Being Taira.........Being Beautiful In Ngong

Have you ever wondered how that lone shoe got left in the middle of the highway? Today as I walked to the orphanage I noticed something very peculiar on the roadways of Ngong. There were chunks of hair scattered along the ditches and roads and stuck to the dying underbrush. These were substantial chunks of hair......something I am sure you would notice had gone missing. I mean these were like a whole head of hair; there was braided hair and dyed hair, long straight locks and big round curls. There was nothing around to suggest an accident or foul play so I must assume the winds of Ngong, which had be particularly strong the day before, had something to do with all this scattered hair.

Hair is extremely important to the women of Kenya. There are lots of little shops that cater to the Kenyan womens hair needs.....which primarily is the addition of hair. Many women here sport long elaborate do's....with buns and braids, swept up into yet another hair piece; looking like they are heading down the read carpet at the Academy Awards. I, until recently, thought this was their own hair but then I noticed women sitting on porches and in doorways with a knee full of hair. The hair dresser adds in strands of this hair to already tightly woven plaits. This whole procedure is time consuming, around 4 hours is a general estimate. I have also noticed a lot of women sporting wigs.....I know this because they wear them more like a hat, with little tuft sticking out from the edges. I personally find the head scarf the classiest. Many of the women MP's, (elected officials to Kenyan Government) sport flashy, multi coloured, head scarves, that resemble a bird ready to take flight.

Dress is as varied as the tufts of hair on the road.....all business women and men dress very professionally, which includes hospital workers to shop keepers. Men sport suites and ties and women dress in business suites with pants or skirts. As for the average people of the street, well that depends on the income level or if the person is trying to get a job. But mostly you see women in dresses or below the knee skirts while guys wear jeans and T-shirts. The children, if they are in school are dressed in uniforms of the schools colours while the poorer kids can be found in a mish-mash of ripped pants, leggings, little girl party dresses and thread bear sweaters. I have seen the same white confirmation dress on two separate little girls from the orphanage.........I assume there must be a system so everyone gets a chance to where this coveted gown. And yes even though I find it warm, +25 to +30, Kenyans' love to wear a sweater....usually two. The most interesting thing is to see so many t-shirts from Canada! Many of the young men can be seen sporting a t-shirt with a slogan for the Calgary Flames or a High School from back home......how weird is that?

I apologize now to everyone as I am setting a very bad example of Canadian dress......unless you consider a Tilly hat, plain t-shirt and capri's as typical Canadian dress! Maybe I'll spruce things up a little and get a fancy gown from the Wednesday market.....Kelsey tells me there is a gut who sells old wedding and grad dresses real cheap!