I've been back in America for almost 8 months now...nearly as long as I was in Kenya! In re-reading my entries, I realize how jaded I got by the end of my time there. Everybody needs a break from the unfamiliar sometimes, but us year-long students never got that break, so we all just built up an excess of resentment. I can honestly say that, for the past several months, all I have thought about has been Kenya and all of my actions and future planning have been in preparation to go back as soon as I can...but with a more clearly defined vision this time. Study abroad is all well and good, but it had some serious limitations.
I recently discovered that both Tulane and BU have programs where you can spend a year on the campus, studying for your MPH, and then finish your degree as a Peace Corps volunteer doing field work and actually applying the concepts you've learned for 2 whole years! It's like a dream come true to discover such a program, and I have started reading a blog by one such student from BU who is currently serving her Peace Corps time in Botswana. Maybe it's partially due to sleep deprivation because it's finals week here in Madison, but several entries have made me cry because they remind me of Kenya so much. I think back to all the wonderful things I got just a taste of last year, and I realize how much I still have left to see and do and live through. Hopefully, just a couple short years from this moment, I will find myself back in East Africa for the long haul.
I will return to my 2000 word essay about public opinion and foreign policy during the Vietnam War and 9/11 in a moment, but I just want to bask in this wonderful reminiscing for a little bit longer. I know it's important for me to understand American foreign policy...but I can't help thinking that reading Jess' blog about Botswana is teaching me more than this political science class has.
So, just a little shout out to Kenya. I know I took you for granted those last couple of months, but I do love you and truly miss you. And my longing grows stronger every day. XOXOXO, Nimadi
Monday, December 21, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
stay tuned, it's not over yet :)
So, I'm leaving Kenya in 6 days now. It's been an amazing year. I am so ready to go home though. Everyone is leaving...including my darling Ashley who jumped ship last Sunday. I'm enjoying my last few days though; spending time with the boys of the house, last minute shopping, etc. My wardrobe is now so full of African prints it could give someone a seizure just looking at all the colors!! Haha :)
I went to Kibera slum for the first time today with Sara so she could buy some kangas for dresses/skirts. I was surprised at how different it was from Mathare slum. It actually is just like most of the small towns that we drive through on the way to Kisumu or Mombasa. Run down, but not horrible. At least in the area we were visiting. That being said, it's still not a good place to live. But I've definitely seen worse. There were some really cute kids following us around, so when Sara was buying kangas, I bought all the kids some bananas. I hope they enjoyed them :) It felt nice to give them a little something.
Tomorrow I think me & Sara are going to a rap concert or something. She knows this famous Kenyan rapper cause of her job at the radio station and is interviewing him (I think). So that should be cool. We're also going out dancing on Saturday night, which is always enjoyable! Then Sunday will be for recovery, Monday for dropping off clothing and other donations at the office, Tuesday I pick up the rest of the clothes I had made at Kenyatta Market, and Wednesday it's time to pack! Oh lordy!!!!
I went to Kibera slum for the first time today with Sara so she could buy some kangas for dresses/skirts. I was surprised at how different it was from Mathare slum. It actually is just like most of the small towns that we drive through on the way to Kisumu or Mombasa. Run down, but not horrible. At least in the area we were visiting. That being said, it's still not a good place to live. But I've definitely seen worse. There were some really cute kids following us around, so when Sara was buying kangas, I bought all the kids some bananas. I hope they enjoyed them :) It felt nice to give them a little something.
Tomorrow I think me & Sara are going to a rap concert or something. She knows this famous Kenyan rapper cause of her job at the radio station and is interviewing him (I think). So that should be cool. We're also going out dancing on Saturday night, which is always enjoyable! Then Sunday will be for recovery, Monday for dropping off clothing and other donations at the office, Tuesday I pick up the rest of the clothes I had made at Kenyatta Market, and Wednesday it's time to pack! Oh lordy!!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Me, I am a businessman
Just had a traumatic experience with Ashley. She was having an allergic reaction and nobody had any benadryl, so we grabbed a taxi to go up the street to the nearby 24-hour chemist. My bro and Ken arranged the price with the guy before we left, and we headed off. Keep in mind, it's 1am right now and we're taking this taxi for safety purposes because he was recommended by someone we know.
We get to the chemist and they don't have benadryl, so we walked to the supermarket across the parking lot to see if they had any. Again, no luck. So back to the chemist we go to beg for any kind of allergy medicine they might have. They give us something I haven't heard of before, so I wanted to check with my parents about the active ingredients before letting Ashley take it. I tried to call them for maybe 5 minutes, but they weren't picking their phones, so we were just about to buy the stuff anyway (it was probably fine anyway, we just wanted to check) when the taxi comes up to us and the "fun" started.
He said, "can you hurry it up? I have another ride to pick up." I got pissed when I heard him say that and turned and said, "you know what? MY FRIEND IS SICK. WE ARE BUYING MEDICINE AND WE WILL TAKE AS LONG AS WE NEED TO GET THAT MEDICINE. If you don't want to wait, that's fine. You can go." And then I turned my back on him. We assumed he left, but as we walked out of the chemist a minute later he was still waiting, so we hopped in for the 3 minute ride home. And then he started railing on us! He kept saying how we needed to pay him more money for "wait time" and that we were trying to cheat him. I couldn't stand him anymore, so I was yelling right back at him telling him he was incompetent and if he didn't want to wait for us, he didn't have to. No way in hell were we going to pay him extra for being an asshole. I finally had to stop talking at all because NOTHING got through to this guy. We even yelled at him to stop the car and let us out so we could get a new driver, and he just kept going!!! He was JUST like the drunk boda-boda driver who wouldn't let Steph off the bike!! ARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH I HATE THIS SHIT!!!! Anyway, he was starting to drive erratically, so me and Ash and called Ken and Toti to come meet us at the gate because we were feeling scared and threatened. And thankfully the boys and the two guards at our gate took care of things. I escorted Ash inside to take her medicine and then went back out to confirm our story and make sure we didn't overpay him.
Score 800000000000000 points for America. At least we live in a culture with SOME concept of customer service. Fucking insane. If he had approached the situation from the beginning with any sense of compassion to our situation, instead of DEMANDING we hurry up and then pay more, I may have been willing to increase his fee a bit. People here can be SO DAMN UNREASONABLE.
Sorry, I'm heated right now. Just had to rant. I still love Kenya. I just hate its industries and businesses and the people who think they can take advantage of two white girls late at night.
Over and out.
We get to the chemist and they don't have benadryl, so we walked to the supermarket across the parking lot to see if they had any. Again, no luck. So back to the chemist we go to beg for any kind of allergy medicine they might have. They give us something I haven't heard of before, so I wanted to check with my parents about the active ingredients before letting Ashley take it. I tried to call them for maybe 5 minutes, but they weren't picking their phones, so we were just about to buy the stuff anyway (it was probably fine anyway, we just wanted to check) when the taxi comes up to us and the "fun" started.
He said, "can you hurry it up? I have another ride to pick up." I got pissed when I heard him say that and turned and said, "you know what? MY FRIEND IS SICK. WE ARE BUYING MEDICINE AND WE WILL TAKE AS LONG AS WE NEED TO GET THAT MEDICINE. If you don't want to wait, that's fine. You can go." And then I turned my back on him. We assumed he left, but as we walked out of the chemist a minute later he was still waiting, so we hopped in for the 3 minute ride home. And then he started railing on us! He kept saying how we needed to pay him more money for "wait time" and that we were trying to cheat him. I couldn't stand him anymore, so I was yelling right back at him telling him he was incompetent and if he didn't want to wait for us, he didn't have to. No way in hell were we going to pay him extra for being an asshole. I finally had to stop talking at all because NOTHING got through to this guy. We even yelled at him to stop the car and let us out so we could get a new driver, and he just kept going!!! He was JUST like the drunk boda-boda driver who wouldn't let Steph off the bike!! ARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH I HATE THIS SHIT!!!! Anyway, he was starting to drive erratically, so me and Ash and called Ken and Toti to come meet us at the gate because we were feeling scared and threatened. And thankfully the boys and the two guards at our gate took care of things. I escorted Ash inside to take her medicine and then went back out to confirm our story and make sure we didn't overpay him.
Score 800000000000000 points for America. At least we live in a culture with SOME concept of customer service. Fucking insane. If he had approached the situation from the beginning with any sense of compassion to our situation, instead of DEMANDING we hurry up and then pay more, I may have been willing to increase his fee a bit. People here can be SO DAMN UNREASONABLE.
Sorry, I'm heated right now. Just had to rant. I still love Kenya. I just hate its industries and businesses and the people who think they can take advantage of two white girls late at night.
Over and out.
Friday, April 17, 2009
just 3 weeks left
It has come down to this. I have under 3 weeks left in Kenya, and surprisingly, I'm not too unhappy about it! I thought I would be devastated when I had to leave, but I'm very excited to get back home and see how my life has changed. I'm getting that antsy feeling again, the one I almost always get when things have become too predictable and I need a change.
How can things be predictable in Kenya, you may wonder? Well, after 8 months here, even the unpredictable is still expected. I mean, come on. I saw the burned, charred body of a robber in a field with hundreds of people standing around watching, and I wasn't phased. I saw petrol tankers overturned on the side of the highway, and people waiting around with jerry cans to cipher the petrol, and I wasn't phased. I get marriage proposals or sexual harassment on a daily basis, and though the harassment annoys me, I'm still not phased. These are things I can stand to be without for a while.
What I will miss is the easy-paced lifestyle here. I've always had anxiety issues, and America apparently perpetuates them to the extreme. But since being here, very few things stress me out. It's a calm world, despite all the bad things, and it's a friendly world. It's like the mid-west on crack, actually. Everyone says hi to you all the time and genuinely wants to know about you. It will be a shock to get back to the stick-up-the-ass mentality of the northeast. I will miss all the amazing people I've met since coming here. I will also really miss the honesty and openness. Readjusting to being "politically correct" will be hard! I like that here, things that are obvious are not necessarily shameful. I get called "hello white lady!" all the time, and you know what? I respond with "hello black man!", and everyone LOVES it! I mean, whats the big freakin' deal about noticing that our skin colors are different? That's all we're saying. It has nothing to do with our personality, there's no judgement (except when people assume I'm super-rich and drive a Mercedes and have thousands of dollars to just hand out all time). But really, what has political correctness really gotten us Americans? It has done nothing to defeat racism. It just makes things tense and uncomfortable whenever you try to talk about the issues. Let's be real. I'm white. Other people are black. Others are mixed. Who CARES? So yes, being able to say "hello black man" has been the most liberating of my experiences here. Because I've realized there is nothing wrong with it. It's simply a response, not a judgement.
On a more personal level, I will really miss my host siblings and parents when I leave. I may have real siblings at home, but they are so much older that at times it can seem more like they are my aunts/uncles. Toti, my Nairobi brother, will be sorely missed. He treats me like an actual sister and I finally know what it would have felt like to have a twin. We get along SO well, and since we're the same age, we're at the same places in our lives. My Kisumu mom and dad, as you know, are very high in my esteem. I'm very close to my real parents and I've missed them while being here, and I was glad to have a mother figure for the past few weeks. I also loved my Mombasa mom and siblings. I miss them everyday and hope that someday, I'll be able to see them again. I just cannot visit because of their stupid, sexist, molester father. He ruined everything for me on the coast. And my darling Ashley has been like a sister to me as well. She's not Kenyan, she's from Arizona and is on the program with me. But we've been through it all together. We live in the same compound in Nairobi, she's ALWAYS at my house here, and I was ALWAYS at her house in Kisumu. I've slept next to her regularly and we share our secrets and stories and woes like sisters. I couldn't have made it through everything without her by my side. And she leaves in a week!!!! I may start crying right now actually. There are just too many hard goodbyes to make.
I've been so blessed by this year, this experience. It has changed me to my core. I see things so much differently now, but in a good way. I appreciate all I have more, I appreciate my lifestyle at home, I appreciate everything I've gained here. I love more easily, am more free with my emotions, and can laugh more easily. I also am better at empathy now, I think. When you've walked in other people's shoes, it's so much easier to understand. I'm so excited for the future and how this time will affect my life.
In the meantime, I am finishing papers, saying goodbyes, and preparing myself for reverse culture shock. I may be a bit of a hermit when I first get home, but I'm determined to use these changes in my soul to make positive changes in my life when I get home. I'm ready to tackle Boston and Madison with a new outlook. So get ready for me America! I'm coming home.
How can things be predictable in Kenya, you may wonder? Well, after 8 months here, even the unpredictable is still expected. I mean, come on. I saw the burned, charred body of a robber in a field with hundreds of people standing around watching, and I wasn't phased. I saw petrol tankers overturned on the side of the highway, and people waiting around with jerry cans to cipher the petrol, and I wasn't phased. I get marriage proposals or sexual harassment on a daily basis, and though the harassment annoys me, I'm still not phased. These are things I can stand to be without for a while.
What I will miss is the easy-paced lifestyle here. I've always had anxiety issues, and America apparently perpetuates them to the extreme. But since being here, very few things stress me out. It's a calm world, despite all the bad things, and it's a friendly world. It's like the mid-west on crack, actually. Everyone says hi to you all the time and genuinely wants to know about you. It will be a shock to get back to the stick-up-the-ass mentality of the northeast. I will miss all the amazing people I've met since coming here. I will also really miss the honesty and openness. Readjusting to being "politically correct" will be hard! I like that here, things that are obvious are not necessarily shameful. I get called "hello white lady!" all the time, and you know what? I respond with "hello black man!", and everyone LOVES it! I mean, whats the big freakin' deal about noticing that our skin colors are different? That's all we're saying. It has nothing to do with our personality, there's no judgement (except when people assume I'm super-rich and drive a Mercedes and have thousands of dollars to just hand out all time). But really, what has political correctness really gotten us Americans? It has done nothing to defeat racism. It just makes things tense and uncomfortable whenever you try to talk about the issues. Let's be real. I'm white. Other people are black. Others are mixed. Who CARES? So yes, being able to say "hello black man" has been the most liberating of my experiences here. Because I've realized there is nothing wrong with it. It's simply a response, not a judgement.
