so i realize i've been really bad at writing here lately... i haven't written much at all, actually. i brought my journal to kenya, fully expecting to write in it every single day, but i haven't written in that for probably a month. i'm sure that i will regret that some day. i'm sure i will forget so many things, even things that seem so real to me right now - and some day soon i will be mad at myself for not taking more pictures and writing more journal entries. but i've been too lazy to write. and i always want to write something meaningful and then i get too stressed by that thought and i don't write anything b/c i just don't care.
so anyway, sorry! but i will try to write about my past month or so.
i officially finished my internship last week. honestly, i spent the last two weeks there basically doing nothing productive. i did build a shelf and painted it green, though! i thought green would be a good color, since it's a shelf for environmental materials. plus, the office i worked in was so blah and boring that i wanted to give it some color. however, the green paint was not what i expected, and it sort of looks like the color of the grinch, but oh well.
my last few weeks were really good in other ways. i spent a lot of time at one of the other intern's workplaces. there's a tailoring program and a carpentery program there, so there are always lots of people around. i had one of the carpenters help me make a shelf (he basically did all the work, although i think the guys were impressed to see a girl attempting to use a hammer) - and i also had one of the tailoring girls make me a dress. the material is so beautiful and she made it in literally 2 hours, which is incredible to me. i highly doubt that i will ever actually wear the dress in the US - i love it, but african-tight-and-foofy isn't really my style - but still, it's really gorgeous and i'll keep it forever.
i also spent a lot of time w/ my host family. i regret not spending more time w/ them while i was here - they are all really amazing people. they took really good care of me, and the way that they were really influenced how i will want to live my life in certain ways. except the polygamy thing. still against that.
so, my last week can be summed up by saying i felt melancholy.
on friday, i went to work for one last day, then went to my favorite lunch place in town. that night, the interns all had a "good-bye" party for max (the other intern leaving on the same day) and i.
on saturday morning, i woke up at 6 am, did my normal morning routine, and waited to get picked up to go to the bus stop. it was a very quick and rushed morning - getting ready, packing, cleaning, saying goodbye, etc... - but i am glad it was that way. i hate long, drawn-out goodbyes, and i would kind of rather not deal w/ them, although i'm sure that having to have so many emotional goodbyes are breaking down some emotional walls in me, which i guess is a good thing!
then... the bus ride back to nairobi. summertime on the equator. smelly bus. really really really bad roads. 10 1/2 hours. yes, it was hellish and i threw up. it basicaly felt like being in a 7 point earthquake for an entire day. i was so thankful to finally get to nairobi, even though i continued to feel sick for the next two days and everyone thought i might have malaria ( i think it was just motion sickness - i've been very good about taking my pills every day!)
sooooooooooo nairobi, blah blah blah, not very exciting.
but now, hayley (another intern) and i are in mombasa until saturday! it's a different world here - i love it but i'm also thankful for where i was. it's nice to have this time to sort of decompress before leaving. we have no agenda and no pressure - all we want to do is relax and get some sun. so it's been good. the humidity here is ridiculous, though. i'm sure most of you are in really cold weather right now, and can't believe i'm complaining about heat - so sorry for that :) but i'm pretty sure i'm sweating away most of the weight i've gained in the past three months. it's nice to be in the sun but i'm going to totally embrace the snow when i come home.
so we have 3 more days here, then we'll drive back to nairobi on saturday. then i'll fly to london on sunday morning, and fly home home home on monday morning!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
i can't believe that i'll be going home one month from today. actually, i'll be going to london and waiting 17 hours to get on my flight home, but oh well.
at one point i wrote about Moi Day, and how my office was closed to celebrate the holiday. well, today is yet another holiday, although not an official one... i'm not even sure that it's an actual holiday. but, nobody at my office is working today. i didn't find that out, though, until i was about 100 feet away from the office, when my boss text messaged me to let me know. so, now i'm just sitting in the internet cafe w/ two europeans (i always wonder what other westerners are doing here, although i'm sure they're wondering the same about me). i felt bad about not writing in this more often, but now it looks like i have a whole day to write!
so, although i have basically no idea what's going on in politics in the US (hillary is ahead everywhere... that's all i know. i blame my lack of knowledge on the fact that i don't have a TV instead of my own apathy and ignorance), i do know what's going on in kenyan politics. it's actually pretty exciting to be here right now, since they're having the presidential election soon - december 27.
there are two main candidates - Mwai Kibaki, the current president, and Raila Odinga. it's interesting to see how much tribal heritages play into politics here. most of the central province is for kibaki, since he's from there and has invested a lot of time and money there since he was elected in '02. so, basically the whole central province is going to vote for him. where i am, though, is the western province, which is very strongly in favor of odinga. his party is called ODM and it's official color is orange, so there are people wearing orange everywhere i go today. so far, i've only met one person who supports kibaki, and i think it's because he is originally from the central province. it's hard to say who's going to win - it looked like odinga was ahead in the polls for a while, but now it seems more even. oh, and there's also someone named kalonzo who just joined the race recently, but the polls only show him having about 8% of the vote. however, i guess that can make a big difference. i liken him to a green party candidate - not mainstream enough, definitely won't win, but whose presence in the election might affect the outcome, anyway.
so, another part of the election is that the country elects a totally new parliament (british influence, i suppose). there are about 200 members in total, and each district elects one person to be the member of parliament. in the district i'm living in, there are about 70-something people running for this one position, so today they're all meeting together. thus the reason my office is closed. i'm not sure when exactly the voting or election process takes place for this position - i talked to a group of young guys this morning about it, but considering that they probably started drinking last night (not surprisingly, hard liquor smells quite nauseating at 9 in the morning, even on someone's breath), they weren't very helpful. anyway, the guys gave me a flyer for the parliamentary candidate they supported and appeared very faithful supporters of him, though. i told them that if i were kenyan i'd definitely vote for him. i don't really blame them, though - they have a government full of corrupt officials (although it's not awful compared to a lot of developing countries, i guess), and for the past 5 years, they've gotten basically nothing while the central province has done a lot better, in terms of economic growth. who knows how much better odinga will be if he gets elected - i'm sure there'll be lots of forgotten promises - but at least he would be different and the youth need some idealism to hang on to. it's interesting to me how similar the situation here is to the one we have in the US (although they're very different in a lot of ways) - it seems that people always think there's going to be something better and different, even though it's possible that this new president might be just as bad in other ways. but, people always need some hope to cling to - the hope that we might get a new leader who'll lead us to make the world a better place. and that may never happen, but what's the point of caring about politics if you don't think there's any hope?
anyway, it's really interesting to be here at such an important time for the country. i feel so much like an outsider - like no matter how much i talk to the people here about politics, no matter how much i see first-hand the effects of the government on their lives, i will never be able to get into their minds and to understand the way the feel about these issues. the fact is that i'm flying home, to my real home, in one month. and then i'll start reading US papers again and caring about what's going on w/ barack and hillary and the negligible republican, whoever that may end up being. and i'm excited to be back in a country that feels like it's my own. and to go out in public without having everyone know that i'm obviously a foreigner. but at the same time, it's so cool to be here and have have nobody care that much about my life and my country (not that they don't care - but honestly, how much do i normally care about kenyan politics when i'm in the US?), and to just see life from a different perspective.
ok it's too early in the morning to keep writing about such seriousness.
