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!