The blog -- I just haven't gotten around to deleting this far back yet. So here is remains and of minor interest in the world 9/09
September 18, 2007
I have been a moody grouch this week. I don’t know what happened.. well I do and I’ll tell you.. basically I have been despondent about the state of the world, and the way money runs everything etc etc.. I started classroom visits on top of this, and a consideration of the unsurmountable problems in the education world just about put me over the top. It was a pretty bad low to be honest. I wanted to dial back my life a couple of years and wake up in my bed on Wood Street. But as I was explaining to Jase on the phone this morning I have felt much cheerier since my humungous vomiting bout at midnight past. He thought throwing up depression was a good idea, and so now I am beginning to think part of the reason I was in such a slump was I was actually ill. I just hope it hasn’t put me off ndengue and rice for life.
Today I had a meeting with my program manager from VSO and I outlined all the project limitations from the top down. A really tight research study, both manageable and logistically feasible then emerged from the debris. Dinner followed and I had the pleasure of some pretty interesting company, and actually this is what has led me to write.
Sometimes I wonder why anyone bothers coming to Kenya or anywhere to do anything. It’s like wading through mud and to what end? In my work there are 400 classrooms involved in a project that sits on certain basic assumptions. Ideas like: head teachers support classroom teachers, and the Ministry of Education supports the schools. Like: children will attend school for more than 4 hours a day and approximately 6 months a year. Perhaps: children have pencils and papers and that the teaching is individualized to meet the needs of the learners. So when you go to a classroom and realize that speech concerns are like pimples on a warthog.. well.. there are only two solutions that come to me.. 1. an extended nap or 2. a good stiff drink. Anyway.. there’s my response and then there are people who take a project and turn it into something AMAZING. So I’ll write about that instead.
Kamlesh is a volunteer, and for the life of me I have no idea what organization he is with, a university? polytechnic? Who knows.. anyway he was given the job of increasing revenue (NGO speak: enterprise development). I am sure this position also has 609 constraints, and yet this is what he did. He worked at improving the cafeteria to generate income and increase business so that the people who produced the vegetables and other food stuffs got used to consistently supplying the goods. Farmers are often locked out of the market, but with the cafeteria buying products, farmers incomes have gone from around 400 kenyan shillings per month (~$6) to 1700 kenyan shillings per month ($25). He also expanded what was available by using the now highly successful cafeteria as a testing ground. Once he got his suppliers up and running he started going outside the organization to other businesses. For example, they buy 1 day old chicks and rear then for 8 weeks and sell them to restaurants and supermarkets. They make 50-100 Kenyan shillings per hen. When he arrived they sold 300 chickens a month. They are now selling something like 6000 a week. This surge of money is truly improving the quality of people’s lives. Suppliers are actually able to make a living.
So. This may seem like a stupid blog entry, but I’m feeling better. In summary. Good can be done. There is hope..
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
September 10, 2007
I have had guests more or less straight through since June, and so I have been getting about for pleasure rather more than I otherwise would have been. Abbie has gone, Dave arrived and left, Denise is currently here and leaves Thursday.
But I want to write about Zanzibar. It isn’t the most recent adventure. But it was recently. As a prelude, let me just say it was the heaven of heavens.
Zanzibar
Ever since I learned there was a Zanzibar, I have wanted to go there. It seemed like it would be an amazing place to visit because let’s see.. white sandy beach, seafood, blue waters, exotic location. I also always thought I should honey moon there (though to be fair Nova Scotia was a perfectly nice island too). When I realized I was getting divorced I wanted to sequester myself there for a month. It’s been on my mind for many years, but the thing that actually got me there was so mundane.. a conference. An occupational therapy conference of all things.
Living in Kenya and mixing with travelers you hear some fairly horrendous stories from time to time. Stories that include robbings, muggings, the occasional thwarted kidnapping. Over the years the worst stories, the ones that chill me to the bone have all by some coincidence occurred in Tanzania. I haven’t therefore really gone further south than Dianni beach though I am sure the same sorts of things could have as easily happened in Kenya or Malawi.
But anyway.. Dave and I arrive in Dar es Salaam and it’s a zoo. Immigration is a throbbing mess, it’s unclear where to stand and we have no American currency to get our visas. After much debate I just walk through immigration, pull Dave’s bag off the conveyor belt and return with all the dollars he’s stashed in his luggage (not really a recommended practice I might add). I share this experience in a few sentences, but the reality took close to two hours.
Once through the booths of stern men with big rubber stamps we were convinced by a baggage handler we had missed the last ferry to Zanzibar that goes at 4pm and we should fly to Stone Town. We thought we would and then once we were taken to a dodgy back room featureless save the extraordinarily crappy furniture we decided to go to the port and see for ourselves.
The next 45 minutes were fairly insane in retrospect. But they basically went like this:
- Get in a cab which we pay small fortune for with last of our dollars (the
return taxi turns out to be 1/3 of the price)
- Get stuck in traffic, 4:00 well and truly ticking by
- Arrive at port. Told that ferry is still there. Dave and I between us cannot generate the required amount of money for tickets in Kenyan Shillings or Dollars.
- I leave all the baggage with Dave and literally run to the cash machine and pull out money.. see.. just gets stupider
- We return and I hand some guy the equivalent of $120
- We attempt to get into the port, but some authority figure turns us back. We can’t even see ferry
- Man runs off with our money.
Dave and I look at each other. Me: “He’s gone hasn’t he? We are so damn stupid. I deserved that.”
- Man reappears (!) still with money and tickets for ferry.
- He fills them in, while I hold the cash
- We get on ferry
So.. it’s true we paid double what the tickets were worth, and it’s true we didn’t have seats but just perched on a bunch of luggage in a non-passenger section for several hours, but we were so happy! Happy to have made it on the ferry, happy to be on the Indian ocean, happy to see the sun set and have the cool breeze on our face.
And this brings me back to my opening point. Zanzibar is so heavenly. You really just have to see for yourself. The food is also unbelievable. There really were no lowlights (for me- Dave gave himself food poisoning), so to give you highlights I’d have to describe each and every meal.
We did so little there. Once we went to the east coast (north of Paje) we sat, swam, read, walked, drank copious amounts of beer and generally lolled about. We stayed in a place right on the beach with no electricity and dinner served on mats by lantern. The stars were endless.
I did actually attend the conference. I did a poster which turned into an impromptu presentation as well as a workshop. I met the other Kenyan attendees and when they asked me to do trainings in coast I finally said something which I need to say more often..”if you sort out the funding and logistics, I will come and provide the knowledge.” VSO did give me $600 to train OT’s in Nyanza and Western province though so hallelujah.
So Zanzibar. Go there. We stayed at Clove Hotel in stone town and Robinson’s Place on the east side. They were both great. I envision myself there for the entire month of December.. sitting out the Kenyan elections. Karibu sana. If no one takes me up on the offer, I have a box of books ready to go.
More soon. B xx
p.s. I hugged a giraffe this week. It was awesome. I haven’t laughed so hard in a really long time. Photos on flickr..
I have had guests more or less straight through since June, and so I have been getting about for pleasure rather more than I otherwise would have been. Abbie has gone, Dave arrived and left, Denise is currently here and leaves Thursday.
But I want to write about Zanzibar. It isn’t the most recent adventure. But it was recently. As a prelude, let me just say it was the heaven of heavens.
Zanzibar
Ever since I learned there was a Zanzibar, I have wanted to go there. It seemed like it would be an amazing place to visit because let’s see.. white sandy beach, seafood, blue waters, exotic location. I also always thought I should honey moon there (though to be fair Nova Scotia was a perfectly nice island too). When I realized I was getting divorced I wanted to sequester myself there for a month. It’s been on my mind for many years, but the thing that actually got me there was so mundane.. a conference. An occupational therapy conference of all things.
Living in Kenya and mixing with travelers you hear some fairly horrendous stories from time to time. Stories that include robbings, muggings, the occasional thwarted kidnapping. Over the years the worst stories, the ones that chill me to the bone have all by some coincidence occurred in Tanzania. I haven’t therefore really gone further south than Dianni beach though I am sure the same sorts of things could have as easily happened in Kenya or Malawi.
But anyway.. Dave and I arrive in Dar es Salaam and it’s a zoo. Immigration is a throbbing mess, it’s unclear where to stand and we have no American currency to get our visas. After much debate I just walk through immigration, pull Dave’s bag off the conveyor belt and return with all the dollars he’s stashed in his luggage (not really a recommended practice I might add). I share this experience in a few sentences, but the reality took close to two hours.
Once through the booths of stern men with big rubber stamps we were convinced by a baggage handler we had missed the last ferry to Zanzibar that goes at 4pm and we should fly to Stone Town. We thought we would and then once we were taken to a dodgy back room featureless save the extraordinarily crappy furniture we decided to go to the port and see for ourselves.
The next 45 minutes were fairly insane in retrospect. But they basically went like this:
- Get in a cab which we pay small fortune for with last of our dollars (the
return taxi turns out to be 1/3 of the price)
- Get stuck in traffic, 4:00 well and truly ticking by
- Arrive at port. Told that ferry is still there. Dave and I between us cannot generate the required amount of money for tickets in Kenyan Shillings or Dollars.
- I leave all the baggage with Dave and literally run to the cash machine and pull out money.. see.. just gets stupider
- We return and I hand some guy the equivalent of $120
- We attempt to get into the port, but some authority figure turns us back. We can’t even see ferry
- Man runs off with our money.
Dave and I look at each other. Me: “He’s gone hasn’t he? We are so damn stupid. I deserved that.”
- Man reappears (!) still with money and tickets for ferry.
- He fills them in, while I hold the cash
- We get on ferry
So.. it’s true we paid double what the tickets were worth, and it’s true we didn’t have seats but just perched on a bunch of luggage in a non-passenger section for several hours, but we were so happy! Happy to have made it on the ferry, happy to be on the Indian ocean, happy to see the sun set and have the cool breeze on our face.
And this brings me back to my opening point. Zanzibar is so heavenly. You really just have to see for yourself. The food is also unbelievable. There really were no lowlights (for me- Dave gave himself food poisoning), so to give you highlights I’d have to describe each and every meal.
We did so little there. Once we went to the east coast (north of Paje) we sat, swam, read, walked, drank copious amounts of beer and generally lolled about. We stayed in a place right on the beach with no electricity and dinner served on mats by lantern. The stars were endless.
I did actually attend the conference. I did a poster which turned into an impromptu presentation as well as a workshop. I met the other Kenyan attendees and when they asked me to do trainings in coast I finally said something which I need to say more often..”if you sort out the funding and logistics, I will come and provide the knowledge.” VSO did give me $600 to train OT’s in Nyanza and Western province though so hallelujah.
So Zanzibar. Go there. We stayed at Clove Hotel in stone town and Robinson’s Place on the east side. They were both great. I envision myself there for the entire month of December.. sitting out the Kenyan elections. Karibu sana. If no one takes me up on the offer, I have a box of books ready to go.
More soon. B xx
p.s. I hugged a giraffe this week. It was awesome. I haven’t laughed so hard in a really long time. Photos on flickr..
Sunday, September 02, 2007
September 1, 2007
The weeks are behind me like the miles of dusty Kenyan road and it’s hard to recall what I have been doing with my time. But finally I feel like I have a moment (and a new power cord enabling computer use at home) so I will attempt to recapture the travels I have been on.
Somewhere.
Abbie appeared in Nairobi the night she said she would. I hadn’t expected it, thinking that perhaps the new friends and Nakuru would hold her a little longer. But there she was and we were no closer to deciding what to do with our time. As my dad says “you only has so much time, and you only have so much money.” These were our parameters and truthfully not very helpful ones given the options.
We got up Tuesday morning and headed to the airport to try and fly to the coast, but Fly 540 claimed they didn’t know where their planes were and Kenyan Airlines were full, so that left us at square 1. Our backup plan had been Arusha, but we decided that no, we’d go back to itinerary #362 and thus ended in Naivasha. I am so very glad we did.
There.
Josephat lives in Naivasha. Though he is from Samburu originally he has lived there for the last 10 years or so with his grandmother. Tragedy strikes his family with an alarming frequency and his story telling is always melodramatic. I think he might be 23, self educated for the most part and so smart about so many things that if you have to spend three days hiking around the Rift Valley of course you would want to do it with Josephat (for the conversation alone). I know him because he is more or less an old flame of Tanya’s. “She opened up a new world to me” he says. Well I am sure she did.
Across.
So Tuesday night found me, glass of cold white wine in hand, looking over Lake Naivasha at the moon and stars, listening to the hippos splashing at the water’s edge and recalling why it is I had moved here. P. may constantly groan about all the white girl ‘big sky’ references, but I am compelled to write about it. Naivasha is known for its endless sky, isn’t that why you go there?
The lake is serenity, especially on a clear night.
In.
