Land of 1 lake and 10,000 mosquitos

Hello!

I have arrived in Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria. I am living with a new host family and our home is about 3 "blocks" from the lake. I have already seen two of the most spectacular sunsets here right on the lake.

I am working in a school, http://www.covenanthome.co.uk/about-us.php , check it out. Today was my second day. Yesterday I graded Form 1 (freshman) compositions all day and today I taught form 1 english! They told me an hour before the lesson that I would be teaching- crazy. But the lesson went well and the kids were very well behaved. I read a short story and then we had a discussion about tribalism and the harambee spirit and how harambee has the potential to defuse tribalism. Tribalism has divided the nation, created tribally aligned political parties and as you can imagine has given the largest tribe- the Kikuyu's- the most power historically and presently.

I am helping the kids restart their Journalism Club. I came to the cyber today to copy some old J202 notes (thanks Katy) and prepare a lecture for our next meeting. The kids are great and want to have a self-sufficient org when I leave- fantastic. I hope to get a newspaper up and running, but really don't know about printing facilities or if that is realistic at all...I'm sure I'll find out much more in the coming days.

Am I teaching tomorrow you ask? Well don't worry I don't know the answer either, they told me I'll find out in the morning. So the internship is a bit informal, but I'm ok with it as long as they are.
Today I met a mzungu at the school who is volunteering somewhere near here. She is a middle-aged woman from IL and immediately she tried to philanthropically show me up...telling me how often she donates/volunteers/comes to africa/what countries, man, she was like a firehouse of self-righteous volunteerism- anyways, I dont think I'll see her again, but I thought I'd mention that.

I took a motorcycle taxi to town today for the first time. Its about a 10/15 minute ride depending on road conditions. They are a little nerve racking...but that is public transportation here so I guess I'll roll with it (oh gross pun, disregard that).

oh ha! i almost forgot this! Apparently since we live so close to the lake, hippos walk up on shore at night and graze all around our fenced in yard! they are just there, that close, just like cows grazing, I haven't seen them yet, but hopefully I'll get some good photos when they do come. and believe me they are huge!

I have my own bedroom here and sleep under a mosquito net. I also spray down with DEET at night. I'm sure that's not good for me, but I don't really want malaria or any of that. And every morning (well twice now) that I wake up there is one mosquito inside the net....hopefully there will be no more. I bet everyone thinks I stink, "No I swear, its the DEET."

Everything is going well, internet is a little less available here, but I'll try to keep this updated.
:)

Miss and love you all!

Thursdays are the best days. and an LCD monitor could do your job.

I love Thursdays. It is the one day my host mom has off work and Tracy is always in such a good mood when they get to spend time together. Mama Tracy works usually 14 hours a day, and 6 days a week. And she told me today she makes about $300 a month.

Think.

Wednesday was our last day of class, we had our Swahili final- which I think went well, and the rest of the day off. I went to the University of Nairobi and studied in the International Development Studies library for like 5 hours, just reading books upon books- and found good stuff for my papers. And I know I’ve already said this but a book published after I was born is a rare find there. I have 3 term papers that aren’t due until December but I’m trying to get a head start. I left at around 5 and walked to the Posta stop to grab a bus. I waited for about half an hour while numerous 46s and 4Ws passed, but no 32s which take me closest to my house. Sitting at this bus stop I grew quite frustrated with efficiency in Nairobi. There is SO much work here being done by people that has been mechanized in other countries. Not to say their work isn’t valuable, but it most likely poorly paid and as my professor would say, a waste of people’s time. They could be working in r&d, going to school, or in a specialized trade- is holding a sign with a number on it out of a bus window and collecting fare- things that can be done by (a) an LCD screen and (b) an automated change counter- really a positive contribution to the nations economy and development? (This question can also be expanded to things like laundry, dishwashing, lugging jugs of water around, storing water to use during rationing, the list goes on, but I’ll stop here.)

