So I'm back from Mombasa. It was amazing! The Mombasa story is coming soon. It could not have worked out better though.
So i had all these ideas of people I wanted to message and such so I decided I would spend some quality time at the best internet cafe in Gong. Seriously it has the fastest internet I've encountered in the past 2 months. You actually have to wait for a computer because everyone knows it's the best internet. It's the only internet cafe where I don't feel like kicking the computer. Anyway I made my way to this great internet cafe and waited 20 minutes for a computer. I finally get a computer and of course the first thing I do is log into facebook because I'm pretty much addicted. However facebook missed the memo that I'm in Kenya with limited internet access and decided to chose this chuck of time to perform maintenance on my account. I'm really mad. So i wasted a bunch of time checking email and reading blogs waiting and hoping it would stop it's maintenance but no such luck.
In other news I came home to a full (fuller) house last night. There were four new family members. I figured they were just visiting as there are always people visiting, but it turns out they are living with us for the next month at least! So now there are 10 people living in the house. It's fun. The new family is Milka's brother and wife and two kids, lucy (6) and Stanley (1). They are so cute. It definitely adds a lot more nose but nothing I can't handle.
well keep your eyes open for the Mombasa post. Maybe I'll venture to this amazing internet on Monday and hope facebook has stopped it's ridiculous non-sense.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Looking Up
The Path
[disclaimer: I hate my camera. It takes horrible pictures in Kenya and I every time I play with the settings it makes it worse. In this case it really is true that the pictures don’t do the real thing justice, not even close]
As you know I live on a big hill. So most days I walk up this….all the way to the top.
Sometimes when I’m coming from town I take an alternate route up the other side of the hill. There’s path that goes along the hill and eventually comes out at my house.
This is not an ideal path. It’s rough, uphill, uneven, dirty, and has lots of protruding thorn bushes. Before the rainy season the ground was incredibly dusty and loose and now after the rain its incredibly muddy and sticky.
So much so that this is what happens to your shoes when you attempt to walk it in the rain.
Before the rains came, a few weeks ago, I was walking this path. I was having a hard day, drowning in loneliness, homesickness, self doubt, and my inadequacy at "changing the world." The dirt was so loose and dusty and I struggled with every step as it sunk beneath my feet. I had to focus on the ground and the path as not to make a wrong step. However, eventually I loss my balance and I fell down hard. As I stood up I started crying and through my tears and frustration I asked God, "Is this really what you had for me?" As I looked up and out I got my answer…
Yes this is hard, yes I’m lonely, yes I feel powerless. Yet there is also so much beauty in this experience. There is beauty in the faces of the children I encounter everyday. There is beauty in the independence and strength I’m gaining. Beauty in realizing my powerlessness, that I can not "fix" everything. There is of course beauty in drinking chai tea at all hours of the day with wonderful Kenyans :-]
This life is beautiful…I just forget to look up and see it.
It’s true of this country as well. It’s so easy to just focus on the muddiness. Yes there is a lot of corruption, yes there is a lot of poverty, yes there is a lot tragedy. But there is also so much beauty to be found. I don’t say this to make light or lessen Kenya’s problems, but to remember that there is more to Kenya, more to Africa. Much, much more.
So I encourage whenever you are to remember to look up…
[disclaimer: I hate my camera. It takes horrible pictures in Kenya and I every time I play with the settings it makes it worse. In this case it really is true that the pictures don’t do the real thing justice, not even close]
As you know I live on a big hill. So most days I walk up this….all the way to the top.
Sometimes when I’m coming from town I take an alternate route up the other side of the hill. There’s path that goes along the hill and eventually comes out at my house.
This is not an ideal path. It’s rough, uphill, uneven, dirty, and has lots of protruding thorn bushes. Before the rainy season the ground was incredibly dusty and loose and now after the rain its incredibly muddy and sticky.
So much so that this is what happens to your shoes when you attempt to walk it in the rain.
Before the rains came, a few weeks ago, I was walking this path. I was having a hard day, drowning in loneliness, homesickness, self doubt, and my inadequacy at "changing the world." The dirt was so loose and dusty and I struggled with every step as it sunk beneath my feet. I had to focus on the ground and the path as not to make a wrong step. However, eventually I loss my balance and I fell down hard. As I stood up I started crying and through my tears and frustration I asked God, "Is this really what you had for me?" As I looked up and out I got my answer…
It was beautiful. It was as if God was saying, "yes this is exactly what I had for you." Sometimes I get so stuck in the difficulty of it all that I forget to look up and see the bigger picture.
Yes this is hard, yes I’m lonely, yes I feel powerless. Yet there is also so much beauty in this experience. There is beauty in the faces of the children I encounter everyday. There is beauty in the independence and strength I’m gaining. Beauty in realizing my powerlessness, that I can not "fix" everything. There is of course beauty in drinking chai tea at all hours of the day with wonderful Kenyans :-]
This life is beautiful…I just forget to look up and see it.
It’s true of this country as well. It’s so easy to just focus on the muddiness. Yes there is a lot of corruption, yes there is a lot of poverty, yes there is a lot tragedy. But there is also so much beauty to be found. I don’t say this to make light or lessen Kenya’s problems, but to remember that there is more to Kenya, more to Africa. Much, much more.
