wikendi meru

Probably our biggest highlight of this month long orientation has been our weekend spent in Meru as a group. It was our first road trip together which connotes bonding automatically, but we were overjoyed at how easy it was to also bond with the "youth" (ages 18-35) there. They had a youth rally for their presbytery and had activities planned all weekend with us in mind. We're definitely not used to all the attention, but we wrote it off as Kenyan hospitality at its finest.

It was everything we hoped it would be: a mutual cultural exchange. They schooled us in volleyball and soccer, taught us some new songs and dances, told some good stories...ok, maybe it wasn't exactly mutual in that we received a whole lot more... though Jacob (other YAV) did do a mean rendition of "the Princess Pat" (any campers out there?) that was requested several times after it was led. Anyway, the spirit of the whole thing was incredibly welcoming and warm.

In our "heart to heart" discussions, we talked about the many ways in which our lives were different. They were very interested to see how Americans view Kenyans. Unfortunately, much of the truth is that Americans see the poverty level, the HIV epidemic, and the violence before anything else. Oh, and they have animals. And wasn't Barack from there? I tried to pair this view with my own desires for coming to Kenya and gaining a perspective rich enough to educate and inform, so I'm hoping it's not the overall impression they took home that day about Americans. It even felt awkward to mention the general American's perspective on Kenya to people that had become friends in such a short time. It didn't fit them at all. Hopefully, they felt their general perspective on Americans was also oddly placed in the context of our newfound relationships. One labeled America as "up here" while Kenya is "down here." America as the ideal they were striving for... This struck me as somewhat sad- I definitely didn't ever think of myself as setting a bar for others, and definitely didn't think about devaluing others' way of life while I was at it. Ugh, the weight. But I think this is how attitudes start changing. We're both made more aware and will continue to live in such a way condusive to this relationship.

I'm moving to Meru on Thursday after I get cleared on my swine flu status. The weekend we spent there made me look forward to my time there immensely. Not sure if I mentioned my placement change, but I am now working in a primary school. I'll be teaching music or english, or whatever they need. I can't wait to get started there, and to make Meru my new home.

Random Update: Orientation

I’ve been in orientation for the past couple weeks. I’m feeling slightly more oriented- still getting used to the idea of being on the other side of the globe. Jet lag was hard to overcome, but was helped by the excitement of my host family who kept me awake, showed me around, and immersed me into the culture rather quickly. They were very warm and welcoming, calling me their daughter all weekend. My two younger sisters really made me feel at home with plenty of Kiswahili lessons, Beyonce singing, and Tusker Project 3 watching (their version of American Idol). They were a joy, but more on them later…

For the most part, we’ve been taking some Kiswahili in the morning, and then we attend lectures in the afternoon on Kenyan history, politics, religion, economics, ethnicity, etc. All the lectures have been given by very distinguished officials here, and have been pretty mind-blowing. I wish I knew more economics. The systematic oppression of the World Bank/IMF stuff is dizzying. And depressing.

Highlights apart from the schedule have included visiting A New Life, an orphanage for 0-3 year olds who are diagnosed with HIV. It was a very moving experience to be able to play with them and to see the new opportunities they are given from being there. It’s definitely good to be literally “in touch” with this issue while we’re here. I won’t forget them, and hence won’t be able to forget easily the HIV epidemic and how it affects, devastatingly, the “least of these.”

As a group, we’ve been growing together and are having a blast interacting with each other and all the Kenyans we meet. All in all, we’ve been really spoiled so far, living in a doctor’s “guest house,” being dinner guests at important people’s houses, eating delicious food cooked by my coordinator, and getting taken around in our own van everywhere we go. Not a lot of “on the ground” stuff yet, but at least we can hit it running after we get our heads filled with all this good stuff.

I was in Meru this past weekend with the group, which is where I’ll be living and working for the year. I LOVED it and am very excited to move. More on that later as I’m running out of space and time.

Tutaonana! Kwa heri!

Taking it all in...

It’s hard to process so much new at once, so I’m breaking it down a bit.