On a more personal level, I will really miss my host siblings and parents when I leave. I may have real siblings at home, but they are so much older that at times it can seem more like they are my aunts/uncles. Toti, my Nairobi brother, will be sorely missed. He treats me like an actual sister and I finally know what it would have felt like to have a twin. We get along SO well, and since we're the same age, we're at the same places in our lives. My Kisumu mom and dad, as you know, are very high in my esteem. I'm very close to my real parents and I've missed them while being here, and I was glad to have a mother figure for the past few weeks. I also loved my Mombasa mom and siblings. I miss them everyday and hope that someday, I'll be able to see them again. I just cannot visit because of their stupid, sexist, molester father. He ruined everything for me on the coast. And my darling Ashley has been like a sister to me as well. She's not Kenyan, she's from Arizona and is on the program with me. But we've been through it all together. We live in the same compound in Nairobi, she's ALWAYS at my house here, and I was ALWAYS at her house in Kisumu. I've slept next to her regularly and we share our secrets and stories and woes like sisters. I couldn't have made it through everything without her by my side. And she leaves in a week!!!! I may start crying right now actually. There are just too many hard goodbyes to make.
I've been so blessed by this year, this experience. It has changed me to my core. I see things so much differently now, but in a good way. I appreciate all I have more, I appreciate my lifestyle at home, I appreciate everything I've gained here. I love more easily, am more free with my emotions, and can laugh more easily. I also am better at empathy now, I think. When you've walked in other people's shoes, it's so much easier to understand. I'm so excited for the future and how this time will affect my life.
In the meantime, I am finishing papers, saying goodbyes, and preparing myself for reverse culture shock. I may be a bit of a hermit when I first get home, but I'm determined to use these changes in my soul to make positive changes in my life when I get home. I'm ready to tackle Boston and Madison with a new outlook. So get ready for me America! I'm coming home.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Mama
So I wanted to write a quick post about how cool my host-mom here in Kisumu is. This is my last week, I wish I'd had more of an opportunity to hang out with her and be at the rural home in general. I've had to be in and out of Kisumu so much, and then out in the field for work, it's been hard to spend any time at home! But when I am home, she is one of the most amazing ladies I've ever met.
She always told me she was born in 1958, but yesterday we figured out (based on old family photos and other things) that she was probably born closer to 1954. Can you imagine not knowing your own age?? When I told her she couldn't possibly have been born in '58, she wasn't even phased! She was like, oh? Really? Okay! And that was that. So she's approximately 54 years old. She got married when she was either 15 or 16, she doesn't actually know. Can you believe, she never even finished high school! I saw some old photos of her when she was 22 and already had 3 kids...and she was so so beautiful!
Anyway, she ended up having 7 kids. Yes, SEVEN. Can anybody reading this imagine having so many?? I sure can't. But even more incredible is that SHE comes from a family of 9! And she's the first born. So it's unofficially her responsibility to take care of her elderly parents. So she takes care of them, and her entire family. I think that's pretty amazing, considering she never finished high school. Her and her husband (who we all call mzee) did very well for themselves, and they were never lacking for money.
She is incredibly giving and caring. People are constantly coming to our house asking for favors or help with things, and she's always willing to be that person to help. She takes care of her niece and nephew because their parents both died. She also is a leading member of the local church, which normally wouldn't impress me, except that she is so so dedicated to it, and she has never ridiculed me for not being religious. I appreciate her openness and willingness to learn and understand new things.
She always appreciates it when I cook dinner for the family and makes an effort to try everything I make, even if she obviously doesn't like it too much. And she's so happy and jolly all the time, always laughing and smiling! I couldn't have asked for a better host-mom. My host-dad is harder to get to know, but he's also very nice and intelligent and, best of all, he is respectful towards me. Unlike my Mombasa host-dad. It's such a good change from my experience there. I never feel uncomfortable around him.
Anyway, I'm going to stop now, but I just had to share that info with everyone, because yesterday I was looking at those family pictures with my mom and it made everything about her seem so much more real; to see her at 16 getting married to mzee, and to see her in her early 20s with three kids already. I respect her so much as a person.
She always told me she was born in 1958, but yesterday we figured out (based on old family photos and other things) that she was probably born closer to 1954. Can you imagine not knowing your own age?? When I told her she couldn't possibly have been born in '58, she wasn't even phased! She was like, oh? Really? Okay! And that was that. So she's approximately 54 years old. She got married when she was either 15 or 16, she doesn't actually know. Can you believe, she never even finished high school! I saw some old photos of her when she was 22 and already had 3 kids...and she was so so beautiful!
Anyway, she ended up having 7 kids. Yes, SEVEN. Can anybody reading this imagine having so many?? I sure can't. But even more incredible is that SHE comes from a family of 9! And she's the first born. So it's unofficially her responsibility to take care of her elderly parents. So she takes care of them, and her entire family. I think that's pretty amazing, considering she never finished high school. Her and her husband (who we all call mzee) did very well for themselves, and they were never lacking for money.
She is incredibly giving and caring. People are constantly coming to our house asking for favors or help with things, and she's always willing to be that person to help. She takes care of her niece and nephew because their parents both died. She also is a leading member of the local church, which normally wouldn't impress me, except that she is so so dedicated to it, and she has never ridiculed me for not being religious. I appreciate her openness and willingness to learn and understand new things.
She always appreciates it when I cook dinner for the family and makes an effort to try everything I make, even if she obviously doesn't like it too much. And she's so happy and jolly all the time, always laughing and smiling! I couldn't have asked for a better host-mom. My host-dad is harder to get to know, but he's also very nice and intelligent and, best of all, he is respectful towards me. Unlike my Mombasa host-dad. It's such a good change from my experience there. I never feel uncomfortable around him.
Anyway, I'm going to stop now, but I just had to share that info with everyone, because yesterday I was looking at those family pictures with my mom and it made everything about her seem so much more real; to see her at 16 getting married to mzee, and to see her in her early 20s with three kids already. I respect her so much as a person.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Kinda wish I'd gotten that rabies vaccine
Scary story time! I was back at my rural home, having just finished a delicious dinner of rice with chickpeas that I learned how to make in Egypt (thanks Sami!). I have been trying to cook as much as possible lately for my parents here because I’m leaving soon and I want to give them special meals before I do. Anyway, I was tinkering around in my bedroom for a minute when I heard one of our dogs, Soupy, begin a fight with some unknown creature just outside my window. We are used to hearing him fight little animals off, but this sounded really vicious, so my mom and I ran outside to see what he was fighting, hoping to maybe scare the thing away. I was just behind her at the door, trying to see what was there, when she yelled “IT’S A MAD DOG!” and slammed the door shut as something came flying towards us. My heart JUMPED out of my chest as I saw that it was another dog, similar to ours, and definitely crazy. It was attacking poor Soupy relentlessly! And just as we shut the door on it, the lights in our compound went out and we were plunged into darkness.
Talk about setting the mood.
We ran to get big flashlights and then my mom went out with a big, pointy stick to try and beat the mad dog so it would run away. It was really aggressive and wasn’t being deterred by anything, so I came to the conclusion that it probably has rabies. How scary is that?? I was cowering by the door, ready to slam it shut if the dog came near the house again. Finally, mom was able to chase it away, and we had a few tense minutes in the living room waiting to hear if it would come back. But then we heard other dogs from farther away howling, so we knew it had gone elsewhere for a while. I called Ken slightly panicked and he calmed me down, and then I went outside to check Soupy for any bite marks or scratches, because that would’ve been tragic. Soupy is such a good dog. Luckily he was clean, so he lives to defend us another day.
Anyway, some neighbors who came over to help told us the stray has been wandering around the villages recently. We can only hope that it dies soon of the rabies or someone kills it, because it is a menace! I will definitely never walk around the rural area at night again. I was comfortable enough to do that recently because people here know me now and I feel safe in the security of the watchful village eyes, but there’s no telling what kind of animals you might meet out here, and I’m glad I was reminded of that lesson before anything bad actually happened to me.
So that is my exciting story for the week. Hopefully I don’t ever have to pee at night again, cause I am too scared to go outside right now and our latrine is at the edge of the compound!!!
Talk about setting the mood.
We ran to get big flashlights and then my mom went out with a big, pointy stick to try and beat the mad dog so it would run away. It was really aggressive and wasn’t being deterred by anything, so I came to the conclusion that it probably has rabies. How scary is that?? I was cowering by the door, ready to slam it shut if the dog came near the house again. Finally, mom was able to chase it away, and we had a few tense minutes in the living room waiting to hear if it would come back. But then we heard other dogs from farther away howling, so we knew it had gone elsewhere for a while. I called Ken slightly panicked and he calmed me down, and then I went outside to check Soupy for any bite marks or scratches, because that would’ve been tragic. Soupy is such a good dog. Luckily he was clean, so he lives to defend us another day.
Anyway, some neighbors who came over to help told us the stray has been wandering around the villages recently. We can only hope that it dies soon of the rabies or someone kills it, because it is a menace! I will definitely never walk around the rural area at night again. I was comfortable enough to do that recently because people here know me now and I feel safe in the security of the watchful village eyes, but there’s no telling what kind of animals you might meet out here, and I’m glad I was reminded of that lesson before anything bad actually happened to me.
So that is my exciting story for the week. Hopefully I don’t ever have to pee at night again, cause I am too scared to go outside right now and our latrine is at the edge of the compound!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Never ride a boda-boda at night
I have just a few amusing tid-bits from the past week to share with you all. First, based on the title of this entry, never...EVER...ride a boda-boda at night. That is my advice to anyone who may venture to Kisumu in the future. Boda-bodas are bicycles with a cushioned passenger seat on the back, directly behind the driver seat. They are the cheapest way to get around Kisumu, and usually are a pretty decent option. Unfortunately, the other night I had a bad experience with a friend of mine, Stephanie, on a boda-boda. First off, my boda actually HIT a matatu and another boda while I was on it! The guy was a horrible driver! I was pretty freaked out, but also didn't want to be left by myself with an angry boda driver at night. But then Stephanie's driver turned out to be drunk. We both screamed at him to stop so she could get off, but he just ignored her and kept going. Finally, she jumped off while he was still moving and we both attempted to leave and find new drivers. We didn't pay the guys, obviously, because they were so incredibly horrible (even by Kenyan standards). They followed us and a small mob actually formed around us, yelling and shouting and threatening us. We still wouldn't pay. (Hey! We have some pride, thank you!) I was getting pretty upset and was screaming at a bunch of people to back off, when a really nice guy cut in and started scolding the drivers for harassing us. Thank the lord he showed up. I was actually getting pretty scared these guys were going to try and pull something with us. I grabbed Steph's hand and we hurried off, and thankfully the crowd didn't try to follow this time. That nice guy who helped out walked us all the way to the restaurant we we trying to get to, keeping street kids away from our purses and making us feel better. I am so grateful for him. If more Kenyans would step up and help out in those kinds of situations, maybe there wouldn't be so much crime on the streets.
At the restaurant, Steph and I both were shaken, and we ordered drinks to calm ourselves down a bit. I splurged on a tequila shot. But then one of Ashley's older host-brothers showed up and he bought the whole round of drinks for us! So nice! Then a drunk Punjabi guy randomly came up to our table and started chatting with us. He was so jolly and hilarious, we had a great time with him. And he must've decided he liked us because he invited all of us to eat dinner with him and his wife (he'd pay for food and drinks!) at this really nice place called the Yacht Club. We're going to meet him tonight and I think it's going to be a blast! Then we got invited to a house party by a bunch of mzungus as we were leaving. They seemed nice enough, but we didn't end up going. I mean, come on...I don't even like house parties with people I know. I doubt this would be much better.
So moving on, I was driving through the villages the other day, and I got a very up-close look at just how badly Kenyans treat their animals. I've seen kids abusing puppies and kittens and people beating their farm animals (and don't get me wrong, I know lots of Americans do the same things, but here it's way more out in the open and I've witnessed a lot of it). Anyway, I saw a strange bundle on the back of a bicycle while we were driving. And as we passed it, the bundle moved, and I realized it was a live goat! The poor thing was tied so that its legs were completely immobile against its body (they looked as if they were broken!) and it's head was hanging off the side of the bike. It was SO sad. My friends told me that it's just as illegal here to treat animals like that as it is in America. But, um, hello? Where are there any cops out in these rural villages??? The animals have no real chance at all. Later that same day, I saw a truck driving with a big bundle of chickens in a bag on the roof! The chickens were of course all alive, all on top of each other, and looking pretty miserable. Poor things.
Anyway, my time here is rapidly coming to an end. I only have another 1 1/2 weeks here in Kisumu. Then Tosha's wedding. Then Nairobi for 2 weeks to finish up the program. Then it's over! I have one month to chill and do some Kenyan sight-seeing...and then it's back to America.
Oy vey.
