Wildebeest
Black Rhino
Wildebeest migration with savannah backdrop
That's a leopard in the tree
Full album coming when I'm in Nairobi next week!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Safari pics
Wildebeest
Black Rhino
Wildebeest migration with savannah backdrop
That's a leopard in the tree
Full album coming when I'm in Nairobi next week!
Sekenani & Narok Pics
This is actually in the park, a bunch of wildebeest
One of the "main roads" in Sekenani
The view of Brian's community from his compound
Narok town view, across the street from the stage
Cows taking over the road in Narok, a daily occurrence
Thursday, September 9, 2010
I live in Africa
The first three months, that has been more of a question than a statement or exclamation. But, over the past few weeks Narok has started to feel more like home.
Monday: brownies
I didn't have anything planned for this Monday so another PCV, Brian, suggested I visit his site. We share the same supervisor (even though we are 3 hours away from each other) and I will be trying to fund raise for his site as well so I figured, why not? Plus, he has a friend who drives people into the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and he said he would take us for free= free safari! However, I got to the matatu (Nissan vans that act as the Kenyan version of the Greyhound) stage and all of the vehicles to the Mara were full. But, since I live here, there's no rush so I figured I would go home and hang out. I get home and decide to make brownies. This necessitated it's own project since I had to "bake" something using my kerosene jiko (stove). How does one do this? I took a big sufuria (pot) and put it on top of the stove, put a few stones on the bottom of the pot and then put the pan with the brownies on it on top of the stones. Then I covered the big sufuria with a lid and a wet towel to insulate the heat. It worked in the sense that they baked and they tasted delicious but they baked into a funny shape and ended up looking like a pile of cow dung. Graciously, my family here didn't let looks set them back and ate them anyway and I guess they liked them because I went in the house yesterday and only crumbs were left on the plate.
Tuesday: safari
But, I digress... While I was making the brownies, Brian called and told me he found me a ride! Apparently, the guy who offered to take us into the park was travelling from Narok to the Mara that afternoon and he said he would come pick me up. So I got a free ride, which, after some pricey weekends last month, I definitely appreciated. After two hours down a bumpy dirt road and after passing a family of elephants, some zebra, and tons of gazelles, I arrived at Brian's. What a difference. I live in a town and he lives, quite literally, in the bush. Well, actually it's a pretty dry area so there aren't many bushes to speak of but you get the drift. I'll put some pictures up of his site and mine and you will see the difference. He is about 200m away from the Sekenani Gate into the park, which is the main gate. Tuesday morning I walked around his village with him, greeting and talking with various people who were all wondering why the white guy is walking with the black woman, why they are so far from the tourist lodges, and where the hell we were going. We tried to explain that no, we aren't married, yes, we are both from America, and we were just walking. To people with a load of firewood or water on their back, this understandably made no sense. After the "tour" of Sekenani, consisting of tons of bars, a few "restaurants", some small dukkas (store stalls), the cyber cafe, and the county council area, we sat and waited for Lefty, our friend/guide. He came and took us into the park for about 3 hours, it was awesome. First, you see the deleterious effects of overgrazing clearly. Around Brian's compound there's barely any grass but in the park just a bit away it looks like a true Savannah. I came at the end of the wildebeest migration, so when we looked out into the distance you could see lines and lines of wildebeest. The other highlights of the safari were: a leopard in a tree, a lion walking right next to our car, lots of zebra and gazelles, some ostrich, and one of about 3,000 black rhinos left in the world. A good day indeed.