life is going really well here - i only have 3 more months of my internship which is so crazy. for the rest of my time, i'll just be putting together some educational materials for the schools i've been working with, and then going back to the schools to talk about a future partnership. my organization is submitting a grant proposal soon for the funds to make tree nurseries at all of the schools we've been working with. that would be a really awesome thing - the schools would be able to raise seedlings and then sell them in the community, and then use the profit for their schools. besides that, i'm basically just doing random things at the office. i've realized that i have such a short period of time left, and i just want to spend time with people more - and not just worrying that i'm not going to get all my work done.
so, i now have 5 hours left of my work day and no clue how to spend it. i sort of want to be a part of some political rally but that also sort of terrifies me. so we'll see... tomorrow hayley - another intern - and i are going to a town nearby called eldoret. we don't know much about this town other than the fact that we always see busses in town called "eldoret express" - so i feel like it's going to be pretty exciting. the main thing that "lonely planet" says is that it's known for cheese. who knew kenya was known for cheese? my cheese intake has been at an all-time low since i've been here (seriously, when's the last time i had cheese? i haven't thought about this but i'm pretty sure it was like a month ago) i'll definitely report on this later.
ok that's all i've got for now - things are good. it's ironic - b/c it's a slow-paced country, but life is absolutely flying by now. it's scary that things are going so fast, but i'm also so excited to be home. i miss you all so much! thanks for reading!
at one point i wrote about Moi Day, and how my office was closed to celebrate the holiday. well, today is yet another holiday, although not an official one... i'm not even sure that it's an actual holiday. but, nobody at my office is working today. i didn't find that out, though, until i was about 100 feet away from the office, when my boss text messaged me to let me know. so, now i'm just sitting in the internet cafe w/ two europeans (i always wonder what other westerners are doing here, although i'm sure they're wondering the same about me). i felt bad about not writing in this more often, but now it looks like i have a whole day to write!
so, although i have basically no idea what's going on in politics in the US (hillary is ahead everywhere... that's all i know. i blame my lack of knowledge on the fact that i don't have a TV instead of my own apathy and ignorance), i do know what's going on in kenyan politics. it's actually pretty exciting to be here right now, since they're having the presidential election soon - december 27.
there are two main candidates - Mwai Kibaki, the current president, and Raila Odinga. it's interesting to see how much tribal heritages play into politics here. most of the central province is for kibaki, since he's from there and has invested a lot of time and money there since he was elected in '02. so, basically the whole central province is going to vote for him. where i am, though, is the western province, which is very strongly in favor of odinga. his party is called ODM and it's official color is orange, so there are people wearing orange everywhere i go today. so far, i've only met one person who supports kibaki, and i think it's because he is originally from the central province. it's hard to say who's going to win - it looked like odinga was ahead in the polls for a while, but now it seems more even. oh, and there's also someone named kalonzo who just joined the race recently, but the polls only show him having about 8% of the vote. however, i guess that can make a big difference. i liken him to a green party candidate - not mainstream enough, definitely won't win, but whose presence in the election might affect the outcome, anyway.
so, another part of the election is that the country elects a totally new parliament (british influence, i suppose). there are about 200 members in total, and each district elects one person to be the member of parliament. in the district i'm living in, there are about 70-something people running for this one position, so today they're all meeting together. thus the reason my office is closed. i'm not sure when exactly the voting or election process takes place for this position - i talked to a group of young guys this morning about it, but considering that they probably started drinking last night (not surprisingly, hard liquor smells quite nauseating at 9 in the morning, even on someone's breath), they weren't very helpful. anyway, the guys gave me a flyer for the parliamentary candidate they supported and appeared very faithful supporters of him, though. i told them that if i were kenyan i'd definitely vote for him. i don't really blame them, though - they have a government full of corrupt officials (although it's not awful compared to a lot of developing countries, i guess), and for the past 5 years, they've gotten basically nothing while the central province has done a lot better, in terms of economic growth. who knows how much better odinga will be if he gets elected - i'm sure there'll be lots of forgotten promises - but at least he would be different and the youth need some idealism to hang on to. it's interesting to me how similar the situation here is to the one we have in the US (although they're very different in a lot of ways) - it seems that people always think there's going to be something better and different, even though it's possible that this new president might be just as bad in other ways. but, people always need some hope to cling to - the hope that we might get a new leader who'll lead us to make the world a better place. and that may never happen, but what's the point of caring about politics if you don't think there's any hope?
anyway, it's really interesting to be here at such an important time for the country. i feel so much like an outsider - like no matter how much i talk to the people here about politics, no matter how much i see first-hand the effects of the government on their lives, i will never be able to get into their minds and to understand the way the feel about these issues. the fact is that i'm flying home, to my real home, in one month. and then i'll start reading US papers again and caring about what's going on w/ barack and hillary and the negligible republican, whoever that may end up being. and i'm excited to be back in a country that feels like it's my own. and to go out in public without having everyone know that i'm obviously a foreigner. but at the same time, it's so cool to be here and have have nobody care that much about my life and my country (not that they don't care - but honestly, how much do i normally care about kenyan politics when i'm in the US?), and to just see life from a different perspective.
ok it's too early in the morning to keep writing about such seriousness.
life is going really well here - i only have 3 more months of my internship which is so crazy. for the rest of my time, i'll just be putting together some educational materials for the schools i've been working with, and then going back to the schools to talk about a future partnership. my organization is submitting a grant proposal soon for the funds to make tree nurseries at all of the schools we've been working with. that would be a really awesome thing - the schools would be able to raise seedlings and then sell them in the community, and then use the profit for their schools. besides that, i'm basically just doing random things at the office. i've realized that i have such a short period of time left, and i just want to spend time with people more - and not just worrying that i'm not going to get all my work done.
so, i now have 5 hours left of my work day and no clue how to spend it. i sort of want to be a part of some political rally but that also sort of terrifies me. so we'll see... tomorrow hayley - another intern - and i are going to a town nearby called eldoret. we don't know much about this town other than the fact that we always see busses in town called "eldoret express" - so i feel like it's going to be pretty exciting. the main thing that "lonely planet" says is that it's known for cheese. who knew kenya was known for cheese? my cheese intake has been at an all-time low since i've been here (seriously, when's the last time i had cheese? i haven't thought about this but i'm pretty sure it was like a month ago) i'll definitely report on this later.
ok that's all i've got for now - things are good. it's ironic - b/c it's a slow-paced country, but life is absolutely flying by now. it's scary that things are going so fast, but i'm also so excited to be home. i miss you all so much! thanks for reading!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
legal in kenya
a lot has happened since i last wrote. i'm not very good at collecting and writing my thoughts sometimes, so this might be really long and jumbled. hopefully, it will be long in a good sense, like harry potter book 5, and not in the bad sense, like christmas letters where people discuss their medical ailments of the past year.
i left off last thursday, as i was preparing to officially start my environmental education program. it actually started this past monday, so last week i was doing a lot of prep work for that. it wasn't too stressful, even though i had absolutely no idea what to expect, as far as how well the program would actually go. so on friday, i did some last-minute preparations and decided to just enjoy the weekend. my boss is always telling me that i should "go out" on friday nights, but i always decide against that because A. that would totally cramp my usual friday night routine of dinner with the family followed by an early bedtime and B. my least favorite thing about kenya by far is the drunk young male population, so i'm never too eager to go spend an evening surrounded by them.
so, the next day, we (the interns) met up with the 3 new interns who just arrived in kakamega. they had just spent the week doing orientation stuff, and were about to go meet their host families. it's really interesting and weird to have new people here, but they're all great and it's been fun to get to know them so far. i like them a lot, but i am still so thankful to have come with my group. we've formed such great friendships and i truly love spending time with them.