The 46 and 4W take Ngong Rd and then I have to walk a ways into my gate. The 32 goes through Kibera, Nairobi’s biggest slum, but drops me off just on the other side of the wall. I prefer the 32.. We turn off Ngong and weave away from the city and pass the wall which separates Nairobi from its slum. About 15 minutes on this main, two lane and very narrow street, filled with shops not contributing to the GNP. The informal sector is quite large here, and its unfortunate that this time and energy expended by people does not factor in to measurements like the GNP, which many people use to define a developed nation. We come to a stop at the end of the line, I exit and walk through a tiny open air shop, where mostly fruit and vegetables are sold, and the mud cakes my shoes to a standstill. I pass a large pot of githeri over mkaa (charcoal) and many people sitting around it. Then I hop over the railroad tracks, looking both ways first, even though I think I’m the only person who does this. Step over the wires which switch the tracks, through a guardrail I have to turn sideways to pass through, two more barbed wire fences and I’m home free.

I spent most of today organizing notes and outlining the papers at a café near my house. I came home early afternoon because I like to be home on Thursdays.

We had mokimo tonight (no idea if that spelling is right?), basically mashed potatoes with maize and some green vegetable that I can’t translate to English, with a fantastic stew and cabbage on the side. I love the food here. It is so simple, but always so flavorful. I am going to miss Eda’s home cooked meals. In Kisumu, where I’m moving to, they eat A LOT of fish. Now I like fish, but…I have a feeling I’ll run into some pretty interesting meals.

Tracy was upset because she had to eat a whole cup of uji before dinner. Uji is essentially porridge, but if you ask me its like cold biscuits-and-gravy gravy, and also my family informed me that they put fish in theirs :) It has a uniquely chalking taste, and even though you would eat it with a spoon in the states, here they say they drink uji, and think it’s hilarious that we would “eat” it. Well, I skipped on the uji, it’s the one thing I haven’t been able to stomach so far.

So Mama Tracy was holding Tracy and feeding her the uji and we were all joking around. Tracy told me that instead of leaving in December I should stay until January 14^th (her birthday). She said if I stay she will have “thank you for sending us marta, she was a very good girl” written on her cake, and she’ll cut 3 pieces to send home for my mom, dad, and sister on a plate. “and you can carry the plate on the plane,” she said. :)

I am excited to move to Kisumu but I’m really going to miss my host family in Nairobi, Nairobi itself, and Jamhuri (my neighborhood).

Today I was walking home and thinking about all the things that I see everyday but don’t ‘see’ really anymore. A herd of cattle grazing along the sidewalk and “boulevard” and stopping traffic. A man in a Cowboys starter jacket, a man wearing a two-piece teal jogging suit with pink strips, walking alongside young professionals. A man grabs my wrist “madame, I have shirts.” “Hapana,” I reply as I release his grip and answer next week to his inquiry of when I’ll return. A matatu driver that has evidently decided the sidewalk is ok for him to drive on to beat the jam. An 8-year-old carrying a jug of water bigger than my upper body. 4 men controlling a wheelbarrow that has a flat tire carrying a 40 gallon water drum. Cars on the left side of the street- and I still look right. Everytime. STILL. Kids walking home in school uniforms. Street vendors selling snacks, mandazi, chai, fruit, vegetables, SAFARICOM signs everywhere I look. The butcher shop with fresh cuts hanging in the window. Dinner. A man welding an iron gate with no goggles on. A man cutting rebar with a hacksaw. More stray dogs than Appalachia- though none of them ever seem to bark here. Mud, everywhere. The tailor who made my skirts. “mzungu.” All-the-while hop-scotching puddles and manure. A bus passing so close to my right shoulder it gives me goosebumps in 80 degree sun, and then sputtering exhaust and clouds of dust in my path. Me, the only person wearing sunglasses, with white skin that conversation follows. The group of men always standing under the lightpole, some leaning on a car. The red kiosk where Mike works.

