Cassidy and I woke up at 8:00am this morning and started right off cooking and preparing for our thanksgiving meal that we plan to share with my Kenyan family. Part of our job as Peace Corps Volunteers is to share American culture with Kenyans so here we are slaving over a fire, slaughtering chicken and shucking peas from the garden. 100% organic veggies and free-range chicken, this is the way to do it! So together we came up with some things we are greatful this Thanksgiving. Of course we miss our family and friends back home, but we feel so blessed to be alive in Kenya celebrating this special day with our Kenyan friends and family.
Things that I’m thankful for 2012 Kenyan Thanksgiving
-Water: Rain is a Good Thang! Having clean safe drinking
water in Kenya
is a luxary. I am lucky to live in a place with consistent rain for our crops
and livelihood. I miss turning on a shower!
-Health: In Kenya
it’s easy to get sick! With diseases that are eradicated in America like
Malaria, Measles and Typhoid, we are lucky to be healthy and living active lifestyles.
-Family: Kenyan and American. We couldn’t survive without
our Kenyan families, keeping us safe, showing us the way of life. But our
American families are who we are. Their support keeps us going.
-Opportunities like Peace Corps: It gives us the chance to
live within communities other than our own and learn a totally different way of
life. If anything, this makes you appreciate everything you have back in America.
-Friendships: Also Kenyan and American. My Kenyan friends
keep me integrated. Even though we cannot communicate as closely as my American
friends, we continue to find we are more the same than different. My American
friends though are my rocks. They keep me grounded, keep me updated on what’s
happening back home. Without the support from my friends, the emails, the
packages, the letters, I seriously could not do this. And my Peace Corps
friends are like family. No one else can ever truly understand what we are
going through.
-Education: Without education we would not even be in the
Peace Corps. Many girls in Kenya
never finish their education and instead get pregnant at 16, married and commit
their whole lives to that. We are lucky to have so many opportunities and only
through educating ourselves have we been able to do that.
-Food: Not only Thanksgiving food, but food in general. We
are living in a country with famine! People in my own village go to sleep
hungry! To be able to share this day with Kenyans means more than I could ever
explain through words.
-Our Puppies!: Sangala gives me purpose here. I know he’s
just a dog, but he seriously is my best friend. He keeps me company and gives
me someone to talk to that doesn’t judge me for the color of my skin. Yes, I
talk to my dog. No judgment!
-Electricity: Walking 2 hours to charge my phone was a pain!
It’s so nice to be able to charge at my house now!
-Being Americans!: Never had I been proud to be American
until I lived here. I never thought we had a culture, but we do! We are unique
and bright people. Also, we are lucky that we do not have to face the same kind
of hardships as here.
-Air conditioning: Damn that feels good. Which is why I love
Sankara! (Adams)
-Fast Food: We miss you Taco Bell.
-Options: There’s not many here. Food, career, the list goes
on.
-Cheese: When we get our hands on you cheese, there’s no
turning back.
-Keeping Time: It’s so nice when someone doesn’t show up on
“African time”.
-Traveling: I love travel, especially within Africa and this has given me the chance to see the world!
-Love: I’ve learned how to love here more than I ever knew I
could.
So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home! God Bless you all!
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