At the restaurant, Steph and I both were shaken, and we ordered drinks to calm ourselves down a bit. I splurged on a tequila shot. But then one of Ashley's older host-brothers showed up and he bought the whole round of drinks for us! So nice! Then a drunk Punjabi guy randomly came up to our table and started chatting with us. He was so jolly and hilarious, we had a great time with him. And he must've decided he liked us because he invited all of us to eat dinner with him and his wife (he'd pay for food and drinks!) at this really nice place called the Yacht Club. We're going to meet him tonight and I think it's going to be a blast! Then we got invited to a house party by a bunch of mzungus as we were leaving. They seemed nice enough, but we didn't end up going. I mean, come on...I don't even like house parties with people I know. I doubt this would be much better.
So moving on, I was driving through the villages the other day, and I got a very up-close look at just how badly Kenyans treat their animals. I've seen kids abusing puppies and kittens and people beating their farm animals (and don't get me wrong, I know lots of Americans do the same things, but here it's way more out in the open and I've witnessed a lot of it). Anyway, I saw a strange bundle on the back of a bicycle while we were driving. And as we passed it, the bundle moved, and I realized it was a live goat! The poor thing was tied so that its legs were completely immobile against its body (they looked as if they were broken!) and it's head was hanging off the side of the bike. It was SO sad. My friends told me that it's just as illegal here to treat animals like that as it is in America. But, um, hello? Where are there any cops out in these rural villages??? The animals have no real chance at all. Later that same day, I saw a truck driving with a big bundle of chickens in a bag on the roof! The chickens were of course all alive, all on top of each other, and looking pretty miserable. Poor things.
Anyway, my time here is rapidly coming to an end. I only have another 1 1/2 weeks here in Kisumu. Then Tosha's wedding. Then Nairobi for 2 weeks to finish up the program. Then it's over! I have one month to chill and do some Kenyan sight-seeing...and then it's back to America.
Oy vey.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Jadelle
Working for Millennium Villages I have learned a lot of new things about family planning, which is a huge issue here in the villages. A method of FP that I'd heard of but never really considered in the past is called the implant (in America, it's called Norplant). A lot of women out here have gotten it because it's free at MVP clinics, it has minimal side effects, the husband never has to know about it, and it lasts for 5 years! It's an amazing option to have! When I first learned how cheaply I could get one and how often they're done here, I decided I had to have one.
I've been on the pill for years now (none of your business why! lol). And I tell you, remembering to take a tiny little pill at the same time every day for 5 years has been a hassle. And missing one or taking it at the wrong time reduces it's effectiveness (YIKES!!!!). So this implant is hopefully going to just get rid of all those variables. The brand I got (a UK brand called Jadelle) is two matchstick-sized plastic tubes containing a BC medication that is commonly used in other forms.
I went to a KMET clinic with my friend Jen, who used to work there and suggested the place to me. Unfortunately, because of stupid bureaucratic stuff, MVP clinics don't have any supplies of the implant right now, so I couldn't go there. It was a small, slightly run-down place on the outskirts of Kisumu proper. One look around would probably have made most westerners pretty nervous, but I was determined to set an example! Most of my friends have said they want one, they're just scared of getting one put in here in Africa. So on another note, I wanted to prove that it was perfectly safe and easy. The process of checking in was simple. I just said what I wanted and they immediately took down some info about me and then lead me and Jen to a procedure room. I was letting Jen watch and take pictures so she could use the info later in village presentations. She's got a MA in Public Health from BU (jealous!) specializing in reproductive health.
I laid down on the procedure table with my left arm bent behind my head, and quick as a flash they sterilized the area with iodine, injected the local anesthetic, made a small incision with a razor in my arm, inserted a hollow metal tube under my skin, and placed the 2 plastic tubes inside. I looked over at one point and was shocked to find them digging around in my arm with all these tools, which looked as if it should be INCREDIBLY painful, but I felt nothing at all! You gotta love that local anesthetic!! Before I knew it, the whole thing was over and they were dabbing away the blood and putting on a band-aid.
And the whole thing took less than 10 minutes and less than $10. Amazing.
So now I just have to take some painkillers and antibiotics for a few days, go back to get the site of insertion checked in a week, and then I am SET for 5 whole years! Yay!
To any ladies reading this, if interested I would absolutely recommend this type of BC. And now that I've experienced the process, I can be of better use to people here in the village in promoting the procedure! I am so excited about the possibilities this presents. Women in the villages tend to have a lot of children, which is beneficial in some ways, but mostly not because of the financial burden and the increasing likelihood of starvation when there are too many mouths to feed. Also, overpopulation is a big concern because there is not enough land anymore.
Anyway, I hope people found this entry interesting. I thought it was a pretty significant experience. Hope everyone is happy and healthy at home! I miss you all and send my love!
XOXO
Alana
I've been on the pill for years now (none of your business why! lol). And I tell you, remembering to take a tiny little pill at the same time every day for 5 years has been a hassle. And missing one or taking it at the wrong time reduces it's effectiveness (YIKES!!!!). So this implant is hopefully going to just get rid of all those variables. The brand I got (a UK brand called Jadelle) is two matchstick-sized plastic tubes containing a BC medication that is commonly used in other forms.
I went to a KMET clinic with my friend Jen, who used to work there and suggested the place to me. Unfortunately, because of stupid bureaucratic stuff, MVP clinics don't have any supplies of the implant right now, so I couldn't go there. It was a small, slightly run-down place on the outskirts of Kisumu proper. One look around would probably have made most westerners pretty nervous, but I was determined to set an example! Most of my friends have said they want one, they're just scared of getting one put in here in Africa. So on another note, I wanted to prove that it was perfectly safe and easy. The process of checking in was simple. I just said what I wanted and they immediately took down some info about me and then lead me and Jen to a procedure room. I was letting Jen watch and take pictures so she could use the info later in village presentations. She's got a MA in Public Health from BU (jealous!) specializing in reproductive health.
I laid down on the procedure table with my left arm bent behind my head, and quick as a flash they sterilized the area with iodine, injected the local anesthetic, made a small incision with a razor in my arm, inserted a hollow metal tube under my skin, and placed the 2 plastic tubes inside. I looked over at one point and was shocked to find them digging around in my arm with all these tools, which looked as if it should be INCREDIBLY painful, but I felt nothing at all! You gotta love that local anesthetic!! Before I knew it, the whole thing was over and they were dabbing away the blood and putting on a band-aid.
And the whole thing took less than 10 minutes and less than $10. Amazing.
So now I just have to take some painkillers and antibiotics for a few days, go back to get the site of insertion checked in a week, and then I am SET for 5 whole years! Yay!
To any ladies reading this, if interested I would absolutely recommend this type of BC. And now that I've experienced the process, I can be of better use to people here in the village in promoting the procedure! I am so excited about the possibilities this presents. Women in the villages tend to have a lot of children, which is beneficial in some ways, but mostly not because of the financial burden and the increasing likelihood of starvation when there are too many mouths to feed. Also, overpopulation is a big concern because there is not enough land anymore.
Anyway, I hope people found this entry interesting. I thought it was a pretty significant experience. Hope everyone is happy and healthy at home! I miss you all and send my love!
XOXO
Alana
Attack of the Flying Ants
The long rainy season has finally started--a much needed and welcomed break from the hot hot hot, dry dry dry summer months we've been experiencing. It rains for 30 mins everyday starting around 4, then off and on all through the night. Everything has cooled down so nicely, it's wonderful! The rain bouncing off our tin roof actually woke me from a Nyquil induced stupor the other night...it was THAT loud! It is now time to start planting the fields in preparation for a new crop. I'm going to be helping my family with the planting over the next few weeks, so that should be pretty interesting! Who loves cow manure fertilizer? WE DO!
There are only 2 downsides to the heavy rains. Number one is the mud. All the roads around my house leading to the main highway are just packed dirt. So they become nearly impassable when it rains at night! My feet are constantly covered in thick, almost black mud on a daily basis now. The other downside is the BUGS.
All the insects that have been hiding from the heat underground for the past few months have come outside, and they are CELEBRATING with a huuuuuge party in my house!! At night, they flock in by the hundreds following the lights. These huge flying ants, some kind of big, roly poly beetle, little flies. They are EVERYWHERE. And they take serious pleasure in dive-bombing me during dinner and when I'm getting ready for bed. I do everything in the dark now so they won't disturb me. And getting prepared for sleep now involves walking everywhere with a big can of Doom. In the mornings when I get up, I have to step around all the bug corpses lying on my floor. It's disgusting but I'm starting to get used to it. I've taken to retreating into my mosquito net as early as 8pm now and just staying there til I sleep at 11. My family thinks I'm a bit nuts, but find my antics very entertaining. Of course, they aren't bugged by the bugs (haha) at all.
There are only 2 downsides to the heavy rains. Number one is the mud. All the roads around my house leading to the main highway are just packed dirt. So they become nearly impassable when it rains at night! My feet are constantly covered in thick, almost black mud on a daily basis now. The other downside is the BUGS.
All the insects that have been hiding from the heat underground for the past few months have come outside, and they are CELEBRATING with a huuuuuge party in my house!! At night, they flock in by the hundreds following the lights. These huge flying ants, some kind of big, roly poly beetle, little flies. They are EVERYWHERE. And they take serious pleasure in dive-bombing me during dinner and when I'm getting ready for bed. I do everything in the dark now so they won't disturb me. And getting prepared for sleep now involves walking everywhere with a big can of Doom. In the mornings when I get up, I have to step around all the bug corpses lying on my floor. It's disgusting but I'm starting to get used to it. I've taken to retreating into my mosquito net as early as 8pm now and just staying there til I sleep at 11. My family thinks I'm a bit nuts, but find my antics very entertaining. Of course, they aren't bugged by the bugs (haha) at all.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Arabian Nights
So my experiences in Egypt were mostly fantastic. As you know from my last post, I saw Khan al-Khalili market, climbed to the top of a mosque in a burqa, saw the pyramids on camel-back and we also watched a show of traditional Sufi whirling dervishes (there's a video and pictures of the show on my facebook, for those who are interested in seeing). On my last day I decided I had to make the effort to go see the Egyptian Museum. The guidebooks are DEAD ON in their description of this place. There is SOOOOO much stuff there that they literally don't know what to do with all of it! It's the kind of collection any well-organized museum in the rest of the world would kill for...and most of it is just sitting around for anyone to touch (as long as the guards dont catch them), most of it isn't labled or is mis-labled, and it's not in any particular order. I actually had to ask 3 different people how to get to the royal mummies!
The one experience I did NOT enjoy happened at the museum. As a white, un-veiled girl in a Muslim country, I always attract a lot of attention from men. But most are at least respectful in their flirting...if not respectful of physical boundaries (hand kissing, etc). Unfortunately, the ticket guy for the royal mummies exhibit was the opposite of respectful. I had underestimated how much everything would cost, and as a result, I was 2 pounds (about 50 cents) short of the price for an adult admission ticket. I tried to convince him to just let me in cause it was such a small amount...and he took this as an invitation for sexual harassment. He indicated that he would waive the 2 pounds, if I would give him a kiss on the lips. And he was serious. I laughed nervously and said no way, so he then decided to mimic the action of unzippering my sweater. I was wearing a lacy tank top underneath this big sweatshirt. He was SO disgusting. When I refused he gave me a REALLY hard time until some nice Egyptian lady gave me some money and I was able to pay full price.
What an asshole.
So I got to see the mummies and the massive amounts of stuff in the halls around the exhibit. It was pretty cool, though I'm sure they're not the actual mummies. I bet they're stored in some climate controlled, highly restricted area. I met an Egyptian kid who looked about 16 years old and claimed he wanted to practice his English with me. He seemed legit and I was going to go for coffee with him and chat, but cause I was by myself I called a friend for advice, and she said no way jose, don't go anywhere with him. There's apparently a scam where people will take you to a coffee or tea place they suggest that's supposed to be "authentic local" and then they'll either drug you and take your stuff, or they'll just charge you like 300x what it's actually worth. I thought the kid was nice though, so I let him share my taxi and spoke English with him, and then he got out at one place and I went to meet some friends for dinner. He probably was trying to scam me, but no harm no foul, right? I want to be more open to meeting locals when I travel, but especially as a woman by myself, I get way over-suspicious. It's good to be on the safe side, but I wish this world wasn't so full of scams and danger for a solo woman traveler. You miss out on so much because of it.
So I'm back in Kisumu now for my final month of work. I can't believe that's all we have left. In 6 weeks, my program will be over. I'm kind of in shock about it.
The one experience I did NOT enjoy happened at the museum. As a white, un-veiled girl in a Muslim country, I always attract a lot of attention from men. But most are at least respectful in their flirting...if not respectful of physical boundaries (hand kissing, etc). Unfortunately, the ticket guy for the royal mummies exhibit was the opposite of respectful. I had underestimated how much everything would cost, and as a result, I was 2 pounds (about 50 cents) short of the price for an adult admission ticket. I tried to convince him to just let me in cause it was such a small amount...and he took this as an invitation for sexual harassment. He indicated that he would waive the 2 pounds, if I would give him a kiss on the lips. And he was serious. I laughed nervously and said no way, so he then decided to mimic the action of unzippering my sweater. I was wearing a lacy tank top underneath this big sweatshirt. He was SO disgusting. When I refused he gave me a REALLY hard time until some nice Egyptian lady gave me some money and I was able to pay full price.
What an asshole.
