Our office is one of the few workplaces in town with a 5 day work week...for the field officers at least. As project manager, I've quickly discovered I still need to put in a solid 6 says so as to ensure things to don't fly off the the rails. Like most full time workers in Kenya, my Saturdays are just another work day...perhaps with the chance of leaving a little early. For almost everyone, Sunday is the only day of the week away from work.
Religion is a big part of people's lives. I have been to about a dozen people's homes so far and have yet to see a Kenyan living room without either a picture of Jesus or a cross. The Mount Kenya region is almost entirely Christian and I have seen church's from a wide array of denominations: Catholics, Pentecostals, United, Jehovah's Witnesses, Anglican, and so forth. I have made a habit of the attending Kianayga's Anglican church because its only a 5 minute walk from my place and it is one of the few places of worship around here with a weekly English service. English service is from 8:30 am to 10 am and is aimed at the younger crowd. A little after 10, the Kikuyu service begins, lasting around 3 to 4 hours. The English service gives the younger generation a chance to pray and practice their faith without having to go through marathon of hymns and sermons.
When I wake up on Sundays,I usually do not feel like going. However I always leave the service feeling calm, cool, and collected. The service is very lively and is similar to Black American churches minus the gospel choir. There is however a musical ensemble comprising an electric guitar, drums, keyboard, and a musically gifted young man doing the vocals. Most of the hymns involve a good mount of physical movement, be it swaying your body, clapping your hands, or raising your arms. It is as if there is some collective spirit in the air that gets into your soul and makes you want to participate and sing and move your body.
I don't feel like going into an ideological debate about the teachings espoused during the service (a couple weeks back, the sermon was on the dangers of same sex marriage). In my opinion, it would be extremely condescending and inappropriate for a guest in another country to complain about such things. It is the unity and community spirit that I find so compelling. A church packed with three hundred teenagers and young adults on a Sunday morning is something you'll be hard pressed to find in Canada.
The rest of my Sundays are spent trying to do the most relaxing and least mentally or physically taxing tasks. That's what the rest of the week is for! I will usually be either reading, meditating, or visiting other people's places after service. I have almost finished Dubliners by James Joyce. Apparently, the Irish in 1900s took their tea in a similar manner to that of Kenyans today. Who wudda thunk it?
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