Wednesday then, we left early and biked into Hell’s Gate National Park. It is so beautiful there. We biked and looked at animals, biked and looked at animals. We did a little off roading through the bush. What fun!
When we got to the gorge we hiked in. Really by this point all I could think of was lunch which was my sole responsibility for the excursion. And it was delicious! Peanut butter and salt & vinegar chip sandwiches. I thought I had never eaten anything so good in my life.
That afternoon Abbie and I became the dorkiest people I know. We spent it collecting rocks, substantially extending the amount of time it would typically take getting down the gorge. It was such good old fashioned fun. The Rift Valley was formed (and this is a very loose and not necessarily correct interpretation of the scientific processes that occurred in the area) when two techtonic plates shifted. When whatever happended happened, it left a valley that drops perhaps 9000 metres at some point west of Nairobi. On the valley floor there are five lakes (crater, Nakuru, Bogoria, Baringo, Elmenteita & Naivasha) which apparently used to be one before this geographical activity. There is also Mount Longonot and a crater or two to say the least. Anyway, I tell you all this because with all the past volcanic activity the rocks are very very interesting and varied!
Abbie and I spent literally hours collecting samples of different rocks, and when I migrated from just the pretty sparkly black ones I had to limit myself to only one pocketful which meant a constant reassessment of my set.
Anyway hours later we emerged and getting back on the bike felt like a form of torture. I really had to ride the last 5 km on one butt cheek, it was terrible. By the time we got back to our accommodation my legs definitely had the wobbles and my skin was barbequed (apparently doxy makes you photosensitive, I would have thought this an important bit of info from my dr. but oh well!).
There was some drama with a buffalo, but as Josephat took care of it, I’ll not venture further down that path.
Up.
So Thursday we hiked Mount Longonot. It was amazing. We were joined by an Australian Felicity and I think I will let the photos speak for the beauty of the view. We were the sky. The avocado and cheese sandwiches at the top were definitely the best thing I had eaten since lunch the day before. I want a sash that says “Picnic Queen.”
Going down there was some drama with armed bandits/poachers, but as Josephat took care of it, we took a different path.
At.
Friday, as you might imagine, our enthusiasm for all this walking about malarkey had ebbed somewhat. We hiked to Crater Lake. We didn’t do it with half the bounce we might have earlier in the week. Actually the only thing pushing me on is that I thought we might be able to get a swank lunch at the lodge. Crater Lake, whilst green and small, is very pretty. Definitely worth a visit, though perhaps when your body feels a little less like mine did.
I have to say all the fresh air, wonderful conversation and exercise was fabulous. I really felt like I had gotten away. It was a holiday.
Beside.
Friday night I headed back to Nairobi for P’s book opening. A Canadian journalist pointed out that it was strangely comforting that book openings are the same everywhere in the world. Anyway, it was very nice
Over.
So since then.. well to prevent this becoming an epic entry I’ll just say we were in the Masai Mara. It was nice. The food was terrible (a letter to Savuka Travel is in the works). I can tolerate pit latrines and mosquitos but bad food is just ridiculous. The best bit about the trip was actually the company. There were a couple who live and work in Sudan and interestingly, just the day before I had applied for a position in Southern Sudan (dad I will not fight with you about this until it is actually a possibility). Anyway, they were very funny and very nice.
This morning I am sitting on the sofa drinking tea, and preparing for the conference in Zanzibar next week. I will eat Dave’s mndazi if he doesn’t get up soon, but it is so nice to be at home sleeping in my own bed.
I’m likely to be offline for the next couple of weeks. I am headed to that heavenly island Monday and then Dave leaves/Denise arrives and I go to Kajiado to make classroom visits. Amboseli is also in the plans before coming back to Kisumu.
So.. Soon. B xx
The weeks are behind me like the miles of dusty Kenyan road and it’s hard to recall what I have been doing with my time. But finally I feel like I have a moment (and a new power cord enabling computer use at home) so I will attempt to recapture the travels I have been on.
Somewhere.
Abbie appeared in Nairobi the night she said she would. I hadn’t expected it, thinking that perhaps the new friends and Nakuru would hold her a little longer. But there she was and we were no closer to deciding what to do with our time. As my dad says “you only has so much time, and you only have so much money.” These were our parameters and truthfully not very helpful ones given the options.
We got up Tuesday morning and headed to the airport to try and fly to the coast, but Fly 540 claimed they didn’t know where their planes were and Kenyan Airlines were full, so that left us at square 1. Our backup plan had been Arusha, but we decided that no, we’d go back to itinerary #362 and thus ended in Naivasha. I am so very glad we did.
There.
Josephat lives in Naivasha. Though he is from Samburu originally he has lived there for the last 10 years or so with his grandmother. Tragedy strikes his family with an alarming frequency and his story telling is always melodramatic. I think he might be 23, self educated for the most part and so smart about so many things that if you have to spend three days hiking around the Rift Valley of course you would want to do it with Josephat (for the conversation alone). I know him because he is more or less an old flame of Tanya’s. “She opened up a new world to me” he says. Well I am sure she did.
Across.
So Tuesday night found me, glass of cold white wine in hand, looking over Lake Naivasha at the moon and stars, listening to the hippos splashing at the water’s edge and recalling why it is I had moved here. P. may constantly groan about all the white girl ‘big sky’ references, but I am compelled to write about it. Naivasha is known for its endless sky, isn’t that why you go there?
The lake is serenity, especially on a clear night.
In.
Wednesday then, we left early and biked into Hell’s Gate National Park. It is so beautiful there. We biked and looked at animals, biked and looked at animals. We did a little off roading through the bush. What fun!
When we got to the gorge we hiked in. Really by this point all I could think of was lunch which was my sole responsibility for the excursion. And it was delicious! Peanut butter and salt & vinegar chip sandwiches. I thought I had never eaten anything so good in my life.
That afternoon Abbie and I became the dorkiest people I know. We spent it collecting rocks, substantially extending the amount of time it would typically take getting down the gorge. It was such good old fashioned fun. The Rift Valley was formed (and this is a very loose and not necessarily correct interpretation of the scientific processes that occurred in the area) when two techtonic plates shifted. When whatever happended happened, it left a valley that drops perhaps 9000 metres at some point west of Nairobi. On the valley floor there are five lakes (crater, Nakuru, Bogoria, Baringo, Elmenteita & Naivasha) which apparently used to be one before this geographical activity. There is also Mount Longonot and a crater or two to say the least. Anyway, I tell you all this because with all the past volcanic activity the rocks are very very interesting and varied!
Abbie and I spent literally hours collecting samples of different rocks, and when I migrated from just the pretty sparkly black ones I had to limit myself to only one pocketful which meant a constant reassessment of my set.
Anyway hours later we emerged and getting back on the bike felt like a form of torture. I really had to ride the last 5 km on one butt cheek, it was terrible. By the time we got back to our accommodation my legs definitely had the wobbles and my skin was barbequed (apparently doxy makes you photosensitive, I would have thought this an important bit of info from my dr. but oh well!).
There was some drama with a buffalo, but as Josephat took care of it, I’ll not venture further down that path.
Up.
So Thursday we hiked Mount Longonot. It was amazing. We were joined by an Australian Felicity and I think I will let the photos speak for the beauty of the view. We were the sky. The avocado and cheese sandwiches at the top were definitely the best thing I had eaten since lunch the day before. I want a sash that says “Picnic Queen.”
Going down there was some drama with armed bandits/poachers, but as Josephat took care of it, we took a different path.
At.
Friday, as you might imagine, our enthusiasm for all this walking about malarkey had ebbed somewhat. We hiked to Crater Lake. We didn’t do it with half the bounce we might have earlier in the week. Actually the only thing pushing me on is that I thought we might be able to get a swank lunch at the lodge. Crater Lake, whilst green and small, is very pretty. Definitely worth a visit, though perhaps when your body feels a little less like mine did.
I have to say all the fresh air, wonderful conversation and exercise was fabulous. I really felt like I had gotten away. It was a holiday.
Beside.
Friday night I headed back to Nairobi for P’s book opening. A Canadian journalist pointed out that it was strangely comforting that book openings are the same everywhere in the world. Anyway, it was very nice
Over.
So since then.. well to prevent this becoming an epic entry I’ll just say we were in the Masai Mara. It was nice. The food was terrible (a letter to Savuka Travel is in the works). I can tolerate pit latrines and mosquitos but bad food is just ridiculous. The best bit about the trip was actually the company. There were a couple who live and work in Sudan and interestingly, just the day before I had applied for a position in Southern Sudan (dad I will not fight with you about this until it is actually a possibility). Anyway, they were very funny and very nice.
This morning I am sitting on the sofa drinking tea, and preparing for the conference in Zanzibar next week. I will eat Dave’s mndazi if he doesn’t get up soon, but it is so nice to be at home sleeping in my own bed.
I’m likely to be offline for the next couple of weeks. I am headed to that heavenly island Monday and then Dave leaves/Denise arrives and I go to Kajiado to make classroom visits. Amboseli is also in the plans before coming back to Kisumu.
So.. Soon. B xx
Monday, August 20, 2007
given how little I have written over the past two months,
and how little I have done today,
you would have thought,
that I would be able to generate a semi-interesting entry about something. Alas. It is just not that day.
Nairobi weather is snarly. I am beginning to think this country is unable to do anything in moderation. Today it rained and rained and rained. And I waited and waited and waited. It was unclear for a good part of the day exactly what I was waiting for. A diversion perhaps. I could have done with a diversion. I was at such a loose end at one point I actually went to see the doctor (this is what happens when your health care is fully covered - ha!). I needed a new prescription for malaria pills so it was a fairly useful visit as far as these things go.
Now you might recall I talked of Uganda this week. And you might wonder therefore why I am wandering around Nairobi listlessly getting wet. Well. There is a story. But this is neither the time nor place. I think the underlying problem is that there are just too many fabulous travel destinations. And I am currently unable to make decisions.
Last Monday, I place the burden of where we should go firmly on the shoulders of Abbie. Uganda it was. Until about 12 hours before she was leaving and a new stellar plan was devised. We would go to lake Bogoria and Baringo and I envisioned lazing (because that's all I am good for) in a devastating beautiful spot by the water with my book. It unravelled about 15 minutes after we reconnected, 5 days later. Abbie did go to the lakes, but just for a day trip. I came to Nairobi. I don't want to look at the lakes, I want to go there and breathe them in. So another time.
But now.. now its Monday night. Abbie is yet to arrive from Nakuru, and I am gearing up to make a meal that is shockingly the sort of dinner I would prepare for my father. It's not worth describing. Re-reading this.. its clear that there is a lot of things I am leaving out. Ho-hum. So back I go.
I came to Nairobi for a book reading. It was a lovely night. No it was a cold night, but I enjoyed it immensly. It wasn't so much a book reading either as much as many people reading from an anthology and then congratulating each other on how brilliant they all are. Ha. But the thing is, they are. It was very good. One of the pieces was astoundingly fabulous and I would go far, on a bumpy road, via Kenayn public transportation, even if it was a Tuesday, just to see her again. Another was so emotionally raw, I'm not sure how she could stand there and read it. A certain reader I favoured above all others.
So there are four more days left of this week of many choices. A decision must be made. We have gone the gamut of plans.. hiking Mt. Longonot, flying to Lamu. Each plan had a pit fall, but maybe we just didn't want to nail ourselves down. Currently Abbie is petitioning for Mombasa, and I am rooting for Arusha. So we'll see..
Hope this finds you all happy and healthy. b xx
and how little I have done today,
you would have thought,
that I would be able to generate a semi-interesting entry about something. Alas. It is just not that day.
Nairobi weather is snarly. I am beginning to think this country is unable to do anything in moderation. Today it rained and rained and rained. And I waited and waited and waited. It was unclear for a good part of the day exactly what I was waiting for. A diversion perhaps. I could have done with a diversion. I was at such a loose end at one point I actually went to see the doctor (this is what happens when your health care is fully covered - ha!). I needed a new prescription for malaria pills so it was a fairly useful visit as far as these things go.
Now you might recall I talked of Uganda this week. And you might wonder therefore why I am wandering around Nairobi listlessly getting wet. Well. There is a story. But this is neither the time nor place. I think the underlying problem is that there are just too many fabulous travel destinations. And I am currently unable to make decisions.
Last Monday, I place the burden of where we should go firmly on the shoulders of Abbie. Uganda it was. Until about 12 hours before she was leaving and a new stellar plan was devised. We would go to lake Bogoria and Baringo and I envisioned lazing (because that's all I am good for) in a devastating beautiful spot by the water with my book. It unravelled about 15 minutes after we reconnected, 5 days later. Abbie did go to the lakes, but just for a day trip. I came to Nairobi. I don't want to look at the lakes, I want to go there and breathe them in. So another time.