after that, we decided to hang out in town all day, and then we went to our program coordinator's house to spend the night. we just hung out, talked, shot the breeze... and watched anchorman. every person in my group can quote "the best of will ferrell" (volumes 1 AND 2) pretty much verbatim, so the movie selection was enjoyed by all.
so..... monday. i officially started my environmental education program in 16 local primary schools. (don't worry, i didn't go to all 16 schools on monday...) basically, the idea behind this whole project is to talk about envirnonmental issues in kenya, especially deforestation - which is a huge problem, and then plant trees with a group of students. i am not a teacher and i don't know anything about afforestation. before i came here, if you would've told me that this would end up being my project, i would've laughed in your face. but, this is what i'm doing. and although i have meager skills, i absolutely LOVE doing this. my workplace is sort of a wasteland (but that's a story for another time) so it has been really awesome to go out to schools and really get a sense of the local community. there are a few reasons i chose to do this project. First, because it falls in line with the goals of CARD - this is something they've been wanting to do for a long time. Secondly, because any form of tree planting is a good thing, and it's even better to teach kids about the importance of doing this, since their generation are the ones who'll have to deal with all the negative effects that deforestation will have had on the environment and economy. Lastly, because I wanted to do something that would really connect CARD with the community - a project that would introduce schools and CARD to one another, in hopes of working together in the future. So, even though this project has been extremely frustrating at times, it has been so worth it because of these three things.
This week we went out to 8 different schools. I am definitely not a person who absolutely loves kids. In fact, I normally dislike walking across a primary school compound amidst millions of screaming children. However, it is so cool to sit in a classroom with a small group of students and see how excited they are about learning new stuff. And they all know way more than I do about soil conservation, which I've seen demonstrated multiple times this week, by the fact that they already seem to know most of the stuff in my lesson plan. for what it's worth, it was all new to me when i wrote the plan. this is probably the same epiphany that the person who started "are you smarter than a 5th grader had." ahh i could've invented that! anyway, it's a weird thing... the kids are so well-behaved, and they know so much. i wonder how much of it is because of a fear of punishment. in any case, these kids are cool because they're still at the age where learning is fun and you want to be a good student. it's sad that, i'm sure many of these kids won't have the money to go to secondary school (basically like high school). primary education is mostly free, but after that, who knows. it just depends on how good of a student you are and how much money your family has. and it sucks that at 14 years old you might just be done with school for reasons you have no control over. but right now, meeting these kids, watching them plant trees, seeing them be excited to just be kids... it's really cool. it's what's keeping me so passionate about what i'm doing here. and i'm not even doing anything. i'm sort of facilitating and doing leg-work, but it's the teachers who are doing all the work, and it's been really inspiring to be around people who love the kids and their jobs so much.
so, that's been my week at work! on tuesday, i turned 21! yes, i know that's not very exciting for anyone else, since i'm always the young one, but i feel like it was a milestone of sorts. i actually do feel older. and the drinking age here is 18 (or whatever) so turning 21 in kenya means nothing, legally, but it was still a fun day. i'm sure it'll sound really cool to tell people that i had my 21st birthday in kenya, but in my head, i'll always know that it was just a normal day - wake up, go to work, had some drinks after work with the interns - but nothing crazy. i had to be home before dark - had some lentils and rice for my bday dinner and went to bed at 8! that's probably the earliest i've gone to bed on my birthday since i was 6, but i am really embracing this new lifestyle. i kind of like it.
then wednesday. or halloween. we didn't celebrate that, though, so i'll just call it wednesday. it was a pretty intense day. one of the other interns, abbey, is working at a medical clinic in a village about 30 minutes away. one of her main projects was to do a VCT day. VCT is voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. The clinic got about 5 counselors to come that day, and the whole day was spent by them testing individuals. The routine is that people o into a private room with a counselor, who talks to to them about HIV/AIDS, and then about their sexual history, and then they take a blood test. This whole process takes about 10-15 minutes. That day, there were 138 people tested and only 5 counselors, so although it was great to have a big turnout, it was a very busy day. So, when we arrived (the 5 of us), we got tested first. The people working at the clinic really wanted us to do this - they told us that a lot of the people in this rural village are so reluctant to get tested. Some of them don't really know how HIV is transmitted, so they don't know if they're even at risk. Or, some of them think they might have it, but are afraid of going to get tested - either they just don't know what it's like, or they're scared that their friends and family may find out. There is still such a huge stigma around getting tested. I think that most Americans might say the same thing - that it's awkward or embarrassing to get tested - but it's different here. Villages are small, everyone knows everyone, and if you have HIV/AIDS or even just get tested for it, people know right away. So, it's sad but understandable why people shy away from it so much. So, the people at the clinic had us get tested first, which was a crazy experience. I had done this before - before going to Equatorial Guinea last summer, the missions organization had us get tested first. But that was in the US, and nobody asked questions. Here, the counselor talked to me the way she had been trained to. At first, it was kind of... comical (I know, that make me sound like a horrible, horrible person) - but that's really how I felt. It had been a busy, fun morning, and my mind wasn't really comprehending what that day was going to be about. For me, I knew I didn't have HIV, so I wasn't worried at all. And when she talked to me about the methods of transmission and how to prevent infection, I knew all the answers. Duh, who doesn't know this stuff? But then I realized, there's a reason why she's saying these things. For some of the people getting tested here today, this is a reality. They walk into a room, totally aware that their lives might be completely and totally different in 10 minutes. How do you prepare yourself for that? How do you get up the courage to face that? And it's not because these people are promiscuous - although maybe that's true in some cases. For some of the women, they were there because their husbands are unfaithful (a common situation), and when they come home and want to have sex, they're going to have sex. the culture is becoming more and more progressive, but especially in rural areas, the gender roles are still fairly unequal. if a woman knows that her husband is cheating and therefore is at risk for HIV, she can't just say "no" to sex when he comes home from "business trips." it doesn't work that way, in many cases. we americans like to think that people are autonomous and have complete control over their own bodies and decisions, but sadly, that's not the way it is everywhere. and saying "be abstinent" or "use a condom" isn't always relevant or realistic. and that sucks, but what's the alternative? leave your husband? not when your husband is providing financially (however little it may be), or when you might shame your family to leave a marriage.
so... i don't know. i don't have any sort of conclusion for this. it was just a crazy day... "AIDS in Africa" actually had faces and names and voices and laughter and tears. and it was real and i'm not sure how to process it or what to think, but i do know that it was one of the most intense days i've had here and i wanted to share it with you all.
i left off last thursday, as i was preparing to officially start my environmental education program. it actually started this past monday, so last week i was doing a lot of prep work for that. it wasn't too stressful, even though i had absolutely no idea what to expect, as far as how well the program would actually go. so on friday, i did some last-minute preparations and decided to just enjoy the weekend. my boss is always telling me that i should "go out" on friday nights, but i always decide against that because A. that would totally cramp my usual friday night routine of dinner with the family followed by an early bedtime and B. my least favorite thing about kenya by far is the drunk young male population, so i'm never too eager to go spend an evening surrounded by them.
so, the next day, we (the interns) met up with the 3 new interns who just arrived in kakamega. they had just spent the week doing orientation stuff, and were about to go meet their host families. it's really interesting and weird to have new people here, but they're all great and it's been fun to get to know them so far. i like them a lot, but i am still so thankful to have come with my group. we've formed such great friendships and i truly love spending time with them.
