Bomestay Day two

I awoke at 6:30 to beams of light shining through the cracks of the boma's walls. Each stream danced before my eyes as smoke from the fire raised upwards. The noises of the morning were filled with the sounds of cows moving out of the boma's interior and into the surrounding grasslands. When i finally got the urge to sit up, my host family was circuled around the fire drinking their morning cup of chai. Once they noticed me sit up they handed me a a morning cup of chai as well as a few peices of chapati.
Soon after I finished my chapati my host-mom summoned me to come with her and fetch water. We grabbed two containedrs, one small the other big, and headed towards teh river. As we got closer to it I was able to make out who the Mzungu sitting on the banks were. To my delight Sonia and Mika were at the river resting while their host families filled up their water jugs. We all shared our experiences from the past night and morning. Collectively we all got very little sleep. First nights in new environments ares never very good in terms of getting good sleep. The fact that the beds were an inch too short for my legs didn't help either. But because I was so excited about the first days activities I hardly noticed my own fatigue.
After fetching water we returned home for a cup of ugi. Ugi is a porridge like food that is one of the Maasia's staple foods. As I sipped it down out of the coup I couldnt help but gag down small bits at a time. I am not a fan of drinking substances with chunks in them.
All homestays consist of numerous moments where you are either forced(through respectful obligations) to eat a whole plate of food you don't like, or drink a cup of a substance you can barely get down. This is why it is so easy to gain weight on homestays!
When I finished my ugi we walked past a few bomas to a boma that was in its construction phase. This boma turned out to be a new boma for my family. For approximately an our I helped my mom work on the house. I found out that in between the sticks and cow dung, Maasai put the branches with leaves inside as insulation. I helped her stick brances in between the sticks until we rean out. When we ran out we headed into the nearby forset and cut down some wood for fire. In the forest we met up with Sonia and her host family again. In the forst we ran around and out cut down firewood. Once enough was collected we harnessed a peice of cowhide around it and place the cow hid strap on our forehead with the wood resting on our lower backs.
At two the translators roundes us all up to discuss whether there were any issues facing us, as well as to give us an oppurtunity to share our experiences. It is amazing how much one can find to share with their friends after being separated for only 24 hours.
When i returned home I sat on my bed and observed my family. As I sat there taking in everything and everyone I had a hard time fathoming the fact that I was in a Maasai boma, not just visiting, or stopping by, but living there.