It's only been a few days since my last post, but it's my second night alone in Kitale and I have nothing better to do so you people are getting a blog post. Also there's a sweet coffee shop with free wifi, so here ya go. Someone once told me (that's how every good story always starts out right?) that you learn a lot about yourself in Peace Corps, namely during your first three months after Swearing In because you spent the entirety figuring out your village by yourself. What I've learned about myself so far is that I am extremely selfish and not nearly as good of a person as I would like to be. I hope that some of my fellow Volunteers are reading this, because I mean it when I say that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my entire life. They are also, every single one of them, batshit crazy. But I mean, what other kind of person could just drop everything or- God forbid actually PLAN to volunteer doing who knows what in a third world country for two years? The people here range from 22 to 72, but the common denominator is definitely that the abnormalness. I'm not saying that I'm that great of a person, like I said I definitely have work to do. My parents would disagree, but I pay them (Christmas/Bday presents). I mean the people in Peace Corps really are the ones that love and want to help other people. They are nice and they want to invoke positive change. I hope that my first three months here also show me that I am confident and proud to call myself a part of that group.
As a newborn Volunteer I also hope to learn a lot about my community, which is technically about a 15 minute ride (+ a 5 min walk) to Kitale town (aka the town center). Rather, my house is about that far in a village called Namanjalala, and the center of Namanjalala is about 5 minutes from my house in the opposite direction of Kitale. Namanjalala is like an outer suburb of Kitale with a population of about 26,000 people... I know, not a village right. So far I have learned that there are probably 5 orphanages within close walking distance from my house, and there are that many or more in all of the surrounding villages of Kitale (of which there are probably 10)... yeah, let's think about that. They have a high HIV/AIDS mortality rate, and little to now electricity or running water throughout the community. Kitale, however, is a fairly large city, in fact, I even managed to find Ritz crackers and Oreos (with the help of 2 of my favorite neighbors, Ryan & Lussia who live a 40 min ride away and oh so graciously came down to show me around the town; seriously, I LOVE them!) not to mention anything else I will need. There might be some things only a Nakummatt will have, but I am very lucky to be so close to so many resources. Which is another reason I am so happy to be working with Namanjalala Community Partnership, all of the Community Health Workers are so knowledgeable about the area and its problems. I am very excited to start my CNA (Community Needs Assessment) and determine the definite statistical scope of the problems.
One of which is circumcision. In Kenya, while female circumcision is illegal it still happens, and male circumcision is still practiced as well. I mention this because as I am writing this I am hearing a circumcision ceremony being performed... I am not sure which one it is, but it is almost midnight and I was told yesterday not to be scared if I was awoken by singing (/chanting?) and drums because it is just the ceremonies this time of year. I am unsure of my opinion because the children are currently on break from school, and I know female circumcisions are done on even-numbered years and during break so that the girls have time to recover given how painful the process is (not to mention life thereafter). But, either way, I guess I honestly just hope they're using a clean knife.
That is definitely one thing Peace Corps has taught me; to try and be aware and open to other cultures. That first part is important because if you aren't aware of the other cultural practices or why they are done, you won't understand why they're cultural in the first place or why you should be open to them. Which you can hopefully then subtly disagree with by stating medicial/scientific/economic reasons that negate said cultural practices. Yep, I think that's pretty much Peace Corps in a nutshell.
Anyway, I'm still getting settled into my house. I was planning on putting some up today but I wasn't resourceful enough with my energy yesterday and my phone died before I could take pictures so they'll have to wait. My house is in a compound of a family that works for the organization I will be working with, and it's just two fairly small rooms (maybe 15x15?), a bedroom and living area. I have to put my kitchen stuff in the living room because I don't have a separate kitchen space. I still need to buy a table/counter space for my kitchen and a dresser for my clothes, and a bedside table. Otherwise I think I pretty much have everything. I am also going to look into a solar panel or something to convert the energy and charge at least my phone.
Well I think that's all for now folks! Just in case you were all wanting to send me something, please wait for just a little bit until I figure out what my new address is in Kitale- I'm not sure of the PO Box and I don't want it to be stuck in Nairobi. Thanks so much! Love you allll!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Day by day
So I've been slacking a little bit. The end of PST is definitely the busiest (and most stressful) between a weeks vacation in Machakos and the final LPI test. So I really have quite a bit to catch up on, because now we are in Nairobi and I have... over 3 weeks to catch up on.