after that, we decided to hang out in town all day, and then we went to our program coordinator's house to spend the night. we just hung out, talked, shot the breeze... and watched anchorman. every person in my group can quote "the best of will ferrell" (volumes 1 AND 2) pretty much verbatim, so the movie selection was enjoyed by all.
so..... monday. i officially started my environmental education program in 16 local primary schools. (don't worry, i didn't go to all 16 schools on monday...) basically, the idea behind this whole project is to talk about envirnonmental issues in kenya, especially deforestation - which is a huge problem, and then plant trees with a group of students. i am not a teacher and i don't know anything about afforestation. before i came here, if you would've told me that this would end up being my project, i would've laughed in your face. but, this is what i'm doing. and although i have meager skills, i absolutely LOVE doing this. my workplace is sort of a wasteland (but that's a story for another time) so it has been really awesome to go out to schools and really get a sense of the local community. there are a few reasons i chose to do this project. First, because it falls in line with the goals of CARD - this is something they've been wanting to do for a long time. Secondly, because any form of tree planting is a good thing, and it's even better to teach kids about the importance of doing this, since their generation are the ones who'll have to deal with all the negative effects that deforestation will have had on the environment and economy. Lastly, because I wanted to do something that would really connect CARD with the community - a project that would introduce schools and CARD to one another, in hopes of working together in the future. So, even though this project has been extremely frustrating at times, it has been so worth it because of these three things.
This week we went out to 8 different schools. I am definitely not a person who absolutely loves kids. In fact, I normally dislike walking across a primary school compound amidst millions of screaming children. However, it is so cool to sit in a classroom with a small group of students and see how excited they are about learning new stuff. And they all know way more than I do about soil conservation, which I've seen demonstrated multiple times this week, by the fact that they already seem to know most of the stuff in my lesson plan. for what it's worth, it was all new to me when i wrote the plan. this is probably the same epiphany that the person who started "are you smarter than a 5th grader had." ahh i could've invented that! anyway, it's a weird thing... the kids are so well-behaved, and they know so much. i wonder how much of it is because of a fear of punishment. in any case, these kids are cool because they're still at the age where learning is fun and you want to be a good student. it's sad that, i'm sure many of these kids won't have the money to go to secondary school (basically like high school). primary education is mostly free, but after that, who knows. it just depends on how good of a student you are and how much money your family has. and it sucks that at 14 years old you might just be done with school for reasons you have no control over. but right now, meeting these kids, watching them plant trees, seeing them be excited to just be kids... it's really cool. it's what's keeping me so passionate about what i'm doing here. and i'm not even doing anything. i'm sort of facilitating and doing leg-work, but it's the teachers who are doing all the work, and it's been really inspiring to be around people who love the kids and their jobs so much.
so, that's been my week at work! on tuesday, i turned 21! yes, i know that's not very exciting for anyone else, since i'm always the young one, but i feel like it was a milestone of sorts. i actually do feel older. and the drinking age here is 18 (or whatever) so turning 21 in kenya means nothing, legally, but it was still a fun day. i'm sure it'll sound really cool to tell people that i had my 21st birthday in kenya, but in my head, i'll always know that it was just a normal day - wake up, go to work, had some drinks after work with the interns - but nothing crazy. i had to be home before dark - had some lentils and rice for my bday dinner and went to bed at 8! that's probably the earliest i've gone to bed on my birthday since i was 6, but i am really embracing this new lifestyle. i kind of like it.
then wednesday. or halloween. we didn't celebrate that, though, so i'll just call it wednesday. it was a pretty intense day. one of the other interns, abbey, is working at a medical clinic in a village about 30 minutes away. one of her main projects was to do a VCT day. VCT is voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. The clinic got about 5 counselors to come that day, and the whole day was spent by them testing individuals. The routine is that people o into a private room with a counselor, who talks to to them about HIV/AIDS, and then about their sexual history, and then they take a blood test. This whole process takes about 10-15 minutes. That day, there were 138 people tested and only 5 counselors, so although it was great to have a big turnout, it was a very busy day. So, when we arrived (the 5 of us), we got tested first. The people working at the clinic really wanted us to do this - they told us that a lot of the people in this rural village are so reluctant to get tested. Some of them don't really know how HIV is transmitted, so they don't know if they're even at risk. Or, some of them think they might have it, but are afraid of going to get tested - either they just don't know what it's like, or they're scared that their friends and family may find out. There is still such a huge stigma around getting tested. I think that most Americans might say the same thing - that it's awkward or embarrassing to get tested - but it's different here. Villages are small, everyone knows everyone, and if you have HIV/AIDS or even just get tested for it, people know right away. So, it's sad but understandable why people shy away from it so much. So, the people at the clinic had us get tested first, which was a crazy experience. I had done this before - before going to Equatorial Guinea last summer, the missions organization had us get tested first. But that was in the US, and nobody asked questions. Here, the counselor talked to me the way she had been trained to. At first, it was kind of... comical (I know, that make me sound like a horrible, horrible person) - but that's really how I felt. It had been a busy, fun morning, and my mind wasn't really comprehending what that day was going to be about. For me, I knew I didn't have HIV, so I wasn't worried at all. And when she talked to me about the methods of transmission and how to prevent infection, I knew all the answers. Duh, who doesn't know this stuff? But then I realized, there's a reason why she's saying these things. For some of the people getting tested here today, this is a reality. They walk into a room, totally aware that their lives might be completely and totally different in 10 minutes. How do you prepare yourself for that? How do you get up the courage to face that? And it's not because these people are promiscuous - although maybe that's true in some cases. For some of the women, they were there because their husbands are unfaithful (a common situation), and when they come home and want to have sex, they're going to have sex. the culture is becoming more and more progressive, but especially in rural areas, the gender roles are still fairly unequal. if a woman knows that her husband is cheating and therefore is at risk for HIV, she can't just say "no" to sex when he comes home from "business trips." it doesn't work that way, in many cases. we americans like to think that people are autonomous and have complete control over their own bodies and decisions, but sadly, that's not the way it is everywhere. and saying "be abstinent" or "use a condom" isn't always relevant or realistic. and that sucks, but what's the alternative? leave your husband? not when your husband is providing financially (however little it may be), or when you might shame your family to leave a marriage.
so... i don't know. i don't have any sort of conclusion for this. it was just a crazy day... "AIDS in Africa" actually had faces and names and voices and laughter and tears. and it was real and i'm not sure how to process it or what to think, but i do know that it was one of the most intense days i've had here and i wanted to share it with you all.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
midterm already?
this past weekend was our "midterm" retreat. it is so hard to believe that i'm almost halfway done w/ my time here. i guess i always knew that it would "fly by," but now that the time actually is flying it is so hard to believe.
the weekend officially started on thursday night - we all met for drinks at this cool hotel/restaurant in town that kind of looks out onto the whole town. it's only a good place to get food if you're not hungry at all and you have about 4 hours to spare, but it's nice for drinks! after that, we went back to the hotel we stayed in during orientation for dinner, and then we slept over there - b/c if you stay in kakamega past dark, there's really no point in trying to go back home. which sounds like it could be expensive, but actually, it only costed about $4 per person, so we splurged. there were four of us hanging out at the hotel, and for some reason, we all ended up getting haircuts. with kiddie scissors. and suprisingly, everyone looks pretty good
then we took friday off from work (i feel like i'm getting a real glimpse of the working world - i like my job but it was nice to get a day off) and went to the kakamega forest which is about an hour away. one of the interns actually lives and works out there, at an NGO focused on environmental conservation. so, she was able to give us a big tour and show us around her home!
