Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Snapshots

Every time I start to write a blog entry, there are hundreds of things that come to my mind to write about. There isn't much about my life in Africa that reminds me of my life in America, so there are so many stories to share. But the stories aren't necessarily related to one another, so I've decided that this post will consist of a couple of unrelated aspects of my past month-or-so in Kenya that I hope you'll find interesting, informative, and maybe even comical.

One inevitable consequence of traveling to a foreign place and immersing yourself in a whole new way of life is the roller coaster ride that follows. Since coming to Kenya, there have been some pretty high highs, and pretty low lows, and it's usually something inconsequential (or would be inconsequential in America) that can shift the scale from one extreme to the other. So, all of us trainees have developed a system of storing up things that can shift bad days into good ones, in case we find ourselves feeling bummed out. Following is a list of things that can cause a bad day:

1. Surprise rain storms that turn the dusty roads into ankle-deep red mud.
2. Getting the "mzungu price" whenever you try to buy something at the market. To calculate the mzungu price, simply take the price that an average Kenyan pays, and double it. (Also, FYI, mzungu is the Kiswahili word for white person).
3. Chewing sukuma wiki (kale) and almost breaking your tooth on a stone that SOMEhow got in the food.
4. Terrifying dreams/hallucinations from the malaria medication.
5. Realizing that a diet that consists of roughly 90% refined sugar and other carbohydrates is not ideal for dental health, and thus, cavities are forming.
6. Accidentally making a "friend" who is drunk and loves to follow you around town while mumbling in Kiswhili.

And now, a list of things that can make a bad day better:
1. A lollipop from the man at the small duka (roadside stand) sitting under an umbrella who always smiles and says "Habari!" (this may also have something to do with #5 above).
2. Mail. Any mail. Some of us hide letters in our room so we have something to open when we really need it.
3. A movie that we've gotten from another volunteer. I know "O Brother Where Art Thou" is on my laptop, just waiting for a tough day.
4. Successfully purchasing and loading minutes onto our phones.
5. Communicating successfully in Kenyan Sign Language.
6. Skipping church with our families so we can go to someone's house to "study," and instead spending the whole morning venting, doing yoga and laughing with fellow trainees.

As trainees, we've gotten pretty skilled at sharing the good things we come across, and mitigating the negatives. We have each others' backs, and have also gotten good at laughing off the ridiculous situations we encounter. I can't imagine being in Kenya without everyone else.

Now, an anecdote. One of my favorite moments so far in my homestay house happened about three weeks ago, when I was still pretty new to this whole experience. It was a Saturday morning, and a woman had come to our house to help my Mama with washing clothes, because everything has to be washed by hand, and there's no way my Mama can wash a week's worth of clothes for her and her two kids in one day without some help. (In related news, I have nothing but the highest reverence and respect for single mothers in Africa). After the woman had gotten there, my host brother and I kept hearing a chicken coming from SOMEwhere nearby. This was puzzling, because we don't own a chicken, and neither do our neighbors. And it was LOUD. We looked around the perimeter of the house - outside the front door, back door, and out the side windows - but couldn't see anything. We gave up after a while, and I eventually went to take my morning bath (from a bucket, as usual). When I returned to my bedroom after the bath, I was getting dressed when I noticed a basket in the corner of my room that wasn't there when I had woken up, and didn't belong to me. I figured it was nothing, and continued to get dressed. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the basket move. I looked closer and realized that the chicken we had been hearing was in that basket, in my room, with its feet tied together, looking straight at me. I was definitely startled at first, but once I realized the comedy in the situation I hurried to finish getting dressed, and went out to tell my Mama that "I think I found the chicken." When I explained the situation, we both had a good laugh - apparently, the woman who had come to help my Mama had brought the chicken in hopes that we'd want to buy it. Turns out we did... and guess what we had for dinner? It was a first for me - I don't think I'd ever had an animal for dinner that had, earlier in the day, watched me get dressed.

That's all I have time for now, so I'll give a quick update on what's happening currently. Today we had our Language Proficiency Interviews (LPIs), and whoever passed will be able to start Kiswahili lessons next week, so keep your fingers crossed! I think I did alright, but we'll be getting our results tomorrow and then we'll know for sure. There are only three weeks of training left, so I'll be saying goodbye to Machakos soon and heading to the Laikipia district in the Rift Valley. We'll be swearing in as a group (Deaf Ed. along with Math and Science Ed.) on December 15th in Nairobi, and then traveling to our respective sites with our supervisors. We're all very excited.

Thank you to everyone who has sent letters!! As I mentioned, mail is one of the best mood elevators, and I love staying updated on everyone's lives and experiences. Keep them coming, and I promise I'll write you back :)

Monday, November 8, 2010

Still Alive

Greetings from Machakos, Kenya!!

I know it has been a long time since I've been able to update my blog, but internet in Kenya is certainly less accessible than internet back in the US. The good news is that I waste far less time on Facebook while on this continent, but the obvious downside is that online communication is sparse. But I've found a little bit of time in the midst of training to post a quick update.

Since my last post in Nairobi, only a few weeks have passed, but it's been the longest few weeks of my life. That probably sounds negative, but I really just mean that there has been so much to learn, so many new adjustments to make, and countless experiences that have added up, to the point where I can hardly believe that I've only been in Kenya for less than one month.

As for the basics, I live with a host family here in Machakos. I have a host mama who is AMAZING, and one host sister (age 13) and one host brother (age 12). My mama is divorced, which is pretty uncommon in Kenya, but since she went to University in Nairobi she has a less traditional outlook on cultural norms than many people in the country (or even in Machakos, which is a relatively progressive town due to it's larger size). That's actually been one of my favorite aspects of my homestay experience - my mama understands my Western mindset, and she's patient with my frustrations. In fact, she oftentimes has the same frustrations that I have. My siblings are great kids. My host sister is about to sit for her class 8 exams (more on the education system at some later time), and my host brother is pretty much like every other 12-year-old boy I've ever met. Super hilarious. The kids in Kenya are SO much quieter than the kids at home, though, so when I first met them, I thought they were scared of me or something. But I've decided they're just more reserved.

Our home in Machakos is really quite nice. I've become very comfortable there, although it did take a few days to adjust. We have electricity, but outages are common. We only have running water on Saturdays, so we fill up all the 100 L water storage bins (and any miscellaneous buckets we have) on Saturday and use that water for the rest of the week. We have a gas stove, but we don't use it all the time because gas can be expensive, so we oftentimes use a charcoal stove or a "jiko" to cook.

On most days, we have language training in the morning (for us, it's Kenyan Sign Language or KSL) at one of the homestay houses, and then we go into town for lunch. After lunch we have cultural sessions (or other pertinent sessions that will help us as primary school teachers) at a school in town. After that, we all walk home. We have to be home before dark (which is at 6:30 every day), so that's been an adjustment. Also, female volunteers are advised to almost never walk alone. That loss of independence has been one of the biggest adjustments I've had to make, but it's just part of the culture.

Unfortunately, I have so many more updates, but very limited time - so for now, I'll sign off, but I'll attempt to post again soon. In the meantime, feel free to send mail! :)