Mimi nyumbani...

I am sorry for the delay in updates! Last Friday afternoon, I moved in with my homestay family, the Nyaboke family. The house is located in the Jamhuri neighborhood and consists of Mama Stella, Isaac (12), Beldine (11) , and Brian (9). Papa Nyaboke lives in Monbassa (on the coast) working at a primary school they own. Although SIT reiterated on multiple occasions that the homestay experience is a cross-cultural experience for both parties and that the families will welcome us into their homes as their own children, the concept of welcoming in a total stranger with open arms as an appendage to the family seemed so foreign to me that I have to admit I still had my doubts. When I walked through the gate, everyone was waiting for me and had uji, a brown millet porridge, waiting for the celebration. A rusty blue gate with spear-shaped prongs protruding from the top separates the house compound from the street. The front "yard" is a cement slab with a large water tank in the front and clothes lines crossing in every direction. Inside, the first floor has a very small kitchen and a living room. A bathroom and three bedrooms make up the second floor. The best thing about the family is Jack, the pet turkey, who resides in the backyard/junkyard area (note: my family is Seventh Day Adventist and therefore vegetarian, so Jack is really a pet). The inside of the house is small, but pretty nice. We have a computer (no internet), tv, and dvd player. Electricity is sporadic and goes out at least three times a night, making my seven flashlights come in quite handy :) My backyard is home to not only Jack, but also a guava tree and an avocado tree. They thought it was weird that I had never seen a guava tree before.

I share a room with Beldine (I claimed the top bunk) and overall, the experience has been enjoyable so far. I get along really well with the family and the kids are fantastic. I love that kids are the same everywhere. When I first arrived, they wanted to play games with me, so they taught me their version of duck duck goose, which is played to the tune of Yankee Doodle. They also taught me "Nyama" which is the swahili word for meat. Basically one person says "Nyama, nyama, nyama" and the other people jump up and repeat "Nyama!". Then, the caller can say "Nyama, nyama, mbuzi (goat)" and everyone still jumps to "Nyama" because one can eat a goat. If the caller says "nyama, nyama, meza (table)", no one jumps because you cannot eat a table (if you do, you're out). It is a pretty fantastic game! I taught them the "Wah" game, "elves, wizards, giants", and how to play "war" with a deck of cards. The boys are obsessed with animals that eat people, such as sharks and piranhas, and they love to play with hot wheels. All three kids go to a private school and are fluent in English, Swahili, French, Spanish, and Kisii. They always ask me about technology in the USA, such as how we get rid of garbage and how our water gets cleaned. The difference in the value of education between American twelve year-olds and Kenyan twelve year olds is amazing. Here, they are so eager to go. Issac wakes up at 5am every day and reads for an hour before getting ready for school. By 6:30, he is at school and does not get home until 6:30pm. And he always wants to know more.

I'm a list person, so here are some things I want to mention but cannot fit into a cohesive paragraph:

-We drink tea with whole milk at least three to five times a day. Who drinks hot tea when it is 80 degrees out every day?

-My family has a live-in house-help who cooks, cleans, does laundry and dishes, and washes my hands for me before and after meals. This is a normal phenomenon for a Kenyan family, even if they are not well off. Maggie is our house help and she only knows how to cook one dish: ugali and sukumawiki (white carb stuff and kale). My mom yelled at her yesterday because she is sick of the same food.

-from our handbook: "Consider lying the official municipal pastime of Nairobi." I have become a proficient liar. Apparently, Kenyans lie about everything, including how to get somewhere if you ask directions. My name is Louise when we go out and I live "over there".

-African English is different than British and American English and I have begun to speak with an African accent so my family can understand me.

-From our handbook again: "The following actions will be interpreted as a promise of sex in Kenyan culture: sustaining eye contact, smiling, failing to ignore a person, asking him/her to dance." Enuff said.

-All we do is watch television. NTV is one of the main stations and it's slogan is "Turning on Kenya." Shows I have watched so far include the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Walker Texas Ranger, and Spanish soap operas dubbed in formal British English.

-Issac always says "That's harsh" insead of "That's cool."

-The Lion King (movie) uses a lot more Swahili words than expected: “Asante sana” (squash banana) means “Thank you very much,” “Hakuna matata” means “no catastrophes,” and “simba” means “lion.”