Domestic Disturbance

Fiiiirst, I know it's been awhile and that's pretty much how every blog post on here starts. But, I was studying for the LSAT very diligently (mmmhmmm) and took it last Tuesday :-) Scores won't be back until the end of the month but for now I'm so happy to have it over and done with and not have to plan my day around studying. And I'm going home in a week so super excited for that too.

But, what has been going on in the life of Megan lately? Pretty much the same old. After a full year in Kenya, I feel like I have some sort of a schedule. Tuesday and Thursdays I teach at the secondary and also hang out with the kids in my neighborhood and draw. Class is going much better. I feel like the kids understand me more and feel more comfortable telling me when they don't understand something. Their scores are improving, thank goodness. The kids in the neighborhood are having a dandy time coloring two days a week. I just finished a grant trying to make an arts center at the school across from me. They said I could use a room for the neighborhood kids and they would get to do arts and crafts with their students. Hopefully we get the grant, I really want to do a public health project with the kids incorporating public health messages.

Mondays and Wednesdays I have VSLA meetings, we are up to 4 groups now! Fridays I try to keep open to do paperwork, office work and all that. And no day is complete without the requisite hanging out. Meaning I go sit with people and just...sit. It's a very important part of the PC experience. I've also been helping PC to get ready for the new batch of Public Health/SED volunteers, who came on Wednesday. So we have newbies! I hosted a trainer this week and I will be going to their training when I get back from the states. Hopefully I have some sort of wisdom to impart...

Sounds more or less pretty busy right? I feel like I'm doing a good amount of work each day but the days definitely seem longer here and there's a lot of free time. A lot. I have to be home by dark and most days I leave my house around 9ish so that's about 14 hours of alone time. My only neighbor in the compound isn't always home so it's just me. For a long time. What's a girl to do? I had the LSAT to take up study time but you can't just study for hours and hours on end. And, when studying becomes stressful, whaddya do? I started to think about the things I used to do in the states to reduce stress and fill bored days...

1. Talk on the phone
2. Go clubbin
3. Go shopping
4. Walk the streets of New York
5. Go to a friends house
6. Read
7. Go to the park, ballet, etc

Ok so not many on this list transfer to peri-urban Kenya. As such I had to get creative so I didn't lose my mind. There's only so much reading and tv watching a girl can do. Out of my boredom has come a love of baking. Well I always really liked to bake but in the past there were so many other things to do that didn't require that much effort. Alas, that is no longer the case and I have become a baking machine in the last couple of months. On my repertoire to date we have: bread, bagels, carrot cake, chocolate cake (with homemade frosting!), mac& cheese and banana bread. Remember that post way back when I first came to Kenya and I talked about how cooking was so much harder here? Well baking is like that squared. First problem: No oven. Solution: Make a jiko oven! What the hell is that??? Basically you take a big pot and fill it with sand or dirt. Place the pot on the gas cooker and put what you want to bake in a dish inside. It does work in the sense that it bakes but there's no temperature control and it can take awhile. Still, I can bake! Problem 2: No measuring utensils of any kind. Solution: guess. Problem 3: Recipes who don't understand the plight of the volunteer. I don't have a mixer. I don't have a candy thermometer or any of these other fancy tools recipes want me to use to bake. Solution: Just whip it all together and hope for the best. So far things have turned out pretty well, I put some pictures of the process below, enjoy! Today I had a potluck with some friends and brought the macaroni and cheese, they really liked it. I also made pickles!

My other stress relief has been "shopping" which here means tearing out designs out of magazine, finding fabric and giving it to my tailor. So far she's been doing a great job, 2 skirts and one dress. Pictures to come! A skirt costs me the equivalent of about $4 and the dress about $6 for her to make. Love it!

Finished Mac& Cheese!

I dance when I cook, no judgement!

The cake is ready to bake!

The pot with dirt

My own oven

Potluck!

Finished cake with frosting!

The boys and their birthday cake. They were beading so we were all having a domestic day. Brian is licking the frosting from the bowl. Stomachache!

Kenya read me a story?

What was your favorite book as a child? When I was young, I remember James and the Giant Peach, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Are you there God, it's me Margaret. I also remember going to the library weekly with my mom and checking out as many books as she would let me. Ok, yes, I know I am making myself sound very much like a nerd here but the point is those books were available to me. I could lose myself in them, travel to a distant place or just read with the satisfaction that the my fears, joys, and anxieties about the world were not singular just to me.

Sadly, most children in Kenya don't have that luxury. Outside of the capital, libraries are virtually nonexistent. Schools have enough trouble getting (or allocating) funds to buy regular text books, let alone pleasure reading. The Form 3 (high school junior) business class I teach has a total of 4 textbooks for 27 students. That's including the book I use to make notes and share with students. 4. So what is the likelihood that such schools have a Judy Blume or Roald Dahl to avail to their students? Nil.

