Changes in Latitude...

I’ve been home for about two weeks now and decided it was probably time to write my last entry for a while. I have been procrastinating this moment, not knowing what to write. Also, I hate endings and I felt that a closing message on this journal would signify the real finality of my trip. Although this blog will be going on sabbatical for a while, my experience is still far from being over and perhaps, never will be completely over. I believe I will always be thinking, reflecting, and learning from the events of the past four months and that my memories, or at least my pictures, will never leave me.

On the thirty-six hour plane ride, in between the movies and tv shows I had to catch up on, I thought a lot about what my study abroad experience meant and accomplished. This probably sounds cheezy, but really, the four months I spent in Kenya were just one small droplet of time in my college experience, my life, and the world in general. I interacted with so many people and built relationships with them, but I really struggled with understanding what sort of difference I made in their lives. For many people, I was just another mzungu, coming in for a blink of time and then leaving again. By the time we left, some homestay families already had new students living with them solidifying the fact that we were just passing through their space. I know that really, what matters is what I choose to do with my knowledge and experience, but I guess that is easier said than done. I don’t think I witnessed any life-altering or world shattering things. Most things I’d learned about before and life was in many ways the way I had always pictured it. More than anything, I think my experience abroad has helped me refine and direct my opinions, ideas, and goals. I did not change the path of my life or even the things that are important to me. I still have no idea about what I want to do after next year. That uncertainty did not bother me before nor does it really trouble me now because I know that I will figure it out when I need to. But, I prioritized and organized my thoughts and matured a lot, both mentally and emotionally, this semester. I don’t necessarily think this occurred because I was in Kenya or Africa or even abroad. I think it was merely that I was away and ready to be away. Although I had been abroad multiple times before, I don’t think I was mentally capable before of figuring anything out. That’s not completely fair, because I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from each trip I’ve been on. To be honest, I think we gain knowledge from every aspect and moment of our lives. However, I did not have the tools or the mental aptitude to fully understand and analyze the experience before this trip. Perhaps these things come with age and education, and, if that be the case, I hope to continue to understand and mature as I get older.

I don’t know if I will ever return to Kenya. Of course I would love to but the world has so much to see and there are so many places I would still like to visit. Although I was just there for a short time, I feel as though I understand more about Kenya than most other places and that I can use that knowledge to compare other places I visit. Perhaps my droplet of time in Kenya will form a ring of ripples in which I can affect other things (Ok, I know, it’s the hallmark in me, I can’t help it!!). At least I hope that is what will happen. I am energized and ready to get started!

I want to thank you all for reading my long rants as I tried to figure out what the heck I got myself into. It’s been a pleasure sharing my experience with you and I hope to continue now that we are back on the same continent. Asante sana mabibi na mabwana. Tulikuwa na furahi!


Final Thoughts…

-To help my readjustment process, I entered the duty free shop at the airport with the intention of buying a candy bar. To my shock, nothing in the store cost less than $5 and I spent $12 on two things of candy, the equivalent of food at Miracle Café for three weeks.

-People are people. People are everywhere. Simple, but sometimes we forget. There are nice people, rude people, poor people, extravagant people, smart people, helpful people, all people, everywhere.

Things I will miss:
-my siblings.
-the people on my trip and all the people that make SIT fantastic.
-fresh fruit stands.
-eating meals for 30 cents or less.
-KTN and NTV: random tv.
-Matatu rides.
-Tony Nyatundo on the radio.
-walking. I’ve realized that in suburbia, it looks strange to walk without a dog or baby with you.
-sunrises.
-sunsets.
-clouds.
-per diems. (free money!)
-commercials. Particularly for coke, nakumatt, pilsner, and tusker.

Things I am looking forward to:
-calling people and leaving voice messages.
-not being stared at as I walk.
-music.
-friends.
-getting pictures developed.
-high speed internet.
-clothes other than the five outfits I’ve worn for the past four months.
-sharing. processing. remembering.
-riding my bike.
-cheese. swiss and cheddar.

Things I will not miss:
-chai at least 4 times a day.
-Ugali.
-black snot.
-police checkpoints.
-litter. and burning plastic.

Things I am not adjusting well to:
-I am always comparing things. If you get annoyed with me, just let me know.
-Clothing. Yes, I realize it is weird to wear a kikoy as a shawl in public here but it is not a table cloth.And I like them.


