This is my new mailing address:
Andrea Flynn-Schneider/PCV
c/o Pembe Tatu CBO
Kisumu Busia Highway
P.O. Box 15-50422
Matayos, Kenya
My phone number is:
+254704569552
you can skype it for I think 15 cents a minute.
I'm loving life so far in Matayos! Today I met the Chief and the Ministers and got their contact information so I can conduct one on one interviews. I have to do a report for the Peace Corps called the Community Needs Assessment that is due in 3 months and it's intense work! I have to do everything from getting to know the local government to home to home interviews. The document will be really beneficial in the end though because it will assess the strengths and weaknesses of Matayos and provide ideas for upcoming projects. So I'm on my way to integration! Just wanted to give a short update! Sangala (my puppy) says Habari zenu? (how are you all?). Miss you! Send packages/letters and call/email often! I updated my wish list to the left as well! Thank you all for your support!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
First Week at Site
My first week at site has been interesting to say the least. Leaving my Peace Corps friends behind in Nairobi was really hard. We bonded over our 10 weeks together in training. No one else will understand what it is like to go through hours of language classes, cultural lessons, technical training and little to no alone time like my Peace Corps friends. I feel lucky to have met such strong, smart and inspiring people. It is wonderful to be surrounded by people who share my same interest in humanitarianism and want to make a difference in this world. Anyway, our last few days in Nairobi were some of the most fun I’ve had here. Swearing in as an official volunteer was so special. We went to the American Ambassador’s residence which was amazing! It was huge and I was defiantly in reverse culture shock. He gave us a tour of the grounds and offered us some great advice for going to site. My fellow Peace Corps colleagues gave speeches along with some of the staff. We had incredible food! I’ve never ate so much! I had 2 hamburgers and a hotdog, potato salad, cupcakes, fruit and cake! I missed American food soooo much! There was even a coffee bar and I had an actual latte! Afterwards we went back to the hotel and popped some champagne to celebrate. We had dinner at the best Italian place and once again I stuffed my face. I guess my mindset was that I wouldn’t be having food like that for a long time haha. After gorging myself, we went out and danced off the pounds at a club. I had my first tequila shot in Kenya…to say the least, it settled just as bad as tequila in the States does for me…yuck! Ha!
The next morning, bright and early, we were off to our sites. Luckily I had a group of 4 other volunteers going my direction so we were able to take the same ride together. However, it was quite the adventure. First, our bus was almost 3 hours late, which sucked considering we had to wake up at 6am. Then, our bus almost tipped over and rolled down a hill. The bus driver parked on the side of a hill so everyone could use the “bathroom”/just a bush on the side of the road haha. When we got back on and were ready to go, the bus started tipping down the hill. It was so scary. All the Africans were just acting as if this was another normal day, but us 4 wazungu tailgated out of that bus as fast as we could! Soon everyone evacuated and then began our 3 hour wait on the side of the road well they tried to pull the bus up. This whole time we were taking bets on 1. when the bus would roll down the hill and 2. how it would flip. It took 3 different trucks to pull the bus out, but surprisingly they actually did (a little disappointing, we all kinda wanted to see it flip). So it was on with the journey. In total it took me almost 13 hours to get to site from Nairobi because of the little mishap of the bus tipping over. I arrived right when the sun was going down, had dinner at my supervisor’s house and then went to my house…
This is where God’s real test started. My house was/is infected with cockroaches. And I don’t mean like one or two, I mean like an unimaginable number of them everywhere! All over the walls, floor, they even some how got into my bed. It was terrifying because if you know me, the one thing I’m most afraid of besides blood, bats, snakes, and the dark, is bugs! I really think I was put here for a reason by God: to face my fears and grow the F up! I’ve been facing these bugs head on (not really by choice), but I’m quite proud of myself on being able to even function with them. I never would have even killed a cockroach in America (that was my dad’s job), but now I’m going Laura Croft on them!
Other than the cockroaches though, my house is huge! It has a kitchen with a sink and a fireplace, a huge living room, a western toilet (although it doesn’t flush), a western shower (although it doesn’t work as well), a pantry, and two bedrooms with built in closets! They provided a queen bed for me and I bought a mattress. This is my safe haven with my mosquito net up and me curled up inside keeping safe from the roaches, it’s actually quite peaceful. It’s hard to get any alone time though. Kenyans don’t understand the concept of space I’ve realized. Every two seconds there are kids knocking on my door wanting to play or just loiter. It’s kinda bothersome, but I’m trying to be polite about it. I’ve been playing soccer with the neighbor kids a lot too so that’s fun.