But now.. now its Monday night. Abbie is yet to arrive from Nakuru, and I am gearing up to make a meal that is shockingly the sort of dinner I would prepare for my father. It's not worth describing. Re-reading this.. its clear that there is a lot of things I am leaving out. Ho-hum. So back I go.
I came to Nairobi for a book reading. It was a lovely night. No it was a cold night, but I enjoyed it immensly. It wasn't so much a book reading either as much as many people reading from an anthology and then congratulating each other on how brilliant they all are. Ha. But the thing is, they are. It was very good. One of the pieces was astoundingly fabulous and I would go far, on a bumpy road, via Kenayn public transportation, even if it was a Tuesday, just to see her again. Another was so emotionally raw, I'm not sure how she could stand there and read it. A certain reader I favoured above all others.
So there are four more days left of this week of many choices. A decision must be made. We have gone the gamut of plans.. hiking Mt. Longonot, flying to Lamu. Each plan had a pit fall, but maybe we just didn't want to nail ourselves down. Currently Abbie is petitioning for Mombasa, and I am rooting for Arusha. So we'll see..
Hope this finds you all happy and healthy. b xx
Friday, August 10, 2007
Hello. I realise it has been nearly a month since I have last written but I have been tired, am tired and am currently bogged down with much work to get done by next weekend.. so I can go away and play! Hallelujah. In the next few weeks I am hoping to get to Uganda, then Masai Mara and finally heaven at the end of the rainbow Zanzibar.
Just to recap the past few weeks though.. July 20th my sister had two very tiny baby girls at 27 weeks and I flew to New York to meet Margo and Phoebe and play with their big sister in central park which was lovely. I came back here early August which I guess was only last weekend, stayed with Tanya(activities were confined to sleeping lots, eating Italian food, drinking wine and bitching about Kenyan men) and picked my friend and coworker from Leap (Abbie) up at the airport Monday morning before flying back to Kisumu. Then Eldoret.. where I have been learning Swahili all week. Eldoret was rainy and muddy and fairly miserable. My coldest week in Kenya, though the company was delightful. The language didn't stick at all but I learned how to say chicken shit and a few other choice phrases. Now I need to study study.
On Tuesday I did have a jet-lagged/Isabel Losada inspiration for my post VSO life, but it'll have to wait as I am tired, hungry and grumpy. Indian buffet tonight.. that should snap me out of it. Lots of thoughts. Sorry my communication has been dismal. bx
Just to recap the past few weeks though.. July 20th my sister had two very tiny baby girls at 27 weeks and I flew to New York to meet Margo and Phoebe and play with their big sister in central park which was lovely. I came back here early August which I guess was only last weekend, stayed with Tanya(activities were confined to sleeping lots, eating Italian food, drinking wine and bitching about Kenyan men) and picked my friend and coworker from Leap (Abbie) up at the airport Monday morning before flying back to Kisumu. Then Eldoret.. where I have been learning Swahili all week. Eldoret was rainy and muddy and fairly miserable. My coldest week in Kenya, though the company was delightful. The language didn't stick at all but I learned how to say chicken shit and a few other choice phrases. Now I need to study study.
On Tuesday I did have a jet-lagged/Isabel Losada inspiration for my post VSO life, but it'll have to wait as I am tired, hungry and grumpy. Indian buffet tonight.. that should snap me out of it. Lots of thoughts. Sorry my communication has been dismal. bx
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I am home. I missed my flight this morning and bought another ticket. So stupid. The traffic was unfathomable. No cats for me. I couldn't find a cage/carrier in Nairobi for love nor money. Don't expect they are much in demand, and the airlines require it. Think a 9 hour bus trip would be too cruel. Pat Moran did remind me in an email that "You have a bad history with cats young lady! Need I bring up our little grey friend?" - point well taken.
So I am here for at least 3 weeks. VSO have scheduled a national volunteer conference the weekend early August but it ends the day before my 1 week language training in Eldoret (also in Western Kenya).. so we'll see how it all pans out. To work... soon. Perhaps. and I will get through my inbox in the next week or two. Sorry. b xx
So I am here for at least 3 weeks. VSO have scheduled a national volunteer conference the weekend early August but it ends the day before my 1 week language training in Eldoret (also in Western Kenya).. so we'll see how it all pans out. To work... soon. Perhaps. and I will get through my inbox in the next week or two. Sorry. b xx
Warning! Exceedingly long entry.
July 15, 2007
Well it has been a long time since I have sat down and put my thoughts on the screen. But here I am, back in Kassa-stinkin-rani and looking at an afternoon of complete nothingness before me. I would have typically gone into the city to check my email (it’s been a week) but I don’t have keys and the girls won’t be back until evening.
So let me revisit my weeks.. its been so long since I blogged that I don’t recall where I was when I last posted. My past weeks of travels.. here I go..
Mombasa
Mombasa is the city I love best. It is laid back. The air feels and smells different. At night it comes alive. In Kisumu darkness means a deserted main street, in Nairobi there is always that hint of menace about being out after dusk. Mombasa begs you to socialize, to eat or both. In summary of my activities I consumed my body weight in Indian food, though I did have some very average Chinese food one night (the two bottles of wine made up for it!)
In Mombasa I stay at the polytechnic guesthouse in Tudor on the main island. It is 500 ksh ($7) for a room and really quite fabulous. The architecture is that of a hot weather place so there are small shaped openings in the brickwork that allow the breeze in and spray the ceiling with stars of light at night. The calls to prayer at 4 am seep into your dreams and everything in the world must surely be well in a room so peaceful.
Nadia arrived in Nairobi on July 1st, and we headed by bus to Mombasa the next day. We arrived at the polytechnic after dark and not knowing our bearings, we bought bananas, passionfruit and mango from the cart outside the school gate rather than search for a meal. So we didn’t get our room all sticky we sat in the bathroom, perched on the bath and ate gobs of juicy fruit around the sink.
Dorothy is the assessment teacher at Mombasa E.A.R.C. and to say she is nice is an understatement. Sometimes she seems to grateful I think she will cry. When she met Nadia, she said “but she’s just a baby!” and I thought she was going to spill over right there on the footpath. Nadia is very young looking and Dorothy was ecstatic that she was visiting for the month. When last I heard from them, they were staying with Dorothy’s parents in Taita-Taveta while they supported that district’s training.
The Mombasa training was interesting. The participants fought over semantics, gave each other a hard time over comments and questions and were prepared to battle out the nuanced meanings of completely irrelevant crap. The expression, ‘didn’t see the forest for the trees is apt’. But anyway. I gave them a pre and post quiz and was dismayed to find that the participants did WORSE on some of the questions after the training. What to do?
My time in Mombasa was surprisingly social, which added to the general appeal of the place. Margo is the wife of a Dutch volunteer and she attended the training. Nadia was also around, though Dorothy had found her a ‘nice Christian’ family to stay with for the duration of her visit. Danielle also turned up on the coast with a special education teacher from Hawaii, and then there was Vipin.
Vipin is an Indian volunteer based on the coast, though sadly leaving before I am ready! He took this 5 day meditation retreat which Tanya has since taken and we had a massive chat about life, peace, energy and all that sort of thing. I’ve missed having discussions about what the spiritualists say, something Phil was particularly good for, if a tad regimented. Anyway Vipin has convinced me that I must really do the course, and I think I will. We actually met over coffee and then had a fabulous dinner the following night. But his talk was timed well, as I have been busy and unaware. It got me thinking about what I eat, and how I need to focus and all that good stuff that makes me a healthier human being. Vipin doesn’t eat garlic (because it scatters energy) or onion (because it sucks energy) but I figured I needed to take simpler measures (e.g. less beer and chips).
I am blessed with a really interesting cast of companions these days, which means conversation is rarely dull. Tanya and Sarah of course are my closest friends, and guaranteed to make me laugh, though I consider Tanya an all around partner in crime, while Sarah is insightful, thoughtful and generally the more responsible in this household I have gate crashed. Mike is so deadpan, and will listen to all sorts of rubbish in such a way that you realize.. ‘oh, that was all sorts of rubbish.’ Potash whom I love to hate and hate to love is so observant and astute, I wonder if perhaps he knows me better than I know myself, Vipin and Surreal playing typecast spiritualists and I could go on.. fortunately for you, I won’t.
Nyahururu
So I left Mombasa and came back to Nairobi. I then headed up to Nyahururu ‘to get away’ (which of course is ridiculous, because 1. I AM away and 2. I have now been traveling since Easter!). About 30 minutes from my cheap inn of choice, it was pointed out that it is much faster to take the road north from Nakuru rather than the circuitous route via Nyeri, but oh well, there would have been no scrumptious pineapple proffered at a gas station that way. I did arrive, and the destination was well worth the journey. Nyahururu is the site of Thomson’s Falls. They are there, they are pretty, and if you are going to find a place to sit and read, it’s a better spot than most. The inn (Thomson’s Fall Lodge) is fantastically located, and while it’s food is mediocre at best, and the service worse than that, it is all made up for by the fireplaces in the rooms. As the nights have started getting chilly in central Kenya, you can’t beat the opportunity to create some heat in a hotel room. Ha.
Following Nyahururu came Nanyuki, and at some point out of town the matatu we were riding veered off the road onto a barely visible track. This is how I found myself on an impromptu game drive. The driver had taken a route that cut directly east (almost along the equator) which propitiously also ran along the boundary of one of the private game parks. The driver (now tour guide) kept slowing to make sure I had seen the zebra, rhinocerous and other assorted animals along the way. It was very amusing and quite delightful.
Nanyuki
In Nanyuki, the training went as scheduled. The highlight was definitely lunch at the Trout Tree restaurant. How I do love that place. And Claire was right about their chocolate cake.
Isiolo
From Nanyuki we went to Isiolo. Isiolo is like the last real Kenyan town in the north east. It’s like Marsabit and Wajir don’t really exist- mere mirages out there. The border between Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya blurs in this vast tract of land. Apparently it’s lawless and it always has been. A few metres outside of Isiolo the paved road stops and they sign you out, I’m told it’s so the government can write off all responsibility for you! Hmm. The area covered by Isiolo E.A.R.C. is over 200 km in one direction. It’s massive. They have divided their district into 6 sub-divisions and they get to each one, once every 2 years. The place is hot and dusty and feels distinctly Arab. The camels roam around like goats might elsewhere. On Thursday morning as the taxi took us out the assessment center, I had a very surreal moment. The cabbie was playing local music and it was so perfect for this novel environment that it fit just like a movie soundtrack.
The second morning, the facilitators came to me and said “it’s Friday, the participants want to leave at noon so they can go to the mosque.” I asked them which session they planned to cut then, and they choose to omit session 4, which was good.. because I was supposed to lead it and I had a thumping headache from the plethora of Tusker Malts the previous night. Danielle and I conferred and then decided seeing as we had a whole afternoon off, we should go up to Sumburu/Buffalo Springs Nature reserve for a bit of game spotting. The hotel had given me a number of someone to call and we organized a vehicle and some guides. Then at noon as the participants got ready to leave I told them I’d see them tomorrow and we would start on time. Ali looked at me in confusion and said “so they won’t be back this afternoon?’ to which I said “what? They’re coming back?”
“yes at 2.”
“but then why did we cut session 4 this morning?”
“….”
“okay, well that’s great.” And in the spirit of abandoning any sense of responsibility about why I was in Isiolo in the first place “.. but I won’t be here. I’ve organized a game drive.”
Samburu & Buffalo Springs Nature Reserve
We were picked up at our hotel at 1 o’clock and the afternoon was glorious. I could bang on and on about African landscapes, gently rolling hills in gradiated hues of shadow, big blue skies smudged with cloud, panoramas to fill your soul and what not, but I’ll just upload the photos next week.
Very early into our excursion we came upon a leopard in a tree, perhaps 2 metres from us and at eye level with where we were standing in the vehicle. The scaredy puss in me was very uncomfortable with the proximity. What to say? Amazing. Beautiful. The rest of the day was spent with elephants. There were elephants here, there and everywhere. Around each bend, behind each tree. Who’d have thought. No lions, few giraffe but lots of lovely pachyderms. After leaving the park we drove through Archer’s post which was busy with residents milling about as the sun went down. The size of the dot on the map betray’s the town’s size. In fact even the word ‘town’ is an exaggeration. As we headed back to Isiolo the stars came out one by one. It was so serene. Even my (probably unwarranted) fear of being hijacked by bandits couldn’t stop it from being a gorgeous drive home.