“Habari yako?” my Maasai guard asks everyday. “Mzuri, na wewe?” I reply. “Mzuri.” Our routine, sometimes a handshake. Chickens, roosters, and chicks in my courtyard-owner unknown. The chicks are getting big. Novell and Kafura sitting outside our gate. Novell swinging on the top iron bar, hands gripped in between spikes meant to deter unwanted guests. Kafu, probably saying “I’ll pinch you” to someone or another, most likely an authority figure. Through my blue gate, ducking under clotheslines and through the narrow corridor. Around the corner I know the coals will be hot and dinner on already, and it is. Eda in the kitchen, and Tracy on the couch with a smile on her face. “How was your day?”

Sidewalks, Rugby, and Typhoid?

This will be my last week in Nairobi. One week from today I leave for Kisumu to begin my internship!

This weekend was great! On Friday I went to a lecture at the University of Nairobi, given my Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, Columbia. He was advocating public/green space in cities and lectured on its importance for safety, to help reduce class stratification, as better investments than highway infrastructure, etc. He criticized Nairobi for its startling lack of pedestrian/bike space. I mean sidewalks here, if you can find one, are no wider than 3 feet and now that El Nino has come, are many times impassable.

El Nino has come, my host family told me today. The short rains have started and come intermittently throughout the day- it will pour for like 15 minutes and then stop. Our underground water tank is finally starting to fill back up I guess. We have had one day of running water since I left for Tanzania...so like a little over a month on straight bucket bathes now. I am craving the chance to wash my hair under running water.

On Saturday I worked a little bit on 3 big papers I have due in December, they want us to get a good jump on them before we leave for our internships. We went to the U library after the lecture and they had some good sources- though its still catalog cards there and we cant check anything out as visitors, and most books are pre-1990...but we'll make do.
Then out for Chinese food to change up the pace a little bit. We sat at a window table in the Hong Kong restaurant downtown and older British men kept walking in one at a time and staring at our table. The 4th guy turned to us and said something to the effect of "a bevy of beauties has taken our regular spot!" I guess we overtook the usual British-Chinese Friday afternoon dinner in Nairobi. The food was great.
Friday afternoon I went home to learn how to make Chapati- the best flat bread ever, so now I can make it at home- hopefully.

On Saturday we decided it was time for a little Americana so we got together to watch I Love You Man and make grilled cheese (we literally never eat cheese here, so all of us have been craving it.) After the relaxing afternoon we went out to the Harlequin Rugby Club Bar. The rugby team won their game that day and are going to the final next weekend, so they were all in a great mood! It was great conversation and the tables outside were really nice so we just talked to rugby players all night and had samosas (deep fried triangle shaped appetizer-like snack with either veggies or meat).

And today its been pouring on and off all day. I may trek to the cafe to meet a few others and study for our Swahili final, its on Wednesday.

However it is also a bit like Oregon Trail over here: one of our friends, James, has typhoid, maybe. The doc said James will be better within the week so hopefully that is the case. We seem to be dropping like flies, someone new is sick almost everyday. Just colds, and more sinus infections though, so I hope I can avoid getting sick again.

Oh also, I finished The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and highly recommend it. or try Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Fuller if you're looking for another read.

Hope all is well in the states, love and miss you all!

Habari Muzungu?!

What's the news white traveler? Well, I figured you were all wondering that. And apparently the man who asked me that at the market was too.
Typically you say "Habari ya asubuhi?" or "Habari ya mchana?" What's the news this morning/afternoon. But I guess what's the news white traveler works too.
My favorite part of being called a muzungu is that people think I don't know it. Well I do, you can pick up that word from a mile away. In Swahili, nouns are pluralized by the prefix, so mwanafunzi means student and dropping the m for wanafunzi means students. So we like to call ourselves wazungus, and people usually get a kick out of that :)

On Monday, a week ago, we took a field trip to a few schools in the area. One was an informal school that is not funded by anyone but all volunteer run. Its exactly as you'd picture an informal school, with tin walls and roof, a concrete slab 12' square for a floor and anywhere from 3-6 students sitting on bench like desks. 20-40 kids per classroom, though I had classes in Minneapolis that ran upwards of 45 students. And volunteer run means inconsistent teachers and teaching styles, but the children still take the national exams that every other student takes.