I went to church last Sunday which was a fun experience. Afterwards I went around and introduced myself to people. Later, in town, I saw someone who works with my organization (Mbu nje! Sisi Ndani!...translates into Mosquito Out, We in) and I told her I went to church and she was like “oh I already know”. “You know?” I asked. “Yes, it is going around that a mazungu was in church”. Great. So I think it will be hard to stay low profile here at all ha! But at the same time, my job isn’t about being low profile at all. I want to set a good example and show people that as an American I want to be apart of everything they do too. I make sure to actually have myself BE seen doing things the Kenyan way. I wash my clothes in the yard where everyone can see me, light and fan my jiko outside (what I use to cook on) and eat the same food they do. I also am trying to use my Kiswahili as much as I can, which always surprises them so much. Most people don’t know that I had 10 weeks of training before coming to site so they are shocked when I speak the language. Even when I tell them I’ve only been here for almost 3 months, they are surprised at how much I know. They think I’m fluent, but I know the truth, because as soon as they start speaking to me in Kiswahili, I freeze up and just give a blank “what the hell are you saying” stare! Haha! But I’m trying and I think they appreciate that. Most people here actually speak KiLuhya so I’m going to try to learn some of that language too if I can. My counterpart is a teacher so hopefully she’ll be able to do some tutoring for me.
Anyway, my life is slowly coming together. Now that I’m at site, I’ve had a lot more time to think about home and all the things I left behind. I’m starting to realize how much I sacrificed to be here and actually I still have no regrets whatsoever. I think I can really make a difference here and have already had some great cross-cultural conversations with the locals. I’m looking forward to getting closer with my community and actually getting some work done. But one thing at a time. Life is much slower here and I think if I just take the time to get to know people and the culture first, I will get a lot more done in the end.
I miss and love you all. You are in my prayers.
The next morning, bright and early, we were off to our sites. Luckily I had a group of 4 other volunteers going my direction so we were able to take the same ride together. However, it was quite the adventure. First, our bus was almost 3 hours late, which sucked considering we had to wake up at 6am. Then, our bus almost tipped over and rolled down a hill. The bus driver parked on the side of a hill so everyone could use the “bathroom”/just a bush on the side of the road haha. When we got back on and were ready to go, the bus started tipping down the hill. It was so scary. All the Africans were just acting as if this was another normal day, but us 4 wazungu tailgated out of that bus as fast as we could! Soon everyone evacuated and then began our 3 hour wait on the side of the road well they tried to pull the bus up. This whole time we were taking bets on 1. when the bus would roll down the hill and 2. how it would flip. It took 3 different trucks to pull the bus out, but surprisingly they actually did (a little disappointing, we all kinda wanted to see it flip). So it was on with the journey. In total it took me almost 13 hours to get to site from Nairobi because of the little mishap of the bus tipping over. I arrived right when the sun was going down, had dinner at my supervisor’s house and then went to my house…
This is where God’s real test started. My house was/is infected with cockroaches. And I don’t mean like one or two, I mean like an unimaginable number of them everywhere! All over the walls, floor, they even some how got into my bed. It was terrifying because if you know me, the one thing I’m most afraid of besides blood, bats, snakes, and the dark, is bugs! I really think I was put here for a reason by God: to face my fears and grow the F up! I’ve been facing these bugs head on (not really by choice), but I’m quite proud of myself on being able to even function with them. I never would have even killed a cockroach in America (that was my dad’s job), but now I’m going Laura Croft on them!
Other than the cockroaches though, my house is huge! It has a kitchen with a sink and a fireplace, a huge living room, a western toilet (although it doesn’t flush), a western shower (although it doesn’t work as well), a pantry, and two bedrooms with built in closets! They provided a queen bed for me and I bought a mattress. This is my safe haven with my mosquito net up and me curled up inside keeping safe from the roaches, it’s actually quite peaceful. It’s hard to get any alone time though. Kenyans don’t understand the concept of space I’ve realized. Every two seconds there are kids knocking on my door wanting to play or just loiter. It’s kinda bothersome, but I’m trying to be polite about it. I’ve been playing soccer with the neighbor kids a lot too so that’s fun.
I went to church last Sunday which was a fun experience. Afterwards I went around and introduced myself to people. Later, in town, I saw someone who works with my organization (Mbu nje! Sisi Ndani!...translates into Mosquito Out, We in) and I told her I went to church and she was like “oh I already know”. “You know?” I asked. “Yes, it is going around that a mazungu was in church”. Great. So I think it will be hard to stay low profile here at all ha! But at the same time, my job isn’t about being low profile at all. I want to set a good example and show people that as an American I want to be apart of everything they do too. I make sure to actually have myself BE seen doing things the Kenyan way. I wash my clothes in the yard where everyone can see me, light and fan my jiko outside (what I use to cook on) and eat the same food they do. I also am trying to use my Kiswahili as much as I can, which always surprises them so much. Most people don’t know that I had 10 weeks of training before coming to site so they are shocked when I speak the language. Even when I tell them I’ve only been here for almost 3 months, they are surprised at how much I know. They think I’m fluent, but I know the truth, because as soon as they start speaking to me in Kiswahili, I freeze up and just give a blank “what the hell are you saying” stare! Haha! But I’m trying and I think they appreciate that. Most people here actually speak KiLuhya so I’m going to try to learn some of that language too if I can. My counterpart is a teacher so hopefully she’ll be able to do some tutoring for me.