Nyeri
Saturday afternoon we finished up in Isiolo and made it as far south as Nyeri. We checked into the Green Hills Hotel and I crawled into bed to make a serious attempt to finish my book. I was reading “The Post-Birthday World” by Lionel Shriver and it is EXCELLENT. One of the smartest and best reads I have ever encountered. Definitely a top 5 book for me (and in company with her book “We need to talk about Kevin”). It’s funny, but this is the second book I have read recently –the other was short stories “I think of you” (?) by an Egyptian author – that has a main female character reflecting on the home she shared with a now ex- love. Something I can relate to right now as Phil’s Wood street apartment is such a powerful symbol (maybe not the right word??) of our relationship for me though the my memory of that space is now transposed with Melissa’s changes (and she’s much more gifted at home decorating than me). Perhaps the places stay in your mind longer, and present themselves for mulling over more frequently because they are less painful to reflect on than the person you shared them with. Or perhaps because a relationship occurs in the area between two people and this is usually encapsulated in the place you live, this is the concrete memento of the relationship. Anyway, the book rocks.
I didn’t get the book finished last night because at about 11:30 pm I found myself in the hotel’s basement club. I said ‘club’, but think of a high school cafeteria with a D.J. Here it is Saturday night and Danielle, Potash and I are literally the only people in the place save the staff. A single curvy female in a track suit did come in and dance alone and then a man in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat joined the floor with lots of attempts at square dancing mixed with god knows what. A couple came in later to make out along the back wall, but that was it. So we did what was called for, namely, ordered several more beers each, and started dancing. Potash did his ‘this is how a white boy dances’ imitation which was fine, until around 2 am when my dancing had pretty much deteriorated to that same flinging of limbs. It was a tremendously fun time.
So here I am. 4 pages later, I think I have recapped the highlights. Danielle leaves tomorrow and I head back to Kisumu Tuesday for 3 possibly 6 weeks in Western Kenya (can you believe it!) with my two new kitty cats. I had a tempting offer to take a dhow trip next week from Lamu to a tiny island north of Pate and south of Somalia (as far as I can tell), but in a practical moment I sadly declined. Pirates and beach boy fantasies aside I need to go home and recalibrate.
What a lucky girl I am. B xx
July 15, 2007
Well it has been a long time since I have sat down and put my thoughts on the screen. But here I am, back in Kassa-stinkin-rani and looking at an afternoon of complete nothingness before me. I would have typically gone into the city to check my email (it’s been a week) but I don’t have keys and the girls won’t be back until evening.
So let me revisit my weeks.. its been so long since I blogged that I don’t recall where I was when I last posted. My past weeks of travels.. here I go..
Mombasa
Mombasa is the city I love best. It is laid back. The air feels and smells different. At night it comes alive. In Kisumu darkness means a deserted main street, in Nairobi there is always that hint of menace about being out after dusk. Mombasa begs you to socialize, to eat or both. In summary of my activities I consumed my body weight in Indian food, though I did have some very average Chinese food one night (the two bottles of wine made up for it!)
In Mombasa I stay at the polytechnic guesthouse in Tudor on the main island. It is 500 ksh ($7) for a room and really quite fabulous. The architecture is that of a hot weather place so there are small shaped openings in the brickwork that allow the breeze in and spray the ceiling with stars of light at night. The calls to prayer at 4 am seep into your dreams and everything in the world must surely be well in a room so peaceful.
Nadia arrived in Nairobi on July 1st, and we headed by bus to Mombasa the next day. We arrived at the polytechnic after dark and not knowing our bearings, we bought bananas, passionfruit and mango from the cart outside the school gate rather than search for a meal. So we didn’t get our room all sticky we sat in the bathroom, perched on the bath and ate gobs of juicy fruit around the sink.
Dorothy is the assessment teacher at Mombasa E.A.R.C. and to say she is nice is an understatement. Sometimes she seems to grateful I think she will cry. When she met Nadia, she said “but she’s just a baby!” and I thought she was going to spill over right there on the footpath. Nadia is very young looking and Dorothy was ecstatic that she was visiting for the month. When last I heard from them, they were staying with Dorothy’s parents in Taita-Taveta while they supported that district’s training.
The Mombasa training was interesting. The participants fought over semantics, gave each other a hard time over comments and questions and were prepared to battle out the nuanced meanings of completely irrelevant crap. The expression, ‘didn’t see the forest for the trees is apt’. But anyway. I gave them a pre and post quiz and was dismayed to find that the participants did WORSE on some of the questions after the training. What to do?
My time in Mombasa was surprisingly social, which added to the general appeal of the place. Margo is the wife of a Dutch volunteer and she attended the training. Nadia was also around, though Dorothy had found her a ‘nice Christian’ family to stay with for the duration of her visit. Danielle also turned up on the coast with a special education teacher from Hawaii, and then there was Vipin.
Vipin is an Indian volunteer based on the coast, though sadly leaving before I am ready! He took this 5 day meditation retreat which Tanya has since taken and we had a massive chat about life, peace, energy and all that sort of thing. I’ve missed having discussions about what the spiritualists say, something Phil was particularly good for, if a tad regimented. Anyway Vipin has convinced me that I must really do the course, and I think I will. We actually met over coffee and then had a fabulous dinner the following night. But his talk was timed well, as I have been busy and unaware. It got me thinking about what I eat, and how I need to focus and all that good stuff that makes me a healthier human being. Vipin doesn’t eat garlic (because it scatters energy) or onion (because it sucks energy) but I figured I needed to take simpler measures (e.g. less beer and chips).
I am blessed with a really interesting cast of companions these days, which means conversation is rarely dull. Tanya and Sarah of course are my closest friends, and guaranteed to make me laugh, though I consider Tanya an all around partner in crime, while Sarah is insightful, thoughtful and generally the more responsible in this household I have gate crashed. Mike is so deadpan, and will listen to all sorts of rubbish in such a way that you realize.. ‘oh, that was all sorts of rubbish.’ Potash whom I love to hate and hate to love is so observant and astute, I wonder if perhaps he knows me better than I know myself, Vipin and Surreal playing typecast spiritualists and I could go on.. fortunately for you, I won’t.
Nyahururu
So I left Mombasa and came back to Nairobi. I then headed up to Nyahururu ‘to get away’ (which of course is ridiculous, because 1. I AM away and 2. I have now been traveling since Easter!). About 30 minutes from my cheap inn of choice, it was pointed out that it is much faster to take the road north from Nakuru rather than the circuitous route via Nyeri, but oh well, there would have been no scrumptious pineapple proffered at a gas station that way. I did arrive, and the destination was well worth the journey. Nyahururu is the site of Thomson’s Falls. They are there, they are pretty, and if you are going to find a place to sit and read, it’s a better spot than most. The inn (Thomson’s Fall Lodge) is fantastically located, and while it’s food is mediocre at best, and the service worse than that, it is all made up for by the fireplaces in the rooms. As the nights have started getting chilly in central Kenya, you can’t beat the opportunity to create some heat in a hotel room. Ha.
Following Nyahururu came Nanyuki, and at some point out of town the matatu we were riding veered off the road onto a barely visible track. This is how I found myself on an impromptu game drive. The driver had taken a route that cut directly east (almost along the equator) which propitiously also ran along the boundary of one of the private game parks. The driver (now tour guide) kept slowing to make sure I had seen the zebra, rhinocerous and other assorted animals along the way. It was very amusing and quite delightful.
Nanyuki
In Nanyuki, the training went as scheduled. The highlight was definitely lunch at the Trout Tree restaurant. How I do love that place. And Claire was right about their chocolate cake.
Isiolo
From Nanyuki we went to Isiolo. Isiolo is like the last real Kenyan town in the north east. It’s like Marsabit and Wajir don’t really exist- mere mirages out there. The border between Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya blurs in this vast tract of land. Apparently it’s lawless and it always has been. A few metres outside of Isiolo the paved road stops and they sign you out, I’m told it’s so the government can write off all responsibility for you! Hmm. The area covered by Isiolo E.A.R.C. is over 200 km in one direction. It’s massive. They have divided their district into 6 sub-divisions and they get to each one, once every 2 years. The place is hot and dusty and feels distinctly Arab. The camels roam around like goats might elsewhere. On Thursday morning as the taxi took us out the assessment center, I had a very surreal moment. The cabbie was playing local music and it was so perfect for this novel environment that it fit just like a movie soundtrack.
The second morning, the facilitators came to me and said “it’s Friday, the participants want to leave at noon so they can go to the mosque.” I asked them which session they planned to cut then, and they choose to omit session 4, which was good.. because I was supposed to lead it and I had a thumping headache from the plethora of Tusker Malts the previous night. Danielle and I conferred and then decided seeing as we had a whole afternoon off, we should go up to Sumburu/Buffalo Springs Nature reserve for a bit of game spotting. The hotel had given me a number of someone to call and we organized a vehicle and some guides. Then at noon as the participants got ready to leave I told them I’d see them tomorrow and we would start on time. Ali looked at me in confusion and said “so they won’t be back this afternoon?’ to which I said “what? They’re coming back?”
“yes at 2.”
“but then why did we cut session 4 this morning?”
“….”
“okay, well that’s great.” And in the spirit of abandoning any sense of responsibility about why I was in Isiolo in the first place “.. but I won’t be here. I’ve organized a game drive.”
Samburu & Buffalo Springs Nature Reserve
We were picked up at our hotel at 1 o’clock and the afternoon was glorious. I could bang on and on about African landscapes, gently rolling hills in gradiated hues of shadow, big blue skies smudged with cloud, panoramas to fill your soul and what not, but I’ll just upload the photos next week.
Very early into our excursion we came upon a leopard in a tree, perhaps 2 metres from us and at eye level with where we were standing in the vehicle. The scaredy puss in me was very uncomfortable with the proximity. What to say? Amazing. Beautiful. The rest of the day was spent with elephants. There were elephants here, there and everywhere. Around each bend, behind each tree. Who’d have thought. No lions, few giraffe but lots of lovely pachyderms. After leaving the park we drove through Archer’s post which was busy with residents milling about as the sun went down. The size of the dot on the map betray’s the town’s size. In fact even the word ‘town’ is an exaggeration. As we headed back to Isiolo the stars came out one by one. It was so serene. Even my (probably unwarranted) fear of being hijacked by bandits couldn’t stop it from being a gorgeous drive home.
Nyeri
Saturday afternoon we finished up in Isiolo and made it as far south as Nyeri. We checked into the Green Hills Hotel and I crawled into bed to make a serious attempt to finish my book. I was reading “The Post-Birthday World” by Lionel Shriver and it is EXCELLENT. One of the smartest and best reads I have ever encountered. Definitely a top 5 book for me (and in company with her book “We need to talk about Kevin”). It’s funny, but this is the second book I have read recently –the other was short stories “I think of you” (?) by an Egyptian author – that has a main female character reflecting on the home she shared with a now ex- love. Something I can relate to right now as Phil’s Wood street apartment is such a powerful symbol (maybe not the right word??) of our relationship for me though the my memory of that space is now transposed with Melissa’s changes (and she’s much more gifted at home decorating than me). Perhaps the places stay in your mind longer, and present themselves for mulling over more frequently because they are less painful to reflect on than the person you shared them with. Or perhaps because a relationship occurs in the area between two people and this is usually encapsulated in the place you live, this is the concrete memento of the relationship. Anyway, the book rocks.
I didn’t get the book finished last night because at about 11:30 pm I found myself in the hotel’s basement club. I said ‘club’, but think of a high school cafeteria with a D.J. Here it is Saturday night and Danielle, Potash and I are literally the only people in the place save the staff. A single curvy female in a track suit did come in and dance alone and then a man in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat joined the floor with lots of attempts at square dancing mixed with god knows what. A couple came in later to make out along the back wall, but that was it. So we did what was called for, namely, ordered several more beers each, and started dancing. Potash did his ‘this is how a white boy dances’ imitation which was fine, until around 2 am when my dancing had pretty much deteriorated to that same flinging of limbs. It was a tremendously fun time.
So here I am. 4 pages later, I think I have recapped the highlights. Danielle leaves tomorrow and I head back to Kisumu Tuesday for 3 possibly 6 weeks in Western Kenya (can you believe it!) with my two new kitty cats. I had a tempting offer to take a dhow trip next week from Lamu to a tiny island north of Pate and south of Somalia (as far as I can tell), but in a practical moment I sadly declined. Pirates and beach boy fantasies aside I need to go home and recalibrate.
What a lucky girl I am. B xx
Monday, July 16, 2007
i wrote an epic 4 page blog entry and it isn't opening from my zip. alas. i will try another computer and see how it goes. i will be devastated if it is lost in a computer void.
i am in Nairobi albeit briefly. last week took me through Nyahururu, Nanyuki, Isiolo and Nyeri.. the missing entry will fill in the blanks. back home tomorrow. b xx
i am in Nairobi albeit briefly. last week took me through Nyahururu, Nanyuki, Isiolo and Nyeri.. the missing entry will fill in the blanks. back home tomorrow. b xx
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
I am in Mombasa. What a delightful place to be. The air just smells better here. Mombasa is to Nairobi what Nice is to Paris (San Diego is to New York??) It's the laid back smaller sister.