Then we went to a school in Ngong, a town in the middle of Maasai land. The community had built about 12 classrooms from concrete block and tin roofs keep the rain (what rain? right) and sun from the learning environment. This school has no electricity, but they do have water. We were there over lunch break, but not a single child was eating lunch. They all walk to school and for most it is too far to return for a noon-time meal, and they do not bring lunches- for reasons I do not know. When we (3 students and our professor) got out of the van there, the students swarmed us, little 5 and 7 year olds, and all grabbed our hands and touched our skin. While we stood and talked to teachers the students would come and lean against us, and one played with Doug's elbow for about 10 minutes. The government provides I think 8 teachers and the parents fund the rest- about 4.

We continued on to a high-tuition public school in Nairobi. This school was typically reserved for more affluent families, but with the introduction of Universal Primary Education in Kenya in 2003, they now open their doors to all and the school has become much more diversified. Now, you ask what a high-tuition PUBLIC school is? Well I'm not sure. Our professor isn't exactly good at answering questions. In fact today, I asked him if there was any provincial funding for schools- you know, a basic yes or no/short answer question, and it took him 27, yep 27!, minutes to answer that. He talked the entire time and none of the 3 of us got in a word. He likes to give long-winded answers, that cover things he talked about multiple times before. Lets just say I wouldn't say stellar things on ratemyprofessor.com about this guy.

Well enough of that. I had a very "this is Africa" night last night. At about 8pm I decided to walk to our local kiosk, literally a stone's throw away from our security gate. As I left, Tracy, my 6-year-0ld host sister decided to come too. We passed through our yard and walked in our dimly lit courtyard. As I contemplated stepping over a puddle, suddenly, the puddle jumped to life and I almost tripped over the stray dog that had been laying there all evening. Then we passed through our security gate. And as we walked between the two cinder block walls that run alongside the driveway a cat matched our pace upon the top of the wall. All the while I'm hoping the thing doesn't jump on/at me or Tracy, wouldn't a cat bite in Kenya be fun?
We reach the kiosk and Mike the owner invites us in to sit. I know Mike just from stopping there every day, he's a nice guy and asks me everyday "How do you find Kenya?"
So last night I said "mzuri sana", (or very good), I told him I traveled to maasai mara and then we talked a little bit about Obama. Then out of nowhere comes the Christian cannons: "how is christianity in america?" "do you read the bible everyday?" "is Jesus your personal savior?"

All of this in a stop for a candy bar. A lot of people in Kenya think Christianity in America is like the Joel Ostein (is that his name?), TV pastor, who preaches to congregations of 10,000 plus- because they broadcast it here all the time.
Also, I feel like people try to prove to me they are Christian. Now I don't know why this happens, but it happens often.

On the walk back from the kiosk I was holding Tracy's hand and a man coming toward us veered in our direction. I don't like having to be on my toes at every moment, and the reality is that Jamhuri is a safe neighborhood and lots of people were out, but anyone veering toward me is a little nerve wracking. I'm thinking, 'I've got 100 bob, a cell phone, and a 6-year-old' and I'm hoping this guy isn't interested in any of them. He stops right next to us as we pass, and turns his head to watch us walk away. That's it. It's just weird interactions like this that bring the TIA feeling. And we went right home to watch Tusker Project Fame Season 3 Finale- Alpha won, by the way, I'm sure you were wondering ;)
(also note 100 b0b is about $1.30.)