Wednesday: Olikirkirai
Wednesday it was back to work. We were going to Olikirikirai (about 50km N of Narok) to meet with a women's group but it coincided with National Literacy Day so I got to meet the chief, DO, area counsellor, Ass. Chief, and a bunch of other people I should have met a month ago. 2 birds, one stone. Oh, I forgot. In order to get back to Narok from the Mara I had to wake up at 5am to catch the matatu (they only leave in the morning) but we did do some great star gazing: Orion's belt, some galaxies, Jupiter, and a bunch of other stars Brian pointed out to me that I forgot. On the bumpy three hour ride back sitting by bags of maize or potatoes or who knows what, a giraffe came right in front of the matatu! I got back to the house about 8, had a breakfast of Kenyan pancakes, and left for Olikirkirai around 10. It started raining at the end of the Literacy Day program, around 3pm so we met with the women and then tried to catch a ride back to Narok. It took about 30 minutes walking down the muddy road in the rain before a car came, which they then packed full of people and vegetables. (Sidenote: I now play a game called, how much can you fit in a car? So far the record is 12 people but this was a close second with 8 people and 8 bags of veggies). At 7PM, my supervisor and I arrived back in town and I was exhausted in the best way possible and starving. I hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning! Home, dinner, two wine spritzers and 3 episodes of Sex and the City later, I was asleep.
Thursday: Rrotian
Yesterday was another full day. OFDC has provided loan money for 6 women groups but we have to do home assessments for all interested loan applicants to ensure they really are needy. Yesterday was home assessment day 2 of 5 in Rrotian, which meant more walking in the hot sun, more chai and chapati and failing to understand any more than 10% of the Maasai spoken. Luckily Josephine, my supervisor's wife and my unofficial counterpart, was there to translate. I asked them a bunch of question about their lives, families, homes, businesses and their community. It was worth it though, when at the end of the day one woman thanked me for coming and said no one had ever been to their homes or asked about their problems. Intangible rewards.
Today I am going to finally get some statistics I have been after for a month and then going to Naivasha to look at a group do some briquette making, a possible IGA (income generating activity) for some of the women's groups. Tomorrow I am going to one of the first senators of Kenya's house to meet his grand-daughters and family and I'm going to try and make pizza. Sunday it's off to Nairobi!!!!!
Happy Eid al Fitr to all my Muslim friends! Fasting in August had to have been haaaaard, feast well!
Monday: brownies
I didn't have anything planned for this Monday so another PCV, Brian, suggested I visit his site. We share the same supervisor (even though we are 3 hours away from each other) and I will be trying to fund raise for his site as well so I figured, why not? Plus, he has a friend who drives people into the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and he said he would take us for free= free safari! However, I got to the matatu (Nissan vans that act as the Kenyan version of the Greyhound) stage and all of the vehicles to the Mara were full. But, since I live here, there's no rush so I figured I would go home and hang out. I get home and decide to make brownies. This necessitated it's own project since I had to "bake" something using my kerosene jiko (stove). How does one do this? I took a big sufuria (pot) and put it on top of the stove, put a few stones on the bottom of the pot and then put the pan with the brownies on it on top of the stones. Then I covered the big sufuria with a lid and a wet towel to insulate the heat. It worked in the sense that they baked and they tasted delicious but they baked into a funny shape and ended up looking like a pile of cow dung. Graciously, my family here didn't let looks set them back and ate them anyway and I guess they liked them because I went in the house yesterday and only crumbs were left on the plate.
