Thursday, April 24, 2014

2nd, 3rd ... Paragraphs

I decide to change the view, to a warmer place. A different view from the cold one I'm on. I walk through a path with bushes of average adult human height. I see a different path separating from this, a path that seems to be commonly used. Grass on this path have been dried up by what I can call local tourists. As I approach what seems to be my next view of the escarpments in Iten, I hear voices. Happy voices of teenage girls greet me as I enter this rocky view, dotted with 1 spot of shade. I greet the girls and take a position at the edge of this warm and sunny view point. I can now see more of the rift-valley,  I can now see more civilization down under me.

There are farms, filled with different crops and plants. Passion fruits, nappier grass, bananas, pineapples, groundnuts, avocados and various vegetables. This is usually the maize season but none of the farmers has been lucky with the god of rain. This explains the large but dry farms spreading through most of the land on this floor of the rift-valley. Brown farms are all over, screaming to the god of rain, to be merciful and shed his tears on them. Maize seeds are probably still underground, waiting for the rain to fall so that they can germinate. Beans seeds are luckier because they've already germinated but the lack of rain has shrank them.

Two young men walk to this view. They greet me then move much closer to the edge and gaze upon the valley. I think, they must really be enjoying this view but once they start conversing, I realize I'm wrong.

"How are your beans?" One asks the other in Kalenjin, the native language.

"They've grown but are really dry right now. I had started weeding but decided to stop because there are no signs of rain this season." The other replies.

Without much talk, they leave. Their faces are painted with disappointment, not anger. Disappointment. I'm left wondering why they're disappointed and not angry. I think for a moment then I conclude that maybe they should have waited for the rains before they laid the seeds. Maybe they are disappointed in themselves. Maybe they're disappointed that they're not good farmers, something that is expected of them by their loved ones. Maybe they're disappointed that they'll let their families down this season of farming. They are sad.

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