That's all I have time for now. We had a great weekend in Nairobi- went to the Westlands- a totally Americanized richer night club area, but the dancing was good and I mean, who doesn't love hearing Top 40 hits over and over until 3am. Though the presence of older white men and younger african women together is a little unsettling- business as usual I guess (this is an observation many of us have had, but I think its a little deep to get into now. we all know it happens, and it happens for different reasons-none of which I can personally explain.)

Great weekend though- I went all around the city with Eda, our househelp, on Sunday to go shopping. And I bought a Chiapati pan, my absolute favorite flatbread here- now I just have to learn how to make it.

Sawa sawa! (basically ok ok, we say it all the time though ;)

Tanzania and Masai Mara!

Hello!

I just got back from a fantastic weekend in Masai Mara, Kenya's largest (and best) game reserve- where we saw...::pause for dramatic effect:: elephants! lions! more zebras than there are lakes in MN, ostriches, cheetahs, hippos and more. We were in vans with pop tops so we could easily watch for game, though our driver was much better at spotting animals- especially when we found what our driver calls "bush lions" meaning bushes that look like lions from far off. We left Friday and took a private matatu van up to the park. We arrived pretty late, as the other van we traveled with broke down like 3 times, but nothing a fan belt from a stranger wouldn't fix. We had two person tents, that were all set up for us and had beds with mosquito nets and that were also covered with little tin roof carports, so they were great!

Saturday we got up early, had Kenyan "pancakes"- really crepes, but they were good- and left for the day. We were in the park all day and saw lots of the animals listed above. We took a walk down by the river, saw hippos and crocodiles up close and we got to pet them! (no I'm kidding, don't worry, I'm not petting wild animals on game reserves- ;) )

We had a picnic lunch, and continued on our way. It rained on and off all day, but it was nice because it stayed cool. In the afternoon though it got rather sunny, so hot in fact, that we were able to catch lions napping on the savanna- photos to come soon I promise. We were on the game drive all day, and went back to camp at about 6:30.
-In Kenya, it is illegal for vehicles carrying tourists to be driving after 6:30. My host dad is a tour guide, and told me this was to protect tourists and the industry- sounds like a good plan to me.
The camp we stayed at was guarded by Masai watchmen, they stay up all night and guard the tents from any unwanted visitors.
This morning we got up for an early game drive, had a lion walk literally 5 feet in front of our van- awesome! and drove around for a bit before another round of pancakes and then headed home. The drive home was exciting- no breakdowns this time, but sometimes in Kenya, drivers decide there should be three lanes on the highway when there are only two. So as described, that makes for some exciting/terrifying moments.
All in all the trip was great!

Last week was fine, classes as usual- and last weekend I went to Tanzania!

A group of 13 of us took a shuttle to Arusha, Tanzania. (same crazy roads but I dont think I need to say anymore). Arusha is a smaller city about 2 hours from the border. Speaking of the border, when we got there we learned visas were not $50, but $100. So that was a fun scramble trying to make sure everyone could pay and cross. (They charge Americans $100 because we charge them $100 to come to America- fair trade I figure).
We stayed in the Meru House Inn, it was a great hostel- clean, the beds were comfortable, and only $7 a night. We went out both nights to the Masai Camp- a now restaurant/bar that used to be a camp where tourists came to stay and watch/learn about the Masai. They had great music and one night a preview to the Mama Africa show- which included amazing gymnastics and very flexible people- very entertaining.
Arusha was awesome, the atmosphere was a lot different than Nairobi- much calmer, the people were very nice. I bought a lot of fabric which I'm having made into skirts here! My house help, Eda, went to the tailor for me so that I wouldn't get the muzungo (white traveler) price- so that was really nice of her. And I should get them this week.

The rains have started to come now, they are short and infrequent but hopefully they will start up in full soon. We didn't have running water all of last week- because of the drought+ my host mom said the local fair was using lots of water.
Hopefully we have water today-- I'm heading home now- I do all of my blogging from a cyber cafe because I didn't bring my computer here. But the cyber cafes are great, and its nice to not have to worry about a computer.

I'll write soon!