The training is going fine. I am sick to death of district trainings and only have 2 more to go. This one is better than most though the group will argue semantics(e.g. educational record vs. educational background) without regard to the point of the exercise until it degenerates into complete mayhem. With a fight to the death policy, participants get increasingly stubborn and insistent as the discussion advances. Who'd have thought there was so much to debate when talking about speech and language in special needs populations. I completely abandoned the session on measurable goal setting becuase I didn't have the mettle at 4pm to continue. Perhaps it is best dealt with as they are creating their IEP's (Individualized Education Plans - taken straight out of the US and plopped without consideration of context or supporting systems into Kenyan law).
So. Once again. Too exhausted to write much, nearly finished Tom Robbin's "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates." It is such a joyeus romp of a book I will be sad to read the final paragraph. I could write the man a love letter I have enjoyed it so much. On deck is Lionel Shriver's newest and "The Icarus(sp?) Girl" by Helen O-someone.
soon. b
The training is going fine. I am sick to death of district trainings and only have 2 more to go. This one is better than most though the group will argue semantics(e.g. educational record vs. educational background) without regard to the point of the exercise until it degenerates into complete mayhem. With a fight to the death policy, participants get increasingly stubborn and insistent as the discussion advances. Who'd have thought there was so much to debate when talking about speech and language in special needs populations. I completely abandoned the session on measurable goal setting becuase I didn't have the mettle at 4pm to continue. Perhaps it is best dealt with as they are creating their IEP's (Individualized Education Plans - taken straight out of the US and plopped without consideration of context or supporting systems into Kenyan law).
So. Once again. Too exhausted to write much, nearly finished Tom Robbin's "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates." It is such a joyeus romp of a book I will be sad to read the final paragraph. I could write the man a love letter I have enjoyed it so much. On deck is Lionel Shriver's newest and "The Icarus(sp?) Girl" by Helen O-someone.
soon. b
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Hello.. A brief update, but very brief I am afraid.. in Nairobi.. headed to Mombasa tomorrow. 2 more weeks on the road and 3 more district trainings to go. Then me and the 2 kitties are heading west for about 3 whole very dull weeks in my aqua house, Kisumu. I am hoping to be bored senseless so i can get around to the multitude of things I haven't done but should have.. I may take a brief personal break north to Lake Baringo for Sarah's birthday but that is not yet confirmed.
This weekend I came to Nairobi for a speech therapist meeting (all 6 Kenyan based SLP's in the same room- you can bet it was a jolly old time) and the American embassy 4th of July party, but then i didn't go because rumour had it my Kenyan friend would not be admitted. It may have been myth but I really couldn't be bothered to traipse all the way out there to test it. I spent the weekend at Upper Hill Campsite with many many many Peace Corp volunteers who were also there for the above mentioned party and a 4th of July Toga Party Prom. Yes. If you think it seems unusual to have a prom when you are graduated from college, or strange to have a 4th July toga party, then you are not alone in your thoughts. My neighbor Brian was there though and he is a rather amusing chap.
So. Last week I was in Siaya, the week before has been completely obliterated from my mind.. it shall all resurface in let's say ... August. But I am well. A little moody at times, but apparently i can blame it on my malaria medication. hahahaha. actually that may well explain why I am so freakin' tired all the time.
There is it. The play by play. In a severe break of my non-meat eating principles I have of late consumed bacon, 1 sausage and 1/4 of a fried chicken. Flexitarian.
Must fly back to Kassarani to catch up with my girlie pals. love, love. b xx
This weekend I came to Nairobi for a speech therapist meeting (all 6 Kenyan based SLP's in the same room- you can bet it was a jolly old time) and the American embassy 4th of July party, but then i didn't go because rumour had it my Kenyan friend would not be admitted. It may have been myth but I really couldn't be bothered to traipse all the way out there to test it. I spent the weekend at Upper Hill Campsite with many many many Peace Corp volunteers who were also there for the above mentioned party and a 4th of July Toga Party Prom. Yes. If you think it seems unusual to have a prom when you are graduated from college, or strange to have a 4th July toga party, then you are not alone in your thoughts. My neighbor Brian was there though and he is a rather amusing chap.
So. Last week I was in Siaya, the week before has been completely obliterated from my mind.. it shall all resurface in let's say ... August. But I am well. A little moody at times, but apparently i can blame it on my malaria medication. hahahaha. actually that may well explain why I am so freakin' tired all the time.
There is it. The play by play. In a severe break of my non-meat eating principles I have of late consumed bacon, 1 sausage and 1/4 of a fried chicken. Flexitarian.
Must fly back to Kassarani to catch up with my girlie pals. love, love. b xx
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
June 18, 2007
I haven’t got the energy to write really. I did take a nap today, but I used the recharged brain power on editing an article I have quite literally been writing since February. I think it’s finally done. I would read it and bore myself so it needed work! Ha. I was inspired to do it tonight because I sent a draft copy to Martin in Mumias and basically my overt fawning over his amazing work means the rest of the team feel jilted (more on this later). In reworking the piece I put in some lip service to the dedicated leadership of the assessment program. I’ve never really done well respecting work hierarchies.
I had my palm read yesterday. It was a fairly gutting experience. Fortunately I was just finishing up Benjamin Hoff’s “The Te of Piglet” and I thought his words on Taoism were particularly useful for me as a coping strategy!! Ha. Okay I exaggerate, but only slightly. When Surreal got to Danielle’s palm he said “this one is much better!”
In a nutshell, I have a temper (well Brenda does mean ‘firebrand’ or something like that) I need to control –and wearing a brown sapphire will help me with this – I suck at relationships and will continue to keep leaving them, I should chant the guard three mantra 100x each morning which will have a very positive effect on my body and increase my success (? I think.. sun line), I am prone to diabetes and need to take care of my health in my 40’s reducing sugar and alcohol consumption, and to conclude if I “feel salty.. try cold water”! On my head was the implication. The bright side I will always have lots of friends.
The Taoists are all about transforming the negative into positive.. and like that wonderful story in Jon Muth’s “Zen Shorts” what appears bad may be good. Good may be bad.
So. Where am I? In Machakos.
Last night was spent in Kitui. We did some classroom visits and are now at the Lysak Hotel which has the feel of an upmarket trailer park. The district training starts tomorrow and we will be here until Thursday afternoon. Danielle – a volunteer speechie from Chicago- is with me for the month. Immediate plans -- We head to Nakuru Friday to catch up with the lovely Sofia, then onto Kisumu for Siaya’s district training next week. I still haven’t written about Mwingi.. and I wanted to tell about a most fabulous Ethiopian meal I had Saturday night, but alas… bed beckons (actually I have been in it for hours now, but I’m going to sleep). B xx
Abbie – this is for you. August. Training in Kitui. Week 3. Sign language in the morning, speech and language in the afternoon. More soon.
I haven’t got the energy to write really. I did take a nap today, but I used the recharged brain power on editing an article I have quite literally been writing since February. I think it’s finally done. I would read it and bore myself so it needed work! Ha. I was inspired to do it tonight because I sent a draft copy to Martin in Mumias and basically my overt fawning over his amazing work means the rest of the team feel jilted (more on this later). In reworking the piece I put in some lip service to the dedicated leadership of the assessment program. I’ve never really done well respecting work hierarchies.
I had my palm read yesterday. It was a fairly gutting experience. Fortunately I was just finishing up Benjamin Hoff’s “The Te of Piglet” and I thought his words on Taoism were particularly useful for me as a coping strategy!! Ha. Okay I exaggerate, but only slightly. When Surreal got to Danielle’s palm he said “this one is much better!”
In a nutshell, I have a temper (well Brenda does mean ‘firebrand’ or something like that) I need to control –and wearing a brown sapphire will help me with this – I suck at relationships and will continue to keep leaving them, I should chant the guard three mantra 100x each morning which will have a very positive effect on my body and increase my success (? I think.. sun line), I am prone to diabetes and need to take care of my health in my 40’s reducing sugar and alcohol consumption, and to conclude if I “feel salty.. try cold water”! On my head was the implication. The bright side I will always have lots of friends.
The Taoists are all about transforming the negative into positive.. and like that wonderful story in Jon Muth’s “Zen Shorts” what appears bad may be good. Good may be bad.
So. Where am I? In Machakos.
Last night was spent in Kitui. We did some classroom visits and are now at the Lysak Hotel which has the feel of an upmarket trailer park. The district training starts tomorrow and we will be here until Thursday afternoon. Danielle – a volunteer speechie from Chicago- is with me for the month. Immediate plans -- We head to Nakuru Friday to catch up with the lovely Sofia, then onto Kisumu for Siaya’s district training next week. I still haven’t written about Mwingi.. and I wanted to tell about a most fabulous Ethiopian meal I had Saturday night, but alas… bed beckons (actually I have been in it for hours now, but I’m going to sleep). B xx
Abbie – this is for you. August. Training in Kitui. Week 3. Sign language in the morning, speech and language in the afternoon. More soon.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
June 10, 2007
Who steals my days and tucks them into the crevices of my brain as mere memories? I’m constantly in shock, physical shock at the date.
I am in Kassarani tonight. I am staying at the Sports View Hotel and as I had John drop me off before taking my friends home across the field I wondered why I had decided to stay here and not at Sarah and Tanya’s! CDEP (Children with Disabilities Empowerment Project) is going into its 4th year so there is a week long planning meeting with all the primary and secondary districts. I was invited to join in proceedings and did so today though I will leave tomorrow for Mwingi.
Mike Terry the other VSO speechie in Kenya is coming with me and we are getting a ride from a VSO driver in a car. Relative luxury! We’ll be back Wednesday afternoon though.
This is a complete aside- There is a woman .. Wambui.. that works for VSO and she is my hero. She has been working with VSO and the ministries of this and that for years and years and years. I have seen her name on old school meeting reports.. anyway she is here, and I love her. She can explain everything. Why thing are done the way they are, which things are cultural, which are because of the government, which are inexcusable.. it’s fantastic. I now know that the Ministry of Education condones sitting stipends for conferences because they know they pay teachers so poorly and its one way to infuse their salary and get them to additional trainings! Anyway today after a presentation Wambui called this women out about all sorts of issues she had in a way I have previously not seen before. Usually I find at workshops people say lots of nice meaningless things but Wambui cut the crap and was all business. She wants to run the best project possible, and I think she is amazing. I am so glad to be a part of this work when I meet her. All the districts are here actually so it is nice to see the people you are working with come together in one room.
Anyway. This weekend. In a weird moment I decided to come to Nairobi a day early, and because I am so sick of Easy Coach taking 9 hours I thought I would come on a shuttle (just a newer mildly fancier version of a matatu). It was fine. The waiting 75 minutes for it to fill was making me anxious because I didn’t want to arrive in Nairobi in the dark, but other than that I think it is much more convenient than the stupid bus which moves at the pace of a one legged grandmother. One of the other participants at this workshop was complaining about the journey. He said “I am so exhausted after I have spent all those hours dancing around in the back of the bus.” It’s a bit like that. But I got here.
Sunday I went to Village Market the mzungu enclave for United Nations and American Embassy families. It was all that you would expect.
So here I am. Tonight. Crossed legged on bed in pyjamas. Was looking for the Nairobi news of the bombing today but all I can get on my TV in the room is the Al Jazeer network and they don’t have news for another hour. I was actually downtown today for dinner. Fede is leaving Kenya tonight which is sad as he was always enjoyable company. Tanya, Sarah, Fede, Mike and I met for Chinese and Tanya made the farewell appropriately teary and dramatic. I am such a hard hearted Harriet. It makes me think I need to excavate my emotional core.
So… this is my update. About as exciting as a plate of ugali. Sorry. Right now I work, sleep and when I am staying with Sarah and Tanya I giggle to myself in the kitchen (per them!). That’s all. B xx
June 4, 2007 - How on earth can it be June already?
Whenever I read anything by Mem Fox I want to change my life. I quite literally find my mind churning about everything I have ever read, or written. I ponder my teaching strategies and the way I am training adults and I want to overhaul the whole lot. Do the people I am working with know that I think what I do is important? They need to know and should know by the way I act says Mem Fox (more or less!).
I am in the midst of Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Gone” and while I like his writing and I think the book pretty much reads itself, it’s depressing. It is really, really depressing. I fell asleep mid chapter in Mumias and had a yakky dream about it and I was none too pleased. In case you haven’t caught the Starbucks hype about this book it is written by an ex-boy soldier in Sierra Leone.
Last night I was exhausted. I wanted to go to bed, I wanted to read, but the thought of that book actually made report writing seem like a pleasure. So I left Beah in the spare room and snuggled down with Mem’s “Radical Reflections. Passionate opinions on teaching, learning and living.” It’s been a long time since I read Mem’s adult stuff, but it’s a treat. She just gets so excited about what she does and loves teaching children to read so much that I can’t but help think I should be doing more. I am bored with the district trainings, and no doubt this is affecting my delivery to teachers, which in turn affects their learning and the way they might approach their class the following week. I think it might be time to shake things up a bit. Ha!
