Another Week, Another Adventure

Thursday (9/23)

USIU was insane because the Americans ended up getting into semi blow-ups with the professors in both of my classes. Our African Authors professor said that individualist societies have a higher level of consciousness than collectivist societies (which Americans loudly objected to), and then the Sustainable Resource Management professor said we’ll be graded on quantity over quality in our term paper, which he doesn’t have a concrete grading scheme for. In class the Kenyan students nod their heads and agree with whatever the professors say, while the American students ask questions and assert themselves. This ends up making the majority of Americans in each class look rude and inappropriate, but none of us are willing to sacrifice our grades to appease the teachers.

Saturday (9/25)

I had a wonderful daytrip to Hell’s Gate National Park with Courtney and David today. We left around 6am to take the various matatus to Naivasha, the place we’d had orientation. It felt so good to be in a familiar place! Plus, it was refreshing to be in a town where no one spoke English, and I got to practice my Swahili more.

David and Courtney

We rented bikes and were so psyched until we realized that the bike trails were actually all hilly and buried in sand. But it was a beautiful day in the mid-70s, and most the time there was no one else in sight. My favorite part was riding through the bottom of cliffs as zebras grazed on both sides.

At one point half a dozen zebras leapt across our path to get to the other side- it was an incredible feeling to be within feet of the beautiful animals.
 

 
We also saw gazelles, warthogs, and water buffaloes, plus breath-taking scenery. Paul called me and the poor reception prevented us from talking much, but it was great to hear his voice and know he’s doing well.

Courtney, David, and I laughed the entire day, through the sandstorms and sore muscles, and especially when a brake wire on my bike snapped and locked the back tire into place (right after Courtney had said something bad had to happen to me, since I was so smiley). David dragged my bike back to the main road while I flagged down a motorist to help us out. As soon as we started up again I was like, “See? Nothing can go wrong today!” Suddenly a huge sandstorm engulfed us. I careened off the trail since I couldn’t see and had no brakes. David’s hat flew off and hit Courtney in the face, who blindly thought it was a bird and had a minor freak-out. Events continued like this throughout the day, even into the bus-ride home.

the volcano in Naivasha

I’d sweet-talked the guards into arranging a matatu for us to go straight back to Nairobi from the park. It eventually arrived and we were psyched to have our own private bus- until it dumped us in the Naivasha center (where I’d taken my first matatu during orientation) and packed us into an overcrowded bus. Oops. As I went to sit down I stepped right on a large hen lying on the bus floor (it shrieked and everyone looked at me like I was strange). I crammed next to a woman who then placed her newborn’s head on my lap while she nursed it- and then for the next two hours I was afraid to move an inch, since whenever we’d go over huge potholes I was the only thing supporting its neck. Courtney ended up sitting next to a “nice man” who offered her a twig-like “candy.” Assuming it was like sugar cane, she got excited and tried it. Were we surprised to find out it was an addictive stimulant illegal in most countries? Not at all.

Monday (9/27)

Today I went to my internship in Kawangware. I worked in the school all day, had tea (aka delicious chai milk with loads of sugar) for over an hour in the school office, and then I spent the afternoon teaching Spanish to one of the teachers and helping a visiting group from DC pass out pen-pal letters from American students. It was great to talk with the group, and they even gave me a ride home afterwards. This evening I received a call from a coworker at the school, who just wanted to call and say thank you. I’m realizing the value of making friends at the internship, instead of focusing on solely the work being done.

I got my produce from the slum today- three bananas, six carrots, two tomatoes, an onion, and a green pepper, for about 50¢. I mixed it all up with beans for dinner and have enough for at least two more meals. I’m beginning to feel very comfortable and in sync here, although I miss being able to talk to everyone from home! But at least I got to talk to my boyfriend and big brother this week :)



Olorgasaille, Maasailand, and Kawangware (additional pics)

Sept. 18- Olorgasaille and Maasailand

This weekend we took a day trip out to Olorgasaille, where the Leakeys had found prehistoric hand tools from over 780,000 years ago. It was way out of the city, down potholed dirt/dust roads- definitely an adventure. 

