Christmas was such a blast I wasn’t sure if anything else could top it, but New Years in Kenya was magical! My friends Joy and Breezie traveled with me to Rusinga Island in the middle of Lake Victoria for 3 days to stay with my friend Izzy who lives there. We took the ferry over after a long ride in a cramped up van with Sangala. When we finally arrived, the island was beautiful. It’s definitely rural, but surrounded by water many places do not compare. She has the cutest house with 3 sleeping rooms, beds complete, but she doesn’t have electricity so it felt like summer camp. We partied over a gas lantern and had dance parties galore. New Years day we took a boat to another island that was about an hour away to swim. The water in Kenya has a parasite in it called Shistomisus that can really mess with your body, but apparently this other island was shisto free. It felt like Hawaii! Pom trees, white sand and warm water, it was amazing! We just relaxed on the beach, drank beer and enjoyed the sun. All over the island they sell little fish called omina and you can see all the locals out on their boats working for the catch. It was paradise.
Now I’m back at site after what was a long week, but worth every second. It’s good to be back and get a little detox in. I’ve actually missed the people at my site and my cozy little house. Today I went to town to buy a Chujio Water Filter. It is a clay pot, put into a bucket, that purifies your water. It will be so nice because I won’t have to make water anymore by stirring.
Anyway, I’m sad the holidays are over, but Hannah and I leave for Ghana and Togo in about 2 weeks and the fun will just continue. For now I’m trying to get some things in order so I can get projects started when I get back to site after the trip. I had a meeting with the chief to talk about the maternity ward and starting a market in our village, which went really well. He and the assistant chief are 100% behind me so I think this should be a success. I also have been visiting high schools to see if I can teach there and they have all said yes, so next week I should begin teaching my health clubs again. It feels good to start being productive again!
HAPPY 2012 TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND THE WORLD!