Tuesday: safari
But, I digress... While I was making the brownies, Brian called and told me he found me a ride! Apparently, the guy who offered to take us into the park was travelling from Narok to the Mara that afternoon and he said he would come pick me up. So I got a free ride, which, after some pricey weekends last month, I definitely appreciated. After two hours down a bumpy dirt road and after passing a family of elephants, some zebra, and tons of gazelles, I arrived at Brian's. What a difference. I live in a town and he lives, quite literally, in the bush. Well, actually it's a pretty dry area so there aren't many bushes to speak of but you get the drift. I'll put some pictures up of his site and mine and you will see the difference. He is about 200m away from the Sekenani Gate into the park, which is the main gate. Tuesday morning I walked around his village with him, greeting and talking with various people who were all wondering why the white guy is walking with the black woman, why they are so far from the tourist lodges, and where the hell we were going. We tried to explain that no, we aren't married, yes, we are both from America, and we were just walking. To people with a load of firewood or water on their back, this understandably made no sense. After the "tour" of Sekenani, consisting of tons of bars, a few "restaurants", some small dukkas (store stalls), the cyber cafe, and the county council area, we sat and waited for Lefty, our friend/guide. He came and took us into the park for about 3 hours, it was awesome. First, you see the deleterious effects of overgrazing clearly. Around Brian's compound there's barely any grass but in the park just a bit away it looks like a true Savannah. I came at the end of the wildebeest migration, so when we looked out into the distance you could see lines and lines of wildebeest. The other highlights of the safari were: a leopard in a tree, a lion walking right next to our car, lots of zebra and gazelles, some ostrich, and one of about 3,000 black rhinos left in the world. A good day indeed.
Wednesday: Olikirkirai
Wednesday it was back to work. We were going to Olikirikirai (about 50km N of Narok) to meet with a women's group but it coincided with National Literacy Day so I got to meet the chief, DO, area counsellor, Ass. Chief, and a bunch of other people I should have met a month ago. 2 birds, one stone. Oh, I forgot. In order to get back to Narok from the Mara I had to wake up at 5am to catch the matatu (they only leave in the morning) but we did do some great star gazing: Orion's belt, some galaxies, Jupiter, and a bunch of other stars Brian pointed out to me that I forgot. On the bumpy three hour ride back sitting by bags of maize or potatoes or who knows what, a giraffe came right in front of the matatu! I got back to the house about 8, had a breakfast of Kenyan pancakes, and left for Olikirkirai around 10. It started raining at the end of the Literacy Day program, around 3pm so we met with the women and then tried to catch a ride back to Narok. It took about 30 minutes walking down the muddy road in the rain before a car came, which they then packed full of people and vegetables. (Sidenote: I now play a game called, how much can you fit in a car? So far the record is 12 people but this was a close second with 8 people and 8 bags of veggies). At 7PM, my supervisor and I arrived back in town and I was exhausted in the best way possible and starving. I hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning! Home, dinner, two wine spritzers and 3 episodes of Sex and the City later, I was asleep.
Thursday: Rrotian
Yesterday was another full day. OFDC has provided loan money for 6 women groups but we have to do home assessments for all interested loan applicants to ensure they really are needy. Yesterday was home assessment day 2 of 5 in Rrotian, which meant more walking in the hot sun, more chai and chapati and failing to understand any more than 10% of the Maasai spoken. Luckily Josephine, my supervisor's wife and my unofficial counterpart, was there to translate. I asked them a bunch of question about their lives, families, homes, businesses and their community. It was worth it though, when at the end of the day one woman thanked me for coming and said no one had ever been to their homes or asked about their problems. Intangible rewards.
Today I am going to finally get some statistics I have been after for a month and then going to Naivasha to look at a group do some briquette making, a possible IGA (income generating activity) for some of the women's groups. Tomorrow I am going to one of the first senators of Kenya's house to meet his grand-daughters and family and I'm going to try and make pizza. Sunday it's off to Nairobi!!!!!
Happy Eid al Fitr to all my Muslim friends! Fasting in August had to have been haaaaard, feast well!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
I Got a New Attitude
The blog waves have been quiet over here, partly because not much has been going on and partly because I was in a funk and I didn't want to just come on and vent. So, I waited until I got through it a bit before I blogged. That first month was HARD. You hear how your first 3-6 months in the Peace Corps are difficult, but knowing doesn't make it any less difficult. I was frustrated for a multitude of reasons, but then I took a couple escape weekends and came back ready to deal with it. My first boss at LB always told me: Don't come to me with a problem if you don't have a solution. That's probably the censored version of his sentence but you get the point: there's no use in complaining if you aren't going to do anything to change it. So, I came back last weekend recharged and refreshed. Some days are still frustrating, like Friday when I didn't leave the house all day but I made up for it yesterday and today.