After exploring the prehistoric tools and animal bones, we went to Maasailand for lunch. We were welcomed by the village chief, Joseph. He took us into the bush where we were suddenly within feet of herds of wild giraffe. It was breath-taking, especially to watch them run.

He also showed us where the young men go for one month to eat and be men in the bush before going out on a leopard hunt. This is the entire AU Abroad group in front of the cave-like Acacia tree where the men go, with Chief Joseph:

After this he lead us back to his compound where his wife and relatives had made us lunch: peas, mashed potatoes, and chapatti. It was delicious, and such an incredible experience to talk and laugh with the Maasai women.

laughing at the baby chicks at our feet, eating up the leftovers from our meals (behind us is the haunting outhouse)

After we ate the women and men performed some welcoming dances. 

When the women went up Joseph came over to where I was standing and asked if I’d like to join them. Of course I said yes! Don’t I fit in? ;)

The place was beautiful, although very hot and dry. We met with a few foreign aid workers from different organizations (including a guy from Austria and his American wife, two documentary makers from London, and a man from Spain) who discussed their various projects, including building a new school, using solar energy, and implementing drip irrigation to encourage agriculture as a source of livelihood and income instead of relying on livestock like cows that require tons of water, which is extremely scarce.

visiting the Maasai elementary school

At the end of the day Joseph thanked us for visiting him and asked me if I’d like to return. He said I’d be welcome to stay in his home if I get a chance! Here is his home, which the women built:

Sept. 20- Kawangware

I’m interning with World Hope, a religious organization with US affiliates that works with the community in the Kawangware slum. I’ve been a little concerned with my role there simply because no one seems to know what to do with me. The first day I went I literally sat in a dark office from 9am-4pm, waiting for a task (I was asked to edit papers for about five minutes in the morning, but then that was it). After lunch my supervisor came in to see how I was doing, but besides that I had little interaction with the organization as a whole. I really like the guys I work with, though, so I’m staying optimistic!

In the office I’m supposed to be assisting the social workers with the students being sponsored by Americans (who send money for tuition). That should be great because it’ll allow me to interact with the children and do home visits throughout the slum. I’ll be there Wednesdays. On Mondays the office is closed, so I’m supposed to be helping out at the school, World Hope Academy, situated behind the office/church compound. So today I got there at 9am, and surprise surprise, no one was there. So I headed over to the school and began working with Elizabeth, one of the social workers. The headmaster got wind of a white person walking around and made me come into the office and wait for a few hours until he received official word that I was supposed ot be there—apparently no one had told him I was coming each week. Eventually everything was settled, so around noon I was allowed to meet th students. I went to each classroom (one for each grade from K-8) and then handled a first and econd grade art class: finger painting!

This is the beautiful school- apparently it's about the collapse and doesn't meet safety standards, so they're trying to build a new one. 

This is behind the school, in the slum Kawangware. Right behind the school is a huge sludge river, composed of human waste, trash, and chemicals. The water lines for drinking also pass through here. You can smell it everywhere you go, especially when it's hot outside.

The school was closed last week (When I began my internship) because they're building a wall between the school and the river, so children don't fall in during recess. There are no plans to cover or remove the  waste, and their septic system flows into there as well. 

I had lunch and recess with the little kids, which was really fun (they loved jumping down to the ground during Ring Around the Rosy).  They received their lunch of US-donated porridge (nutrient-infused rice with mashed up soy beans) and I ate my PB&J. They then spent a good 20 minutes fighting over who got to seal and unseal my ziplock bag, and about twenty minutes after that touching and braiding my hair.

I had a really fun time with the kids; before that, the highlight of my day had been finding an American-style toilet (compared to the Kenyan hole-in-the-ground). 

Sorry for the huge entry- it's been an eventful week!