So I got to see the mummies and the massive amounts of stuff in the halls around the exhibit. It was pretty cool, though I'm sure they're not the actual mummies. I bet they're stored in some climate controlled, highly restricted area. I met an Egyptian kid who looked about 16 years old and claimed he wanted to practice his English with me. He seemed legit and I was going to go for coffee with him and chat, but cause I was by myself I called a friend for advice, and she said no way jose, don't go anywhere with him. There's apparently a scam where people will take you to a coffee or tea place they suggest that's supposed to be "authentic local" and then they'll either drug you and take your stuff, or they'll just charge you like 300x what it's actually worth. I thought the kid was nice though, so I let him share my taxi and spoke English with him, and then he got out at one place and I went to meet some friends for dinner. He probably was trying to scam me, but no harm no foul, right? I want to be more open to meeting locals when I travel, but especially as a woman by myself, I get way over-suspicious. It's good to be on the safe side, but I wish this world wasn't so full of scams and danger for a solo woman traveler. You miss out on so much because of it.
So I'm back in Kisumu now for my final month of work. I can't believe that's all we have left. In 6 weeks, my program will be over. I'm kind of in shock about it.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
hommos heaven
I got back from Kisumu nearly 2 weeks ago, attended one of our increasingly pointless and mildly insulting MSID seminars, spent a week with my mommy (!) traveling around Kenya, relaxed in Nairobi for a few days, then booked it to the Africa that isn't really Africa to spend a week with my friends Jesse and Anna. Yes everyone, I'm in CAIRO, EGYPT!
I have wanted to come here ever since I was little and my parents would tell me stories about their honeymoon here. I've had visions of camel markets and pyramids for years...and now I'm finally here...and it lives up to all the wonderful things I've heard! This entire year has been full of "OH MY GOD" moments. On a daily basis, I sit back and think to myself "am I really here?? Is all this really happening to me??" And then I jump off the Victoria Falls bridge or dive into Lake Malawi or ride up to the Pyramids of Giza on a camel, and I realize it's all true and I'm so incredibly lucky to be here. (Legit, I just got shivers writing that sentence!)
Anyway, Cairo is a very cool and surprising city. Egypt being really part of the Middle East, not Africa, it's quite modern and westernized in a lot of parts. Of course, there is still the grinding poverty of old Cairo...but what I've seen is NOTHING compared to sub-Saharan Africa. And many parts of Cairo actually remind me of a cross between Chicago and New York, so that should give you an idea. I ate at a restaurant last night that had the most indulgent sushi and hommos I've ever tasted. Of course, I may just be deprived most of the time and impressed by everything, but it was a gorgeous location (right on the Nile in these huge, clear tents) and I left feeling like I would BURST. Amazing.
Cairo was designed by Napoleon to look like the Paris of the Middle East, which I personally still think it does, though admittedly a more delapidated and dirty version. But my viewpoint on "dirty" has been radically altered this year. Jesse told me that most of his friends who come to visit are coming from the US or Europe, and they are absolutely disgusted by what they see. Hey guys, toughen up! As long as there's a roof over your head, food to eat, and clean water to drink...what's a few cockroaches, some peeling paint, and a street full of trash? People really need to get some perspective. Come visit me in Kenya sometime.
So far, I've spent most of my time here relaxing in Jesse & Anna's HUGE apartment in Zamalek--a new, ritzy area of Old Cairo. It's beautiful here and I'm feeling so rested and pampered by their lifestyle. We've been going out and enjoying the crazy nightlife here...and I FINALLY get to revel in the fact that I'm 21! Egypt is the only country in the whole world, besides America, with an enforced 21 age-limit. I walked up to these huge bouncers the other night and handed over a copy of my passport with no fear. It felt incredible. It also helped that I'm a girl and was wearing tight jeans and bright red lipstick. Poor Jesse, who is also 21, wasn't allowed in!! So of course we moved to another location and I whipped out my (fake) bellydance moves. Thank you Chanel and Tamara...2 years of watching you both dance holds me in good stead here!
It hasn't been all clubbing and fabulous meals though. I am indulging in some amazing cultural experiences too. We went to Khan al-Khalili, an open-air tourist market where there was a bombing 2 weeks ago. We climbed to the top of a minaret at a mosque in Islamic Cairo, with Anna and I both in purple-flowered burqas (NOT flattering, btw). Yesterday we went to see the Pyramids of Giza, and I rode a camel and nearly had a heart attack looking at these huge monuments from the ancient world. I have been lucky enough to see many amazing sights in my life: the great wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Victoria Falls. But none of them have ever struck me the same way the Pyramids did. I don't know what it was about them, but just seeing them looming in the distance as we drove up made me want to cry.
We were going to visit the camel market today and see how many camels I'm worth compared to my mother's worth 23 years ago (lol, mom). But we overslept and didn't make it, so that'll have to be on my next trip. Tonight we go to see the Whirling Dervishes dance and tomorrow I'm going to hit up the National Museum before I fly myself back to Kenya. It's been an amazing few days and I know I'll be back here in the future. Now I'm going to get back to figuring out how many more places I can visit before I leave in 3 months! Right now, I'm hoping for a week-long trip by myself to Rwanda. I am dying to visit Petra, Jordan after hearing all of Jesse's stories, but that may not be possible. We shall see.
Love you all, miss you! XOXO
I have wanted to come here ever since I was little and my parents would tell me stories about their honeymoon here. I've had visions of camel markets and pyramids for years...and now I'm finally here...and it lives up to all the wonderful things I've heard! This entire year has been full of "OH MY GOD" moments. On a daily basis, I sit back and think to myself "am I really here?? Is all this really happening to me??" And then I jump off the Victoria Falls bridge or dive into Lake Malawi or ride up to the Pyramids of Giza on a camel, and I realize it's all true and I'm so incredibly lucky to be here. (Legit, I just got shivers writing that sentence!)
Anyway, Cairo is a very cool and surprising city. Egypt being really part of the Middle East, not Africa, it's quite modern and westernized in a lot of parts. Of course, there is still the grinding poverty of old Cairo...but what I've seen is NOTHING compared to sub-Saharan Africa. And many parts of Cairo actually remind me of a cross between Chicago and New York, so that should give you an idea. I ate at a restaurant last night that had the most indulgent sushi and hommos I've ever tasted. Of course, I may just be deprived most of the time and impressed by everything, but it was a gorgeous location (right on the Nile in these huge, clear tents) and I left feeling like I would BURST. Amazing.
Cairo was designed by Napoleon to look like the Paris of the Middle East, which I personally still think it does, though admittedly a more delapidated and dirty version. But my viewpoint on "dirty" has been radically altered this year. Jesse told me that most of his friends who come to visit are coming from the US or Europe, and they are absolutely disgusted by what they see. Hey guys, toughen up! As long as there's a roof over your head, food to eat, and clean water to drink...what's a few cockroaches, some peeling paint, and a street full of trash? People really need to get some perspective. Come visit me in Kenya sometime.
So far, I've spent most of my time here relaxing in Jesse & Anna's HUGE apartment in Zamalek--a new, ritzy area of Old Cairo. It's beautiful here and I'm feeling so rested and pampered by their lifestyle. We've been going out and enjoying the crazy nightlife here...and I FINALLY get to revel in the fact that I'm 21! Egypt is the only country in the whole world, besides America, with an enforced 21 age-limit. I walked up to these huge bouncers the other night and handed over a copy of my passport with no fear. It felt incredible. It also helped that I'm a girl and was wearing tight jeans and bright red lipstick. Poor Jesse, who is also 21, wasn't allowed in!! So of course we moved to another location and I whipped out my (fake) bellydance moves. Thank you Chanel and Tamara...2 years of watching you both dance holds me in good stead here!
It hasn't been all clubbing and fabulous meals though. I am indulging in some amazing cultural experiences too. We went to Khan al-Khalili, an open-air tourist market where there was a bombing 2 weeks ago. We climbed to the top of a minaret at a mosque in Islamic Cairo, with Anna and I both in purple-flowered burqas (NOT flattering, btw). Yesterday we went to see the Pyramids of Giza, and I rode a camel and nearly had a heart attack looking at these huge monuments from the ancient world. I have been lucky enough to see many amazing sights in my life: the great wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Victoria Falls. But none of them have ever struck me the same way the Pyramids did. I don't know what it was about them, but just seeing them looming in the distance as we drove up made me want to cry.
We were going to visit the camel market today and see how many camels I'm worth compared to my mother's worth 23 years ago (lol, mom). But we overslept and didn't make it, so that'll have to be on my next trip. Tonight we go to see the Whirling Dervishes dance and tomorrow I'm going to hit up the National Museum before I fly myself back to Kenya. It's been an amazing few days and I know I'll be back here in the future. Now I'm going to get back to figuring out how many more places I can visit before I leave in 3 months! Right now, I'm hoping for a week-long trip by myself to Rwanda. I am dying to visit Petra, Jordan after hearing all of Jesse's stories, but that may not be possible. We shall see.
Love you all, miss you! XOXO
Friday, February 20, 2009
unbelievable
It turns out, the rest of yesterday did hold some surprises, even after seeing the burnt, murdered body of the robber.
Ashley and I took the bus back to Nairobi in the afternoon. Of course, it was late, and we endured the typical Kenyan responses to our inquiries. Whenever you ask a Kenyan how long something will take, for example: When will the bus arrive? or When will this matatu leave?, the answer is always the same. Oh, 15 minutes madam! We've learned by now that 15 minutes is code for: I dont have any idea what's going on and I'm just going to say 15 minutes so you don't get mad. In fact, the bus was an hour late...
TIA.
Then, on the trip, we saw not one, but TWO overturned tankers on the side of the road! One of them was even leaking petrol out of the top and looked really really dangerous. There were cops with guns surrounding it, and then just beyond them, a group of people lined up with buckets and jerry cans, hoping to collect a bit of petrol for themselves.
This sight was depressing because, just a couple weeks ago, there were TWO petrol tanker explosions that killed hundreds of people who were there trying to collect/siphon petrol. It was a huge tragedy, and I guess that explains the big police presence at this site. It's just so horrible to know that there are people here SO desperate for a bit of money or fuel to cook with that they will risk almost certain death to get it.
Ashley and I took the bus back to Nairobi in the afternoon. Of course, it was late, and we endured the typical Kenyan responses to our inquiries. Whenever you ask a Kenyan how long something will take, for example: When will the bus arrive? or When will this matatu leave?, the answer is always the same. Oh, 15 minutes madam! We've learned by now that 15 minutes is code for: I dont have any idea what's going on and I'm just going to say 15 minutes so you don't get mad. In fact, the bus was an hour late...
TIA.
Then, on the trip, we saw not one, but TWO overturned tankers on the side of the road! One of them was even leaking petrol out of the top and looked really really dangerous. There were cops with guns surrounding it, and then just beyond them, a group of people lined up with buckets and jerry cans, hoping to collect a bit of petrol for themselves.
This sight was depressing because, just a couple weeks ago, there were TWO petrol tanker explosions that killed hundreds of people who were there trying to collect/siphon petrol. It was a huge tragedy, and I guess that explains the big police presence at this site. It's just so horrible to know that there are people here SO desperate for a bit of money or fuel to cook with that they will risk almost certain death to get it.
What do you do with a robber? BURN HIM!
So do you all remember how I've talked about mob justice in the past? The cultural concept here where it's okay for the public to take justice into their own hands? Well, I finally saw the results of it.
Last night I stayed in Kisumu town with my friend Tosha at her house in Dunga. Apparently two robbers tried to break into the house next door to ours. My window was open and facing the house, but I actually slept through the whole commotion that followed! The woman who lives there woke up and heard noises, so she made a big to-do and all the neighbors were drawn over to the house to see what was up. The dogs in our yard were also barking their heads off for a while. The crowd saw the 2 robbers who tried to run away, and they made chase after them down the road. The next two hours were a game of hide-and-seek and find-the-robbers, and eventually they did find one of them! They started beating him as they interrogated him, and found out the name of the other robber. Apparently the guys were from across town, but they work in Dunga as firshermen, so everybody knew who they were. The mob were beating and beating this guy, but he wasn't dying because he'd prepared in case he was caught. He wore several layers of clothing to protect himself from a beating. So they poured parrafin on him and lit him on fire. He ran screaming into a nearby field and then fell over, and the mob put a tire on top of him and lit the tire. Rubber will burn FOREVER, so he burned to death lying there, and the tire was still burning by the time I woke up at 8am this morning.
Tosha told me the story and we threw on clothing and ran over to the scene just down the road. Half of Dunga was out there watching, and the fire department had just come and put out the still flaming body. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd just in time to see the body, charred and still smoking, being picked up and put in the back of a truck which was acting as a make-shift ambulance. It was DISGUSTING. It looked like something from a horror film. And the bicycle the guy had tried to run away on was also burned and crumpled next to him. There was just this big, black, burned out part of the field with a destroyed bicycle in it. SO CRAZY.
As soon as they took the body away, the crowd dispersed, and I guess another big mob went off to search for the 2nd robber. They will get their revenge on him, for sure. Some people had actually been up all night watching the body burn and went to search for the 2nd guy without even going to sleep! Kenyans really really take this stuff seriously! And the police allow it. No one is going to give up the names of those who set the guy alight, and the police won't bother to follow up on it. Even Tosha's fiancee knows who did it, but he wouldn't tell us the names, despite the fact that there's no one for us to tell. I guess they figure it's their right to bring justice.
I know it's probably not right, but I kind of agree with how things are handled here. These guys tried to rob a house full of children. If one of those kids had accidentally crossed their path, they would have absolutely killed him or her to keep the kid from waking everyone up. And Tosha told me that there have been some guys driving around at night scoping out the well-off houses--watching how many men live there, are there dogs, when do people go to sleep, etc. They were definitely planning some sort of big robbery and everyone has been on edge for a few weeks. Last night wasn't the guys who have been snooping around, but taking revenge on them sent a powerful message that crime will not be tolerated there. So everyone is taking a big sigh of relief now. And let's be serious. In a country where the police are useless and corrupt, it SHOULD be up to the people to inspire fear in criminals!
