they offer the back of their hand to touch. I have often joked when this happens, "I can tell that you have already been hard at work this morning." One of the items we asked Andrea and Melissa to bring to us last month was a chalkholder. It is a simple tool that holds a piece of chalk. Only a small amount of the chalk is exposed at one time like the lead in a pencil. You hold onto the chalk holder rather than the chalk so that your hands don't become entirely covered with chalk dust. They kindly obliged and brought one for each of us. I've been teaching for a week now. No one has seemed to notice or commented on it until yesterday. One of the Form IV girls asked, "What happens when you run out of chalk?" When I showed them how it works, pushing on the end to move the chalk forward, they were amazed. I showed them how you could remove the chalk and simply insert a new piece which even increased their awe. At that point I had to go around the classroom to show them up close. Isn't it amazing how something so simple that we take for granted and really don't use anymore because it is outdated can cause such a reaction in Kenya.