What I did this weekend:Walking

I have probably walked more since I have been here then I have in the last six months. On Saturday the only thing that i did was walk over to Nakumat Junction just for the fun of it. At Junction they have a movie theater which was playing Sherlock Holmes and Its complicated. Which I was pleasantly surprised about I was worried that the movies would be super old and outdated like (500)Days of Summer old. There also was a bookstore which only had romance novels and chick lit in it which was disappointing. There was a copy of Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson which I almost was tempted to buy until I realized that it cost 1250 shillings which is like 17 dollars! For a tiny little paperback! So I just wandered around the grocery store looking to see what American food they had. They had Sprite but I tried one before and it didn't taste the same. Their Fanta (which I would never usually drink) taste more like the regular ones. They had some Pringles,Rice Crispies, Snickers and Twix. I got a Twix and ate it so fast. They taste exactly the same and it was exactly what I wanted. I then stopped over to buy some fresh squeezed watermelon juice and walked back. I think it is at least a mile away maybe more. The rest of the day I just sat around and watched my Flight of the Conchords DVD's which was great as always.

Sunday was much more fun. I woke up early so I could be ready by 10 to go to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which is a sanctuary for orphaned baby elephants. They were so cute! They get walked out and then the trainers feed them milk with bottles and then the elephants were just playing around with each other. It was so cute and I learned some neat elephant facts. Like elephants only drink milk for the first six months and then they slowly start eating solid food like a leaf or twig. They start growing there tusks at around 2 and when they get released back in to the wild the trainers said that the elephants they knew from being in the orphanage will remember them and help them adjust to the wild and take them under their wing. Elephants are the best. I think if I were to be an animal I would be an elephant. The trainers went through and gave the name and story of all the elephants. One of them whose names means grateful in kiswahili (I cant remember the actual name) was found in a man hole by a man. The man tried to get her out but she was to heavy so he had to go and get help. When they finally got her out the man who found her had to convince everyone to let him take the elephant and get it help because everyone wanted to barbecue it. So the trainer said the elephant had a lot to be grateful for. First it was saved from a man hole and secondly it was saved from being barbecued. There were alot of people there it is a popular tourist spot. After Natasha and I went to Ya Ya center and got lunch. There is a small Masai market there and I was able to go there for a little while. You have to haggle which I have never done before but I tried. I thought I got a good deal on a little chess table I got the vendor to go from 12,000 to 3600 but when I told the taxi driver what I paid he said he can get one for 1,000 shillings. I also got a really cute bag for 450 shillings down from 1000. I read somewhere you should always get them to go less than half of the original price they tell you. Hopefully I will get better as I do it more. I am not very aggressive and I always get sidetracked by all the people trying to start conversations with you and pull you into their little sections. You have to ask around more to get a good feel of the prices before you buy. When I went home after when I was setting up my chess table I realized I was missing one of the pawns. The taxi driver left and I had to walk all the way back to Ya Ya. I thought I got lost but I eventually found my way, the walk was a lot longer than I expected. When I finally got home about an hour fifteen minutes later I went to put my chess piece back and it was the wrong color! I walked all the way back to the market and I didn't even get the right thing. I felt so dumb. I honestly didn't even think to look at what color I needed. I am going to have to go back next week and sort it all out.