Butttttt...you can change that! How? Donate to my Books for Africa project!
https://www.booksforafrica.org/donate/to-project.html?projectId=77
Your donation will help provide books to various schools throughout Kenya. This is a collaborative project that I am working on with two volunteers from Eastern. Some of the schools will even get computers! Books for Africa sends free books to developing countries, asking only that host countries pay shipping. Shipping is a pretty penny though so please donate today!

Major kudos to Aunt Barbara, a personal champion of literacy, who was the first to donate. Thanks!!!

And, just in case I have not pulled at your heart strings enough, here are some photos of the children you would be helping!

Pictures!

We went to Hell's Gate and saw a hyena print...and then quickly went in the opposite direction!









Rusing Island in Lake Victoria, where PCV Adam lives. Some people have all the luck!













My Peace Corps Fam at Rusinga Island















Clare, me and Jenn having fun













When we get together, it's a guaranteed party! Porter, me, Clare, Adam, Jenn, Z

Pictures!

Some pictures of this week... more to come later...



Thank you cards for Kids to kids made during the drawing session









Moringa tree planting













Joyce showing off some earrings made during the beading session







The girls' idea of the "perfect man" during our love and relationships talk. Guess we women want the same things the world over!




Hellen, Masioi and Sekiyan enjoying computer class at the camp

I love my site

Those are four words I really never thought I would say. It took me a long time to get used to living here in Narok- it's dry, dusty, and not really the village life I thought I was signing up for. But the more I stay here and the more people I meet and become friends with, the better it all gets. Here are a couple of reasons from the past couple of months of why life is so good:

Free Stuff
I have been the beneficiary of a bunch of free stuff lately. I think some people just take pity on the poor volunteer and others really just think of me as a neighbor they are helping out. For example, when I was moving, the director at the school close to me was instrumental in helping me get the apartment and made sure everything was comfortable. He and his wife weren't using a propane tank so they gave it to me, I just had to fill it up with gas, saving me about $50. Win. Then, last week, I was walking home because they raised the matatu ride from town to my house by 10 shillings (I know it doesn't sound like much but hey, I'm a volunteer!) and one of my usual matatu drivers saw me halfway and picked me up for free. I also got a free cab ride when I was coming home at dusk a couple of weeks ago. A teacher at the university recognized me and had the cab driver drop me for free. Top it off with this week I am coordinating another girls' camp for (more on that later) and I needed to get some supplies but had no idea where to get them from. Sueela, my favorite Narok businesswoman, just gave me what I needed for free. She rocks. The guy at the grocery store gave me some free Juicy Fruit because he knows I chew like 20 pieces a day and people always offer me food and chai whenever I go somewhere. All in all, it feels good to be part of the clan and it's really what “community integration”, that great PC buzz word, is all about. And, it's not just about the things that I get from people but also how willing they are to help me get things done. Even when I get upset because the people who are supposed to be helping me are no where to be found, someone else from the community comes through . So many people have volunteered their time and efforts to speak to the girls and teach them different things, it actually makes me feel like I'm doing something out here. Word.

Making a difference
They say Peace Corps is “The toughest job you'll ever love” and I used to think that was a load of crap. First, how is this job tough? I just have to sit in a developing country and hang out, right? And, what's to love about pit latrine toilets, weird illnesses, and being the odd black girl who doesn't speak our language for two years. But then, during the last couple of months, I've really been in a groove and feel like I'm starting to see what the real issues are and which ones I can actually address. It's also obvious now why the commitment is two years, it really does take almost a full year to get to know what the deal is. For example, today during the camp we spoke about nutrition and we made a food pyramid of healthy eating choices. When I asked the girls how many fruits and veggies total we should eat in one day, half of them told me 2! 2! When I said 5-9 they looked at me flabbergasted and then the question is, well how are we supposed to do that??? They are just given food to eat and don't have any say over how nutritious or good for them it is. And when they are at home, their parents may not have the money to buy fruit every day or to eat veggies in all colors. As a PCV, you see this as a problem you can actually try to make a solution for. If I can get some schools or even the plots by me to make kitchen gardens to better ensure that kids are getting more nutrients, I call that a wildly successful project and I call it a day and go home to read on my Kindle. That's the part I love. What's tough about it is getting people to see that it's important, feasible and a good idea. With all of that in mind, I'm supposedly starting my own kitchen garden next week. Lead by example.

Ending on a good note, the project site for our Books for Africa project is up, donate today!
https://www.booksforafrica.org/donate/to-project.html?projectId=77
Full post coming on this soon and I'll continue to hound you all for donations!!! Help bring much needed books to primary and secondary students in Kenya :-)


The website for my upcoming business fair is up and running, narokbusinessfair.weebly.com. No donations for that one are necessary but just wanted to promote myself haha.