Anyway, it's not even noon and already I've had QUITE a full day. What other craziness will ensue I wonder?
Last night I stayed in Kisumu town with my friend Tosha at her house in Dunga. Apparently two robbers tried to break into the house next door to ours. My window was open and facing the house, but I actually slept through the whole commotion that followed! The woman who lives there woke up and heard noises, so she made a big to-do and all the neighbors were drawn over to the house to see what was up. The dogs in our yard were also barking their heads off for a while. The crowd saw the 2 robbers who tried to run away, and they made chase after them down the road. The next two hours were a game of hide-and-seek and find-the-robbers, and eventually they did find one of them! They started beating him as they interrogated him, and found out the name of the other robber. Apparently the guys were from across town, but they work in Dunga as firshermen, so everybody knew who they were. The mob were beating and beating this guy, but he wasn't dying because he'd prepared in case he was caught. He wore several layers of clothing to protect himself from a beating. So they poured parrafin on him and lit him on fire. He ran screaming into a nearby field and then fell over, and the mob put a tire on top of him and lit the tire. Rubber will burn FOREVER, so he burned to death lying there, and the tire was still burning by the time I woke up at 8am this morning.
Tosha told me the story and we threw on clothing and ran over to the scene just down the road. Half of Dunga was out there watching, and the fire department had just come and put out the still flaming body. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd just in time to see the body, charred and still smoking, being picked up and put in the back of a truck which was acting as a make-shift ambulance. It was DISGUSTING. It looked like something from a horror film. And the bicycle the guy had tried to run away on was also burned and crumpled next to him. There was just this big, black, burned out part of the field with a destroyed bicycle in it. SO CRAZY.
As soon as they took the body away, the crowd dispersed, and I guess another big mob went off to search for the 2nd robber. They will get their revenge on him, for sure. Some people had actually been up all night watching the body burn and went to search for the 2nd guy without even going to sleep! Kenyans really really take this stuff seriously! And the police allow it. No one is going to give up the names of those who set the guy alight, and the police won't bother to follow up on it. Even Tosha's fiancee knows who did it, but he wouldn't tell us the names, despite the fact that there's no one for us to tell. I guess they figure it's their right to bring justice.
I know it's probably not right, but I kind of agree with how things are handled here. These guys tried to rob a house full of children. If one of those kids had accidentally crossed their path, they would have absolutely killed him or her to keep the kid from waking everyone up. And Tosha told me that there have been some guys driving around at night scoping out the well-off houses--watching how many men live there, are there dogs, when do people go to sleep, etc. They were definitely planning some sort of big robbery and everyone has been on edge for a few weeks. Last night wasn't the guys who have been snooping around, but taking revenge on them sent a powerful message that crime will not be tolerated there. So everyone is taking a big sigh of relief now. And let's be serious. In a country where the police are useless and corrupt, it SHOULD be up to the people to inspire fear in criminals!
Anyway, it's not even noon and already I've had QUITE a full day. What other craziness will ensue I wonder?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Damn cows...
So yesterday was a very interesting and exhausting and wonderful day. First off, just an amusing little tidbit...I went to take my bucket shower yesterday morning as usual, leaving the bucket of water in the shower stall while I went away for a minute to put on my towel. And when I came back, I discovered that one of our cows had drunk up ALL my bathwater!! Those damn cows will eat or drink ANYTHING! They even attempted to eat my underwear off the laundry line this morning! Nothing is safe around a cow.
Also, I have successfully made friends with our cat, who I decided to name Baba Ghanoush. He will now come and cuddle with me, and even likes to scare me by climbing up the inside of my curtains and then jumping on me while I'm lying in bed. I loooove having a kitty to cuddle with again!
So on to the main event. Yesterday was the day of the much anticipated Sauri blood drive I have been helping to plan and advertise for in the villages surrounding my house. The Sauri cluster of villages is HUGE, so we had decided to launch this initiative in just a small area at first to see how many people we could get to come and donate blood. The villages included were Bar Sauri and Nyamninia (where I live).
Blood donation is a big deal around here because so many people need transfusions (children with malaria and women who give birth in the clinics in particular). However, people are scared to donate for numerous reasons: they think we will sell the blood, they think the needles are tainted with HIV, they think we are secretly trying to test them for HIV, they claim they don't have enough blood in their bodies, etc. It's difficult to get people to come and donate! The last blood drive they attempted here got only 5 people to come. ONLY FIVE PEOPLE. There are several thousand living in the Sauri cluster, so it was a spectacular failure. This time, however, we mobilized within the villages themselves. We attended church meetings and sang and danced with the members, then the bishop would let us distribute fliers and he would translate from English into Luo so everyone understood us. We went to community meetings and talked to the men and women there. We went to the local high school and talked about the importance of donating blood. We went to the clinic and explained to all the women bringing in their children that their blood could save the life of their child. We also got the Community Health Workers to talk about the drive during their normal rounds. We worked SO HARD. And guess what...
It payed off!! We got 106 people to donate yesterday!! And even more WANTED to give blood, but we actually ran out of blood bags to take it with! It was a huge huge success, and now the villages here have enough blood to last them an entire year. It's truly amazing how just a little extra effort and understanding of how people think can make all the difference.
I am feeling very good about my work out here, but these days I and most of the other MSID students are getting really disillusioned with the MSID program and how it is managed in general. Details will bore you, but I'm really starting to wish that I was here of my own accord rather than under the hands of Minnesota. They have no idea how to REALLY allow us to get the most out of our time here. It's so so frustrating and I just hope it all gets resolved soon.
Tata for now! Lanzy
Also, I have successfully made friends with our cat, who I decided to name Baba Ghanoush. He will now come and cuddle with me, and even likes to scare me by climbing up the inside of my curtains and then jumping on me while I'm lying in bed. I loooove having a kitty to cuddle with again!
So on to the main event. Yesterday was the day of the much anticipated Sauri blood drive I have been helping to plan and advertise for in the villages surrounding my house. The Sauri cluster of villages is HUGE, so we had decided to launch this initiative in just a small area at first to see how many people we could get to come and donate blood. The villages included were Bar Sauri and Nyamninia (where I live).
Blood donation is a big deal around here because so many people need transfusions (children with malaria and women who give birth in the clinics in particular). However, people are scared to donate for numerous reasons: they think we will sell the blood, they think the needles are tainted with HIV, they think we are secretly trying to test them for HIV, they claim they don't have enough blood in their bodies, etc. It's difficult to get people to come and donate! The last blood drive they attempted here got only 5 people to come. ONLY FIVE PEOPLE. There are several thousand living in the Sauri cluster, so it was a spectacular failure. This time, however, we mobilized within the villages themselves. We attended church meetings and sang and danced with the members, then the bishop would let us distribute fliers and he would translate from English into Luo so everyone understood us. We went to community meetings and talked to the men and women there. We went to the local high school and talked about the importance of donating blood. We went to the clinic and explained to all the women bringing in their children that their blood could save the life of their child. We also got the Community Health Workers to talk about the drive during their normal rounds. We worked SO HARD. And guess what...
It payed off!! We got 106 people to donate yesterday!! And even more WANTED to give blood, but we actually ran out of blood bags to take it with! It was a huge huge success, and now the villages here have enough blood to last them an entire year. It's truly amazing how just a little extra effort and understanding of how people think can make all the difference.
I am feeling very good about my work out here, but these days I and most of the other MSID students are getting really disillusioned with the MSID program and how it is managed in general. Details will bore you, but I'm really starting to wish that I was here of my own accord rather than under the hands of Minnesota. They have no idea how to REALLY allow us to get the most out of our time here. It's so so frustrating and I just hope it all gets resolved soon.
Tata for now! Lanzy
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Disillusioned...
It's been a rough few weeks.
What with some of my closest friends leaving, being mugged, being sick (again), the difficult travels all the time from my rural home to Kisumu, adjusting to a new place and a new family, and just the daily harassment for simply being a white girl in Africa. I'm EXHAUSTED!!
Yesterday, after a difficult overnight bus trip from Nairobi, I arrived in Kisumu at 5:15am. I slept for an hour in the bus company waiting room with 10 or so other people, then searched for some food, then went straight to work. I was at work from 7am-4pm straight through. You can imagine how tired I was, and I felt a bad headache coming on. But I had to get my butt back to the rural home before dark. So I got on a matatu.
I F**KING HATE MATATUS!!!!!!
The asshole conductor took my money and then REFUSED to give me my change. Even though he, I, and everyone else in a 100 meter radius knew he was overcharging me. I must've argued for 10 minutes, but he refused to give it back. And I knew that if I got out and tried to find another one, the word would spread and I might have to pay even more. So I stayed put and gave that f**ker my death glare. He was unfazed, which pissed me off even more. I was actually about to start crying from the frustration, and probably would have had I not needed to yell and slam my window shut on guys trying to sell me crap.
I'm sick of being ripped off all the time, I'm sick of being called "mzungu!" and "hey white lady!", I'm sick of being asked to make Obamas, I'm sick of being touched inappropriately whenever I'm in a crowd. Basically, I'M SICK OF AFRICAN MEN. I miss being able to walk down the street and have NO ONE speak to me! Even when I got home and was swearing and half-crying under my breath as I walked to the house, all the little children and kids getting out of school were yelling out to me. I feel I HAVE to answer them (even though Ken assures me I don't). I don't want to be that asshole white girl who is so rude she won't say hi. But can you imagine just really needing to be left alone, needing to just cry and yell and let it out...and having people expect you stop and chat with them every 2 seconds?? OY GAVALT!! FREAKIN AFRICA!!
So yes, I had my big moment of disillusionment. I had my "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE??" freak out. I think I did pretty good lasting 5 months before having one! But now I'm going to make a list of the 10 things I love most about being here and things I still have to look forward to before I leave in May. That way, I can look at it everytime I'm feeling like I want to scratch the matatu guys' eyes out or curse and swear at a bunch of kids to just leave me alone. Haha. (I'm serious about the matatu guys though. One of these days...)
WHY I LOVE KENYA
1. My mom is coming to visit in just over 2 weeks!
2. I'm going to CAIRO for Spring Break to see Jesse and Anna.
3. The Lisa Frank-esque rainbow I see everytime I go back to my rural home in the late afternoon (it rains over the mountains around 4 everyday, creating the most gorgeous rainbow you've EVER seen...I swear I see leprechauns and unicorns dancing around the base). And the rain itself, cause it's always a fabulous lightning storm here!
4. Our cat at the rural home, who I call Kitty, who is just starting to trust me and likes to take naps with one of our dogs. And the cows and chickens in my yard who wake me up every morning and never fail to amuse.
5. My Sauri, Nairobi and Mombasa-(minus the dad)-families...and Ken of course.
6. Going out to shake-shake (aka DANCING), and having everyone say "are you SURE you're white?".
7. Paying the equivalent of about $3.50 for a movie, a hot dog, a big popcorn, and a big soda.
8. Piki-piki rides! (Motorbikes). Especially at night when I can look at the perfect perfect stars.
9. Learning how to cook African food...and having everyone be super impressed when I make cookies out of a Betty Crocker bag.
10. Having micro-braids...cause I haven't had to wash my hair in over 3 weeks!
What with some of my closest friends leaving, being mugged, being sick (again), the difficult travels all the time from my rural home to Kisumu, adjusting to a new place and a new family, and just the daily harassment for simply being a white girl in Africa. I'm EXHAUSTED!!
Yesterday, after a difficult overnight bus trip from Nairobi, I arrived in Kisumu at 5:15am. I slept for an hour in the bus company waiting room with 10 or so other people, then searched for some food, then went straight to work. I was at work from 7am-4pm straight through. You can imagine how tired I was, and I felt a bad headache coming on. But I had to get my butt back to the rural home before dark. So I got on a matatu.
I F**KING HATE MATATUS!!!!!!
The asshole conductor took my money and then REFUSED to give me my change. Even though he, I, and everyone else in a 100 meter radius knew he was overcharging me. I must've argued for 10 minutes, but he refused to give it back. And I knew that if I got out and tried to find another one, the word would spread and I might have to pay even more. So I stayed put and gave that f**ker my death glare. He was unfazed, which pissed me off even more. I was actually about to start crying from the frustration, and probably would have had I not needed to yell and slam my window shut on guys trying to sell me crap.
I'm sick of being ripped off all the time, I'm sick of being called "mzungu!" and "hey white lady!", I'm sick of being asked to make Obamas, I'm sick of being touched inappropriately whenever I'm in a crowd. Basically, I'M SICK OF AFRICAN MEN. I miss being able to walk down the street and have NO ONE speak to me! Even when I got home and was swearing and half-crying under my breath as I walked to the house, all the little children and kids getting out of school were yelling out to me. I feel I HAVE to answer them (even though Ken assures me I don't). I don't want to be that asshole white girl who is so rude she won't say hi. But can you imagine just really needing to be left alone, needing to just cry and yell and let it out...and having people expect you stop and chat with them every 2 seconds?? OY GAVALT!! FREAKIN AFRICA!!
So yes, I had my big moment of disillusionment. I had my "WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE??" freak out. I think I did pretty good lasting 5 months before having one! But now I'm going to make a list of the 10 things I love most about being here and things I still have to look forward to before I leave in May. That way, I can look at it everytime I'm feeling like I want to scratch the matatu guys' eyes out or curse and swear at a bunch of kids to just leave me alone. Haha. (I'm serious about the matatu guys though. One of these days...)