A little Jimmy Buffet to finish ‘er off…

…Reading departure signs in some big airport
Reminds me of the places I've been.
Visions of good times that broughtso much pleasure
makes me want to go back again.
If it suddenly ended tomorrow,
I could somehow adjust to the fall.
Good times and riches and son of a bitches,
I've seen more than I can recall...

…Oh, yesterdays are over my shoulder,
So I can't look back for too long.
There's just too much to see waiting in front of me,
and I know that I just can't go wrong with these..

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes;
Nothing remains quite the same.
Through all of the islands and all of the highlands,
If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane

:)

Kwaheri...

So, this will be my last post from Kenya for a long time. I depart for my twenty-seven hour long journey this evening, although I will probably post once more when I arrive at home to describe my experiences and emotions throughout the last few weeks (I have only a limited amount of time now and I am a slow typer). Thank you all for spending the past few months with me as I've been abroad. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Also, good luck to everyone who is graduating this weekend! I wish you all the best!

Truckin'...

I am back in Nairobi now, typing and finishing my independent study project. Three weeks is a long time to write about, but I will give you some highlights of my stay:

I stayed in rural Kisii, west of Nairobi. To get to the house in which I lived, one had to walk seven kilometers from the road to the top of a hill. From the road, it was about forty kilometers to Kisii town. So, although I was studying the rural wealthy, it was far from the type of civilization I knew and was comfortable with. The area was part of a settlement scheme put in place after independence in 1963. Therefore, the plots of land were very large (think 70-200 acres) and the houses extravagant. Many high-ranking people in Kenya neighbored our compound and proved to be valuable sources of information for me. One slightly discouraging fact was that most residents were not farmers but rather businessmen or political leaders, so they lived in places other than their farm in Kisii and were difficult to track down and talk to.

Every morning, I woke up around 5am and helped make chai. Like the tea in Maasai-land, the cows were freshly milked each morning and then that whole, unprocessed cows milk was used to make the tea. The breakfast menu every day consisted of cold sukumawiki-and-peanut butter sandwiches, which are probably the most horrific tasting food one could ever eat. Besides breakfast, the rest of the food was pretty good. The sunrises and sunsets were stunning and I unintentionally took most of my pictures of the sun and clouds. Like over 700 pictures of the sky. Since the house was at the top of a hill, each morning a dense fog gathered below the house as the sun was coming up and created a cool yet eerie effect.

During the first week of my work, I became frustrated because the family I was staying with would not allow me to leave the compound. I had a hard time balancing being a guest and being a researcher, because I did not want to go against their wishes by leaving alone, particularly since I did not know where anything was, but at the same time, sitting around shucking dried maize was not furthering my research as much as interviewing community members would have been. I finally created a plan and told them that I needed to go and find out information. They reluctantly consented to me working in the morning as long as I returned around lunch time. This compromise worked well because I wrote my field notes every afternoon. At times, I felt like I would make a really bad real anthropologist because I became tired of always being “on” and ready to remember the events that took place. It was definitely lonely and hard to be so far from anyone who could relate a little bit to me. Yet, it was a good learning experience and I found an overabundance of information.

Throughout my three weeks, I attend both a funeral and a wedding. I also witnessed the birth of a baby goat (mbuzi mtoto), which is infinitely cooler than slaughtering a goat. A contact with the chairman of KTDA, the largest tea company in Kenya, helped secure me a tour of a tea factory and the primary school which he owns. One of the days I was taught how to brew changaa, an illegal liquor made of millet and maize. I also took a day off from work and journeyed to the Itierio Village in the Ekerenyo Division to visit the future site for the Amani Reading Center, the library that Cory’s Eagle Project collected books for.

On the bus ride back to Nairobi, the song “Truckin’” by the Grateful Dead came into my head and I believe it perfectly describes my time in Kisii: “Sometimes the light keeps shining on me, other times I can barely see, lately its occurred to me, what a long, strange trip its been…”

As of Friday, I only have two weeks left in Kenya. What a crazy thought! Thanks for continuing to read and be interested in my studies. I am excited to return home, see everyone, share my stories and hear about yours. To everyone in Rochester, good luck with finals and have a wonderful summer!