Anyway, my life is slowly coming together. Now that I’m at site, I’ve had a lot more time to think about home and all the things I left behind. I’m starting to realize how much I sacrificed to be here and actually I still have no regrets whatsoever. I think I can really make a difference here and have already had some great cross-cultural conversations with the locals. I’m looking forward to getting closer with my community and actually getting some work done. But one thing at a time. Life is much slower here and I think if I just take the time to get to know people and the culture first, I will get a lot more done in the end.
I miss and love you all. You are in my prayers.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
End of training, Start of maisha (life)
So I tried blog updating a few Sundays ago, but there was no electricity in Loitokitok. Then the next day I went and wrote and entire blog update just to have it deleted! So I felt at that point it wasn’t meant to be and I’d just wait to have free internet here in Nairobi so that’s why it’s taken so long to update. A lot sure has happened though!
I had to say goodbye to my sister Abby, brothers Elle and Taqueen and cousin Naomi sooner than I expected because their father took them on a holiday to go see their grandmother. So these last few weeks it’s just been mama yangu (my mother) and me! It was so sad to say goodbye to them. We had a big celebration and I cooked a traditional American meal of spaghetti and home made tomato sauce. I also made garlic bread which was a huge hit! Then I gave them their presents, mostly toys my Aunt Kathe sent. They loved the animal masks and sunglasses. They were also very impressed by these water flutes she sent. I couldn’t get over how grateful they all were and it really touched my heart. They said I was a blessing from God. My mama told me how she had prayed for a good volunteer and how God blessed her with me and now I am like her own daughter. Well, if you know me then you know that I become an emotional ball of mess pretty easily and quickly. Yup, this was one of those moments. I balled my eyes out that night saying goodbye to the children. It felt like an end of a chapter. They were really the first people who truly cared about me here in Kenya. I walk down the street everyday and children run up to me and straight out ask for money or sweets, they call me “mazungu” (white person), and chant “how are you how are you how are you” in a horrible American accent. But at home…my children saw me as just one of them. They didn’t look at me as different and clearly cared about me, which was especially evident at our going away. They told their own father they didn’t want to go see their grandmother because they wanted to spend time with me. Selfishly I wish they would have stayed too, but all chapters must end and as I kissed them goodbye I knew that good things lay ahead for the both of us.
The few weeks after this were very quite at home. Instead of the hectic noise of 4 kids and a hustle and bustle family, it was just mama and me. Which actually came as quite a blessing considering I needed to study for my LPI (Kiswahili language exam). It was a good chance to start speaking more Kiswahili at home with my mama and get some one on one bonding time with her. She is truly an amazing woman and I can’t emphasize enough how much I admire her. We got the chance to have a lot of cultural exchange moments, me telling her what it is like in America and her explaining Kenyan culture. She told me she really admires me for making my own money. Her idea was that all Americans are rich, but I explained to her my situation with my own mother and how sometimes we even ate our food over a fire in the park when I was younger. I told her how I try to appreciate everything because I really think we are lucky and she agrees, especially when we watch the news and see all the Somali refugees starving here in Kenya. My mama is a Maasi, a culture that fully retains it’s traditions, and she also taught me a lot about what it was like growing up in that tribe. How the women do pretty much everything from building the houses to taking care of the family. She said that when they slaughter animals, depending on your gender and age you will get a different part of the animal to eat. She also told me that I shouldn’t shake hands with everyone because some people are witches and can put a spell on me…Also, I shouldn’t trust all cats because some are humans in disguise…I’m like how the hell will I be able to tell which cat is actually just a cat and which one is a human?! I’ll just have to risk it I suppose ha!
Well I think my alone time with my mama really paid off because I passed my LPI! Which means I will be getting sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer! Yay! After the test, all the volunteers went and had a party in the middle of the forest! We played football and just reflected on our time here. Everyone seems sad to leave their home stays, but excited about moving to site. My mama wanted to be a part of the celebration too so she bought a chicken and we slaughtered it for lunch. I showed my mama the American way to make fried chicken and I also made her guacamole, which she loved. She kept saying “tamu sana!” (very sweet!) and probably had at least 4 helpings of the gauc!