WHY I LOVE KENYA
1. My mom is coming to visit in just over 2 weeks!
2. I'm going to CAIRO for Spring Break to see Jesse and Anna.
3. The Lisa Frank-esque rainbow I see everytime I go back to my rural home in the late afternoon (it rains over the mountains around 4 everyday, creating the most gorgeous rainbow you've EVER seen...I swear I see leprechauns and unicorns dancing around the base). And the rain itself, cause it's always a fabulous lightning storm here!
4. Our cat at the rural home, who I call Kitty, who is just starting to trust me and likes to take naps with one of our dogs. And the cows and chickens in my yard who wake me up every morning and never fail to amuse.
5. My Sauri, Nairobi and Mombasa-(minus the dad)-families...and Ken of course.
6. Going out to shake-shake (aka DANCING), and having everyone say "are you SURE you're white?".
7. Paying the equivalent of about $3.50 for a movie, a hot dog, a big popcorn, and a big soda.
8. Piki-piki rides! (Motorbikes). Especially at night when I can look at the perfect perfect stars.
9. Learning how to cook African food...and having everyone be super impressed when I make cookies out of a Betty Crocker bag.
10. Having micro-braids...cause I haven't had to wash my hair in over 3 weeks!
Monday, January 26, 2009
$$$ issues
Okay, so first off I want to say that YAY SARA IS FINALLY IN KENYA AND I'LL BE GOIN TO SEE HER IN A WEEK OR TWO!! For those of you who don't know, Sara is a friend from Wisco who has been in Belgium all last semester, but now she's here on the same program as me! Psyched to have her here and be able to show her around. :)
Now, on to the subject of this post. I assume you all know that my wallet was stolen a couple weeks ago--along with my Visa card and my ATM card. So I've had no way to pull out any money since then. Thankfully my mom wired me some bills that have been more than enough, but I have to budget the money until my new ATM card gets here. It puts a new spin on my thought process whenever somebody asks me for something now.
One thing that you may not know about African culture (not trying to generalize, its just that I've seen it in every country I've been to), is that people here have no shame in asking you to give them things. Even well-off people will ask...or rather tell...you to give them things. They want money, they want food, they want your iPod, they want your clothes, etc. No shame whatsoever! It's probably the single most off-putting thing an American will experience here, because to us, begging is shameful, and there is even shame is asking politely to borrow something! Think about it! We're always soo soooooo careful when asking to borrow something from a friend. And if we don't bother to ask that person we took from, even if it's our best friend, they will get really really mad.
Living in Nairobi and Mombasa was different because, a). I always had access to money with my ATM card, and b). yes, people need help, but in the cities it's not as widespread as in the rural areas. There was a level of guilt associated with it for the first few months. But then the cultural difference in how people beg started getting to me. I know things are lost in translation, and in Swahili it's not rude to say "nipe pesa", meaning "give me money". But of course, if someone comes up to you and in English says, "you give me that shirt" or "give me money, mzungu"......well, it feels rude and you get mad!
I had learned to tune it out, but now that I actually CAN'T give out money (because, let's be honest, I normally could afford to give away something small), I feel even more violated because people see my skin color and EVERYONE just comes straight to me. And I actually don't have anything now! Yesterday I was stuck sitting in a matatu in Kisumu for 1 1/2 hours waiting for it to fill up so I could go home. I was sitting in the front seat next to the window, and I had to almost FIGHT people away from my window. At one point, I got so sick of it, that I spent 5 minutes explaining to one guy why it's really rude to say "mzungu, give me money". At the end, he laughed and then said "okay mzungu, please will you give me that Obama pin?" I had a few pinned onto my bag. I figured, okay, that was relatively polite (though I still hate being called Mzungu), and gave him one pin. He'll love it forever and maybe now he'll remember to say please.
Anyway, in the rural areas, I get it three-fold compared to the cities because just about everyone here could use a few extra shillings. I'm really tired of it. Today I walked around with my iPod on to try and block it out just for a little while. Unfortunately, then they wanted my iPod.
ARRRGGHHH!!! Okay, I feel a bit better now. But man oh man, will I be glad to get back to certain American social standards in a few months! There is something to be said for our isolated, unfriendly, personal space bubble culture at times!
Now, on to the subject of this post. I assume you all know that my wallet was stolen a couple weeks ago--along with my Visa card and my ATM card. So I've had no way to pull out any money since then. Thankfully my mom wired me some bills that have been more than enough, but I have to budget the money until my new ATM card gets here. It puts a new spin on my thought process whenever somebody asks me for something now.
One thing that you may not know about African culture (not trying to generalize, its just that I've seen it in every country I've been to), is that people here have no shame in asking you to give them things. Even well-off people will ask...or rather tell...you to give them things. They want money, they want food, they want your iPod, they want your clothes, etc. No shame whatsoever! It's probably the single most off-putting thing an American will experience here, because to us, begging is shameful, and there is even shame is asking politely to borrow something! Think about it! We're always soo soooooo careful when asking to borrow something from a friend. And if we don't bother to ask that person we took from, even if it's our best friend, they will get really really mad.
Living in Nairobi and Mombasa was different because, a). I always had access to money with my ATM card, and b). yes, people need help, but in the cities it's not as widespread as in the rural areas. There was a level of guilt associated with it for the first few months. But then the cultural difference in how people beg started getting to me. I know things are lost in translation, and in Swahili it's not rude to say "nipe pesa", meaning "give me money". But of course, if someone comes up to you and in English says, "you give me that shirt" or "give me money, mzungu"......well, it feels rude and you get mad!
I had learned to tune it out, but now that I actually CAN'T give out money (because, let's be honest, I normally could afford to give away something small), I feel even more violated because people see my skin color and EVERYONE just comes straight to me. And I actually don't have anything now! Yesterday I was stuck sitting in a matatu in Kisumu for 1 1/2 hours waiting for it to fill up so I could go home. I was sitting in the front seat next to the window, and I had to almost FIGHT people away from my window. At one point, I got so sick of it, that I spent 5 minutes explaining to one guy why it's really rude to say "mzungu, give me money". At the end, he laughed and then said "okay mzungu, please will you give me that Obama pin?" I had a few pinned onto my bag. I figured, okay, that was relatively polite (though I still hate being called Mzungu), and gave him one pin. He'll love it forever and maybe now he'll remember to say please.
Anyway, in the rural areas, I get it three-fold compared to the cities because just about everyone here could use a few extra shillings. I'm really tired of it. Today I walked around with my iPod on to try and block it out just for a little while. Unfortunately, then they wanted my iPod.
ARRRGGHHH!!! Okay, I feel a bit better now. But man oh man, will I be glad to get back to certain American social standards in a few months! There is something to be said for our isolated, unfriendly, personal space bubble culture at times!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
cool little tidbit
I have to cross over the equator when traveling between Kisumu and my rural home. How sweet is that?? I LIVE ON THE EQUATOR! Guess this means I'll be rockin the daily SPF 45, lol.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
...to the smallest village, where my father was born
In the land of Obama, the American is queen.
Okeedokee, so I have now moved from Nairobi out to a little village in Nyanza Province called Sauri. I love love loooooove my new home! I'm living with an older couple, dad is a retired meteorologist and mom is a Community Health Worker (CHW) in the area. They have 7 children, but none of them are at home currently, so it's mostly just me, them, and all the visitors we usually have! Our home is RURAL. It's about a 10 minute walk from the main road to Kisumu, up in the green countryside through winding dirt roads. In our yard we have cows and chickens running around! There is a little main house, two smaller houses (called simbas, which are built for the married boys), another guest house for the girls, and a block of rooms for the animals, including another kitchen with a fire place and stone blocks for cooking on! I live in the main house with my parents. It's a small concrete structure, but very cozy on the inside, with a (relatively) big living room, a small dining room, a kitchen and pantry, 2 bedrooms and a storage room. I live in a small bedroom that is just perfect for me! A big bed, cabinet (with full length mirror--shocker!!) and a little table to put all my stuff on. It's very cute and just what I need after bedroom-switching everytime I'm back in Nairobi. We have electricity in the house, which no one else in the village has, so I'm very very lucky! There is running water....outside. We have a tap that I can use to get all the water I need for my bucket shower. We just heat it up over a fire before I go use it in the outdoor shower room. And our toilet is a latrine outside, but they have converted the squat toilet into a sitting one by adding a cement block and an actual toilet seat to it! Very crafty! It's mildly disconcerting when I'm showering or otherwise and giant moths are trying to dive-bomb me, but all-in-all, it's not bad.
My internship has not officially started yet because there was all this paperwork I had to do that had been overlooked, so I'm working on getting that done and officializing my stay here. Hopefully it comes through quickly, seeing as my time here is limited! All this red tape is really annoying. I don't see why they find it so necessary, considering that Jeff Sachs himself has already approved me for the project. But they just loooooove "procedure" here in Kenya...even when it prohibits me from being a useful member of the Millennium Villages team. I'm here, MVP! USE ME! LET ME WORK!!!!!
Oh yeah, did I even tell you what I'll be doing? Well, I'm working in the ORIGINAL millennium village: Sauri, Kenya. The Millennium Village Project is a spin-off from the larger Millennium Development Goals initiative. Basically, they are using rural villages across Africa as models of how to properly implement the MDGs to improve quality of life in poverty-stricken areas. Go to the website if you want to hear more about the goals and how they're progressing: http://www.endpoverty2015.org/. But anywho, Sauri was the first MV to be established, about 5 years ago. It has been a great model for the MDGs and quite successful in its initiatives. I'm going to (hopefully) be working on several different projects.
1) Working with a local school that recently received a computer lab, training the teachers & students in ICT and doing research on how to best utilize this resource for the best education of the students.
2) Working on a school to school initiative that will partner MV schools with schools in the US for a mutual learning commitment to each other.
3) I'll also be, unofficially, assiting with some medical team projects, which are currently TBD.
The third thing is what I've been doing this week, as I'm not yet approved to work in the schools here. I assisted with an HIV/AIDS training seminar for some local CHWs on Monday, and now I'm doing research for a triage project in the rural clincs. I'm loving the work so far and the people I'll be working with are fantastic, so it's looking very promising! I only wish I had been doing this work since the beginning so I could have been here for a longer time!
Now, something you may not know about the Kisumu area is that, just about 2 hours from town (one hour from the village where I live) is the home of Obama's father--where his grandmother and other relatives still live! This is the HEART of Obamaland! So you can imagine I was completely stoked to be here for his inauguration. Anywhere in Kenya, white people (not just Americans) get cat-called about Obama. But in Kisumu, it's NEVERENDING! People are sooooo excited to be a part of it. They all yell out "Oh, sista Obama!" "We make Obamas together!" "Obama Obama Obama!" "Mzungu, Obama, yes we can!". It's pretty funny, but I'm sure will get tiring after a few weeks. Maybe the fervor will start to die down now, though I doubt it! Anyway, I made the long and sometimes treacherous journey into town from my home yesterday morning. I say treacherous because, though usually it's fine, I happened to be in a matatu yesterday that had the brakes fail halfway through the trip! And I was in what we call the "death seat", aka the front middle seat with no seatbelts. But did that stop this vehicle from continuing? Nope! They really take this "yes we can!" attitude to the limit. The driver just would casually shift into first gear and put on the emergency brake anytime a stop was required. I was scared shitless, but what can you do? If I got out I'd have to pay for ANOTHER one, which may not come for another 10-30 minutes. I figured we were pretty close, and matatus always suck, so I'd just stick it out and get to Kisumu as fast as possible. Anyway, we made it without other mishaps, thank god. I went to the MVP offices for a while to do some paperwork, then I met up with Andre, Ashley, Jen, her husband Ben, and Dan to head to Sports Grounds. That's this big arena in town where they had set up huge screens to view the inauguration, and you can get well priced drinks and food there. Unfortunately, though predicatably, Sports Grounds was a MADHOUSE. There were thousands of Kenyans running around and screaming and dancing in celebration for Obama! It was NUTS. In the end, we moved to the Imperial Hotel across the street to watch. That was a lot more pleasant and easier to see and hear at. We watched everything go down in a very plush lounge with a nice, big flatscreen. At the same time, we could hear the multiple echoes of the TVs in Sports Grounds, so that we heard everything that was said three times! We also could hear the crowds cheering insanely...especially at the part where Obama mentioned Kogelo, his father's village. The screaming and cheering at that part (which is the title of this post) was INSANE!
After the inauguration speech (which made me cry, btw), a few of us really wanted to go back to Sports Grounds to celebrate with everyone there. So we dropped off some of our bags at the hotel desk and headed over. Almost immediatley, we were MOBBED by people! I guess at that point, nearly all the women had already left, and the remaining men were drunk, and the remaining kids were street kids looking to pickpocket. I was seriously disappointed because I had wanted to dance and have a good time with Obama's people, but the situation made it unbearable for my friends. They felt horribly violated by everyone hounding us, touching us, kids trying to steal from us or begging, etc. So we left after only a few minutes. I was soooo sad :(
So that was my Obama night. I loved watching the inauguration, and it is the first time in my life when I am proud to say I am American. But the celebrations afterward fell VERY short of my expectations. I just wish I had been here for the elections, because THAT was a party that everyone could go to and have fun at. Obamamania here is definitely more intense than in America!
Anyway, now I must get back to researching. But I will try to update this as much as possible because there will be a LOT to talk about here. I don't have any computer access near my home yet, but hopefully the ones at the school will prove useful.
All my love and congrats to everyone at home on our new prez! O-BA-MA! Now if only you all could hear the songs that have been written for him here since the election. They are priceless.