Tanzania...

Happy Easter and Passover to everyone! I apologize that this will be a long entry.

When we reached the border of Tanzania and Kenya, about three hours from Nairobi, we exited the bus and walked across the border. At first, the scenery of Tanzania is similar to Kenya because the Rift Valley continues into Tanzania. Closer to Arusha, though, the landscape becomes much more lush. The trees are leafier and mountains dot the horizon in every direction. We stayed at the United African Alliance Community Center (http://www.uaacc.habari.co.tz/) an awesome organization run by Pete and Charlotte O’Neal. The center is about an hour inland from Arusha on a bumpy dirt road, but is unmistakably American. Just to give you a sense of the amenities, there was satellite television (complete with ESPN and Al Jazeera), internet access, an endless supply of DVDs, vonage (which meant free phone calls to the US), and Pringles, not to mention the spray-painted buildings, basketball court, library, and gift shop that dotted the compound. We ate American food for every meal (think lasagna and mashed potatoes and lettuce) and everyone (even the dog) had dreadlocks.

The first night, Pete and Charlotte told us their story and explained more about the Black Panther Movement. In short, Pete was the leader of the Black Panther Movement in Kansas City, Missouri and was arrested on illegally transporting a weapon across state lines—which he still claims innocence on. He chose exile instead of fifteen years in jail and arrived to Tanzania over thirty years ago. He and Charlotte have done a lot in the community they reside in, including a water project, solar power project, a literacy campaign, computer classes, etc. In school, we are taught a very one-sided view of the Panthers—mainly that they were militant and “scary”. However, there is so much more that I never knew about. For example, I did not know that the main purpose of the Black Panther movement was social programs and community building or that the breakfast program in American public schools was a Panther initiative. Pete and Charlotte claim to be continuing the panther movement in Tanzania by instituting many community enrichment programs, such as a water project, a solar power project, and computer classes for kids. The talk was interesting and I learned a lot about American history even though I was half-way across the world.

On day two, we went to the Ngorongoro Crater, the eighth wonder of the world. It was beautiful and we saw tons of animals. The crater was almost unreal-like because there was absolutely no depth perception once you were inside. At the entrance there were baboons on the roof. We got out of our land rovers to take pictures of them, but they slid down the gutters and began to chase us. Note: baboons are not rafiki; they are vicious and slightly terrifying. The people in my land rover were a lot of fun and we stood up for over six hours taking in the sights and searching for animals. For lunch, we ate near the hippo area, but we could not eat outside because eagles hawked the area and snatched food from your hands. The experience was the most stereotypical African tourist-y thing we’ve done so far, but I can definitely see why safaris are so popular and fun.

Saturday was one of my favorite days because we learned traditional dancing AND performed it for the village. Despite the fact that it was slightly embarrassing, we looked pretty good and had so much fun. I realized when the men and women were dancing that the movements I knew from school were mostly men’s parts because the women rarely do any jumps or large movements. During lunch, they let us play with the drums and we learned a few basic patterns. We had to perform a “traditional” American dance during the performance, but we could not think of anything that encompassed American “culture” because our culture is such a conglomerate of different cultures. We ended up singing two songs and one girl presented a Maya Angelou poem. Even though the majority of the audience probably did not understand our words, it was typically American to do solo acts as opposed to a group activity. Two different dance troupes performed for us and they were incredible. I am always amazed by the gross amount of talent that people have that is so underutilized here.