The participatory approach we use isn’t always well received, and I think part of the reason is because we aren’t having fun with it. It’s an approach designed to engage learners and get discussion going. Unfortunately the formality that it is being presented with is stifling. I am just so sick of presenting the same information in the same way, I am hardly inspiring the other facilitators to consider their methods or these teachers to provide language rich environments in fun and novel ways. So, I am going to change some of the sessions up because variety is the spice of life. Also the last session is consistently cut short because of the closing remarks and certificate presentations. I’m going to revise the way we do day 3. I’m going to make it fun and energetic even if I have to fake it. I’m in Kakamega and Vihiga this week. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Who steals my days and tucks them into the crevices of my brain as mere memories? I’m constantly in shock, physical shock at the date.
I am in Kassarani tonight. I am staying at the Sports View Hotel and as I had John drop me off before taking my friends home across the field I wondered why I had decided to stay here and not at Sarah and Tanya’s! CDEP (Children with Disabilities Empowerment Project) is going into its 4th year so there is a week long planning meeting with all the primary and secondary districts. I was invited to join in proceedings and did so today though I will leave tomorrow for Mwingi.
Mike Terry the other VSO speechie in Kenya is coming with me and we are getting a ride from a VSO driver in a car. Relative luxury! We’ll be back Wednesday afternoon though.
This is a complete aside- There is a woman .. Wambui.. that works for VSO and she is my hero. She has been working with VSO and the ministries of this and that for years and years and years. I have seen her name on old school meeting reports.. anyway she is here, and I love her. She can explain everything. Why thing are done the way they are, which things are cultural, which are because of the government, which are inexcusable.. it’s fantastic. I now know that the Ministry of Education condones sitting stipends for conferences because they know they pay teachers so poorly and its one way to infuse their salary and get them to additional trainings! Anyway today after a presentation Wambui called this women out about all sorts of issues she had in a way I have previously not seen before. Usually I find at workshops people say lots of nice meaningless things but Wambui cut the crap and was all business. She wants to run the best project possible, and I think she is amazing. I am so glad to be a part of this work when I meet her. All the districts are here actually so it is nice to see the people you are working with come together in one room.
Anyway. This weekend. In a weird moment I decided to come to Nairobi a day early, and because I am so sick of Easy Coach taking 9 hours I thought I would come on a shuttle (just a newer mildly fancier version of a matatu). It was fine. The waiting 75 minutes for it to fill was making me anxious because I didn’t want to arrive in Nairobi in the dark, but other than that I think it is much more convenient than the stupid bus which moves at the pace of a one legged grandmother. One of the other participants at this workshop was complaining about the journey. He said “I am so exhausted after I have spent all those hours dancing around in the back of the bus.” It’s a bit like that. But I got here.
Sunday I went to Village Market the mzungu enclave for United Nations and American Embassy families. It was all that you would expect.
So here I am. Tonight. Crossed legged on bed in pyjamas. Was looking for the Nairobi news of the bombing today but all I can get on my TV in the room is the Al Jazeer network and they don’t have news for another hour. I was actually downtown today for dinner. Fede is leaving Kenya tonight which is sad as he was always enjoyable company. Tanya, Sarah, Fede, Mike and I met for Chinese and Tanya made the farewell appropriately teary and dramatic. I am such a hard hearted Harriet. It makes me think I need to excavate my emotional core.
So… this is my update. About as exciting as a plate of ugali. Sorry. Right now I work, sleep and when I am staying with Sarah and Tanya I giggle to myself in the kitchen (per them!). That’s all. B xx
June 4, 2007 - How on earth can it be June already?
Whenever I read anything by Mem Fox I want to change my life. I quite literally find my mind churning about everything I have ever read, or written. I ponder my teaching strategies and the way I am training adults and I want to overhaul the whole lot. Do the people I am working with know that I think what I do is important? They need to know and should know by the way I act says Mem Fox (more or less!).
I am in the midst of Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Gone” and while I like his writing and I think the book pretty much reads itself, it’s depressing. It is really, really depressing. I fell asleep mid chapter in Mumias and had a yakky dream about it and I was none too pleased. In case you haven’t caught the Starbucks hype about this book it is written by an ex-boy soldier in Sierra Leone.
Last night I was exhausted. I wanted to go to bed, I wanted to read, but the thought of that book actually made report writing seem like a pleasure. So I left Beah in the spare room and snuggled down with Mem’s “Radical Reflections. Passionate opinions on teaching, learning and living.” It’s been a long time since I read Mem’s adult stuff, but it’s a treat. She just gets so excited about what she does and loves teaching children to read so much that I can’t but help think I should be doing more. I am bored with the district trainings, and no doubt this is affecting my delivery to teachers, which in turn affects their learning and the way they might approach their class the following week. I think it might be time to shake things up a bit. Ha!
The participatory approach we use isn’t always well received, and I think part of the reason is because we aren’t having fun with it. It’s an approach designed to engage learners and get discussion going. Unfortunately the formality that it is being presented with is stifling. I am just so sick of presenting the same information in the same way, I am hardly inspiring the other facilitators to consider their methods or these teachers to provide language rich environments in fun and novel ways. So, I am going to change some of the sessions up because variety is the spice of life. Also the last session is consistently cut short because of the closing remarks and certificate presentations. I’m going to revise the way we do day 3. I’m going to make it fun and energetic even if I have to fake it. I’m in Kakamega and Vihiga this week. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Hi. Sorry about the lack of communication both on my blog and email. I am busy. Busy and tired. My predominant states. But I am well. I know Nairobi is taking a bit of a hit in the media.. but I continue on my way. To Mwingi tomorrow. I have a blog entry to upload, just can't manage to access my zip from this computer. Soon. b xx
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Hello. My attempts at getting caught up this weekend were thwarted. Friday I spent the entire day and better part of the evening writing and uplaoding an article for Young Child Magazine.. and since then.. hhhm. Nothing.
Kisumu isn't a great place to be right now. Thursday night 7 armed robbers held up a guest house in my neighborhood slashing the throat of the security guard and raping a guest. The whole ordeal lasted 2 hours apparently until the police came in and killed all the bandits.
Friday night I went out for Indian with friends. Vica decided to go home, but I went out for drinks with the boys. When I called Pascal our tuk-tuk driver to come and get us about an hour after he picked Vica up the conversation went something like this:
"Hi Pascal"
"mwjewjgfvsf,gnsljg"
"Pascal, I can't really hear you. We are at Kengeles can you come and pick us up?"
"BRENDA"
"yes"
"YOU'RE NOT HEARING ME BRENDA. WE WERE ROBBED"
"oh"
Apparently, (and just let me interject there is a much longer and more convoluted version to this story) early Friday night some armed people stole a car and had been going around picking people up as if a cab and robbing/beating them. This same taxi was trailing the tuk-tuk Vica was is and when Pascal slowed they cut it off in front and held them up. Becuase Pascal got out of the tuk-tuk and started yelling, nearby security responded by blowing whistles and the men jumped back in the vehicle and drove away, leaving behind someone who had been beaten and trapped in the boot for the last 2 hours and was apparently the owner of the car?? Anyway. Not good. Thank god for my drinking habit. Vica is fine, but they got her passport which is a little tragic seeing as she was supposed to leave the country yesterday. Then apparently Saturday (also in my neighborhood) a few cops were shot. Super.
With 5 of the 20 district trainings done, I am looking forward to being able to stay in my house this week while I support Kakamega and Vihiga. I'll leave again next weekend.
LAst week I did get some letters written, so hallelujah.. check your mail boxes in about a month.. you may be a lucky recipient. ha. tired, me. x
Kisumu isn't a great place to be right now. Thursday night 7 armed robbers held up a guest house in my neighborhood slashing the throat of the security guard and raping a guest. The whole ordeal lasted 2 hours apparently until the police came in and killed all the bandits.
Friday night I went out for Indian with friends. Vica decided to go home, but I went out for drinks with the boys. When I called Pascal our tuk-tuk driver to come and get us about an hour after he picked Vica up the conversation went something like this:
"Hi Pascal"
"mwjewjgfvsf,gnsljg"
"Pascal, I can't really hear you. We are at Kengeles can you come and pick us up?"
"BRENDA"
"yes"
"YOU'RE NOT HEARING ME BRENDA. WE WERE ROBBED"
"oh"
Apparently, (and just let me interject there is a much longer and more convoluted version to this story) early Friday night some armed people stole a car and had been going around picking people up as if a cab and robbing/beating them. This same taxi was trailing the tuk-tuk Vica was is and when Pascal slowed they cut it off in front and held them up. Becuase Pascal got out of the tuk-tuk and started yelling, nearby security responded by blowing whistles and the men jumped back in the vehicle and drove away, leaving behind someone who had been beaten and trapped in the boot for the last 2 hours and was apparently the owner of the car?? Anyway. Not good. Thank god for my drinking habit. Vica is fine, but they got her passport which is a little tragic seeing as she was supposed to leave the country yesterday. Then apparently Saturday (also in my neighborhood) a few cops were shot. Super.
With 5 of the 20 district trainings done, I am looking forward to being able to stay in my house this week while I support Kakamega and Vihiga. I'll leave again next weekend.
LAst week I did get some letters written, so hallelujah.. check your mail boxes in about a month.. you may be a lucky recipient. ha. tired, me. x
Friday, June 01, 2007
May 29, 2007
I am in Mumias. I love Mumias. No idea why. Anyway.. backing up.
Yesterday I went to the doctor. She prescribed me cough medicine. I wondered if it might be allergies, she prescribed me allergy medicine (a whole 5 days worth). I said, “you know, I only called because I have had this for a month and my friends are teasing me about tuberculosis” (P: “it would be funny if I caught a third world disease from a white girl.” me: “hilarious”). So the doctor decided I should have a sputum test, an arm stick and a chest x-ray. Not in any particular order mind. All three. At my leisure. I assumed that the coughing up chunks of phlegm into small vials would be enough but no. She even gave me three empty film containers for my samples which was very kind of her. I’m not in Kisumu for 3 straight days in a row until late July so we’ll see. I think it’s just a perseverative cold. I have also thought it was lactose intolerance. And then I wondered if I just coughed when I got over excited. Ha!
Anyway, I traveled to Kakamega yesterday afternoon to meet with the EARC team there. Of course there are issues with money from the Ministry of Education so there are issues with funds for the training. Apparently the secondary district EARCs were only given 10,000 ksh (< $US150) to run a three day workshop for 20 people (100,000 shillings is a more realistic figure when you factor in travel allowance, meals, materials etc.) My understanding was they were getting 70,000 ksh. I had a very small rant. It was minute. Then I headed to Mumias.
This morning I arrived at the assessment center at 8 as directed. 30 minutes later we headed over and it occurred to me that the training was scheduled to start at 8. Nice. At the pace of a melting iceberg (though I guess these things are happening much faster these days with global warming and all..) the participants and facilitators gathered in the one room. The training began.
Now. I have to report that Mumias is one of the leading EARCs for all sorts of reasons. They are competent, knowledgeable, and my expectations were high. In all honesty though, I have no idea what they did with their training money. They didn’t copy participant manuals, all the supplies they have I gave to Martin at the conclusion of the Nairobi workshop and no one is staying at a hotel. In addition, instead of providing meals they are giving participants money for lunch. Which means, no one eats. I know they got their full amount of money because they got their cash from VSO so its something I will have to talk with them about. On top of all this, the training is being held in a school classroom which if it wasn’t noisy enough has a pitiful half drowned kitten mewling outside of it.
The training is going well though. The participants are active and they get it when I make a joke! Martin and Sellar are both prepared and able to respond appropriately to comments and questions. Half way through jeopardy (our end of day review) though it began to rain. It was unbelievable. The noise was so loud, no-one could be heard, so we quit the game and then sat there in silence while water seeped down the walls, blew through the holes where windows ought to be and tip-tapped through the ceiling. It was so noisy we couldn’t work, but so stormy we couldn’t leave. When the rain abated we all fled home or to somewhere more hospitable. Martin and I went to tea.
So. Here I am. On my hospital issue single bed at the St. Mary’s Guest House. I am tired beyond belief but attempting to slog through some of my computer work. Fortunately it’s a three day weekend so I can catch up on reports then. I am sequestering myself. I heard on the radio that there will be a dip in temperatures tonight. Kisumu will even get down to 17 degrees celcius. I love that this is considered a cold spell.