we stayed at these things called "bandas" - basically like hotel rooms on stilts. i'm not sure why the rooms were raised off the ground but it did make it seem more vacation-y or something. we spent most of our time there just talking, playing cards, eating, and taking hikes. the first day, we took a hike to a look-out tower, and just looked out onto part of the forest. it was beautiful and a picture could not do it justice (that's going to be my excuse for not taking pictures - sorry!)
the next day, we woke up and took a picnic-hike to a river which was about 2 hours away. it was really awesome; it's amazing that the forest is just so huge. on the way back, we got rained on but it was actually really cool to be walking through the rain forest in the rain! on our way back, we cut through this retreat-vacation place called Rondo. from the looks of it, that's where all the rich european/american bird-watchers go. it looked sort of like pleasantville, in the middle of rural kenya... kind of weird. we had many discussions about that whole issue of traveling to another very different country and then staying somewhere that totally doesn't represent the real country at all, but the only conclusion we came to was that we had no conclusion. anyway. something to think about, i guess. they did serve actual, made-from-a-coffee-maker coffee, though, so it did have some redeeming qualities.
the next morning (sunday) we woke up at 4:30 and took a sunrise hike to the top of a hill. it was probably the most physically demanding thing i've done in a long time, especially so early in the morning, but it was totally worth it. watching the sun rise over this beautiful forest was so amazing. after that, we went back to Rondo for breakfast - i'm not sure how i felt about that place in general, but the breakfast was incredible, especially after hiking for a few hours.
after that, it was back to reality. but, that's a good thing. when we arrived back in town on sunday, i felt like i was returning home. kind of like the feeling you get when you're coming home from vacation and you see your town's exit ramp sign on the highway. like, ah it's hard to come back after such a good time, but also, it's good to be back somewhere familiar, somewhere comfortable.
i know i still haven't talked much about my actual job here - it's not b/c it's not going well, it's just b/c it's ever-changing, and after working a whole day, i normally feel like writing about something else- but i promise to soon!!
the weekend officially started on thursday night - we all met for drinks at this cool hotel/restaurant in town that kind of looks out onto the whole town. it's only a good place to get food if you're not hungry at all and you have about 4 hours to spare, but it's nice for drinks! after that, we went back to the hotel we stayed in during orientation for dinner, and then we slept over there - b/c if you stay in kakamega past dark, there's really no point in trying to go back home. which sounds like it could be expensive, but actually, it only costed about $4 per person, so we splurged. there were four of us hanging out at the hotel, and for some reason, we all ended up getting haircuts. with kiddie scissors. and suprisingly, everyone looks pretty good
then we took friday off from work (i feel like i'm getting a real glimpse of the working world - i like my job but it was nice to get a day off) and went to the kakamega forest which is about an hour away. one of the interns actually lives and works out there, at an NGO focused on environmental conservation. so, she was able to give us a big tour and show us around her home!
we stayed at these things called "bandas" - basically like hotel rooms on stilts. i'm not sure why the rooms were raised off the ground but it did make it seem more vacation-y or something. we spent most of our time there just talking, playing cards, eating, and taking hikes. the first day, we took a hike to a look-out tower, and just looked out onto part of the forest. it was beautiful and a picture could not do it justice (that's going to be my excuse for not taking pictures - sorry!)
the next day, we woke up and took a picnic-hike to a river which was about 2 hours away. it was really awesome; it's amazing that the forest is just so huge. on the way back, we got rained on but it was actually really cool to be walking through the rain forest in the rain! on our way back, we cut through this retreat-vacation place called Rondo. from the looks of it, that's where all the rich european/american bird-watchers go. it looked sort of like pleasantville, in the middle of rural kenya... kind of weird. we had many discussions about that whole issue of traveling to another very different country and then staying somewhere that totally doesn't represent the real country at all, but the only conclusion we came to was that we had no conclusion. anyway. something to think about, i guess. they did serve actual, made-from-a-coffee-maker coffee, though, so it did have some redeeming qualities.
the next morning (sunday) we woke up at 4:30 and took a sunrise hike to the top of a hill. it was probably the most physically demanding thing i've done in a long time, especially so early in the morning, but it was totally worth it. watching the sun rise over this beautiful forest was so amazing. after that, we went back to Rondo for breakfast - i'm not sure how i felt about that place in general, but the breakfast was incredible, especially after hiking for a few hours.
after that, it was back to reality. but, that's a good thing. when we arrived back in town on sunday, i felt like i was returning home. kind of like the feeling you get when you're coming home from vacation and you see your town's exit ramp sign on the highway. like, ah it's hard to come back after such a good time, but also, it's good to be back somewhere familiar, somewhere comfortable.
i know i still haven't talked much about my actual job here - it's not b/c it's not going well, it's just b/c it's ever-changing, and after working a whole day, i normally feel like writing about something else- but i promise to soon!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
a day in the life
well i guess i've never actually talked about what everyday life is like for me here, so i will try to do that! unfortunately, i don't think i can accurately describe the sounds and smells, but hopefully this will do, anyway.
each day starts around 6 am, when i wake up (w/o the help of an alarm clock, hopefully i will be able to carry this skill on once i'm back in college, b/c i really hate the sound of alarms). i normally go out the pit latrine first thing, since i'm in a perpetual state of "having to go to the bathroom... or latrine" since i've been here. everyone drinks chai all the time, and there's just something about it that goes right through you. i pretty much always wake up in the middle of the night, at least once, having to go to the bathroom, but i never do, b/c that means getting out of bed, unlocking the door and leaving the house, going down a flight of stairs, and making my way across the yard - past the holes and piles of cow dug, and finally reaching the pit latrine. and then coming back. this whole process is too overwhelming for me to deal w/ at 2 in the morning, so i normally just lay in bed and try to fall back asleep. anyway, i'm not sure if you needed/wanted to hear that, but that's my ongoing middle-of-the-night struggle.
so after that, i will sometimes go for a walk by myself. yesterday, i went for a run. well, a run/walk. i ran the whole way, except for when the road was muddy, when the road was uneven and i thought i'd sprain an ankle trying to run, or when i saw people. so i ran about 5% of the time. i've never seen anyone running or exercising for fun here (sidenote: this begs the question, if nobody runs, then why are all the best distance runners in the world from kenya? where do those runners train? how do they get into the sport? i've yet to see them). whenever i'm out in public, i am basically the white american freakshow, so the white american freakshow running is an even weirder sight, so i'd rather just walk and not run when i see people on the road, and try to maintain a little dignity. when i came back from my run yesterday, my host mom asked me where i was, and when i told her i was running she just laughed and asked me why.
so after my walk/run, i come back to the house and take a bucket shower. every once in a while a baby chick or a human baby will wander into the wash room. either way, it/she/he is making a lot of high-pitched noise.
after that, i get dressed for the day - for work, i normally wear a button-down and a casual skirt. i had planned to wear dressy shoes every day, but after my first day of work, i decided it's much easier to wear flip-flops. maybe not the most professional thing, but much more practical. i have a few different work outfits, so it doesn't take too long to pick out what to wear. it's amazing how fast the "getting ready" process takes when you don't have a mirror.