For three days, we camped in Engikaret, a Maasai village. Let me say that the “camping” we did was the nicest camping I’ve ever done in my life. We had three-man tents, mattresses, sheets, a portable toilet, electricity (I am still at a loss as to how), and a full cooking staff. This Maasai experience was extremely different from when I stayed with the Maasai family near Nairobi. I think it is interesting how a group of people can be from the same tribe but have such different traditions and ways of life. It is a bit like American culture in that way, I guess. Their circular houses were made of mud, they greeted people with “sopai” instead of “supa”, and their beads were very different designs and colors. We learned about their medicinal plants and brushed our teeth with twigs. One of the evenings, we sat around a camp fire with the elders of the village and exchanged stories. They asked us about the wild animals we have in the US and we unsuccessfully tried explaining grizzly bears and skunks. They also asked us about the moon and what it looks like in real life. We explained that we personally had never been there but that there is no gravity in space and you float around (imagine a lot of gesturing and charades). Both mornings we woke up early in an attempt to see the sunrise over Mt. Kilimanjaro, but it was cloudy both days. The second day, we went to the Orpul, where sacrifices take place. We participated in the slaughtering of an mbuzi (goat) and it was one of the coolest yet gruesome things I’ve ever done. Since blood is extremely important in Maasai culture, they suffocate the animal to minimize the amount of blood lost. I could not watch the actual killing of the goat, but once it was dead, I had a much easier time looking at it objectively. While the goat was being killed, everyone in the group unconsciously became silent and respectful of the life being lost. The skinning was very precise and the entire thing was not as bloody as I predicted. After they took off all the fat, they cracked the rib cage and exposed the organs. The mbuzi transformed into a biology lab for us at that point and it was really cool. The Maasai would make incredible surgeons because they are extremely knowledgeable about anatomy. Each organ has a specific purpose and is given to different people in society to eat. The kidneys are the first things extracted from the body cavity and the eldest members at the Orpul eat them raw. Two men just popped them in their mouth like candy and chewed them up. (it was kindof gross) Then, they slit the heart and emptied the coagulated blood into the body cavity. They mixed the blood around and drank it from their hands. The inside lining of the stomach is really cool and resembles a sponge or dish rag. The only part of the animal they do not eat are the eyes, so we took them and dissected them. Afterwards, we saw the grazing fields, participated in some games (aka spear throwing and long jump). In the evening, we attended a lion-dance at the boma (house) and danced and chanted with the Maasai. The women wear large collars on their neck and the men jump really high. On the last day, we sat with the women and made bracelets while learning about the meaning of the colors. Once you think about the lifestyle of the Maasai, the colors make sense. Most of the beads are white, which stands for milk and prosperity. Light blue is water, red is blood, and the list goes on.

Upon returning to UAACC, we explored more of Arusha and participated in some community service projects. We painted an orphanage near the center, though I don’t know how much good it actually did. One of the evenings, we had a roundtable discussion with local youths about HIV and AIDS. They performed skits about HIV and were curious to know how we learn about the disease in America. We emphasized over and over that we face many of the same problems in the US, in terms of people not listening, and that we do not have all of the answers. One person asked if HIV began in a lab in the US, as a conspiracy theory against the poor. Another person asked us how condoms can prevent HIV as well as pregnancy. The talk was interesting but frustrating at the same time. Again and again the lack of knowledge, particularly by those who are supposed to be teaching the information to others, astounds me. We complain and complain about our education system in the US, yet it is still a thousand times better than anything the kids have here. I cannot pinpoint when I learned about HIV because we are pummeled with information over and over again. Here, a classroom may learn the information once, but then never have any follow-up or opportunity to ask questions—and that is provided that the kids actually go to school. On our last night in Tanzania, we went to the opening night of the “Warriors from the East” concert tour. They are a reggae band that promote peace and community development, and are run out of the UAACC. The concert was good and we even participated in an African clothing fashion show during the break.

Our classes ended two weeks ago and the Independent Study Projects begin on Thursday, so the trip to Tanzania was basically our spring break. During ISP, I will be out of email contact for three weeks, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me in that time.

Notes…

- I think I definitely got my money’s worth out of my Rochester education (particularly my “unacademic” classes, Dad) because I was the first person in fifteen years to know what The Weathermen were named after (a Bob Dylan song…thanks to The Global Sixties) and I had the one-up on African dance and drum patterns.

- Pete and Charlotte speak Swahili with very strong southern accents and say karibu y’all. It was quite entertaining.

- PBS filmed a documentary about Charlotte and Pete, entitled “A Panther in Africa.”

- pineapple and passion fruit fanta = Delicious.

- UAACC had a fantastic view of Mt. Meru, a large volcanic mountain.

A short bit on Tanzania...

I apologize that my last entry looked an awful lot like a research paper. I guess I'm a nerd and when my mind is overwhelmed with information, it defaultly organizes the info into paper format. As a reward for getting through the past entry, I will make this one brief.

