Back to Kitui

Ok, Internet is working in Kitui, but as usual I'm short on time. We are having a "hub day" today, which is when all the volunteers meet up together at the conference center, and the Peace Corps Bike Mechanic came here to fit us for bikes. Many of the bikes are old and ratty and the newer ones are GT's that are newer but still not great. I told the fundi (mechanic) that I'm really into mountain biking and plan to do some trail riding here in Kenya. I got his name and number and he's planning on meeting me for some rides in Kakamega, and also he wants to show me some nice trails in the countryside outside Nairobi. He's going to get me one of the new Trek 4500's, which isn't quite as nice as the 4900 I'm used to, but hey, I'm in Africa so I'll cope. The fundi even let me ride his bike to the post office which is why I'm here now but will need to get back soon.

So Kakamega really was a great experience. Like I said in the previous post I have big shoes to fill but I'm optimistic things will be great. I had a chance to ride a boda boda all around the Kakamega district and I met many of the farmers I will be working with. I swear in as an official volunteer on December 2nd and I'll head out on December 3rd, so expect to hear much more about my job soon.

This weekend was action packed as usual. I went to the monkey forest once more and this time actually got some pictures that I'll post when I'm in Nairobi again. Instead of an out and back trip we walked over the mountian and down to the neighboring village, where I came across about 20 old men sitting together drinking the traditional Kamba beer. They invited me to sit with them and I drank a few cups before taking a Taxi back to town. Everyone here loves politics so I got to discuss the referendum at length with the men. In Kitui I met up with my host family as well as the family members of another volunteer and we went out to dinner. Unfortunately a television was wheeled into the restaurant and we had to watch "Commando" which is a really cheesy Schwarzenegger film that basically involves killing lots of people and blowing everything up. Most Kenyans can't get enough of these types of movies and I could not unglue them from the television, even to eat. Once that film was finally over and I thought it was time to go, they put in "Eraser", another Schwarzenegger flick, and we didn't get back until after midnight. There was a full moon though and it's incredible how bright it is here. We walked through town and back to the village and things were so well lit that even without street lights we could see everything.

This weekend I also walked with a friend to a boarding school where Major, one of the Kenyan children, is attending class. He is 14 and quit going to school because he didn't see any reason to go, but we were able to convince him to continue and he went back a week later. Several of us went to visit him and we brought him some candy and cookies for staying in school, so it was a good experience. Afterwards we went with one of the volunteer's host family cousins to a hospital to see her sick baby sister. The hospital was surprisingly clean, and it appears to receive quite a bit of foreign aid. Also, the sister is doing much better so everything worked out pretty well this weekend.

So that's all for now but I'll post more soon. Hope everything is great in the states.