Saturday I went to see the big market at Rotian, one of the villages I am working with. They have a market on Tuesday and Saturday, but the one on Saturday draws a big crowd from neighboring villages. I wish I could have taken a picture so you guys can get an idea of what "big" is, (this ain't the Farmer's Market in Union Square) but people were already looking at me like I was crazy just for being there walking around so I didn't want to attract any extra attention. I don't know if they stare because they know I'm a foreigner or just because they know I'm not Maasai.
After leaving the village, I went back to town and hung out at my one of my favorite restaurants. I met another CBO (community based organization) worker and he invited me to take a walk Sunday. I was so estatic to find a Kenyan I could speak English with at regular speed, complete with euphemisms, who could also translate Swahili and Maasai to people around me that there was no way I was turning that invitation down. I met with him today and he said we were walking 10km (about 6 miles). I figure I used to run 6 miles frequently, walking shouldn't be a problem. Two hours later (why do I always end up walking in 2 hour increments?) he pointed out the town we were going to waaaaaay off in the distance. We both looked at each other and thought it best to turn around. Along the way we met an 11 year old boy who gave us some laughs. He had heard us speaking English so he asked where I was from. I told him, in Maasai, that I live in Narok but I am from America. First he said it can't be true and then asked why my hair wasn't like a white persons. Laughing, I told him, because I'm not white and he replied that I wasn't black enough to be Kenyan. I think he didn't know what category to put me in but he was happy to show off the little English he had learned in school. He took us to his house so my friend could get some water and then we headed the two hours back home. Including the times we stopped, this walk went from noon- 5PM, meaning I missed lunch and I had only had about 1/2 a liter of water. Bad decision on my part.
My plan was to come home, cook up some ramen really quickly (don't judge me!) and then relax till dinner time. But, the girls asked me did I want to help them cook chapati and of course I said sure. They cook for me all the time so any time they let me help out, I take it as a sign that they are thinking of me more as a family member and not a guest. After rolling out about 20 pieces of chapati dough, I felt a little lightheaded and thought I would get some water. Yea, so I never made it past the corridor. I have never fainted in my life and doing it in front of a house full of girls who wash clothes, dishes, watch children, fetch water, cook, and clean from dawn till evening was not where I would have chosen. But, they all surrounded me, brought me water, and made sure I was ok, which was a great feeling. So fam, rest assured, I'm certainly not out here on my own.
This week the rest of the girls return to school and the house will seem a little too quiet without them here. I can't say I will miss the band practice in front of my door from 10am-lunch time but I will miss seeing all of the girls every day. This week I am going to Maasai Mara to see the other PCV in my organization and the wildebeest migration on a "safari" and then I will meet more women's groups, which is exciting. Next week is back to Nairobi for In Service Training which means friends, pizza, sushi, movies, and the demise of my bank account!
Some funny things:
There are more churches here than a block in Harlem. One of the ones on the way into town is, "Jesus the Fountain of Life Church Total Transformation Center House of Worship". Not lying.
The grocery store (and various other places) sells copies of movies but they put like 6-10 movies on one disk. Included in this collection was "Black American Super Movies No. 4": Game Over, Corrupted Minds, Get Rich or Die Tryin, POETIC JUSTICE, Confessions of a Thug, Out of Time, Rude Boy, Dance Hall Queen, Third World, JUICE, CITY OF GOD, Shottas, Rollin' with the Nines, Waist Deep, Jacked up, and BELLY. I have to disagree with some of their definitions of Super Movies but looks like 125th street needs to step up their movie game...
Thanks Trenita for my bday package! Can't wait until Peanut comes!
Thanks Dad, Tracy and Jr for my Amazon gift card. I'm blowing through books here...
Thanks Mom and Aja for my letters and pictures and thanks to all those who email/ check up on facebook- it really means a lot! The rest of you...ahemmmmm.....