Right now, I am sitting on the Internet in Tanzania, at the home of Pete O'Neal. Pete was the head of the Black Panther movement in Kansas City and is in exile in Tanzania now. Yesterday, we visited the Ngorongoro Crater and saw tons of animals, including rhinos, elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, ostriches, cheetahs, and hippos. It was fantastic!

Thank you all for reading this. I miss you and wish you could engage in everything with me. But, I look forward to coming home and sharing pictures and stories with you.

A Hard Day's Night...

So, I was going to write all about my stay in Kisii, but it was actually not very exciting and the past few days have allowed me to become much more introspective and I hope, more interesting for you to read about.

In short, here is a synopsis of Kisii. Hopefully the pictures will suffice :)

Last Monday morning, my host father and I went to the city center so I could get a matatu to Kisii. I am a really big fan of my host father and wish he was around more often. He sat with me and even bought me a Fanta while we waited. Kisii is located in Nyanza province in the western area of the country. At first, I was pretty nervous about traveling to an unfamiliar place alone; however, after ten minutes into the journey, I became really happy and almost giddy-like. To reach Kisii, we passed through the Rift Valley, which was a really breathtaking experience. Since Nairobi is situated on the top of a mountain, to enter the Rift Valley, one must descend. At the crescent, I felt as if I were looking down on Illinois from above. Traveling through the Rift Valley is an experience within itself because the road is so poorly maintained. On the way there, I did not know if my organs would make it through the four hours of continuous jolting I was subjecting it to in the backseat of the matatu. The ride often resembled a really old, rickety rollercoaster. When I returned from Kisii three days later, I sat in the very front of the matatu and felt like I was in Mario-Kart: Real Life. I think it was one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve ever been through. However, I made it through the Rift Valley twice with little trouble.

Kisii is the most green and beautiful place I’ve ever been to (I know, this is a reccouring theme). The hills are rolling and covered with farms. My family lives on a hilltop farm and owns over one hundred acres of land. At first, I was really taken aback by the enormous wealth of my rural family. Their house is cement, has five bedrooms, indoor plumbing, electricity, two kitchens and a live-in house-help. Naturally, this wealth caught me off guard at first because I was expecting the rural area to be much more desolate. The experience actually turned out to be really good, though, because I am going to look at the rural rich and the remittance economy now for my ISP and I am pretty excited!

Now, on to the past week…

We visited numerous organizations throughout Nairobi. Below, I have included descriptions of each as well as thoughts and emotions that I had afterwards. I am sorry that my entries are kindof basic and not as timely as they could be, but it takes me a pretty long time to process everything that is happening.

Women Fighting AIDS in Kenya (WOFAK):

WOFAK is an NGO that began as a support group for women affected by HIV. Now, it provides numerous services to both men and women, including counseling, an orphan feeding program, home visit care, outreach, and advocacy. We visited one of the three Nairobi extensions and a small group of us went to a school to participate in an outreach session. At the school, we spoke to a group of teachers abut WOFAK and HIV/AIDS. Outreach in Kenya is very different than the idea of outreach in the United States in that the outreach here is much more subtle and does not solicit anything from those being presented to. The outreach coordinator narrated her life and how she found out she was HIV positive. Then she spoke about the positive role WOFAK played in providing her with a positive outlook on life. Not once in the presentation did she mention anything about why she was presenting to these teachers, what role they might have in WOFAK or vice versa, or the different services WOFAK offers. In the eyes of an American, this would have been a failed outreach attempt that accomplished little because no facts about the organization were learned. However, I realized that this is the outreach style in Kenya, and I am sure the teachers we presented to gained something. Personally, I feel as if they could have gained more if a more direct and efficient presentation was made. It dawned on me throughout the program that things are so slow to move here, particularly in the form of activism, because the culture is so non-confrontational. They are a lot more subtle in getting their point across, but it honestly did not seem very effective in trying to prevent HIV/AIDS. Though these are my personal sentiments, I do not think a more direct approach would actually work here because it would be a totally foreign concept and they would probably not understand what was going on. In terms of this, I can understand more clearly how NGOs that come in excited, ready, and full of enthusiasm can fail because they do not take into account the slow-ness of the culture and people they are trying to communicate with.