Maasai Chief Joseph and me, watching the giraffes in his backyard

Giraffe Center

Today I went with some friends to the Giraffe Center near Karen (the town developed from the Out of Africa woman). It took a two-hour commute using matatus and buses to get there, but it was definitely worth it. Apparantly Westerners strictly use taxis and private vehicles to get there instead of using local transportation, so people were really impressed that we didn't go that route. It was strange walking through the small town with everyone staring at our skin color, and then entering the Giraffe Center where 95% of the people were white tourists with safari vests on.

There were about three grown giraffes and a baby one hanging out by this structure to get fed by tourists (it's easy to see how ridiculous tourists act now that we're "residents").

That's the giraffe's tongue slobbering all over me! I found out that giraffes have a built-in SPF in their tongues so they don't get burned when they munch on tree tops. The giraffes were really calm because they were brought to the center as orphans or rescues...but they were also really slobbery :) 

The motto there was "Feed for Friendship," as in, we have to feed the giraffes for them to be happy and cooperate with us. Otherwise they begin to head-but, which is what this giraffe was doing to me.

After we took these pics we took a "nature walk" through the habitat, where we had to make sure we didn't scare the giraffes and warthogs (or get in their way). We treked through rocky terrain and up empty riverbeds for about an hour before heading home via more buses and matatus.

Tomorrow I start my externship in the Kawangare slum- I still need to figure out how to catch the matatu from here to there by myself. Wish me luck!

PHOTOS!

Finally, some pics of what I've been up to! (more are on Facebook)

Aug. 31 (the morning after I arrived in Kenya)

Overlooking the Great Rift Valley

This was a beautiful spot on the side of the road where people were selling small things in little shacks

With Sabina, one of the local Kenyans AU employs to show us around town

 and teach us the culture

Spotted on the side of the road during our drive to Lake Naivasha::

These pics below are from Naivasha, where I was abandoned for 3 hours to get directions on my own.

The next photos are nes of Kibera, the largest slum in Africa (also where Sabina grew up). A different local Kiberan took me around to see what life is like there. At first I was really nervous because you hear so many stories of violence and poverty, but once I entered I felt really comfortable (of course, everyone was staring at me). We climbed over a train to cross into the slum, hiked through mud and sewage, ran across a makeshift bridge 30 ft above a river full of sludge and waste, toured one of their pubic toilets (a reeking "biocenter"), participated in a dance reheasal for a youth outreach program, ate some sigar cane and mandazi from street vendors (bad idea in general but I was fine afterwards) and greeting the dozens and dozens and dozens of children following us endlessly chanting "How are you? How are you? How are you?"

(I didn't want to risk taking my camera into Kibera so these are all pics from online of exact locations I was at)

the train tracks that divide Kibera from the rest of the area. To left left (among the trashpile) is an incredibly steep incline we skidding down to get to the community. I was glad I had tennis shoes, but it was really difficult to manuver through all this in a long skirt!

waste rivers that weave through everyone's backyards- not fun to step in. I also stepped in a mini-bonfire that was right in the middle of the main dirt road- I'm starting to get used to walking without staring at my feet, but there's always an obstacle in the way (5-lb rocks, sewage, fires, babies...)

Looks intimidating, right? But it was really great to climb up and around people's houses like locals do (compared to roaring through on a tour bus, which apparently most Westerners do)

The kids LOVED us  were so excited to follow us around. They were holding my hand, shaking it, and high-fiving me, crying out "How are you!!" Even babies that couldn't even walk would cry out "Hawayuuuu?"

It was an incredible experience and I'm really excited because I was assigned the internship working with youth (teaching English, leading a soccer outreach program, and getting involved in the church choir) in another slum like this!

First Week in Kenya

Well, I've survived orientation and my first few days in Kenya! The flight to Amsterdam was rough but the one to Nairobi was really comfortable, with tons of food, and a really nice Kenyan sitting next to me that taught me a lot about the country during our 7.5 hrs of chatting.

