Week...um four?

Ok, another thing that's hard to adapt to...an Internet connection that is so unreliable I can only get it to work a week and a half later when the post office is about to close. I'll write fast and try to get in as much as I can. First off there is a a big vote coming up for a new constitution. The two parties, Orange (don't change the constitution) and Banana (change it) and doing some pretty dirty things to keep the people from voting for the "wrong" party. Here in Kitui there was a political rally for the Chungwa (Orange) group on Friday. A truck with loud speakers drove by announcing to the entire city and surrounding villages that it was actually a Ndizi (banana) rally so people supporting Orange wouldn't go. Also, the villagers were informed that food rations were available for free on the opposite side of town at the same time the rally started, so everyone went to get food when none was available, just to prevent attendance at the rally. How this helps support the opposing party's cause is beyond me, but that's Kenyan politics according to the trainers here. The voting day is November 21st and therefore we are not allowed to go anywhere outside Kitui until December without trainers or family members, because PC is worried about potential violence that may spur up at rallies.

Oh, I had a 103 degree fever last night, but I was freezing cold at the same time so that was nice. It started to go down this morning and it's almost gone now so whatever it was has passed. I called the medical office and they think it was from being in the sun too long without enough water, which is way better that malaria...so note to self, drink more water, cause it's really hot and dry here.

I went on another monkey adventure last week. I saw more monkeys, which were not at all scared off us. They took turns sitting on the best branch to see us and one of them had a baby on her stomach which was really cute.

I went to the market place today and bought a goat for 800 shillings (about $10). It's name is Red and it's tied up outside right now to come back with me to my house. It's a pregnant female so I hope to have goat babies that will grow up to be delicious meals in the near future.

I also went to my sister's boarding school and it reminded me of a concentration camp. The building was in horrible condition and everyday for breakfast they eat runny porridge and lunch and dinner is maize and beans. Things are definitely different here.

I'm being run out now but I think I got the key points in. I'll try to update again soon.

Machacos!

Ok, I'm at an Internet cafe in Machacos and it actually works, so I'll cover a few more exciting moments over the past week:

• Last weekend was a three day weekend so I went two different places. First off, Zamboni rock is a huge rock that juts out of the ground in the middle of nowhere outside of Kitui. We went there via Matatu (bush Taxi) and in a Toyota van with 14 seats we piled 25 people. A law in Kenya states that every passenger in a vehicle must have a seat and a seat belt, so naturally when we passed a police officer we were stopped. No big deal, a quick payoff to the cop and we were on our way. The rock was really incredible, and reminded me of Devil's Tower in Wyoming. There were stairs that went to the top and a great view of the surrounding area once I was at the top. We decided to walk back because my host family sister assured us there were monkeys to see, but four hours later we finally made it home with no monkeys to be found. Apparently all the monkeys, elephants, etc. are gone now because the forests have been cleared out for grazing and gardens. My sister remembered seeing much more wildlife when she was a child then she does now. It's a pity. My sister also says that Zamboni Rock was created when, long ago, a girl was walking with her family to gather crops and came across a flat stone. She liked the stone so much she refused to carry the crops and held onto the stone instead. Her family was angry and left her, assuming she would come around and follow them. Instead, she never came back and when they returned the next day she was gone and the giant rock was there instead. I laughed at this story and accidentally offended my mama, who heard this story from her Grandmother and insists that it is true...ok, so the giant rock is a lost little girl, sorry for thinking otherwise.
• I was disappointed at the lack of monkeys and convinced a few volunteers to walk with me to the nearest forest to find some. The forest is hours away and we were pretty tired when we got there. Once of the volunteers babas (fathers) came with us and he was able to speak the local language (kikamba) to the locals to help us find the way. We made our way up the hill to a large forest and came across about 15 children who lived in a house by themselves in the woods. We explained to them that we wanted to see monkeys and they took us to where they knew the monkeys sleep during the day. The kids were great. They wore tattered clothes and had no shoes and were so excited to see us. After making plenty of noise and shaking the trees the kids managed to wake up some extremely grouchy monkeys who took off along the tops of the trees. So monkeys are checked off the animals-to-see list now. According to my Kenyan wildlife book they are Vervet monkeys, so since it's impossible to upload pics right now google them is you want to see what they look like.
• I like Machacos a lot. A 100km bus ride took three hours and was an adventure in itself. I had fish for lunch when I got here, which was so good, and even had ice cream, so I'm extremely satisfied right now. We found a nice hotel for 350 shillings a night (about $5) and I'll be going back to Kitui in the morning.
• Some things that are hard to adapt to: Eatings the same things day after day, and having 90% of my diet be starch; Having to be in at dark. Africa after hours is very dangerous and there are always robberies and car jackings and no help from police at night; The level of poverty here. It's incredible how much we take for granted in the states. I've been told the slums outside of Nairobi cost 200 shillings in rent a month (about $1.50) and even that is hard for some people to manage.

