day one hundred and fifty four

This post should start with some fantastic news for my readers - my car sold! Thank God! I was seriously about to run out of moolah! It's funny, because I was just about to give up on this adventure and apply for work, but then *boom* car sold and now can finish out the year.

Earlier this month I attended the official part of a Kenyan funeral. I say the "official" part because there's like three days prior to the ceremony which involves a huge dance party, lots of wailing and praying and food. However as I didn't know the guy I felt awkward just turning up at his house and partying. I went along to the ceremony as a sign of respect for Mama J as this guy was a good friend of hers. 

Anyway, this guy was HUGE - both physically and socially. Whilst he might have died because of his physical size, his social prowess means that he lives on in the community. I took some photos with my phone (as I felt weird whipping out my camera at a funeral) to share with you some of this experience...

The funeral is being held at a local high school on their playing grounds.
There are about 1000 people here...

Yeah, that's a coffin there...

The main tent - all the church ladies are dressed in white

Yes, that is a programme for the funeral...

When the widow came to speak, all the church ladies came and surrounded her...

I ended up leaving after three hours of speeches - just after the widow finished giving her talk but before the politicians started abusing the microphone... seriously Kenya, is a funeral the time to give a speech about how corrupt your opposition is?

So there you go, one cultural experience for you. I've been invited to a wedding later next month so will let you know all about that!