My last two weeks went really fast though. We had a family appreciation party just yesterday with cultural dancing and skits. I wore the dress my mama made for me. She also made me jewelry which is beautiful! I defiantly cried saying goodbye to her. But now I’m off to site. I have a few days here in Nairobi and then I’m off to Matayos! Note: I will have a new mailing address I will post on the blog as soon as I know it. I also have a new wish list! Keep the packages coming! Anyway, in a few days I have my official swearing in ceremony at the Ambassador’s home. After that I will be off on my own to do work as a health volunteer. I’m not going to lie, I’m def nervous about moving away from my family and friends and living all on my own. It’s not going to be easy being the only mazungu, but I’m also looking forward to fully emerging myself into Kenyan culture and using my kiSwahili full time!
I will write next when I’m at site and settled in! Miss you all back home! Thank you for your support and love during training!
I had to say goodbye to my sister Abby, brothers Elle and Taqueen and cousin Naomi sooner than I expected because their father took them on a holiday to go see their grandmother. So these last few weeks it’s just been mama yangu (my mother) and me! It was so sad to say goodbye to them. We had a big celebration and I cooked a traditional American meal of spaghetti and home made tomato sauce. I also made garlic bread which was a huge hit! Then I gave them their presents, mostly toys my Aunt Kathe sent. They loved the animal masks and sunglasses. They were also very impressed by these water flutes she sent. I couldn’t get over how grateful they all were and it really touched my heart. They said I was a blessing from God. My mama told me how she had prayed for a good volunteer and how God blessed her with me and now I am like her own daughter. Well, if you know me then you know that I become an emotional ball of mess pretty easily and quickly. Yup, this was one of those moments. I balled my eyes out that night saying goodbye to the children. It felt like an end of a chapter. They were really the first people who truly cared about me here in Kenya. I walk down the street everyday and children run up to me and straight out ask for money or sweets, they call me “mazungu” (white person), and chant “how are you how are you how are you” in a horrible American accent. But at home…my children saw me as just one of them. They didn’t look at me as different and clearly cared about me, which was especially evident at our going away. They told their own father they didn’t want to go see their grandmother because they wanted to spend time with me. Selfishly I wish they would have stayed too, but all chapters must end and as I kissed them goodbye I knew that good things lay ahead for the both of us.
The few weeks after this were very quite at home. Instead of the hectic noise of 4 kids and a hustle and bustle family, it was just mama and me. Which actually came as quite a blessing considering I needed to study for my LPI (Kiswahili language exam). It was a good chance to start speaking more Kiswahili at home with my mama and get some one on one bonding time with her. She is truly an amazing woman and I can’t emphasize enough how much I admire her. We got the chance to have a lot of cultural exchange moments, me telling her what it is like in America and her explaining Kenyan culture. She told me she really admires me for making my own money. Her idea was that all Americans are rich, but I explained to her my situation with my own mother and how sometimes we even ate our food over a fire in the park when I was younger. I told her how I try to appreciate everything because I really think we are lucky and she agrees, especially when we watch the news and see all the Somali refugees starving here in Kenya. My mama is a Maasi, a culture that fully retains it’s traditions, and she also taught me a lot about what it was like growing up in that tribe. How the women do pretty much everything from building the houses to taking care of the family. She said that when they slaughter animals, depending on your gender and age you will get a different part of the animal to eat. She also told me that I shouldn’t shake hands with everyone because some people are witches and can put a spell on me…Also, I shouldn’t trust all cats because some are humans in disguise…I’m like how the hell will I be able to tell which cat is actually just a cat and which one is a human?! I’ll just have to risk it I suppose ha!
Well I think my alone time with my mama really paid off because I passed my LPI! Which means I will be getting sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer! Yay! After the test, all the volunteers went and had a party in the middle of the forest! We played football and just reflected on our time here. Everyone seems sad to leave their home stays, but excited about moving to site. My mama wanted to be a part of the celebration too so she bought a chicken and we slaughtered it for lunch. I showed my mama the American way to make fried chicken and I also made her guacamole, which she loved. She kept saying “tamu sana!” (very sweet!) and probably had at least 4 helpings of the gauc!
My last two weeks went really fast though. We had a family appreciation party just yesterday with cultural dancing and skits. I wore the dress my mama made for me. She also made me jewelry which is beautiful! I defiantly cried saying goodbye to her. But now I’m off to site. I have a few days here in Nairobi and then I’m off to Matayos! Note: I will have a new mailing address I will post on the blog as soon as I know it. I also have a new wish list! Keep the packages coming! Anyway, in a few days I have my official swearing in ceremony at the Ambassador’s home. After that I will be off on my own to do work as a health volunteer. I’m not going to lie, I’m def nervous about moving away from my family and friends and living all on my own. It’s not going to be easy being the only mazungu, but I’m also looking forward to fully emerging myself into Kenyan culture and using my kiSwahili full time!
I will write next when I’m at site and settled in! Miss you all back home! Thank you for your support and love during training!
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