Saturday I went to see the big market at Rotian, one of the villages I am working with. They have a market on Tuesday and Saturday, but the one on Saturday draws a big crowd from neighboring villages. I wish I could have taken a picture so you guys can get an idea of what "big" is, (this ain't the Farmer's Market in Union Square) but people were already looking at me like I was crazy just for being there walking around so I didn't want to attract any extra attention. I don't know if they stare because they know I'm a foreigner or just because they know I'm not Maasai.
After leaving the village, I went back to town and hung out at my one of my favorite restaurants. I met another CBO (community based organization) worker and he invited me to take a walk Sunday. I was so estatic to find a Kenyan I could speak English with at regular speed, complete with euphemisms, who could also translate Swahili and Maasai to people around me that there was no way I was turning that invitation down. I met with him today and he said we were walking 10km (about 6 miles). I figure I used to run 6 miles frequently, walking shouldn't be a problem. Two hours later (why do I always end up walking in 2 hour increments?) he pointed out the town we were going to waaaaaay off in the distance. We both looked at each other and thought it best to turn around. Along the way we met an 11 year old boy who gave us some laughs. He had heard us speaking English so he asked where I was from. I told him, in Maasai, that I live in Narok but I am from America. First he said it can't be true and then asked why my hair wasn't like a white persons. Laughing, I told him, because I'm not white and he replied that I wasn't black enough to be Kenyan. I think he didn't know what category to put me in but he was happy to show off the little English he had learned in school. He took us to his house so my friend could get some water and then we headed the two hours back home. Including the times we stopped, this walk went from noon- 5PM, meaning I missed lunch and I had only had about 1/2 a liter of water. Bad decision on my part.
My plan was to come home, cook up some ramen really quickly (don't judge me!) and then relax till dinner time. But, the girls asked me did I want to help them cook chapati and of course I said sure. They cook for me all the time so any time they let me help out, I take it as a sign that they are thinking of me more as a family member and not a guest. After rolling out about 20 pieces of chapati dough, I felt a little lightheaded and thought I would get some water. Yea, so I never made it past the corridor. I have never fainted in my life and doing it in front of a house full of girls who wash clothes, dishes, watch children, fetch water, cook, and clean from dawn till evening was not where I would have chosen. But, they all surrounded me, brought me water, and made sure I was ok, which was a great feeling. So fam, rest assured, I'm certainly not out here on my own.
This week the rest of the girls return to school and the house will seem a little too quiet without them here. I can't say I will miss the band practice in front of my door from 10am-lunch time but I will miss seeing all of the girls every day. This week I am going to Maasai Mara to see the other PCV in my organization and the wildebeest migration on a "safari" and then I will meet more women's groups, which is exciting. Next week is back to Nairobi for In Service Training which means friends, pizza, sushi, movies, and the demise of my bank account!
Some funny things:
There are more churches here than a block in Harlem. One of the ones on the way into town is, "Jesus the Fountain of Life Church Total Transformation Center House of Worship". Not lying.
The grocery store (and various other places) sells copies of movies but they put like 6-10 movies on one disk. Included in this collection was "Black American Super Movies No. 4": Game Over, Corrupted Minds, Get Rich or Die Tryin, POETIC JUSTICE, Confessions of a Thug, Out of Time, Rude Boy, Dance Hall Queen, Third World, JUICE, CITY OF GOD, Shottas, Rollin' with the Nines, Waist Deep, Jacked up, and BELLY. I have to disagree with some of their definitions of Super Movies but looks like 125th street needs to step up their movie game...
Thanks Trenita for my bday package! Can't wait until Peanut comes!
Thanks Dad, Tracy and Jr for my Amazon gift card. I'm blowing through books here...
Thanks Mom and Aja for my letters and pictures and thanks to all those who email/ check up on facebook- it really means a lot! The rest of you...ahemmmmm.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)