So the vacation in Machakos wasn't actually vacation, it was an HIV/AIDS workshop but Machakos is a bigger town (about an hour outside of Nairobi) and we stayed in a very nice hotel with amazing food. By amazing food I mean legitimate burgers, and even good fish! We still had classes every day from 8am until 4pm, but we were all in the same hotel so we got to hang out every night as late as we wanted... that sounds a little sad when I actually say it but we really don't get that many opportunities throughout training to all be together and have fun as opposed to sitting in class for hours every day. It was a great bonding experience and really solidified some already close friendships. So we did learn a lot in Machakos too, Antony is the PEPFAR guy and he is hilarious and really did some research to make sure that we took useful field trips and had good guest speakers. But seriously, we took advantage of the actual grocery stores (that actually sold bottles of wine instead of just boxes) and excellent pizza delivered to the hotel rooftop where we spent most of the nights. One night we had a Mr. and Mrs. Peace Corps competition and a Talent Show. This was the night Iwona and I decided to split a bottle of tequila and cover ourselves in glitter. That's a lie, Iwona tastefully put a little bit of glitter on her and I trashed it up, but it was worth it, I'm still finding glitter in my scalp weeks later.
I also stopped by a Safaricom store and was able to get the internet on my phone working so now its way cheaper for me to just send messages on Facebook instead of texting! It has been really nice to be able to talk to people a little bit normally again. I've come to terms with the fact that I rely on technology, because I feel like it supports my mental health. One thing about Peace Corps is that it definitely teaches you a lot about yourself. Seriously, I thought I was a pretty nice person in the U.S., but you meet some of the people in Peace Corps and well, basically I'm an asshole. Don't get me wrong, I love my fellow trainees, but sometimes I feel like such a negative Nancy while they're like... crapping rainbows.
After Machakos we had two weeks until our final LPI exam. The Peace Corps does a good job at making sure you're prepared, or at least aware of how the test is going to be, so you have a practice LPI, which basically shows you how the interview will go. Then two weeks later you have a Mock LPI, and of course you do practices with your language trainer before all of these too, so you end up doing like 2 or 3 LPIs each time. But then three weeks after the Mock LPI is the real LPI, which is done by official LPI testers instead of just a different language trainer other than your own. I wasn't trying to get stressed about it, but according to some of my new friends here I'm a pretty chill person anyway so it probably wouldn't have hurt me to stress a little bit. Regardless, I passed and that's all that matters. We did have a few people that ended up having to retake it to pass, but everyone ended up achieving Intermediate Low so we can all be officially Sworn In!
The last couple weeks in Loitokitok were kind of bittersweet. I think most people will miss their host families, but we are all very excited to get to site and have our own space and freedom. I was sad to say goodbye to my host mama, but I am glad to be back in control of my own eating habits, she fed me like a freaking linebacker and I was nooooot feeling it. We had our Host Family Appreciation day at Outward Bound and it was a nice little gathering. I left my towel at my mama's house... go figure, it's fine though I will just buy a new one when I get to site, I think I had to forget something. After the Appreciation we all stayed at Outward Bound and had one last little party in Loitokitok with a bonfire :).
Sunday we left bright and early for Nairobi and actually made it there in good time, despite off-roading and almost rolling the entire matatu. Sunday afternoon we were able to spend some time out in Nairobi doing whatever we wanted, and I ended up splitting off with Iwona and Britt and Brett (three of my favorite companions) and going to this bar called Gypsy, where we enjoyed some cocktails... (wait for it) on... ICE! Yes, that's right, we had real ice. I then ordered this Rattlesnake drink, which ended up being super delicious. It was a shot of tequila and a chaser of tomato juice/tabasco/lime/pepper! Iwona met up with some others at the mall and Britt, Brett and I went to look for this Mexican restaurant we had heard about. We ended up walking around for almost an hour checking out other places on our way and finding some really good possibilities for other nights. We eventually found the place and enjoyed some sort of Mexican... they did serve chips and salsa which was sweet but the dishes themselves were okay. Luckily I ordered like a 5 year old and got the fried chicken appetizer which turned out to be delicious. After we ate we navigated our way back and managed to catch a matatu all by ourselves and made it back to AFRALTI almost on time. After we got back we all drank a little bit and had a good time.