Since we got to Nairobi at night I didn't get to see much of the city, but when we got to our apartments (upscale Njema Courts), there was NO electricity (and the whole town is pretty much pitch black after dark) so it was a really big adventure for my 3 roommates and I to figure out how to move around, unpack, and get ready for bed in complete darkness. We managed to find our way with a wind-up flashlight but didn't realize until we had light that our bedspreads are bright retro orange (like dad's old kitchen chairs) and the curtains have scenes of masaai warriors everywhere. But the place is beautiful. I'm on the top floor with a balcony that looks over the town, and the UN has a headquarters across the street. It's very safe and quiet at night- the hardest thing will be getting used to boil water  to use, even to just brush your teeth. (The power came back on about 3am, when our entire apartment flashed on like a giant lightbulb...)

We drove out to the town of Naivasha to have orientation in a hotel there. The first day there I walked a few blocks down with two other AU students and we felt nervous (Lynsey the program coordinator laughed like crazy when she saw me power-walk past the hotel with a Kenyan fast on my heels trying to sell me coats-- he followed me 5 blocks before I finally turned around and ran back into the hotel). But today we had to tough it out because we did a drop-off, where each student is taken to a different part of the city and we have to find our way to a central surprise location my communicating with locals.

I was dropped off on a HIGHWAY. I got directions from a waitress at a gas station/cafe and headed down the side of the highway, avoiding cars (which drive on the left side) and oxen (that graze on the side of the road, wayy too close to comfort). I passes a matatu (bus) stop with a group of ten men waiting. As I passed, one called out and scolded me for not greeting the "mama," a woman sitting at the side of the road selling corn. So I followed him back to her and greeted her in Swahili. Then the whole group of men crowded around me and started asking questions- I seem to be the only mzungu (white person) they've seen. They were all very friendly and helped me down the road. I walked about 20 min. with a man selling small Kenyan doughnuts from the back of his bike. He spoke to me the entire time in Kukuyu (the tribal language) and I just nodded a lot...

Then the children appeared. "MZUNGU MZUNGU!!!!" As soon as I heard them I knew it would be a scene- kids LOVE white people. They were between 5 and 10 years old and more and more kept coming. They all wanted to shake my hand and say "hello" and "how are you." One brave girl gave me a hug and then jumped on me. They all wanted to touch my skin and feel my face. I was nervous because I was still walking along the highway with like ten kids grabbing on to me, but eventually I left them to cross the street, where a few other men were waiting to escort me. After a while I went on my own and then walked with a woman embarking on a 4-hr walk to the next town for shopping, complete with white heels on and a baby on her back. She was very sweet and directed me to my destination- I ended up getting there an hour early, so I left again to meet more locals. They're all super excited to talk to you and help you, but they had a lot of questions about America, too (one even asked if Obama was Muslim, and if not, why is he building a mosque by Ground Zero!). It was terrifying at first (a few girls cried when the bus dropped them off) but I feel like the drop-off really helped me gain confidence  in myself while getting to know the hospitality of the people (they said Nairobi's not like this, though).

I also rode a matatu- the public transportation I'll be using every day. It's a bus the size of an airport shuttle with 12 seats- but the one I rode had almost 25 people in it. People that get on just sit in your lap or hand their children to  you. They roar down the roads that are literally covered in deep 3x3ft potholes. I thought we were going to flip over or careen off the side of the road (especially because even though you're supposed to drive on the left lane, people often drive side-by-side on both lanes until they swerve off last-minute to avoid oncoming traffic).

I haven't gone into Nairobi yet, but tomorrow we're going to Masaai Market to  buy produce and things, and then also to Kibera (the largest slum in Kenya). We have 3 Kenyan TAs that have been helping out with orientation, and one is from Kibera, so I'm excited to see it for myself (it's the slum featured in The Constant Gardener).

Tonight we're taking taxis to another surprise location- Lynsey works very hard to throw us curve balls so we get used to getting lost and trying new things, especially the local transportation. So far, so good!

Next time I write, I'll have photos to share :)

Julia