May 30, 2007
Lately I have been getting text messages from a boy that is far away. Only his English isn’t very good so the sentiments seem like poetry (a little abstract, with delightful but novel phrasing). Someone else I know, greets me with sweet endearments (“bunny” I mean really?). But I like it. I really like it. All of it. Of course I do.. it makes me feel thoroughly girlie. What’s more, as I enjoy being wooed with ridiculous lines, as a result I find myself writing excruciatingly wet texts .. let’s see “it’s rainy in Mumias (no pun intended). And in my heart to be so far away.” Good god, who am I?
So I was discussing this all with a friend of mine recently. We were mulling over the delights of males who use flowery language (Kenyan men would seem to excel at this.. combined with flattery). This friend told me that she dated a man for much longer than she should of because he wrote poems for and about her. Long and descriptive stanzas about the way the way she walked down the street, how he felt when he saw her, and why she was the light of his life (even though he was a complete jerk). She typed them all up and bound them, and resisted the temptation to dump him in continuing hopes of more love in rhyme. We thought about all this and decided that while the words might not all be sincere, they were probably true at the time, if even for only the briefest of moments and that’s what made it all so captivating. Hope and romance meet reality for a light lunch.
Given our responses (and I realize I am generalizing on an n of 2 here) I wonder why the average American male is so averse to this kind of thing? Women it would seem love it, and there is very little competition in the sweet word arena. It doesn’t even require much imagination, just the willingness to potentially embarrass yourself (and what girl would be foolish enough to shun your efforts?)!
I just finished Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood and the heroine secretly writes period romances and feels that she has the fantasy life every woman wants. But if every woman wants a romantic fantasy life, why haven’t more men realized they just need to suck it up and utter a few sweet bullshit lines every now and then? Wouldn’t it work to their advantage? Make their life easier? Psychologists say if you fake happy, your brain doesn’t realize and responds as if you are happy, so in the same vein of thinking, if you tell a girl she is beautiful like the moon reflected in the ocean, she will feel this way, act this way and in turn will be seen this way. Ha. What do you think?
Regardless, I think it wouldn’t hurt if more boys just said more nice things.
I am in Mumias. I love Mumias. No idea why. Anyway.. backing up.
Yesterday I went to the doctor. She prescribed me cough medicine. I wondered if it might be allergies, she prescribed me allergy medicine (a whole 5 days worth). I said, “you know, I only called because I have had this for a month and my friends are teasing me about tuberculosis” (P: “it would be funny if I caught a third world disease from a white girl.” me: “hilarious”). So the doctor decided I should have a sputum test, an arm stick and a chest x-ray. Not in any particular order mind. All three. At my leisure. I assumed that the coughing up chunks of phlegm into small vials would be enough but no. She even gave me three empty film containers for my samples which was very kind of her. I’m not in Kisumu for 3 straight days in a row until late July so we’ll see. I think it’s just a perseverative cold. I have also thought it was lactose intolerance. And then I wondered if I just coughed when I got over excited. Ha!
Anyway, I traveled to Kakamega yesterday afternoon to meet with the EARC team there. Of course there are issues with money from the Ministry of Education so there are issues with funds for the training. Apparently the secondary district EARCs were only given 10,000 ksh (< $US150) to run a three day workshop for 20 people (100,000 shillings is a more realistic figure when you factor in travel allowance, meals, materials etc.) My understanding was they were getting 70,000 ksh. I had a very small rant. It was minute. Then I headed to Mumias.
This morning I arrived at the assessment center at 8 as directed. 30 minutes later we headed over and it occurred to me that the training was scheduled to start at 8. Nice. At the pace of a melting iceberg (though I guess these things are happening much faster these days with global warming and all..) the participants and facilitators gathered in the one room. The training began.
Now. I have to report that Mumias is one of the leading EARCs for all sorts of reasons. They are competent, knowledgeable, and my expectations were high. In all honesty though, I have no idea what they did with their training money. They didn’t copy participant manuals, all the supplies they have I gave to Martin at the conclusion of the Nairobi workshop and no one is staying at a hotel. In addition, instead of providing meals they are giving participants money for lunch. Which means, no one eats. I know they got their full amount of money because they got their cash from VSO so its something I will have to talk with them about. On top of all this, the training is being held in a school classroom which if it wasn’t noisy enough has a pitiful half drowned kitten mewling outside of it.
The training is going well though. The participants are active and they get it when I make a joke! Martin and Sellar are both prepared and able to respond appropriately to comments and questions. Half way through jeopardy (our end of day review) though it began to rain. It was unbelievable. The noise was so loud, no-one could be heard, so we quit the game and then sat there in silence while water seeped down the walls, blew through the holes where windows ought to be and tip-tapped through the ceiling. It was so noisy we couldn’t work, but so stormy we couldn’t leave. When the rain abated we all fled home or to somewhere more hospitable. Martin and I went to tea.
So. Here I am. On my hospital issue single bed at the St. Mary’s Guest House. I am tired beyond belief but attempting to slog through some of my computer work. Fortunately it’s a three day weekend so I can catch up on reports then. I am sequestering myself. I heard on the radio that there will be a dip in temperatures tonight. Kisumu will even get down to 17 degrees celcius. I love that this is considered a cold spell.
May 30, 2007
Lately I have been getting text messages from a boy that is far away. Only his English isn’t very good so the sentiments seem like poetry (a little abstract, with delightful but novel phrasing). Someone else I know, greets me with sweet endearments (“bunny” I mean really?). But I like it. I really like it. All of it. Of course I do.. it makes me feel thoroughly girlie. What’s more, as I enjoy being wooed with ridiculous lines, as a result I find myself writing excruciatingly wet texts .. let’s see “it’s rainy in Mumias (no pun intended). And in my heart to be so far away.” Good god, who am I?
So I was discussing this all with a friend of mine recently. We were mulling over the delights of males who use flowery language (Kenyan men would seem to excel at this.. combined with flattery). This friend told me that she dated a man for much longer than she should of because he wrote poems for and about her. Long and descriptive stanzas about the way the way she walked down the street, how he felt when he saw her, and why she was the light of his life (even though he was a complete jerk). She typed them all up and bound them, and resisted the temptation to dump him in continuing hopes of more love in rhyme. We thought about all this and decided that while the words might not all be sincere, they were probably true at the time, if even for only the briefest of moments and that’s what made it all so captivating. Hope and romance meet reality for a light lunch.
Given our responses (and I realize I am generalizing on an n of 2 here) I wonder why the average American male is so averse to this kind of thing? Women it would seem love it, and there is very little competition in the sweet word arena. It doesn’t even require much imagination, just the willingness to potentially embarrass yourself (and what girl would be foolish enough to shun your efforts?)!
I just finished Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood and the heroine secretly writes period romances and feels that she has the fantasy life every woman wants. But if every woman wants a romantic fantasy life, why haven’t more men realized they just need to suck it up and utter a few sweet bullshit lines every now and then? Wouldn’t it work to their advantage? Make their life easier? Psychologists say if you fake happy, your brain doesn’t realize and responds as if you are happy, so in the same vein of thinking, if you tell a girl she is beautiful like the moon reflected in the ocean, she will feel this way, act this way and in turn will be seen this way. Ha. What do you think?
Regardless, I think it wouldn’t hurt if more boys just said more nice things.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Hello. I am just briefly writing to say.. I am back in Western Kenya. Came back Friday but headed straight up to Kakamega Saturday morning. Sarah and I took Tanya to the very peaceful Rondo Retreat for her birthday. I was in bed by 8:30 last night with a very good book (currently reading Margaret Atwood's "Lady Oracle" and enjoying it immensly), while the rained pummelled our lovely colonial accomodations. Heavenly..
So. Won't be back on internet until next Friday. I owe so many people long, long emails (Laura, Mimi you are on the top of my list I promise), my inbox needs some work.
Anyway, tomorrow I am headed to Busia and Mumias, but I will have gathered myself by this time next week. Really. b xx
So. Won't be back on internet until next Friday. I owe so many people long, long emails (Laura, Mimi you are on the top of my list I promise), my inbox needs some work.
Anyway, tomorrow I am headed to Busia and Mumias, but I will have gathered myself by this time next week. Really. b xx
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
May 20, 2007
I am in Kitui and once again I am the only person in the whole hotel. A strange sensation. I am in Kitui Tourist Hotel, though unbeknownst to me a room had been booked at ‘Multipurpose’ where the training is being held. I guess I will go there tomorrow. Or maybe I won’t. I guess I should have a look at it first. Of this hotel all I will say is.. the rough guide is very very wrong. It’s location doesn’t even approximate the one marked on their map. It is barely even in the same town as their map. Subsequently I spent a good hour wandering around with my heavy back pack until my hands went numb and I asked a succession of people where I was going. Someone at the “Traveller” restaurant volunteered to drive me and so I jumped in! Claire had given me the directive “it’s down the hill from the law court” this didn’t prove particularly useful as I had no idea where the that was either.
Kitui appears to be about 100,000 more times interesting than Kajiado. Maybe that’s unfair. But for one, it’s bigger. For two, it’s quite beautiful. Rolling hills that open on to lovely views. Surreal (a Kitui based VSO volunteer) assures me its quite boring. Kitui, by the by, is also the location that Peace Corps use to train their Kenya based volunteers (there are about 150 in country at any one time I believe) so I am told at times it is overrun with wzungu (us white folk).
Sometimes it is easy to be complacent about what I do. Lately I am a little pissy with teachers because they are so clueless (my perception not necessarily reality). The other day I actually said “if you call a child stupid or an idiot, you really need to rethink your choice of career” an immensely unsupportive thing to say even if I believe it to be true. Anyway.. I forget my ‘people are doing the best they can with their resources’ mantra and want to rant about the need for adults to take responsibility for their own learning. I am predictably stirred up whenever 1. people are really bloody late and show up at leisure and then put on their feedback form they wish there was more time and 2. the issue of their sitting stipend comes up (yes, you can’t run a workshop unless you feed people, pay for their transportation and give them a stipend to attend.. the first two I get, the last infuriates me). Anyway, sometimes I am a fairly abrupt deliverer of information.. and then I get feedback like this (see below) and I think.. you know what.. these teachers really are doing their best, and they really do care.
- good, keep up. Do it to the rest of the teachers in schools in Kenya
- you have changed my family, life and career as well to the better
In response to three things learned during this workshop one participant said the following:
• It is good to encourage every attempt
• I should not be shouting at pupils
• Every child when given the right environment can perform
Hallelujah. I can quit and go home now. One person heard me. Bev would be so proud.
May 22, 2007
Last night the feeling of ‘life is good’ settled on me like my covers as I crawled into bed. Kitui feels like the countryside. If I had a different life, I’d be tempted to pile my family in my car and go for a drive. I have managed to spend much of my time here lost. I have set off each day with the misguided notion that I know where I am going, and sure enough, many hills and valleys later, it occurred to me, not only did I have no idea where I was going, I had no idea where I was.
The training is going well and Abbie and I are probably going to come back and visit Kitui ECE (Early Childhood Education) Training Center in August. Right now I am attempting to write a paper about early childhood in Kenya based on my experiences last summer. Okay.. well I am not yet attempting to write it, but its been on my mind since January and the deadline is June 1st. I was reading through Kenya’s Early Childhood Curriculum syllabus today. My favorite part was under religious studies and it looked like this:
19.2.3.9 Things created by Allah
• Universe
End of lesson. I liked the succinct nature of the syllabus.
Speaking of the universe. Recently I thought to myself 'what I need is a doctor!' It was two fold. Firstly I need to go to a doctor, because I have this nasty chest congestion which has not cleared in nearly a month now (I cough up the contents of my lungs daily which is fairly nasty). Also, I had decided that I liked Phil and I liked our life together, but I needed someone who wanted to live in the developing world.
Last night I was sent a doctor. I couldn’t stop laughing as I drank down my beers. I had never specified what I really wanted and well.. where to begin? Mid conversation I would just crack up. I really can’t explain.
May 23, 2007
I am in Nairobi. It's Tanya's birthday and we are going for Japanese food tonight. Hurrah. Will head back to Kisumu Friday I think, spend the weekend with Tanya and Sarah in Kakamega and then up to Mumias for their district training on Monday. I love the Mumias team. Martin called me today to tell me he had only assigned me one session! It's the first session, the intro to definitions.. I already loved Martin, now it is the undying variety. They are so boldly confident that they know their stuff. I love it. I am glad. Plus I am sick of doing sessions 2,4,5,7 and 9! I am supporting two simulatneous trainings next week so I also plan to be in Busia at some point.
Alright. Need to go to Kassarani and wash my hair. It's nasty. I forgot shampoo/conditioner to Kitui. Soon. B xx
I am in Kitui and once again I am the only person in the whole hotel. A strange sensation. I am in Kitui Tourist Hotel, though unbeknownst to me a room had been booked at ‘Multipurpose’ where the training is being held. I guess I will go there tomorrow. Or maybe I won’t. I guess I should have a look at it first. Of this hotel all I will say is.. the rough guide is very very wrong. It’s location doesn’t even approximate the one marked on their map. It is barely even in the same town as their map. Subsequently I spent a good hour wandering around with my heavy back pack until my hands went numb and I asked a succession of people where I was going. Someone at the “Traveller” restaurant volunteered to drive me and so I jumped in! Claire had given me the directive “it’s down the hill from the law court” this didn’t prove particularly useful as I had no idea where the that was either.