Ok, time is almost up and I haven't checked email yet. I'll post more soon...

Week Three in Kitui

I've tried all week but Friday afternoon seems to be the best bet for updating this thing. The last week has been really interesting, so let me hit on some key points:

• Mike, my next door neighbor, told me God sent me to Kenya so that I will give him $40,000 Shillings (over $500 dollars) to help him go back to school. He will pray that I make the right decision. I gave him an indirect no (it's considered very impolite to be direct with people here when you want to say no to something) and don't feel bad about it, especially after learning that Mike has stolen and sold cattle from his mother and is basically a bad person according to my host family and the community. I'm sure its not the last I'll hear from my buddy Mike.
• I learned a lot more about Kenyan culture this week. We had several "cultural cross sessions" and many things about the way Kenyans act was made apparent. For instance (and of course I am generalizing here) Kenyans have no personal space at all and don't spend time alone. If I try to study by myself and don't lock myself in my roon, which is considered very strange to do, I am surrounded by children asking questions and looking over my shoulder and telling me the answers to the Swahili phrases I'm trying to learn on my own. There's also my mama constantly bringing me food, or my sister wanting to go into town with me; sometimes it would be so nice to just get away and be alone, but it's so hard to do here. Kenyans assume if you want any time to yourself than something is wrong and the best way to resolve it is to spend time with you. Also, the Kenyan sense of organization and time is so much different than the United States. So far almost every commitment that has been made has been postponed or rescheduled, and meetings seem much more about being social that getting things done. This isn't always a bad thing so much as a huge change from the American way of doing things. I could go on and on about cultural difference, like how it's blazing hot and almost everyone weats long sleeves and slacks,and even winter coats, but I've only got a few minutes left.
• We started our small business development training this week. Our site is a community cooperative that raises money for orphan children to eat school lunches, which is probably the only meal they reliably get. In one small school of 400 students about 50 of them were orphan children, and they live at home with the oldest child (often only 8 or 9 years old) who is in charge of the household. Most of the parents died of HIV/AIDS and I am looking forward to the AIDS awareness and education facet of my service here. We visited the school and had a chance to talk to the orphans and tell them the importance of an education. When we showed up I felt like a rock star. I'm sure that in this small village outside of Kitui we were one of the first groups of white people to ever show up at the school. The children were screaming and rushing out off classes to shake our hands and look at us.
  
• A few of the volunteers here are part of the first group funded under the president's PEPFAR (Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS relief) plan in Africa. The volunteers found out that, under no circumstances under the funding from this act, are they to mention condoms as a way to prevent the transmission of AIDS. All the billions of dollars going towards this act is to teach abstinence only, so in my opinion it's like throwing money down the choo. When you are here and see the subservient role of women ,many of whom loose their virginity at 11 and 12, it's hard to believe that an abstinence only approach will actually work in this culture.
  
• I will know in three weeks where I will be posted and what I will be doing. I get to go onsite in four weeks and see my house and meet the people I will be working with. Things are actually happening now! So exciting! I will either be working with a community run organization or through an NGO, but that's about the extent of things for now.
• This weekend I am going to Machacos, which is a nearby town. They may have a better internet cafe there and if they do I will try to upload some pics. If not I'll write more soon. Hope things are great in the states!

Bad hair day

I just got my first Kenyan hair cut today. I told them to trim up the back and take a little off the top and they didn't even use scissors, just an electric razor! Apparently nobody here can cut white person hair, so now I have a military style buzz cut and it's probably a good thing you won't see me before it grows back, although it's pretty funny. Things are good so far, but not much time to write...it is very dry and dusty here and cars kick up plenty of dust. Everywhere I go kids should "mzungu!" (white person) and say "how are you?" (the only English they know) Time's almost up, I'll post again soon!