Just as a side note: Something that often catches me off guard is the lack of separation of religion and state. Here, people thank God in public places and openly preach, and no one bats an eye. Throughout the session, the outreach coordinator spoke about how she was Born Again and took Jesus into her life as a best friend after her husband succumbed to AIDS. I just think it is interesting.

A second side note: At the school, they employ forty teachers for over two thousand students. That is a ratio of at least 50 students: 1 teacher. The headmaster spoke to us for a long time and wanted to know all about how the American school system worked. He was particularly interested in punishment. After attempting to explain social workers and behavior management, we realized that the schools here have little to no support systems and that the burden of everything pertaining to the students falls on the teachers. The caning of children still does not make complete sense to me, but time is something teachers here do not have, and therefore, they cannot sit down and try to figure out the root of each child’s problems: they just need the kids to pass the exams.

UNHABITAT

Kenya is host to the only UN duty station in all G77 countries, making it unique and extremely important (ooh la la). The Nairobi-based compound holds duty stations for over sixty-five organizations as well as world headquarters for UNEP and UNHABITAT (therefore it is gigantic). Before attending the session, I had absolutely no idea what UNHABITAT did. The lecturer was a former SIT: Kenya student and served as an Academic Director for the program before our current ADs. I was really impressed with his presentation and feel as if my critical view of the UN has been somewhat altered. The presenter was so knowledgeable and well spoken, not just in diplomatic jargon, but he also spoke to us philosophically about his views. He prefaced at one point that he cannot talk to politicians this way and how refreshing it is to talk with students. In some ways, I was saddened by that comment because a lot of what he had to say philosophically, in terms of ideas for change and poverty alleviation through urban planning and housing, were things I think politicians and policy makers need to hear the most. Despite this, I still think there is something about the UN that is so attractive and cool. I don’t necessarily think it is a power thing, but perhaps it is the business suits :) Since he was a former SIT student, he provided some of us with the hope that we too could speak so eloquently and be so knowledgeable about something some day.

Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA):

This is the absolute most awesome organization I’ve ever seen in my entire life! Everyone should check it out at www.mysakenya.org . Basically, this NGO uses soccer as a way to empower and lift kids who live in the Mathare slum. Over 17,000 kids participate in the program and it has been nominated for a Nobel peace prize twice. As part of the program, kids have to participate in clean-ups and community service within the slum and they also have acrobatics, drama, and dancing. As we learned about the programs, I was frantically writing down everything and brainstorming ways to implement a similar program in Rochester (or other poor cities). They also have a library for anyone in the community to use. None of the books in the library are related to school because they want to create a reading culture for the kids in the slum. Four hundred scholarships are given out to pay for school fees and kids get points for reading, participating in clean-ups, as well as playing soccer games. After the presentation, we walked through the slum. Over 800,000 people live in Mathare and at least half are infected with HIV. Public toilets cost money to use, so most people either go right in the passages or use “flying toilets”—where people go to the bathroom on a piece of paper or plastic bag and then throw it from their house. The stench is overwhelming, such that a few people in our group threw up. Rivers of sewage flowed through the places we walked and there were massive amounts of trash. Most of the homes were no bigger than a dorm room and housed anywhere from four to eight people. Children ran rampantly around us and screamed the only English they knew: how are you?

We participated in one of the clean-ups MYSA sponsored and it was a very weird experience. I definitely saw the value in having the kids attempt to clean up the areas where they live because it promotes citizenship and teaches them about taking care of their environment. At the same time, though, it was a public health disaster. Rakes and shovels were provided for a few children, but gloves were MIA. The trash they were attempting to clean up consisted mostly of plastic bags covered in fecal material. No concern for the health of the kids was given, and when we asked, we received the response that most of the kids have the parasites and/or worms already. The kids ran through the rivers of sewage with no shoes on, touched everything, then touched their eyes and mouths. In some ways, I feel like more could have been accomplished if they kids performed one task in one particular area instead of just running around with the wheel barrows. Or, since public bathrooms are such a scarcity, if they could use the kids to build more of them so people don’t have to pay to use them, it could be another way to improve the quality of living. In the two hours we worked, we made no visible difference in the community, and those in charge acknowledged that tomorrow, the trash would all be back.

Before the clean-up, we watched a performance of the drummers and dancers, as well as the acrobats, and it was incredible. The talent of the kids was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The MYSA Staff that led us around were awesome people and we could definitely see the leadership skills and empowerment MYSA provided for them.