So I encourage whenever you are to remember to look up…
We have a Problem
We have a Problem. It’s a phase my host mom said a lot this past week. My poor host family. The beginning of the week Milka, my host mom, was feeling ill so she went to the doctor and turns out she has typhoid. A few days later Eric, my 10 month old brother, wasn’t doing so well so they took him in and he has malaria. They are on medicine and doing fine now, but it’s been quite the week.
We have also struggled with water and electricity this week. Tuesday we ran out of water and didn’t have any all day. Then Thursday the pump water got fixed so we had running water! (but still no hot water because it’s too expensive to turn the water heater on) But Friday we were back to no water. Then Friday the rains came and they came hard. El nino rains are no joke. It appears my life is going to involve a lot of mud the next month as the rainy season is officially here. So we lost electricity at about 7 last night and it didn’t come on til 10 this morning. So today we had water but no electricity. I’m told the power is very unreliable during the rainy season. It’s a bummer, since the power rationing just ended. I’m not sure if we are going to have running water again. Right now we go to the “river” (our water tank outside) and bring it in.
Sometimes I forget where I’m living. Life normalizes and the fact that I’m living in Kenya isn’t such a big deal. But then my host mom comes home with typhoid and the baby has malaria and the reality of where I am slaps me in the face. This is Africa and malaria and typhoid are part of life.
I was at Sidai four days this week. Unusually I only do three but since I’ll be gone next week I worked Friday this week. I’ve been doing a lot more computer work lately. I’m working on a newsletter and brochure for Sidai. To help as resources for more donors. I still get to play with the kids lots.
Mombasa is finally here. We leave Tuesday morning and set out on a 7-8 hour bus ride. I’m really hoping the rainy season has not hit Mombasa yet. I want sun.
We have also struggled with water and electricity this week. Tuesday we ran out of water and didn’t have any all day. Then Thursday the pump water got fixed so we had running water! (but still no hot water because it’s too expensive to turn the water heater on) But Friday we were back to no water. Then Friday the rains came and they came hard. El nino rains are no joke. It appears my life is going to involve a lot of mud the next month as the rainy season is officially here. So we lost electricity at about 7 last night and it didn’t come on til 10 this morning. So today we had water but no electricity. I’m told the power is very unreliable during the rainy season. It’s a bummer, since the power rationing just ended. I’m not sure if we are going to have running water again. Right now we go to the “river” (our water tank outside) and bring it in.
Sometimes I forget where I’m living. Life normalizes and the fact that I’m living in Kenya isn’t such a big deal. But then my host mom comes home with typhoid and the baby has malaria and the reality of where I am slaps me in the face. This is Africa and malaria and typhoid are part of life.
I was at Sidai four days this week. Unusually I only do three but since I’ll be gone next week I worked Friday this week. I’ve been doing a lot more computer work lately. I’m working on a newsletter and brochure for Sidai. To help as resources for more donors. I still get to play with the kids lots.
Mombasa is finally here. We leave Tuesday morning and set out on a 7-8 hour bus ride. I’m really hoping the rainy season has not hit Mombasa yet. I want sun.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
This is Africa
TIA is something I find myself saying quite often here. The phase This Is Africa helps keep me sane. I say it when the power unexpectedly goes out as i'm about to Skype people I love, or when I find three huge spiders in my room in one night, or when I see the ugliest biggest cockroach making it's way across my floor, or when I open a cabinet in the kitchen and see thousands of ants crawling on the pots I eat out each night, or when there are live "things" swimming in the water I'm washing dishes with, or they shove 20 people in a matatu meant for 12.
This is Africa. And I love it.
This week has been a turning point for me. I'm finally getting to a point where I feel really comfortable here. I feel like I'm through the adjustment phase and I can now enjoy things. .
Like the mornings here in Kenya. I live on top of a huge hill and every morning as I step out of my gate I'm greeted by the most amazing view. It's breathe taking.
My homestay is still great. They are teaching me so much. One of my favorite times of the day is after dinner when we take chai tea and sit and talk. I look forward to it. Oh the chai is so good.
My internship is still challenging, but I love the kids. They are precious.
I was sick last week. I had a intestinal bacterial infection. I was also having asthma problems. It was not fun. But a 17 dollar trip to Zam Zam (a private clinic here in Gong) and four different drugs, I feel great.
We are for sure going to Mombasa on the 20th so I'm looking forward to that.
sorry this is short. hopefully i'll write something more intensive and insightful soon.
This is Africa. And I love it.
This week has been a turning point for me. I'm finally getting to a point where I feel really comfortable here. I feel like I'm through the adjustment phase and I can now enjoy things. .
Like the mornings here in Kenya. I live on top of a huge hill and every morning as I step out of my gate I'm greeted by the most amazing view. It's breathe taking.
My homestay is still great. They are teaching me so much. One of my favorite times of the day is after dinner when we take chai tea and sit and talk. I look forward to it. Oh the chai is so good.
My internship is still challenging, but I love the kids. They are precious.
I was sick last week. I had a intestinal bacterial infection. I was also having asthma problems. It was not fun. But a 17 dollar trip to Zam Zam (a private clinic here in Gong) and four different drugs, I feel great.
We are for sure going to Mombasa on the 20th so I'm looking forward to that.
sorry this is short. hopefully i'll write something more intensive and insightful soon.
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