SIGHTS:

-Beautiful lush foliage. Despite the drought here, everything besides the grass remains green. At least in these upper class neighborhoods we’ve been staying in… Beautiful flowers: bougainvillea, birds of paradise, poinsettias. Everything grows here.

-The drought has brought cow herds at random to Nairobi. They are moving further and further into the cities in search of pasture. They block traffic.

-Speaking of traffic. There’s a lot of it, and unparallel to any other I have experienced. I rode their public transportation aka a matatu. First of all, I was squished, as they are cargo vans that they pack about 20 people in (max and legal amount is 14). As soon as one of these matatus approaches a jam, they swerve up on the sidewalk, or chance the diameter of a roundabout, or blatantly bustle down the wrong way on a one-way to bypass it. Time is money for them. Unfortunately, it’s also my life. Don’t worry, I’m told that even though they drive dangerously, they are very competent drivers.

-Nairobi is a mass of people and traffic everywhere. It feels like a big American city at rush hour all day. It’s all a lot more confusing and random for me though since I am so unfamiliar. They have some nice building structures and are trying to make it greener, but for the most part it feels like the city is consumed in one big pollution cloud. Lots of gray. I felt like I could finally breathe again when I was out in the ‘burbs again. Hopefully, I’ll find my niche there sometime.

- The disparity between the rich and the poor is definitely seen (at a second look) in their neighborhoods. There are large Italian style villas that have extensive grounds and full time staffed security right next to some of the largest slums in Africa- piles of sheet metal shacks on top of each other in a rut of mud. I almost missed them, but when my host father was taking me on a tour, we turned the corner and behind the large wall, a whole different world.

SMELLS:

-Smoke: people burning garbage, pollution

-Earth: people kicking up dust everywhere they go

-Sweet Tea Incense: there is some sweet smell, kind of like the tea steeping or fruit being sliced or squeezed

-All combines for something distinct, haunting, and actually pleasant

SOUNDS:

-A hip-hop reggae combo is popular here- similar to Reggaeton but African, if that makes sense. It blasts out the matatus.

-Church choirs seem to be practicing all the time here. The sound radiates from the open sanctuary windows. I wish I heard some distinctly African accapella action, but I’ve only been picking up on interesting sounding versions of American contemporary worship music.

-Kiswahili greetings and conversations as well as people speaking in their various mother tongues. English and Kiswahili are used pretty interchangeably here, and many times combined to form ShENG. ShENG should be announced the official language of Kenya. But besides these, there are 42 tribes, all with their own languages. Frequently, Kenyans speak at least three languages. I’m struggling to learn one new one.

-A cacophony of car horns and matatu drivers whistling for passengers.

-There is a 10% Muslim population in Kenya. Especially in Nairobi, you’ll hear the call to prayer from the mosques.

TOUCH:

-Everyone shakes hands in Kenya, and they do it for hello and good-bye, and even if you’ve met the person before a million times. I’m also a fan of the female-friend cheek touching on each side.

- The red dirt in Kenya definitely contrasts the green around it, and it clings to your skin and clothes. I never thought I’d use “dusty” as a way to describe how I feel. I like it though.

-We do a lot of praying. A lot of hand holding. Before meals, after meals. Before meetings, after meetings. Out loud, at the same time, all the time…

TASTE:

-I have drank a million cups of tea. Black, made with milk and sugar. It’s delicious and people offer it everywhere at all hours of the day. A great way to get to know someone.

- Nescafe. Gross. They grow the stuff, why don’t they drink it?

-Delicious fresh produce everywhere. I swear to you bananas have never tasted this good. Oh, and there’s passion fruit, papaya, guava, mango, avocado etc all readily available off the side of the road or at markets all over the place.

-A traditional Kenyan meal has some combination of rice, ugali (a grits kind of substance), a stew with vegetables and meat (maybe goat), beans, cabbage, chapatti (a crepe like thing), and beans and corn. Pretty good. Still gaining a taste for it.

PIC: host family members gnawing on some sugar cane