once i'm ready, i go into the dining room to take tea and eat breakfast. every morning, i get my whole pot of chai (probably about 8 cups worth - i really hope someone else is finishing it once i leave, b/c i'm only up to 2 cups so far) and 4 pieces of bread with butter and jam. my main food group here is carbohydrates, by far. a few vegetables, sometimes meat, always tons of carbs. i met a peace corps volunteer here who said that the female pc volunteers in kenya always gain weight, and the guys always lose weight. so that's great. i have been taking multi-vitamins for the first time in my life though. i always intend to, but now it seems like i have a legitimate reason to. i am starting to love the chai, though. every time i dump a spoonful of sugar into my cup of tea, i feel like i'm losing some integrity as a black coffee drinker, but oh well... when in rome?? most days i eat breakfast alone (everyone else in my family is hardcore and has been awake for hours, so they've already eaten) so i normally read while i eat. the other day, i was reading my bible, and my host sister came to talk to me and see what i was reading. when i showed her, she said "you read that other book very quickly! will you be done w/ this one quickly, too?" i said i wasn't sure but i think it might take longer than a few days.
after that, i pack up my bag and head out. i have about a 10 minute walk to the main road, where i catch a matatu (bus) into town. some days this takes 1 minute, some days i have to wait for 20 minutes. today i sat next to some military guy with a huge gun on his lap. so that was weird. the driver had mariah carey playing, though, so i didn't mind. i find that God is encouraging me in little ways all the time through random things like matatu music - like when i'm having a frustrating day but then i walk by a matatu blasting celine dion music from the 90's. it's so odd. in a weird way it makes me feel comfortable and happy, though. the other day, my matatu was playing abba. i'm not sure if there's a whiter musical group in the world, but lo and behold, their music lives on in the young men of western kenya.
ok so i've only gotten to my morning - but soon i will write about my work day! things are starting to shape up, there, so hopefully i will have some good things to share soon. i am starting a program where i go into local primary schools to teach about agroforestry, environmental issues in kenya, and to do some tree planting. i did take an environmental ethics class last semester, so i think that makes me an expert. just kidding - actually, this project has nothing to do w/ what i'm studying and it's totally not what i expected to be doing, but i'm really excited about it. if i were teaching business, i would probably be just as lost, as well. all the teachers i have talked to have told me how important planting plants and trees is here, so i am excited to be able to be a part of that. i don't know what i'm doing really, but the people i work w/ do, so i think it will be a good thing, despite my weaknesses.
well i will write more about my crazy job later! thanks for reading! you are all in my thoughts and prayers!
ohh also - i will be going shopping in a couple of weekends, so if you have something you'd like, please let me know!! the place we're going has a whole bunch of different stuff - jewelry, art, carvings, clothes, fabric, dinnerware-type stuff, tons of other stuff... i will try my best to find it, and if i can't, i'll get you something else cool! so just leave me a message or email me!
each day starts around 6 am, when i wake up (w/o the help of an alarm clock, hopefully i will be able to carry this skill on once i'm back in college, b/c i really hate the sound of alarms). i normally go out the pit latrine first thing, since i'm in a perpetual state of "having to go to the bathroom... or latrine" since i've been here. everyone drinks chai all the time, and there's just something about it that goes right through you. i pretty much always wake up in the middle of the night, at least once, having to go to the bathroom, but i never do, b/c that means getting out of bed, unlocking the door and leaving the house, going down a flight of stairs, and making my way across the yard - past the holes and piles of cow dug, and finally reaching the pit latrine. and then coming back. this whole process is too overwhelming for me to deal w/ at 2 in the morning, so i normally just lay in bed and try to fall back asleep. anyway, i'm not sure if you needed/wanted to hear that, but that's my ongoing middle-of-the-night struggle.
so after that, i will sometimes go for a walk by myself. yesterday, i went for a run. well, a run/walk. i ran the whole way, except for when the road was muddy, when the road was uneven and i thought i'd sprain an ankle trying to run, or when i saw people. so i ran about 5% of the time. i've never seen anyone running or exercising for fun here (sidenote: this begs the question, if nobody runs, then why are all the best distance runners in the world from kenya? where do those runners train? how do they get into the sport? i've yet to see them). whenever i'm out in public, i am basically the white american freakshow, so the white american freakshow running is an even weirder sight, so i'd rather just walk and not run when i see people on the road, and try to maintain a little dignity. when i came back from my run yesterday, my host mom asked me where i was, and when i told her i was running she just laughed and asked me why.
so after my walk/run, i come back to the house and take a bucket shower. every once in a while a baby chick or a human baby will wander into the wash room. either way, it/she/he is making a lot of high-pitched noise.
after that, i get dressed for the day - for work, i normally wear a button-down and a casual skirt. i had planned to wear dressy shoes every day, but after my first day of work, i decided it's much easier to wear flip-flops. maybe not the most professional thing, but much more practical. i have a few different work outfits, so it doesn't take too long to pick out what to wear. it's amazing how fast the "getting ready" process takes when you don't have a mirror.
once i'm ready, i go into the dining room to take tea and eat breakfast. every morning, i get my whole pot of chai (probably about 8 cups worth - i really hope someone else is finishing it once i leave, b/c i'm only up to 2 cups so far) and 4 pieces of bread with butter and jam. my main food group here is carbohydrates, by far. a few vegetables, sometimes meat, always tons of carbs. i met a peace corps volunteer here who said that the female pc volunteers in kenya always gain weight, and the guys always lose weight. so that's great. i have been taking multi-vitamins for the first time in my life though. i always intend to, but now it seems like i have a legitimate reason to. i am starting to love the chai, though. every time i dump a spoonful of sugar into my cup of tea, i feel like i'm losing some integrity as a black coffee drinker, but oh well... when in rome?? most days i eat breakfast alone (everyone else in my family is hardcore and has been awake for hours, so they've already eaten) so i normally read while i eat. the other day, i was reading my bible, and my host sister came to talk to me and see what i was reading. when i showed her, she said "you read that other book very quickly! will you be done w/ this one quickly, too?" i said i wasn't sure but i think it might take longer than a few days.
after that, i pack up my bag and head out. i have about a 10 minute walk to the main road, where i catch a matatu (bus) into town. some days this takes 1 minute, some days i have to wait for 20 minutes. today i sat next to some military guy with a huge gun on his lap. so that was weird. the driver had mariah carey playing, though, so i didn't mind. i find that God is encouraging me in little ways all the time through random things like matatu music - like when i'm having a frustrating day but then i walk by a matatu blasting celine dion music from the 90's. it's so odd. in a weird way it makes me feel comfortable and happy, though. the other day, my matatu was playing abba. i'm not sure if there's a whiter musical group in the world, but lo and behold, their music lives on in the young men of western kenya.
ok so i've only gotten to my morning - but soon i will write about my work day! things are starting to shape up, there, so hopefully i will have some good things to share soon. i am starting a program where i go into local primary schools to teach about agroforestry, environmental issues in kenya, and to do some tree planting. i did take an environmental ethics class last semester, so i think that makes me an expert. just kidding - actually, this project has nothing to do w/ what i'm studying and it's totally not what i expected to be doing, but i'm really excited about it. if i were teaching business, i would probably be just as lost, as well. all the teachers i have talked to have told me how important planting plants and trees is here, so i am excited to be able to be a part of that. i don't know what i'm doing really, but the people i work w/ do, so i think it will be a good thing, despite my weaknesses.
well i will write more about my crazy job later! thanks for reading! you are all in my thoughts and prayers!
ohh also - i will be going shopping in a couple of weekends, so if you have something you'd like, please let me know!! the place we're going has a whole bunch of different stuff - jewelry, art, carvings, clothes, fabric, dinnerware-type stuff, tons of other stuff... i will try my best to find it, and if i can't, i'll get you something else cool! so just leave me a message or email me!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
happy moi day?