Okeedokee, so I have now moved from Nairobi out to a little village in Nyanza Province called Sauri. I love love loooooove my new home! I'm living with an older couple, dad is a retired meteorologist and mom is a Community Health Worker (CHW) in the area. They have 7 children, but none of them are at home currently, so it's mostly just me, them, and all the visitors we usually have! Our home is RURAL. It's about a 10 minute walk from the main road to Kisumu, up in the green countryside through winding dirt roads. In our yard we have cows and chickens running around! There is a little main house, two smaller houses (called simbas, which are built for the married boys), another guest house for the girls, and a block of rooms for the animals, including another kitchen with a fire place and stone blocks for cooking on! I live in the main house with my parents. It's a small concrete structure, but very cozy on the inside, with a (relatively) big living room, a small dining room, a kitchen and pantry, 2 bedrooms and a storage room. I live in a small bedroom that is just perfect for me! A big bed, cabinet (with full length mirror--shocker!!) and a little table to put all my stuff on. It's very cute and just what I need after bedroom-switching everytime I'm back in Nairobi. We have electricity in the house, which no one else in the village has, so I'm very very lucky! There is running water....outside. We have a tap that I can use to get all the water I need for my bucket shower. We just heat it up over a fire before I go use it in the outdoor shower room. And our toilet is a latrine outside, but they have converted the squat toilet into a sitting one by adding a cement block and an actual toilet seat to it! Very crafty! It's mildly disconcerting when I'm showering or otherwise and giant moths are trying to dive-bomb me, but all-in-all, it's not bad.
My internship has not officially started yet because there was all this paperwork I had to do that had been overlooked, so I'm working on getting that done and officializing my stay here. Hopefully it comes through quickly, seeing as my time here is limited! All this red tape is really annoying. I don't see why they find it so necessary, considering that Jeff Sachs himself has already approved me for the project. But they just loooooove "procedure" here in Kenya...even when it prohibits me from being a useful member of the Millennium Villages team. I'm here, MVP! USE ME! LET ME WORK!!!!!
Oh yeah, did I even tell you what I'll be doing? Well, I'm working in the ORIGINAL millennium village: Sauri, Kenya. The Millennium Village Project is a spin-off from the larger Millennium Development Goals initiative. Basically, they are using rural villages across Africa as models of how to properly implement the MDGs to improve quality of life in poverty-stricken areas. Go to the website if you want to hear more about the goals and how they're progressing: http://www.endpoverty2015.org/. But anywho, Sauri was the first MV to be established, about 5 years ago. It has been a great model for the MDGs and quite successful in its initiatives. I'm going to (hopefully) be working on several different projects.
1) Working with a local school that recently received a computer lab, training the teachers & students in ICT and doing research on how to best utilize this resource for the best education of the students.
2) Working on a school to school initiative that will partner MV schools with schools in the US for a mutual learning commitment to each other.
3) I'll also be, unofficially, assiting with some medical team projects, which are currently TBD.
The third thing is what I've been doing this week, as I'm not yet approved to work in the schools here. I assisted with an HIV/AIDS training seminar for some local CHWs on Monday, and now I'm doing research for a triage project in the rural clincs. I'm loving the work so far and the people I'll be working with are fantastic, so it's looking very promising! I only wish I had been doing this work since the beginning so I could have been here for a longer time!
Now, something you may not know about the Kisumu area is that, just about 2 hours from town (one hour from the village where I live) is the home of Obama's father--where his grandmother and other relatives still live! This is the HEART of Obamaland! So you can imagine I was completely stoked to be here for his inauguration. Anywhere in Kenya, white people (not just Americans) get cat-called about Obama. But in Kisumu, it's NEVERENDING! People are sooooo excited to be a part of it. They all yell out "Oh, sista Obama!" "We make Obamas together!" "Obama Obama Obama!" "Mzungu, Obama, yes we can!". It's pretty funny, but I'm sure will get tiring after a few weeks. Maybe the fervor will start to die down now, though I doubt it! Anyway, I made the long and sometimes treacherous journey into town from my home yesterday morning. I say treacherous because, though usually it's fine, I happened to be in a matatu yesterday that had the brakes fail halfway through the trip! And I was in what we call the "death seat", aka the front middle seat with no seatbelts. But did that stop this vehicle from continuing? Nope! They really take this "yes we can!" attitude to the limit. The driver just would casually shift into first gear and put on the emergency brake anytime a stop was required. I was scared shitless, but what can you do? If I got out I'd have to pay for ANOTHER one, which may not come for another 10-30 minutes. I figured we were pretty close, and matatus always suck, so I'd just stick it out and get to Kisumu as fast as possible. Anyway, we made it without other mishaps, thank god. I went to the MVP offices for a while to do some paperwork, then I met up with Andre, Ashley, Jen, her husband Ben, and Dan to head to Sports Grounds. That's this big arena in town where they had set up huge screens to view the inauguration, and you can get well priced drinks and food there. Unfortunately, though predicatably, Sports Grounds was a MADHOUSE. There were thousands of Kenyans running around and screaming and dancing in celebration for Obama! It was NUTS. In the end, we moved to the Imperial Hotel across the street to watch. That was a lot more pleasant and easier to see and hear at. We watched everything go down in a very plush lounge with a nice, big flatscreen. At the same time, we could hear the multiple echoes of the TVs in Sports Grounds, so that we heard everything that was said three times! We also could hear the crowds cheering insanely...especially at the part where Obama mentioned Kogelo, his father's village. The screaming and cheering at that part (which is the title of this post) was INSANE!
After the inauguration speech (which made me cry, btw), a few of us really wanted to go back to Sports Grounds to celebrate with everyone there. So we dropped off some of our bags at the hotel desk and headed over. Almost immediatley, we were MOBBED by people! I guess at that point, nearly all the women had already left, and the remaining men were drunk, and the remaining kids were street kids looking to pickpocket. I was seriously disappointed because I had wanted to dance and have a good time with Obama's people, but the situation made it unbearable for my friends. They felt horribly violated by everyone hounding us, touching us, kids trying to steal from us or begging, etc. So we left after only a few minutes. I was soooo sad :(
So that was my Obama night. I loved watching the inauguration, and it is the first time in my life when I am proud to say I am American. But the celebrations afterward fell VERY short of my expectations. I just wish I had been here for the elections, because THAT was a party that everyone could go to and have fun at. Obamamania here is definitely more intense than in America!
Anyway, now I must get back to researching. But I will try to update this as much as possible because there will be a LOT to talk about here. I don't have any computer access near my home yet, but hopefully the ones at the school will prove useful.
All my love and congrats to everyone at home on our new prez! O-BA-MA! Now if only you all could hear the songs that have been written for him here since the election. They are priceless.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Nairobbery
Hahahaha, oh Nairobbery, you really lived up to your nickname didn’t you? Yes folks, it has finally happened. I got robbed.
In my last post, I mentioned offhand the 2 guys sitting behind me and Ashley in a matatu who were acting kind of strange. They were grabbing for our seatbelts and yelling and making quite a commotion…and then suddenly they just bolted. Neither me or Ashley really thought much of it at the time, except as an annoyance. But then, right after posting that story, I realized that Ashley’s computer had a slot for the type of memory card my camera has…had…(sad face!). This was a great opportunity to download all the pictures from our vacation without having to buy a new camera cord (which got lost somewhere between South Africa and Kuwait). So I went looking for my camera………
Nowhere to be found.
I looked all over the house, all through my luggage, everywhere I could think of. It was missing! I had, and still have, no recollection of putting it in my messenger bag when we left for Westlands that morning, but that was the only explanation. Except it wasn’t in my bag! I started panicking. I figured the only explanation was that, somewhere along the way to and from Westlands, it had been stolen directly out of my bag (which is never out of my sight nor even out of my lap usually!). It didn’t make any sense. But that was all I could think of, so of course, I was pretty upset. I shunned poor Ken, who was only trying to make me feel better, and retreated to a corner of the front yard to call my mom. Had a good cry with her over the phone about my lost pictures, then went back inside to inform Ken that he could make me feel much much better by driving me to Nakumatt to buy comfort foods! He happily agreed (pretty great guy, huh?), then tried to make me feel even better by saying, Well at least you still have your wallet!
I FROZE. I didn’t remember seeing my wallet in my bag either!
I bolted upstairs as fast as possible, only to confirm my fears…my wallet had also been stolen, with my brand new ATM card, my Visa, and my drivers license! The only consolation about this whole thing is that I keep my cash separate from my wallet, just in case something like this were to happen. So the stupid fuckers who stole my shit got about $1’s worth of Tanzanian shillings, and a bunch of random Malawian, Zambian and South African coins. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA BITCHES! I figured that, since 80% of people on this continent (excluding South Africa) don’t even know what a credit card is, my plastic was safe. They got zero cash. And yes, it sucked about my camera…most of all about my lost pictures. Maybe it would feed their families for a week. But in the end, they will be reincarnated as stick insects or cockroaches…and I will crush them. Karma.
So then I spent the next few hours attempting to cancel my cards, order new ones for my mom to bring me when she comes in a month, and get temporary emergency ones sent directly here to Kenya. Thank GOD for Skype. And all the calls were toll-free numbers, so I didn’t waste any of my yet again limited supply of cash. Phew!
As I was checking on my accounts, however, I noticed three strange charges on both my Sovereign debit card, and my UW credit card……..three charges of $50 each at a Macy’s in, of all places, Oklahoma! Well, that sucked. I had been robbed by the only two assholes in Nairobi who were capable of committing credit card fraud!! FIGURES. So now, not only do I have to somehow get my temp cards sent here (not an easy task), but I also have to dispute the fraudulent charges. Son of a bitch.
While all this was going on, Ashley and I were trying our hardest to figure out where and when my shit got taken. We figured it out after talking to my host bro, Toti. He was helping us retrace our steps, and we figured the most likely place for my stuff to have been taken was in a matatu. Those minibuses are notorious for being robbery-central. At first, she and I thought it must have been in the few seconds when I was trying to squeeze out of the first matatu at Westlands. This asshole practically boxed me in, and I had to push and shove and yell a bit to get past him. But the whole saga had taken maybe 7 seconds, and with my bag in front of me the whole time and clutched tight, there may have been about a 2 second opening for him to reach his hand under the closed flap, find both my wallet and camera (in its case), and remove them, without my noticing. Unlikely. Then we remembered the seatbelt guys. We described the scene of them yelling at us to get our seatbelts on, and Toti’s eyes lit up and he said, Ah yes! That’s a classic move they pull to distract you! How many of them were there?
Two.
Yeah, that must’ve been it. There’s four main ways they get you on matatus. One of them is they do the seatbelt thing, and while you’re distracted looking for your belt, one of them reaches into your bag.
What are the other ones?
Well, let’s see, another one is when they “accidentally” drop money and ask you to help look for it, and while you’re trying to help, they rob you…
[[Ashley and I looked at each other in disbelief. That was EXACTLY one of the things those guys had done to us! One of them had dropped some coins behind me, and I had grabbed them quickly and given them back, but even after that, he had claimed there was more down there. I disagreed and stopped looking. Guess that trick didn’t work so well for him.]]
….then another is of course the big, brown envelope. They position an envelope or notebook or newspaper over your lap so they can reach into your bag without you noticing…
[[This was unbelievable. The guy sitting next to me had done that also!!]]
…then finally, sometimes someone will ask you to help them out by opening a window, and while you’re struggling to get it open, they reach in your bag.
Finally, that was one trick they hadn’t tried on us. But the other three were textbook! We couldn’t believe how hard and long these guys had been trying to take my stuff! The first thing they tried was the envelope. The guy next to me acted as though he didn’t have enough room to fit his legs and the big envelope in the seat, so he extended the envelope partially over my bag. I was trying to be polite and at first didn’t really say anything. But then I got annoyed, and moved the envelope away a bit. I guess that’s what threw him off, because they moved onto step 2: the coins. When THAT didn’t work, they pulled out the big guns with the Police are arresting everyone who isn’t wearing a seatbelt! Quick quick put yours on!
That must’ve been the clincher, because as soon as we came to a stop after that move, they BOLTED as fast as possible out of the matatu. At the time, I just thought they were irrationally scared about being arrested for not wearing a belt. Stupid stupid me. I had let them invade my space in an effort to be polite…and I got screwed. When I realized exactly what had happened, I was SO MAD I could barely sit still. It’s one thing to have your bag stolen at the airport or to be mugged for your phone. Those situations are completely out of your control and you just have to go with it. But I had let my guard down in an attempt to not seem like a paranoid tourist. So therefore, it was mostly my fault. I felt and still feel like a total asshole for falling for all those theatrics. But what pisses me off even more is the fact that not a single other person on that matatu made a move to help us. Every local in Nairobi knows about these tricks and can list them off in a second. They must have seen what these guys were doing to us, and that we were falling for it. But they didn’t say a WORD. What the hell good is culturally acceptable mob justice if no one bothers to utilize it?????
Anyway, I hope that other travelers learn from my misfortune. It’s pretty unfortunate to be reminded that, as a white person, we are always targets and we don’t have the luxury of acting like a local.
So, the moral of the story is:
Never, EVER, be polite in Nairobi.
In my last post, I mentioned offhand the 2 guys sitting behind me and Ashley in a matatu who were acting kind of strange. They were grabbing for our seatbelts and yelling and making quite a commotion…and then suddenly they just bolted. Neither me or Ashley really thought much of it at the time, except as an annoyance. But then, right after posting that story, I realized that Ashley’s computer had a slot for the type of memory card my camera has…had…(sad face!). This was a great opportunity to download all the pictures from our vacation without having to buy a new camera cord (which got lost somewhere between South Africa and Kuwait). So I went looking for my camera………
Nowhere to be found.