However, our supervisors arrived in town tonight so we are all taking it easy. Tomorrow we have a workshop with them and Wednesday is our Swearing In. It should be suuuuuper fun. After Swearing In we all head out to our individual sites with our supervisors. I'm not sure what the plan is for the first night we go to site because I am pretty sure that I dont have a bed or anything... hopefully I don't have to sleep on a bare floor. But if I do, I'll just get a few things to make me feel at home :) I'm looking forward to site, but it's daunting at the same time. I guess I will make my final judgement once I get there... haha. It will be nice to have internet all the time and my own place though definitely! I think that's it for now, I'll try to update again soon :)
So the vacation in Machakos wasn't actually vacation, it was an HIV/AIDS workshop but Machakos is a bigger town (about an hour outside of Nairobi) and we stayed in a very nice hotel with amazing food. By amazing food I mean legitimate burgers, and even good fish! We still had classes every day from 8am until 4pm, but we were all in the same hotel so we got to hang out every night as late as we wanted... that sounds a little sad when I actually say it but we really don't get that many opportunities throughout training to all be together and have fun as opposed to sitting in class for hours every day. It was a great bonding experience and really solidified some already close friendships. So we did learn a lot in Machakos too, Antony is the PEPFAR guy and he is hilarious and really did some research to make sure that we took useful field trips and had good guest speakers. But seriously, we took advantage of the actual grocery stores (that actually sold bottles of wine instead of just boxes) and excellent pizza delivered to the hotel rooftop where we spent most of the nights. One night we had a Mr. and Mrs. Peace Corps competition and a Talent Show. This was the night Iwona and I decided to split a bottle of tequila and cover ourselves in glitter. That's a lie, Iwona tastefully put a little bit of glitter on her and I trashed it up, but it was worth it, I'm still finding glitter in my scalp weeks later.
I also stopped by a Safaricom store and was able to get the internet on my phone working so now its way cheaper for me to just send messages on Facebook instead of texting! It has been really nice to be able to talk to people a little bit normally again. I've come to terms with the fact that I rely on technology, because I feel like it supports my mental health. One thing about Peace Corps is that it definitely teaches you a lot about yourself. Seriously, I thought I was a pretty nice person in the U.S., but you meet some of the people in Peace Corps and well, basically I'm an asshole. Don't get me wrong, I love my fellow trainees, but sometimes I feel like such a negative Nancy while they're like... crapping rainbows.
After Machakos we had two weeks until our final LPI exam. The Peace Corps does a good job at making sure you're prepared, or at least aware of how the test is going to be, so you have a practice LPI, which basically shows you how the interview will go. Then two weeks later you have a Mock LPI, and of course you do practices with your language trainer before all of these too, so you end up doing like 2 or 3 LPIs each time. But then three weeks after the Mock LPI is the real LPI, which is done by official LPI testers instead of just a different language trainer other than your own. I wasn't trying to get stressed about it, but according to some of my new friends here I'm a pretty chill person anyway so it probably wouldn't have hurt me to stress a little bit. Regardless, I passed and that's all that matters. We did have a few people that ended up having to retake it to pass, but everyone ended up achieving Intermediate Low so we can all be officially Sworn In!
The last couple weeks in Loitokitok were kind of bittersweet. I think most people will miss their host families, but we are all very excited to get to site and have our own space and freedom. I was sad to say goodbye to my host mama, but I am glad to be back in control of my own eating habits, she fed me like a freaking linebacker and I was nooooot feeling it. We had our Host Family Appreciation day at Outward Bound and it was a nice little gathering. I left my towel at my mama's house... go figure, it's fine though I will just buy a new one when I get to site, I think I had to forget something. After the Appreciation we all stayed at Outward Bound and had one last little party in Loitokitok with a bonfire :).
Sunday we left bright and early for Nairobi and actually made it there in good time, despite off-roading and almost rolling the entire matatu. Sunday afternoon we were able to spend some time out in Nairobi doing whatever we wanted, and I ended up splitting off with Iwona and Britt and Brett (three of my favorite companions) and going to this bar called Gypsy, where we enjoyed some cocktails... (wait for it) on... ICE! Yes, that's right, we had real ice. I then ordered this Rattlesnake drink, which ended up being super delicious. It was a shot of tequila and a chaser of tomato juice/tabasco/lime/pepper! Iwona met up with some others at the mall and Britt, Brett and I went to look for this Mexican restaurant we had heard about. We ended up walking around for almost an hour checking out other places on our way and finding some really good possibilities for other nights. We eventually found the place and enjoyed some sort of Mexican... they did serve chips and salsa which was sweet but the dishes themselves were okay. Luckily I ordered like a 5 year old and got the fried chicken appetizer which turned out to be delicious. After we ate we navigated our way back and managed to catch a matatu all by ourselves and made it back to AFRALTI almost on time. After we got back we all drank a little bit and had a good time.
However, our supervisors arrived in town tonight so we are all taking it easy. Tomorrow we have a workshop with them and Wednesday is our Swearing In. It should be suuuuuper fun. After Swearing In we all head out to our individual sites with our supervisors. I'm not sure what the plan is for the first night we go to site because I am pretty sure that I dont have a bed or anything... hopefully I don't have to sleep on a bare floor. But if I do, I'll just get a few things to make me feel at home :) I'm looking forward to site, but it's daunting at the same time. I guess I will make my final judgement once I get there... haha. It will be nice to have internet all the time and my own place though definitely! I think that's it for now, I'll try to update again soon :)
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