All in all, the past few days have been trying on my thoughts and emotions. At times, I think a bus full of white people entering such crazy places seems voyeuristic, and I think for some people on my trip it is. Yet, if your mind is in the right place and you internalize what you see and really learn something from it, then maybe it is the best thing one can do. People are everywhere and most are trying to improve their lives. On Friday, I am traveling to Tanzania for ten days, so I may have limited internet access. I hope you are all doing well and thanks for reading!

Thoughts and Stuff:

- Last night I made a summer barbeque for my family, complete with cheese burgers, potato salad, sweet corn, jello, and coke floats. My siblings were hilarious because they had never had pickles, jello, or mayonnaise. They ate the mayo right out of the jar and thought it was the best thing ever. After dinner, I caught my siblings in the fridge touching the jello, in disbelief that it could jiggle.

- In Maasai land, everyone used cell phones. Naturally, I was baffled at how people could charge their phones because there was no electricity. I found out that many houses are equipped with solar power for the sole reason of cell phone charging. How cool is that? Even the Maasai use solar power. :)

- We went to the first home soccer game for the Kenya Harambee Stars since the FIFA ban was lifted. It was fantastic and so exciting. Tickets cost 100/-- (about $1.50) and the fans were insane. I think it is neat that the big team here is a national team. In the US, we have allegiances to city teams. It must be really good for nationalism to have everyone in the entire country rooting for the same team.

- During the visit to MYSA, I realized how high my expectations for government are and how low most people’s are here. There are practically zero public services, such as waste disposal, water, child services, welfare, social security, or the like. Despite some American’s dislike of many social programs in the US, there is an expectation that the government has a duty to its people or the people will reject the government (or perhaps that is just the Kennedy phenomenon). Here, people expect corruption and it shows. Sure, America has corruption, but the access to information is so great that it makes people greatly transparent. I was thinking about the services provided and how although we have a lot, we have also had much more time to get our act together. Kenya has been independent for less than fifty years, and there has yet to be one generation of fully educated people. So, although things are bad they have awesome potential to improve. At one point, the government attempted social programs such as FDR’s CCC to stimulate the job market, but the programs failed. Changes need to happen from the inside and critical thinking cannot happen until the majority of the population is literate and educated. I apologize for this little rant. It is just something I’ve been thinking about.

- There is no plastic recycling program in Kenya. I feel like if people could make money by collecting and recycling plastic bags, the amount of trash in the streets would halve, at least.

- On my ride home from Kisii, we went through eleven police check-points. Eleven. Also, as I mentioned before, the roads to and from Kisii are extremely bumpy. Yet, those that built the roads felt it necessary to place speed bumps all over as well. The small towns we passed in the Rift Valley reminded me of what I imagine the Old West to look like—general stores, one strip of stores, people selling things on the road.

- Signs I’ve seen around Nairobi: “Welcome to Nairobi, Home of the Hotdog,” “Ford: 100 years in Kenya,” and “Sprite: It’s not because of your personality.”

- Traffic circles are the road type of choice and they are a death sentence.

- Songs I heard on the matatu ride: faith hill- from this moment; Beyonce- to the left; celine dion- it’s all coming back to me

On the road again...

Everywhere I go and every place I see, I continue to be amazed by the diverse landscapes and vast amounts of people in Kenya. This weekend, I spent three days in Maasai land and then three days doing preparation work for my ISP in rural Kisii. Through both of these experiences, it dawned on me how much of the country I will not get to see and also how crazy it is that Kenya, which is slightly smaller than Texas, can have such disparate environments while you can travel across the majority of the Midwest and not get much of a change of scenery. This entry will be about my experiences with the Maasai and I will write about Kisii later on this week.

This past weekend, a group of friends and I hailed a matatu and stayed with a Maasai family in Ngong Hills, about two hours outside of Nairobi . The Maasai are pastoralists that wander across Kenya and Tanzania grazing their cattle. They are the most famous Kenyan tribe in popular culture, and are known for their beadwork, extended earlobes, bright red colors, and for drinking the blood of their cows. Our matatu (a small fourteen-passenger minibus) dropped us up in Ngong Town, which was bustling with people. We met Simon, our host and he took us to the pickup truck that would take us on the rest of our journey. This pickup truck had a six foot bed and we managed to fit five mzungus (white people) and thirteen Maasais, plus all of the things we brought and bought in town, into the back. Although the ride was a bit uncomfortable, it was the most exhilarating mode of travel I have used in Kenya thus far. Basically, we traveled down the side of a mountain into a gorgeous valley in the back of a pickup truck.