Kitui appears to be about 100,000 more times interesting than Kajiado. Maybe that’s unfair. But for one, it’s bigger. For two, it’s quite beautiful. Rolling hills that open on to lovely views. Surreal (a Kitui based VSO volunteer) assures me its quite boring. Kitui, by the by, is also the location that Peace Corps use to train their Kenya based volunteers (there are about 150 in country at any one time I believe) so I am told at times it is overrun with wzungu (us white folk).
Sometimes it is easy to be complacent about what I do. Lately I am a little pissy with teachers because they are so clueless (my perception not necessarily reality). The other day I actually said “if you call a child stupid or an idiot, you really need to rethink your choice of career” an immensely unsupportive thing to say even if I believe it to be true. Anyway.. I forget my ‘people are doing the best they can with their resources’ mantra and want to rant about the need for adults to take responsibility for their own learning. I am predictably stirred up whenever 1. people are really bloody late and show up at leisure and then put on their feedback form they wish there was more time and 2. the issue of their sitting stipend comes up (yes, you can’t run a workshop unless you feed people, pay for their transportation and give them a stipend to attend.. the first two I get, the last infuriates me). Anyway, sometimes I am a fairly abrupt deliverer of information.. and then I get feedback like this (see below) and I think.. you know what.. these teachers really are doing their best, and they really do care.
- good, keep up. Do it to the rest of the teachers in schools in Kenya
- you have changed my family, life and career as well to the better
In response to three things learned during this workshop one participant said the following:
• It is good to encourage every attempt
• I should not be shouting at pupils
• Every child when given the right environment can perform
Hallelujah. I can quit and go home now. One person heard me. Bev would be so proud.
May 22, 2007
Last night the feeling of ‘life is good’ settled on me like my covers as I crawled into bed. Kitui feels like the countryside. If I had a different life, I’d be tempted to pile my family in my car and go for a drive. I have managed to spend much of my time here lost. I have set off each day with the misguided notion that I know where I am going, and sure enough, many hills and valleys later, it occurred to me, not only did I have no idea where I was going, I had no idea where I was.
The training is going well and Abbie and I are probably going to come back and visit Kitui ECE (Early Childhood Education) Training Center in August. Right now I am attempting to write a paper about early childhood in Kenya based on my experiences last summer. Okay.. well I am not yet attempting to write it, but its been on my mind since January and the deadline is June 1st. I was reading through Kenya’s Early Childhood Curriculum syllabus today. My favorite part was under religious studies and it looked like this:
19.2.3.9 Things created by Allah
• Universe
End of lesson. I liked the succinct nature of the syllabus.
Speaking of the universe. Recently I thought to myself 'what I need is a doctor!' It was two fold. Firstly I need to go to a doctor, because I have this nasty chest congestion which has not cleared in nearly a month now (I cough up the contents of my lungs daily which is fairly nasty). Also, I had decided that I liked Phil and I liked our life together, but I needed someone who wanted to live in the developing world.
Last night I was sent a doctor. I couldn’t stop laughing as I drank down my beers. I had never specified what I really wanted and well.. where to begin? Mid conversation I would just crack up. I really can’t explain.
May 23, 2007
I am in Nairobi. It's Tanya's birthday and we are going for Japanese food tonight. Hurrah. Will head back to Kisumu Friday I think, spend the weekend with Tanya and Sarah in Kakamega and then up to Mumias for their district training on Monday. I love the Mumias team. Martin called me today to tell me he had only assigned me one session! It's the first session, the intro to definitions.. I already loved Martin, now it is the undying variety. They are so boldly confident that they know their stuff. I love it. I am glad. Plus I am sick of doing sessions 2,4,5,7 and 9! I am supporting two simulatneous trainings next week so I also plan to be in Busia at some point.
Alright. Need to go to Kassarani and wash my hair. It's nasty. I forgot shampoo/conditioner to Kitui. Soon. B xx
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Kajiado - Thursday May 17, 2007
Well.. tonight can probably rank in the top 20 wierdest nights of my life. Really. But let me back up.
This week has sucked on the whole. Though my blues only lasted a scant 24 hours, no I’d say more like 30 hours I still prefer happiness over my crabby pants self (who doesn’t?).
Monday. I took easy coach from Kisumu to Nairobi. Jumped off at Westlands, had a drink with my Kenyan boy, took a cab to Kassarani and was blessed with Sarah’s cooking.. nothing less than a wonderful vegetable curry (coconut milk and eggplant seemed like such novel flavours).
Tuesday, I went to KISE (Kenya Institute of Special Education) with Tanya to meet the staff, and then giggling to myself over the previous nights conversations I headed into Nairobi. My mood pretty much plummeted hence forth. No one was available to meet with me at VSO, and my long list of chores (including embassy visits) seemed impossible. At 1pm I found myself at lunch with Potash and 5 hours and too many beers later I realized that not only had I not done anything useful with my day I hadn’t gone to the store or started dinner for Tanya and Sarah. Fortunately when I arrived in Kassarani Tanya beckoned me from the balcony of a pub and several drinks later I completely bailed on the pretense that I was making dinner and we munched on chapattis as we walked home in the dark. None of this sounds terrible, but by the next morning (and I did go to bed at 8:30) my shit colored glasses were firmly in place and I had a “what’s the point?” attitude about just about everything. As Sarah and I rode into town she tolerated this line of thought for a whole lot longer than she should of. We did email, had coffee and I decided not to go to Kajiado as scheduled. Instead I went back to Kassarani meditated (which turned into a nap) and attempted to do some computer work. I also swam with Tanya when she got off work. The pool she goes to is a funny place really. It’s the Kassarani sports complex. It looks like it was built by the Russians and although both Tanya and Sarah go there often I find the place desolate and a bit freaky. But afterwards I made dinner and my mood generally improved (exercise perhaps?).
So this morning.. made a short but seemingly epic journey to Kajiado. About one hour north of the Tanzania border it’s an interesting part of the country. When you come out of Nairobi the plains to the south open up before you and Kajiado is one of those places where you can experience the full bredth of the horizon. Today the sky was low and heavy with cloud, and honestly for this one horse town it seemed apt.
Alex my albino colleague and counterpart is really quite knowledgeable about all sorts of things, and I was impressed at the level of organization for the training. They are running the workshop in a ministry administration lecture room (sounds much fancier than it is) but the people doing the food are a huge improvement over Kisumu’s caterers. Really I just have a secret penchant for mdazi (sp?) and we get them twice a day with chai.
So, each district perceives me to play a different role and before I offer or refute any service provision I try and find out exactly what it is they want from me. With Kajiado I have no idea. I think they want me to marry a Masai man and stay permanently, but I pointed out it had already been done and the book already written so perhaps I need something different for myself. Claire only came to Kajiado once, and I can’t recall if this is the district she avoided because she didn’t like a staff member or it was some other.. anyway the coordinator for Kajiado EARC is an interesting character and an aspiring politician (though his candidacy won’t be official until July!). When he offered to take me out dancing during my next visit and I nodded absently I was suddenly uncertain about what exactly I had agreed too. He also promised me a position on his staff if he was elected if I would volunteer to support his campaigning by writing documents. My English he claimed was better than his. Possibly. I pointed out that VSO probably wouldn’t be that hot on me creating political material, especially when it was for the opposition party.
But anyway, politics aside, I can’t remember another evening, when I’ve been in a dive bar, drinking warm beer in a small and unalluring town with a couple of new colleagues and two other unknown men eating fish, ugali and skumawiki with my hands whilst they all chomp on goat bones. And its times like this when I am thankful. Because .. all along.. isn’t this exactly what I had in mind for my life? Lala salama. B xx
May 18, 2007
Today I am bored. What a nasty, dirty word. One I try to avoid at all costs. I have re-written a developmental play group article I am working on with Martin, I have attempted to pen a letter to Jamie, I have created fancy pants Ministry of Education certificates and now.. I am just trying to keep my eyes open, because it would be rude to sleep in the training. They are currently writing educational goals. This activity may have been going on for the last 20 minutes. Roll on 4:00.
(the boredom was catching by the way.. at least 2 other people pronounced they were bored later this same day. oh dear.)
Today
Headed to Kitui today. Soon. b x
Well.. tonight can probably rank in the top 20 wierdest nights of my life. Really. But let me back up.
This week has sucked on the whole. Though my blues only lasted a scant 24 hours, no I’d say more like 30 hours I still prefer happiness over my crabby pants self (who doesn’t?).
Monday. I took easy coach from Kisumu to Nairobi. Jumped off at Westlands, had a drink with my Kenyan boy, took a cab to Kassarani and was blessed with Sarah’s cooking.. nothing less than a wonderful vegetable curry (coconut milk and eggplant seemed like such novel flavours).
Tuesday, I went to KISE (Kenya Institute of Special Education) with Tanya to meet the staff, and then giggling to myself over the previous nights conversations I headed into Nairobi. My mood pretty much plummeted hence forth. No one was available to meet with me at VSO, and my long list of chores (including embassy visits) seemed impossible. At 1pm I found myself at lunch with Potash and 5 hours and too many beers later I realized that not only had I not done anything useful with my day I hadn’t gone to the store or started dinner for Tanya and Sarah. Fortunately when I arrived in Kassarani Tanya beckoned me from the balcony of a pub and several drinks later I completely bailed on the pretense that I was making dinner and we munched on chapattis as we walked home in the dark. None of this sounds terrible, but by the next morning (and I did go to bed at 8:30) my shit colored glasses were firmly in place and I had a “what’s the point?” attitude about just about everything. As Sarah and I rode into town she tolerated this line of thought for a whole lot longer than she should of. We did email, had coffee and I decided not to go to Kajiado as scheduled. Instead I went back to Kassarani meditated (which turned into a nap) and attempted to do some computer work. I also swam with Tanya when she got off work. The pool she goes to is a funny place really. It’s the Kassarani sports complex. It looks like it was built by the Russians and although both Tanya and Sarah go there often I find the place desolate and a bit freaky. But afterwards I made dinner and my mood generally improved (exercise perhaps?).
So this morning.. made a short but seemingly epic journey to Kajiado. About one hour north of the Tanzania border it’s an interesting part of the country. When you come out of Nairobi the plains to the south open up before you and Kajiado is one of those places where you can experience the full bredth of the horizon. Today the sky was low and heavy with cloud, and honestly for this one horse town it seemed apt.
Alex my albino colleague and counterpart is really quite knowledgeable about all sorts of things, and I was impressed at the level of organization for the training. They are running the workshop in a ministry administration lecture room (sounds much fancier than it is) but the people doing the food are a huge improvement over Kisumu’s caterers. Really I just have a secret penchant for mdazi (sp?) and we get them twice a day with chai.
So, each district perceives me to play a different role and before I offer or refute any service provision I try and find out exactly what it is they want from me. With Kajiado I have no idea. I think they want me to marry a Masai man and stay permanently, but I pointed out it had already been done and the book already written so perhaps I need something different for myself. Claire only came to Kajiado once, and I can’t recall if this is the district she avoided because she didn’t like a staff member or it was some other.. anyway the coordinator for Kajiado EARC is an interesting character and an aspiring politician (though his candidacy won’t be official until July!). When he offered to take me out dancing during my next visit and I nodded absently I was suddenly uncertain about what exactly I had agreed too. He also promised me a position on his staff if he was elected if I would volunteer to support his campaigning by writing documents. My English he claimed was better than his. Possibly. I pointed out that VSO probably wouldn’t be that hot on me creating political material, especially when it was for the opposition party.
But anyway, politics aside, I can’t remember another evening, when I’ve been in a dive bar, drinking warm beer in a small and unalluring town with a couple of new colleagues and two other unknown men eating fish, ugali and skumawiki with my hands whilst they all chomp on goat bones. And its times like this when I am thankful. Because .. all along.. isn’t this exactly what I had in mind for my life? Lala salama. B xx
May 18, 2007
Today I am bored. What a nasty, dirty word. One I try to avoid at all costs. I have re-written a developmental play group article I am working on with Martin, I have attempted to pen a letter to Jamie, I have created fancy pants Ministry of Education certificates and now.. I am just trying to keep my eyes open, because it would be rude to sleep in the training. They are currently writing educational goals. This activity may have been going on for the last 20 minutes. Roll on 4:00.
(the boredom was catching by the way.. at least 2 other people pronounced they were bored later this same day. oh dear.)
Today
Headed to Kitui today. Soon. b x
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