today is a kenyan national holiday - moi day. it's named for kenya's second president, who, from what i can tell, wasn't a very good president. he was pretty corrupt, and the current president (who isn't that great, either) was a big step up from him. however, that didn't stop him from instituting his own holiday. and from what my host mom said, he didn't even wait until he was out of office, he just made it "moi day" from the very beginning of his presidency. i guess it would sort of be like if bush said "umm ok october 10th will now be known as george w. bush day... just b/c i feel like it." in 2001. hmm. i'm not sure how well that would've worked out.
anyway, people seem to be less excited about actually celebrating moi than they are about having a day of rest - which makes sense. for some of the people, the day isn't much different than any other day - they still have to work, clean, take care of kids, cook, etc... but for most of the white collar workers, they get the day off. i didn't even know today was a holiday until last night when my boss sent me a text message saying not to come to work today, b/c the office will be closed. sure. why not. i tried to do some research online for my project, but so far i've just been checking my email. so today has been pretty unproductive. i woke up, took my bucket shower, drank tea and ate my bread and butter, played with my host sisters and brothers for a while, and then came into town. i ate lunch w/ a few other interns - i've started eating breakfast food at lunch b/c it's the best thing on the menu, and it costs about half as much.
it's really interesting coming from my college life to this life. first of all, i am in bed by 8 or 8:30 most nights - i'm generally pretty tired from the day, plus we eat huge dinners so those always make me full and sleepy, and it's dark so there's not much else to do except sleep. then, i'm up the next morning around 6:30. it's funny to think about how hard it normally is for me to wake up before my 8 am classes, and here i'm wide awake at 6:30. part of it is the roosters crowing, part is the sunlight streaming through the window, but most of it is my 1-year-old host brother who begins crying and screaming anywhere from 3 am to 6 am each morning. it's always a fun surprise to see when he'll start screaming. at first i thought he was just sick, but my host mom informed me that he's perfectly healthy - just kind of a whiner. kind of... i've stopped using an alarm clock, b/c i'm fairly confident that his screaming is raising some farm animals from the dead, so it's definitely enough to wake me up. at first, he really annoyed me. i love the other children, but i'll be honest, i really didn't like this child. hearing him cry was enough to make me never want children. but now, i'm actually just more amazed at his lung capacity than angry at how loud he is. last night, he screamed so loud that i literally felt my ear drums vibrate. i've never heard a kid that loud. i think that, when he grows up, he'll probably be a shy kid who barely ever talks. it has to balance out at some point. at least i hope, for his mom's sake.
i love every day here, b/c no matter how much i plan, there are hardly any constants from day to day. at times, that can be frustrating, but it's also really fun. on sunday, i went to church with my host family. they informed me that we would be going to a different church than they normally go to, b/c the vice president (moodi awory - i think that's his name, probably the wrong spelling) was going to be there to "dedicate" the church. or something like that. so, we walked to the church and there were hundreds of people standing outside. i thought we were going to go in, maybe catch a glimpse of the vp, but my host sisters kept walking - they crossed the street and walked onto this big field area. in the middle of a huge group of people was a helicopter that the vice president had flown in on. there were probably just as many people gathered around the helicopter as were in the actual church. i wasn't really sure what we were looking at or why we were standing around this helicopter (which, granted, was a nice-looking helicopter) and then i realized that probably a lot of people there had never seen something like that. my host sisters then informed me that we would be getting our picture taken in front of the helicopter. i'm not sure who took the picture, or if my host family will ever see the picture, but we did it anyway. i guess it might be akin to meeting a celebrity and taking your picture w/ him or her. i'm not sure. in any case, it was quite an odd "church service." after that, i thought we'd actually be going to church, but my host sisters said, no we're just going home to eat lunch. while i was waiting in the picture-taking line, i talked to a police officer who informed me that he had friends in chicago and that he thought people should stop worshiping the helicopter and go inside to worship God. he laughed for a long time and thought that joke was pretty fun. it was pretty interesting - it was hard to understand the intensity of that event: having the vice president come to your church, and seeing any sort of aircraft for the first time in your life.
sometimes i just feel like i'm living in this crazy adventure and everything i see and do are just players in my adventure. like growing up, in english classes, when i learned about the components of a story - the plot, setting, characters, action, etc... but this isn't a story. these "characters" whose lives i am watching (and am privileged to be a part of) are my host family, and these are their lives. every day when i'm at home with them, i get to be a part of their lives and their stories - not the other way around.
i found clean & clear facewash at the store today. it is always both weird and exciting to find western products. it was way overpriced, but i haven't used actual facewash in a month and i can definitely tell that i need it. sometimes, i think i'm getting really tan, but then i realize it's probably just dirt. which is ok, i kind of like it. sometimes i take extra care to wash my feet in the morning, even though i know i'll be walking in flip flops up a dirt road in the next 20 minutes. paved roads would help a lot in these areas - for so many reasons, but the dirt roads aren't bad, either. it has started to rain now and i think i forgot my rain jacket. that happens fairly often. both the raining and the forgetting. my feet (and the back of my skirt) are going to be muddy. it's nice to not really care, though.
anyway, people seem to be less excited about actually celebrating moi than they are about having a day of rest - which makes sense. for some of the people, the day isn't much different than any other day - they still have to work, clean, take care of kids, cook, etc... but for most of the white collar workers, they get the day off. i didn't even know today was a holiday until last night when my boss sent me a text message saying not to come to work today, b/c the office will be closed. sure. why not. i tried to do some research online for my project, but so far i've just been checking my email. so today has been pretty unproductive. i woke up, took my bucket shower, drank tea and ate my bread and butter, played with my host sisters and brothers for a while, and then came into town. i ate lunch w/ a few other interns - i've started eating breakfast food at lunch b/c it's the best thing on the menu, and it costs about half as much.
it's really interesting coming from my college life to this life. first of all, i am in bed by 8 or 8:30 most nights - i'm generally pretty tired from the day, plus we eat huge dinners so those always make me full and sleepy, and it's dark so there's not much else to do except sleep. then, i'm up the next morning around 6:30. it's funny to think about how hard it normally is for me to wake up before my 8 am classes, and here i'm wide awake at 6:30. part of it is the roosters crowing, part is the sunlight streaming through the window, but most of it is my 1-year-old host brother who begins crying and screaming anywhere from 3 am to 6 am each morning. it's always a fun surprise to see when he'll start screaming. at first i thought he was just sick, but my host mom informed me that he's perfectly healthy - just kind of a whiner. kind of... i've stopped using an alarm clock, b/c i'm fairly confident that his screaming is raising some farm animals from the dead, so it's definitely enough to wake me up. at first, he really annoyed me. i love the other children, but i'll be honest, i really didn't like this child. hearing him cry was enough to make me never want children. but now, i'm actually just more amazed at his lung capacity than angry at how loud he is. last night, he screamed so loud that i literally felt my ear drums vibrate. i've never heard a kid that loud. i think that, when he grows up, he'll probably be a shy kid who barely ever talks. it has to balance out at some point. at least i hope, for his mom's sake.
