My new not-best friend is the rooster who lives in a coop directly outside my bedroom window which is right next to my bed. He wakes up and announces this to everyone at 4am every morning. every morning! I mean we are trying to be friends, but we're not off to a good start...the 6 puppies on the other hand are another story. Their whimpering may wake me up at in the morning, but they are the cutest things ever.
Kisumu is HOT! Each night I crawl into bed, tuck in my mosquito net and then fall asleep on my back before I can read or even decide whether or not to sleep with a sheet because it is so hot in there and teaching wears me out. Although, I would rather have this problem than be in a freezing college apartment, so I'll take it for sure.
I taught Form 1 all week and the kids are very good. The lessons are a bit bland right now because testing is over so they are in school for 4 more weeks with nothing really on the line. Kind of like when we take IB/AP tests a month before school is over...you think we could plan these things better, ay? So we have a high school full of students just waiting for their exam scores. In Form 3 there are 36 kids, and only the top twenty Exam scores will be promoted to Form 4...very interesting.
My favorite story from the week was I think Wed evening. I came into town to meet Seth and we hung out for awhile and just caught up. Then Joe came over and after a bit, Joe and I went to my mom's shop for a ride back to Dunga (our neighborhood). While Joe and I were waiting this guy approached Joe and asked for his phone number, or any phone number of a girl friend because he desperately wants to marry a mzungu. So I walked over to Joe and the guy started to ask me for my number.
"Hello, my friend, can I please have your phone number? I want to marry a mzungu."
"How do you know you want to marry a mzungu?" Joe and I asked.
"I just know, please your number, your sisters number, your friends," the guy said.
"Actually, we're married!" I told him, pointing to Joe.
"Yeah, we've been married for 10 years!-EH 5 years!" Joe told him, hoping to make it a more realistic number.
"Oh please, the number of your sister."
"Sorry man, I only have brothers- do you want their number??" I asked him
"NO NO. what about your friends?"
"Again, only have male friends, do you want THEIR numbers??" I asked him again.
"No no."
"OH look! there are some other mzungus, maybe you can try them." We said, pointing to two white girls walking toward us.
Well now we thought that was over...but the girls were walking right toward us...and directly toward us. AND it was Annika! A girl who went to my high school in Minneapolis and studied in Kenya two years ago. ! So we went and had a beer and caught up- Joe, Seth, Annika, her friend Kelsey and I.
Annika and Kelsey are working on an island-Mfangano- in Lake Victoria. They are helping raise awareness about a community center that is going to open and have a VCT clinic, cyber cafe, radio station etc. On the island, 40% of the population is HIV+. In order to join the comm center you have to have a VCT test and know your status, and renew every 6 months. An American couple started an organic farm there after buying land and it has now evolved to the building of the center. pretty awesome, right?! So one weekend I'm going to go visit her and see the island and everything. The grand opening for the center is Dec 1 (world AIDS day) so I may go back for that as well- looking forward to it!
This weekend Dumes (Emily), who lives 45 minutes away, spent the weekend at my place, which is great because I have two double beds in a room I have to myself. Friday night we went to the Kisumu Institute Bar, which is a great outdoor place where you can sit and talk and we all just caught up on each others lives. Its weird that we don't all see each other everyday, but its also refreshing to be more independent. Then we had dinner at an Italian place, omg pizza/well really cheese, is amazing, it was great. Then we went to a local Luo bar called what we thought was FlemLive when we asked the waiter over loud music. Turned out to be the FlameLeaf. Entertaining none-the-less, and we were quite the mzungu spectacle when dancing I'm sure.
Saturday we walked along the shore of Lake Victoria and then went to a very sad Impala Reserve...aka Como Zoo of the 60s with tiny cages. It was fun to see the animals, but not an impressive reserve at all. I much prefer the Mara where the people come to the animals...no the animals being brought and caged for the people. After animal watching and deciding to enter the 'Beware of Hippos' zone we found a railway trail. It is part of the old track which was built by the British from Lake Victoria to the coast in Mombasa in 1901. My friend Seth's host family lives in one of the homes that was constructed by the British for railway workers. The railway caused a lot of problems across the nation.
Railway brief: There was one tribe (cant remember who) that would absolutely not allow the line to be built through their territory and gave the Brits a run for their money. All the work that was done by British workers, that didn't get killed by this tribe, was dug up at night so essentially nothing was getting done. So what did the British do?? Well, they brought in Indians to do the labor. The railway cost many Indian lives and after its completion workers were allowed to stay in Kenya or return to India- this is why you'll find pockets of Indian communities around Kenya. Especially on the coast. wow- that deserves much more than a brief. so wikipedia it or something-OK educational brief over- :)
In celebration of Halloween, Dumes, Joe and I carved a baby green pumpkin while watching a sunset over Lake Victoria on Saturday night. So Dumes and I returned to my place for dinner and then had to explain to my family why we had carved a face in something people eat! They met us with grins and exploded into laughter when we told them what we had done and showed them the pumpkin, it was a lot of fun. Can you imagine someone coming into your house for dinner with a steak that has a face carved in it?? Ha, no its weird...and neither of us could remember the significance of carving pumpkins, so that didn't help. it was great to have a little piece of Halloween in Kenya. (And I bet we will be having pumpkin something for dinner :) )
Need a idea for a vacation spot? Kisumu, Kisumu, Kisumu. really you all have to come here at some point!
More from the field later!
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