I looked all over the house, all through my luggage, everywhere I could think of. It was missing! I had, and still have, no recollection of putting it in my messenger bag when we left for Westlands that morning, but that was the only explanation. Except it wasn’t in my bag! I started panicking. I figured the only explanation was that, somewhere along the way to and from Westlands, it had been stolen directly out of my bag (which is never out of my sight nor even out of my lap usually!). It didn’t make any sense. But that was all I could think of, so of course, I was pretty upset. I shunned poor Ken, who was only trying to make me feel better, and retreated to a corner of the front yard to call my mom. Had a good cry with her over the phone about my lost pictures, then went back inside to inform Ken that he could make me feel much much better by driving me to Nakumatt to buy comfort foods! He happily agreed (pretty great guy, huh?), then tried to make me feel even better by saying, Well at least you still have your wallet!
I FROZE. I didn’t remember seeing my wallet in my bag either!
I bolted upstairs as fast as possible, only to confirm my fears…my wallet had also been stolen, with my brand new ATM card, my Visa, and my drivers license! The only consolation about this whole thing is that I keep my cash separate from my wallet, just in case something like this were to happen. So the stupid fuckers who stole my shit got about $1’s worth of Tanzanian shillings, and a bunch of random Malawian, Zambian and South African coins. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA BITCHES! I figured that, since 80% of people on this continent (excluding South Africa) don’t even know what a credit card is, my plastic was safe. They got zero cash. And yes, it sucked about my camera…most of all about my lost pictures. Maybe it would feed their families for a week. But in the end, they will be reincarnated as stick insects or cockroaches…and I will crush them. Karma.
So then I spent the next few hours attempting to cancel my cards, order new ones for my mom to bring me when she comes in a month, and get temporary emergency ones sent directly here to Kenya. Thank GOD for Skype. And all the calls were toll-free numbers, so I didn’t waste any of my yet again limited supply of cash. Phew!
As I was checking on my accounts, however, I noticed three strange charges on both my Sovereign debit card, and my UW credit card……..three charges of $50 each at a Macy’s in, of all places, Oklahoma! Well, that sucked. I had been robbed by the only two assholes in Nairobi who were capable of committing credit card fraud!! FIGURES. So now, not only do I have to somehow get my temp cards sent here (not an easy task), but I also have to dispute the fraudulent charges. Son of a bitch.
While all this was going on, Ashley and I were trying our hardest to figure out where and when my shit got taken. We figured it out after talking to my host bro, Toti. He was helping us retrace our steps, and we figured the most likely place for my stuff to have been taken was in a matatu. Those minibuses are notorious for being robbery-central. At first, she and I thought it must have been in the few seconds when I was trying to squeeze out of the first matatu at Westlands. This asshole practically boxed me in, and I had to push and shove and yell a bit to get past him. But the whole saga had taken maybe 7 seconds, and with my bag in front of me the whole time and clutched tight, there may have been about a 2 second opening for him to reach his hand under the closed flap, find both my wallet and camera (in its case), and remove them, without my noticing. Unlikely. Then we remembered the seatbelt guys. We described the scene of them yelling at us to get our seatbelts on, and Toti’s eyes lit up and he said, Ah yes! That’s a classic move they pull to distract you! How many of them were there?
Two.
Yeah, that must’ve been it. There’s four main ways they get you on matatus. One of them is they do the seatbelt thing, and while you’re distracted looking for your belt, one of them reaches into your bag.
What are the other ones?
Well, let’s see, another one is when they “accidentally” drop money and ask you to help look for it, and while you’re trying to help, they rob you…
[[Ashley and I looked at each other in disbelief. That was EXACTLY one of the things those guys had done to us! One of them had dropped some coins behind me, and I had grabbed them quickly and given them back, but even after that, he had claimed there was more down there. I disagreed and stopped looking. Guess that trick didn’t work so well for him.]]
….then another is of course the big, brown envelope. They position an envelope or notebook or newspaper over your lap so they can reach into your bag without you noticing…
[[This was unbelievable. The guy sitting next to me had done that also!!]]
…then finally, sometimes someone will ask you to help them out by opening a window, and while you’re struggling to get it open, they reach in your bag.
Finally, that was one trick they hadn’t tried on us. But the other three were textbook! We couldn’t believe how hard and long these guys had been trying to take my stuff! The first thing they tried was the envelope. The guy next to me acted as though he didn’t have enough room to fit his legs and the big envelope in the seat, so he extended the envelope partially over my bag. I was trying to be polite and at first didn’t really say anything. But then I got annoyed, and moved the envelope away a bit. I guess that’s what threw him off, because they moved onto step 2: the coins. When THAT didn’t work, they pulled out the big guns with the Police are arresting everyone who isn’t wearing a seatbelt! Quick quick put yours on!
That must’ve been the clincher, because as soon as we came to a stop after that move, they BOLTED as fast as possible out of the matatu. At the time, I just thought they were irrationally scared about being arrested for not wearing a belt. Stupid stupid me. I had let them invade my space in an effort to be polite…and I got screwed. When I realized exactly what had happened, I was SO MAD I could barely sit still. It’s one thing to have your bag stolen at the airport or to be mugged for your phone. Those situations are completely out of your control and you just have to go with it. But I had let my guard down in an attempt to not seem like a paranoid tourist. So therefore, it was mostly my fault. I felt and still feel like a total asshole for falling for all those theatrics. But what pisses me off even more is the fact that not a single other person on that matatu made a move to help us. Every local in Nairobi knows about these tricks and can list them off in a second. They must have seen what these guys were doing to us, and that we were falling for it. But they didn’t say a WORD. What the hell good is culturally acceptable mob justice if no one bothers to utilize it?????
Anyway, I hope that other travelers learn from my misfortune. It’s pretty unfortunate to be reminded that, as a white person, we are always targets and we don’t have the luxury of acting like a local.
So, the moral of the story is:
Never, EVER, be polite in Nairobi.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Tetanus much?
I'll keep this post short because, as Eliza put it, I tend to be quite a chatterbox on this blog! Luckily I only have something quick to say.
Ashley and I decided to do a bit of exploring of Westlands today, which we go to at night for clubbing, but have never seen in the day. It was uneventful really. Found a nice salon to get my eyebrows done, looked at a few restaurants but decided they were too expensive for our cheap-skate ways, ended up getting pizza at Pizza Inn instead...the usual. Our matatu ride back to town was mildling interesting in that halfway there, these 2 guys sitting behind us started yelling and scrambling around and grabbing dangerously close to our butts. We asked, as calmly as possible when some stranger is apparently reaching for your goodies, what on earth they were doing? They said that cops were arresting everyone for not wearing seatbelts. They were apparently trying to find our seatbelts for us. Unfortunately, my seat didn't have a seatbelt. So, not wanting to be arrested just in case those guys were telling the truth, we hopped out of the matatu ASAP.
We caught the bus back from town to the estate, and that's when it happened. There was a metal plate under the lifted armrest as I went to sit down...and I accidentally slid against it...and ripped a HUGE hole in my pants! My left butt cheek was on display for all of Nairobi! Thank god I was sitting down at this point, and I had my messenger bag, which I strategically placed to avoid humiliation. But now I have a big cut on my ass, so when I eventually get tetanus or something from that rusty metal plate, at least I know how.
Ashley and I decided to do a bit of exploring of Westlands today, which we go to at night for clubbing, but have never seen in the day. It was uneventful really. Found a nice salon to get my eyebrows done, looked at a few restaurants but decided they were too expensive for our cheap-skate ways, ended up getting pizza at Pizza Inn instead...the usual. Our matatu ride back to town was mildling interesting in that halfway there, these 2 guys sitting behind us started yelling and scrambling around and grabbing dangerously close to our butts. We asked, as calmly as possible when some stranger is apparently reaching for your goodies, what on earth they were doing? They said that cops were arresting everyone for not wearing seatbelts. They were apparently trying to find our seatbelts for us. Unfortunately, my seat didn't have a seatbelt. So, not wanting to be arrested just in case those guys were telling the truth, we hopped out of the matatu ASAP.
We caught the bus back from town to the estate, and that's when it happened. There was a metal plate under the lifted armrest as I went to sit down...and I accidentally slid against it...and ripped a HUGE hole in my pants! My left butt cheek was on display for all of Nairobi! Thank god I was sitting down at this point, and I had my messenger bag, which I strategically placed to avoid humiliation. But now I have a big cut on my ass, so when I eventually get tetanus or something from that rusty metal plate, at least I know how.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
safely back in Kenya
So the rest of our journey was relatively uneventful, but nonetheless really wonderful. We ran out of time to continue our bus trip, so we flew to South Africa from Zambia (bussing would have required either a very dicey, but shorter trip through Zimbabwe...or a much longer version around through Botswana). After spending so much time on buses (sp?) and mini-buses and taxis, etc, flying was a serious luxury. I don't even think cancellation or 8-hour delays would have fazed us! All we knew was that no one was heckling us, we all had an entire seat to ourselves that actually fit our asses in them, and there was optional air-conditioning and a beverage service!! Now that is FANCY. I will never complain about a plane trip ever again.
We made our way to Umdloti (pronounced um-shlo-tee), which is a gorgeous beach-side town just outside of Durban. My family friends, Mike & Christine, took us all into their home and took such good care of us. It was positively indulgent being there for 4 days! Andre and I did some damn good cookin' for Christmas Day dinner, and we ate pastries for breakfast until they came out our noses. It was amazing. Notice how I'm focusing on the food? Yeah, well you would too if you hadn't seen most of these things for 4 months!!
On the 28th, I hopped a plane with a bunch of Ethiopians heading to Kuwait to spend New Years with Tamara and her family again. Again, the LUXURY of the developed world completely overpowers me now! Everything works, you can get any kind of food you want...anytime you want, squat toilets are an option...not a requirement, and multi-lane highways abound with no pot-holes or taxis of death in sight! Haha, okay, I'm only kind of serious. But really, readjustment to such a life definitely took a few days. And then I looooved it. I'm already missing my morning latte (and by morning, I mean when we woke up in early afternoon) with Tamara.
I spent my New Years this time in some incredibly decadent tents in the Kuwaiti desert. There was a DJ, silk pillows, couches, tons of delicious food, illegal booze, western toilets (with running water!!! in the freakin desert!!!), and an entire tent just for hookah. I love the Middle East. We danced and talked and ate until 4am, then headed back to Tamara's house and passed out til nearly 2. :)
It's always nice to go BACK to somewhere, rather than always being the new girl in town. So I really really enjoyed my second visit to Kuwait. And then I got to go back to my other home, Nairobi, which is where I am now. I have 2 weeks here to start my research project for the semester, and then I move to Western Kenya for my new internship! I requested to be moved from Mombasa, despite loving my work with SOLWODI, because of you know what. So now I will (hopefully!) be working at the Millenium Village in Sauri, Kenya and teaching basic computer skills in the schools there.
Yes, this is THE Millenium Village, founded and run by Jeffrey Sachs...MY IDOL. I'm so so so excited about the possiblities this holds! I just hope I'm a half-way decent teacher. Oy vey.
Anyway, I'm exhausted, probably from the new bacterial infection I'm 75% sure I've picked up. Let's see if this THIRD ROUND of antibiotics does anything to ease my poor stomach. And hopefully it will simultaneously kill off the sinus infection we think I also have! Woohoo for unidentified infections!!
So goodnight, love you all
and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We made our way to Umdloti (pronounced um-shlo-tee), which is a gorgeous beach-side town just outside of Durban. My family friends, Mike & Christine, took us all into their home and took such good care of us. It was positively indulgent being there for 4 days! Andre and I did some damn good cookin' for Christmas Day dinner, and we ate pastries for breakfast until they came out our noses. It was amazing. Notice how I'm focusing on the food? Yeah, well you would too if you hadn't seen most of these things for 4 months!!
On the 28th, I hopped a plane with a bunch of Ethiopians heading to Kuwait to spend New Years with Tamara and her family again. Again, the LUXURY of the developed world completely overpowers me now! Everything works, you can get any kind of food you want...anytime you want, squat toilets are an option...not a requirement, and multi-lane highways abound with no pot-holes or taxis of death in sight! Haha, okay, I'm only kind of serious. But really, readjustment to such a life definitely took a few days. And then I looooved it. I'm already missing my morning latte (and by morning, I mean when we woke up in early afternoon) with Tamara.
I spent my New Years this time in some incredibly decadent tents in the Kuwaiti desert. There was a DJ, silk pillows, couches, tons of delicious food, illegal booze, western toilets (with running water!!! in the freakin desert!!!), and an entire tent just for hookah. I love the Middle East. We danced and talked and ate until 4am, then headed back to Tamara's house and passed out til nearly 2. :)
It's always nice to go BACK to somewhere, rather than always being the new girl in town. So I really really enjoyed my second visit to Kuwait. And then I got to go back to my other home, Nairobi, which is where I am now. I have 2 weeks here to start my research project for the semester, and then I move to Western Kenya for my new internship! I requested to be moved from Mombasa, despite loving my work with SOLWODI, because of you know what. So now I will (hopefully!) be working at the Millenium Village in Sauri, Kenya and teaching basic computer skills in the schools there.
Yes, this is THE Millenium Village, founded and run by Jeffrey Sachs...MY IDOL. I'm so so so excited about the possiblities this holds! I just hope I'm a half-way decent teacher. Oy vey.
Anyway, I'm exhausted, probably from the new bacterial infection I'm 75% sure I've picked up. Let's see if this THIRD ROUND of antibiotics does anything to ease my poor stomach. And hopefully it will simultaneously kill off the sinus infection we think I also have! Woohoo for unidentified infections!!
So goodnight, love you all
and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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