i love every day here, b/c no matter how much i plan, there are hardly any constants from day to day. at times, that can be frustrating, but it's also really fun. on sunday, i went to church with my host family. they informed me that we would be going to a different church than they normally go to, b/c the vice president (moodi awory - i think that's his name, probably the wrong spelling) was going to be there to "dedicate" the church. or something like that. so, we walked to the church and there were hundreds of people standing outside. i thought we were going to go in, maybe catch a glimpse of the vp, but my host sisters kept walking - they crossed the street and walked onto this big field area. in the middle of a huge group of people was a helicopter that the vice president had flown in on. there were probably just as many people gathered around the helicopter as were in the actual church. i wasn't really sure what we were looking at or why we were standing around this helicopter (which, granted, was a nice-looking helicopter) and then i realized that probably a lot of people there had never seen something like that. my host sisters then informed me that we would be getting our picture taken in front of the helicopter. i'm not sure who took the picture, or if my host family will ever see the picture, but we did it anyway. i guess it might be akin to meeting a celebrity and taking your picture w/ him or her. i'm not sure. in any case, it was quite an odd "church service." after that, i thought we'd actually be going to church, but my host sisters said, no we're just going home to eat lunch. while i was waiting in the picture-taking line, i talked to a police officer who informed me that he had friends in chicago and that he thought people should stop worshiping the helicopter and go inside to worship God. he laughed for a long time and thought that joke was pretty fun. it was pretty interesting - it was hard to understand the intensity of that event: having the vice president come to your church, and seeing any sort of aircraft for the first time in your life.
sometimes i just feel like i'm living in this crazy adventure and everything i see and do are just players in my adventure. like growing up, in english classes, when i learned about the components of a story - the plot, setting, characters, action, etc... but this isn't a story. these "characters" whose lives i am watching (and am privileged to be a part of) are my host family, and these are their lives. every day when i'm at home with them, i get to be a part of their lives and their stories - not the other way around.
i found clean & clear facewash at the store today. it is always both weird and exciting to find western products. it was way overpriced, but i haven't used actual facewash in a month and i can definitely tell that i need it. sometimes, i think i'm getting really tan, but then i realize it's probably just dirt. which is ok, i kind of like it. sometimes i take extra care to wash my feet in the morning, even though i know i'll be walking in flip flops up a dirt road in the next 20 minutes. paved roads would help a lot in these areas - for so many reasons, but the dirt roads aren't bad, either. it has started to rain now and i think i forgot my rain jacket. that happens fairly often. both the raining and the forgetting. my feet (and the back of my skirt) are going to be muddy. it's nice to not really care, though.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
new revelations
i am quickly finding out that i would be a horrible kenyan woman.
when i first moved in with my host family, they were very surpised that, at age 20, not only did i not have children, but i'm not even married or, at the very least, engaged. at first, they seemed genuinely surprised about this, but after getting to know me, i think they are finally thinking "ahh yes, that makes sense that she's single. she doesn't know how to take care of anything." i've always thought i could do a decent job of taking care of myself - i can clean (as much as i feel is appropriate), cook (or at least find ways of feeding myself), and wash clothes (with an electronic washing machine). however, i'm coming to find out how ridiculous most of that probably is compared to how amazing these women are.
last night, my host mom had me sweep my floor for the first time. i honestly hadn't even considered this option until she pointed it out to me. but, it was good that i did, b/c the floor was a lot dirtier than i had thought. she let me sweep for about 5 seconds before grabbing the broom and doing the rest herself.
so, yesterday after work, i decided i should go home and wash my underwear. my host family graciously washes the rest of our clothes, but we're supposed to wash our own underwear, understandably. so, i went to the grocery store to get some detergent, but all i could find was fabric softener. and a lot of it. that's the thing about grocery stores here - you can find 800 varieties of toothpaste, but no floss. so, i decided that, although i don't think fabric softener actually cleans anything (i've never been quite clear on its purpose - why does fabric that is already soft need to be "re-softened" every time it's washed?), i bought it anyway, assuming that it's better than nothing. so, when i got home, i asked my host mom for a bucket to wash them in. she gave me one, and then proceeded to tell me how to wash them. i've washed clothes by hand before, so i thought i knew what i was doing, but apparently not. she finally just told me to soak all the underwear in soapy water for a few minutes. i could at least do that. then, a few minutes later, i tried to start washing them, but my host mom did not approve of my technique, so she just took over for me. and she decided that we needed actual soap, so she got some of her own to use. it is a weird/humbling/funny experience to watch someone you barely know wash your underwear and then help you hang it up to dry. but, it's done now, and my room at least smells good from having all that freshly-washed underwear hanging in it, so i guess that's a good sign.
i love times like last night though - sitting on the floor of my house, holding my little host sister, and watching my host mom wash clothes by the light of a kerosene lamp. i started out feeling like i was incapable of doing actual labor, and that the women here probably just pity how hapless american girls are - but i ended up just forgetting about our differences and soaking up the weirdness and joy of that whole evening. there's a time for analyzing differences, looking for needed changes, trying to change archaic gender roles and practices - but also seeing where i need change in my own life. but, there's also a time for just sitting and talking and being. and just living life in kenya. and accepting it and embracing it and just letting myself be. in some ways, it's so different from who i am, but in some ways, i just totally feel like me.
i guess the moral of the story is that i can't do basic things most 10-year-old kenyan girls can. and that fabric softener is not the same thing as detergent.
when i first moved in with my host family, they were very surpised that, at age 20, not only did i not have children, but i'm not even married or, at the very least, engaged. at first, they seemed genuinely surprised about this, but after getting to know me, i think they are finally thinking "ahh yes, that makes sense that she's single. she doesn't know how to take care of anything." i've always thought i could do a decent job of taking care of myself - i can clean (as much as i feel is appropriate), cook (or at least find ways of feeding myself), and wash clothes (with an electronic washing machine). however, i'm coming to find out how ridiculous most of that probably is compared to how amazing these women are.
last night, my host mom had me sweep my floor for the first time. i honestly hadn't even considered this option until she pointed it out to me. but, it was good that i did, b/c the floor was a lot dirtier than i had thought. she let me sweep for about 5 seconds before grabbing the broom and doing the rest herself.
so, yesterday after work, i decided i should go home and wash my underwear. my host family graciously washes the rest of our clothes, but we're supposed to wash our own underwear, understandably. so, i went to the grocery store to get some detergent, but all i could find was fabric softener. and a lot of it. that's the thing about grocery stores here - you can find 800 varieties of toothpaste, but no floss. so, i decided that, although i don't think fabric softener actually cleans anything (i've never been quite clear on its purpose - why does fabric that is already soft need to be "re-softened" every time it's washed?), i bought it anyway, assuming that it's better than nothing. so, when i got home, i asked my host mom for a bucket to wash them in. she gave me one, and then proceeded to tell me how to wash them. i've washed clothes by hand before, so i thought i knew what i was doing, but apparently not. she finally just told me to soak all the underwear in soapy water for a few minutes. i could at least do that. then, a few minutes later, i tried to start washing them, but my host mom did not approve of my technique, so she just took over for me. and she decided that we needed actual soap, so she got some of her own to use. it is a weird/humbling/funny experience to watch someone you barely know wash your underwear and then help you hang it up to dry. but, it's done now, and my room at least smells good from having all that freshly-washed underwear hanging in it, so i guess that's a good sign.
i love times like last night though - sitting on the floor of my house, holding my little host sister, and watching my host mom wash clothes by the light of a kerosene lamp. i started out feeling like i was incapable of doing actual labor, and that the women here probably just pity how hapless american girls are - but i ended up just forgetting about our differences and soaking up the weirdness and joy of that whole evening. there's a time for analyzing differences, looking for needed changes, trying to change archaic gender roles and practices - but also seeing where i need change in my own life. but, there's also a time for just sitting and talking and being. and just living life in kenya. and accepting it and embracing it and just letting myself be. in some ways, it's so different from who i am, but in some ways, i just totally feel like me.
i guess the moral of the story is that i can't do basic things most 10-year-old kenyan girls can. and that fabric softener is not the same thing as detergent.
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