TIA= This is Africa

First.... WELCOME TO THE WORLD DARRELL BROCKMAN III! My sister had her second baby on Monday and he was two months early so he will have to stay in the hospital for at least a month. I'm so sad I wasn't there for his birth like I did for his sister (who was also early) but now I can't wait to be greeted by two toddlers when I go home next year :-)


TIA is a common response to the many odd and annoying and sometimes humorous things that occur here. Things work differently here and getting upset about it doesn't do anything but put you in a bad mood so most things get shoved off with a sigh and a "TIA". This past weekend I wanted to meet up with some other volunteers in Kisumu for Halloween. I don't even really like Halloween in the States but it was an excuse to get together and I was all for it. Since I was on my "lets find work kick" last week, I attended the plough contest on Friday and I wasn't able to leave until Saturday. Also, Moses asked me to help teach a business and ICT (computer) class starting Monday so I knew it would be a tight weekend. Kisumu was a blast even though I only had about 24 hours in the city itself. Going there took about 5 hours, which is not too bad. Coming back on Sunday, I didn't get to the stage until 2:30, which means the matatu (van for 12-14 passengers that invariably holds no less than 20) didn't leave until 3 because heaven forbid we leave without filling each and every nook and cranny in the vehicle. TIA. We were making good time to Kericho, where I have to switch matatus for one going to Narok. That's when the fun really began. Again, I'm the first one in the matatu so I have to wait an hour for all the other passengers to come and fill up. In that time span, the hawkers are constantly coming up to the window to hassle me to buy things I don't want or need like spoons and terrible looking books. My friend Frank said he counted the number that accosted him while waiting for a matatu in Kisumu and lost track after 117. TIA. Finally, we are leaving Kericho and we get to Bomet, which is about an hour and a half away from Narok. The matatu stops in Bomet, empties and then we wait another hour for more people to fill it up. After going on the road for about 20 minutes, we ALL have to get out and switch to another matatu. Now we have so many people in the matatu that four are standing on the door ledge and are only halfway in the car. It's cold and raining but we have to ride with the door open because we can't close it with four people riding in it. Why all this switching of vehicles? TIA is the only answer I can think of.

Monday, I wake up bright and early to go to this class that I rushed from Kisumu for. I get there and 5 students are already there as well as Moses, all on time and I'm quite surprised. We set up the computers and start to talk and Moses and I get called into the head person's office. Apparently, we didn't get sufficient clearance to use the facilities and we need to consult the management committee on Thursday to make sure we have the proper permissions. So we can't really start class until NEXT Monday. Sigh. TIA. We just ended up having an introductory class where each person told us their level of computer literacy and what they wanted out of the business class.

Later in the day on Monday, I was watching The Wire (again- just as good as the first time) and hiding in my room while it was raining. All of the sudden I see a great spark from my ceiling, kind of like when a light bulb blows out but it definitely was not by my light bulb. Ummmm, scary. So like any other hard-core PCV I run in the main house and hide there until the rain stops. The next day, I could see where there was clearly a hole in the tin roof and that must be where the water is coming in. I'm no engineer but I'm pretty sure water and electrical wires don't mix. Before I could get to the bottom of it, it started raining again and now the sparks were really flying. Every few seconds fire sparks would erupt from the place where the wiring was, which is also next to the wooden beam of my roof. I ran and told my supervisor and his wife and he came in my room with a screwdriver, apparently to disconnect the wire from the wall. Again, I'm no electronics genius but I'm pretty sure if something is sparking, handling it with a metal object is not the best course of action. My supervisor's wife, Josephine AKA my bestie in Kenya, sprang into action and threw the wet sweatshirt they use to mop the floor over the hole on top of the roof. Of course this set off more sparks. Then she wanted to take it down but I convinced her to please not touch the metal roof that has electrical currents running through it somewhere. Frank was staying with me the last couple days and he and my supervisor figured out how to turn off the electricity so they could look at the problem. Apparently, the electrical tape had somehow burned through and now the wires were exposed. The water was dripping from the hole onto the exposed wires, hence the sparks. Lovely. In the end, Josephine ended up putting a piece of bubble gum in the hole to stop the water from leaking and Frank pulled the wires from the wall so they are no longer resting on the wooden beam. Clearly, I was very instrumental in helping with this potential disaster. Oh yea, you read right- bubble gum. TIA.

The rain, apart from trying to set my house on fire, also makes all of the critters come from their hiding places and try to find refuge in my sweet home. Armed with a can of Doom (the Kenyan version of RAID), I attacked hard core last night. The bottom of my walls aren't really sealed in any way to the floor so it's pretty much a great place for roaches, beetles, spiders and all of their friends to hide and stay warm and dry. Not last night. I used half the can of Doom and woke up this morning to see some bugs and their comrades laid out on the floor. But not before I saw a roach on the INSIDE of my mosquito net this morning. What did this sucker want? I don't even eat in my room! Oh well. Sigh. TIA.