The compound we stayed in consisted of a husband, wife, their two children ages one and three, the husband's mother, as well as two of the husband's youngest sisters, ages eight and thirteen. Although we arrived fairly late on Friday night, two of the husband's brothers come over and talked with us for a long time about politics and America and our thoughts on their policies. All of the adults, with the exception of the grandmother spoke extremely good English, eliminating the language barrier that often deters more in depth conversations. In some ways, being in Kenya is really refreshing because even in the middle of Maasai land, where one's nearest neighbors are two kilometers away and there is no electricity, people are informed about the world and are invested in learning more and discussing issues. I guess I always learned about the ignorance and uninformed nature of many Americans, but it still makes me sad when I think about how available information is in the US and how few people take advantage of it or believe it is important to be informed.

The next day, we woke around seven and the sun was just peeking over the mountain. Fog covered the peak and it looked magical. Since the Maasai rely mostly on cows, they drink a lot of milk. The first thing we did in the morning was attempt to milk cows. It is a lot more difficult than one would think. We went into the kitchen and helped make tea (cup number one). Then, we were summoned to the grandmother's house and served a second cup of chai. When we finished, we went back to the main house and received a third class of chai. After we were sufficiently hydrated, we walked near a neighboring compound. On our way, we saw wild giraffes. Yes, giraffes just waking around, eating, and staring back at us. We went really close to them and it was spectacular. Afterwards, we went back to the compound, drank more chai (cup four), and walked to a pre-wedding ceremony. Nothing exciting occurred at the ceremony besides fifth cup of chai and a synthesizer that played the same three chord progression for an hour, so we left early. On our way back, we walked to a rock cliff overlooking a man-made lake. The lake was made by the Swedish government and instigated by an American man who loved the scenery. He also created placards around the lake that explain the history of the Maasai. We sat on the top of the ledge for more than a half an hour, just thinking and looking—it was so peaceful. Afterwards, we walked home and sat underneath a tree and read. I think I needed to get out of the city and sit and read and relax. The smaller children sat with us and drew all over my hands. When we went back inside the compound, we were given more chai (cup six) and helped with dinner. After dinner, we retired early because we were really tired. (note: the chai was made with fresh, whole cow's milk, so it was like drinking liquid whipped cream!)

The next morning we sat with the grandmother and she showed us how to do beadwork. Then, she showed us all the things she made and we bought some stuff. Afterwards, we went to church, and it was one of the best experiences I've had so far in Kenya (I feel like I say that a lot). A minister was being ordained, so it was a huge celebration. Although the service was over five hours, I was not bored at any second. Groups danced for much of the service and it was fantastic. The same man played the synthesizer, but the dancing by far made up for the repetitious chords. Unlike the dance I'd seen in East Africa so far, this dancing was energized and the people actually moved around. Many of the patterns were really similar to the movements I learned in my West African dance classes, particularly ones from the war dance, making we wonder how authentic the movements were. But, honestly, I didn't care that much, I was so excited! After church, we ate and caught a ride back to Ngong Town with the god fearing folk who came for the ordainment. Overall, my weekend was relaxing, fun, and enlightening. I am excited that I will be furthering my understanding of the Maasai culture in two weeks when I visit Tanzania.

Bits and pieces…

-Cows bring flies and flies are gross. I saw more flies this weekend than I've ever seen in my life. At any given time, we each had over fifty flies covering our bodies, with more lining the tables. Kids walked around with flies as permanent fixtures around their lips and eyes.

-The Maasai are long and slender people. They also have perfectly shaped heads. Traditionally, they extended their earlobes as a symbol of beauty. However, with the onset of schooling, this practice ceased. Therefore, one can easily tell which people went to school and which did not by their ear sizes.

-In the family we stayed with, the husband was one of sixteen children and the wife was one of twenty-two. Grapple with that.