I've swum in the Indian Ocean from 2 different continents!

Our beach trip wasn't exactly what I expected but it really was nice!! We stayed at TOP END hotels...countless pools, our own rooms, AIR CONDITIONING (that was the first time I had felt AC since I got to Kenya), and beautiful beaches!

Our night in Mombassa we went dancing at a local disco--but the majority of the women were dancing for work as opposed to dancing for fun. We left Mombassa the next morning (only spend 1 night there) for Malindi, a really Italian-inspired city further down the coast. Malindi was Incredible!! Not only was the city itself really pretty and well-maintained, we stayed at the NICEST resort I've ever been to/been inside/seen!!

this was my private little house. not room, HOUSE!

Brenden chillin by our pool...OUR pool!

While the hotel was incredible and the beaches were beautiful, the most amazing part of the trip (for me, at least) came Wednesday night when a local Massai tribe put on a dance show for us. They reinacted what a Massai hunt is like (it involves a lot of jumping up and down really high and stomping your feet as a way to seem bigger and more threatening to your prey) and did a few traditional dances (when they dance, they roll their bodies like a snake standing upright...kinda and jump up and down..its magical..sounds stupid but really that's the perfect word) and all the while are chanting and grunting and shreiking and whistling--it was AWESOME!!!

Then, to top it off, as if the night weren't fascinating enough, half of the Massai came into the audience and picked people to dance with them!! I held hands with the guy who picked me and he led me around showing me how to do the snake-like dance, teaching me the chants. Brenden has a picture of it somewhere in his camera...but it was just incredible. It's all I could think of for the rest of the night!!

I still keep in touch with the guy who picked me, too :) Saitoti speaks really good english so we're able to talk on the phone most days. Since Malindi is so Italian (and the majority of the mzungus vacationing there are Italian) all the workers at the resort and the majority of the Massai speak Massai, Kiswahili, English, AND Italian!

This man has killed 5 lions, and has the scars to prove it. I talked with him after the show--he showed me his scars, told me a couple stories, and painted a picture of what it's like to sneak up on a lion with nothing but a wooden club for protection. AHHH!!! AWESOME!!!

It was just absolutely awesome. awesome awesome awesome awesome. one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me. and i'm so glad that I still talk with Saitoti--if I could do anything in the world right now, I'd go back to Malindi and live with his tribe for a couple weeks...learn some skills to become an "honorary" Massai, something like that. It was just too incredible to write about. and apparently i'm still obsessing over it!!!! haha

So, Martine, Brenden (the two Canadians) and I arrived back in Nairobi late Friday night, went to Adam's Market (this huge second hand market...good prices and GOOD products! lots of clothes, accessories, shoes, bootleg DVDS, etc) on Saturday and relaxed on Sunday. Monday morning the Canadians took a matatu to a neighboring town where they're volunteering (although they're soon to relocate to Nakuru like I am) and I went to school--which I had missed!

I planned an awesome project for this week (since it might be one of my last working at school..it's been the time of my life but I can't WAIT to go to Nakuru's IDP camps): paper mache! I bought balloons, tons of flour, and one of my friends was able to get me a ton of free newspaper--it was so messy and fun!!! And to top it off, Monday and Tuesday were exams and there's no school today (Friday, feb. 26th) or monday and so it was a pretty abnormal week--Wednesday and Thursday were basically just fun, hanging out days! And after art, each class had huge water fights!!! and of course, who doesn't like to dump a bucket of water on the teacher? I came home from work covered in flour-y glue and newspaper strips.......soaking wet. I meant to take pictures but kept forgetting my camera! I have one more class, Class 7, doing the project next week and i will make SURE to take pictures!

But it really was fun, and next week we're painting the balloons! It's a big, fun project to possibly end my teaching on. :) I will miss them, though........a lot.

As far as the actual SAFARI part of our safari, we're leaving March 5th for either Massai Mara or another huge national park--they're basically the same. Both have the Big 5, beautiful sunrises, and local tribes scattered throughout the hundreds of square miles of land.

That's about it -- I was pretty sunburned after the beach and look like a snake shedding its skin. I've never had my ENTIRE BODY peel...gross. hey! I saw a monkey crossing the street on my walk walking to the internet today! And since nobody around knew how to cut mzungu hair, I skipped the haircut and am getting my hair plated soon! Tomorrow (Saturday) I think I'll go visit the Canadians..they're about an hour and a half drive away..I think the matatu should cost around 200 bob, not bad at all! I've been studying Kiswahili like mad and am geting the hang of it! I hope everyone's well..and oh, btw,......GO USA! I've missed being able to watch the Olympics--there's no coverage of it here!!!!!

Love to everyone and talk to you again soon! Kwa heri!

PS - CONGRATULATIONS JOZLYN!! IM SO PROUD OF YOU!!! =D

(pps, the post below this one was written RIGHT after the Massai show!)

MASSAI!!!!

Tonight was incredible—I'm on my safari week with the other volunteers in Malindi tonight, and at the hotel (resort) where we're staying, a group of Massai came to do a dance and sell jewelry for all the mzungus. It was possibly the most incredible show I've ever seen!! Traditional Massai are so beautiful—they wear the red fabric wrapped around themselves, are adorned with TONS of homemade beads, jewelry, and have their ears stretched into huge hoops. Massai are also generally really tall so they stick out in a crowd. There was a dance where they came into the audience to pick people to dance with them, and I was picked!! I DANCED WITH MASSAI!! Then there was a photo opp at the end and I sat in the middle of them for some pictures---the dance was the best part, though. Traditional Massai dance involves a lot of jumping up and down really high and shaking your body like a fish out of water....it looks really weird when its not done right, as you can imagine. But they were all so incredible...and the best part is, that they're REAL people! Just because they're traditional in their dress and language and homes doesn't mean that they're dumb or unsophisticated! They were funny and charming and talkative (most speak Massai, Kiswahili, and English)! I HAVE A MASSAI'S CELL PHONE NUMBER IN MY CELL PHONE!!! It was just really incredible to be talking with and hugging and shaking hands with people who are talked about so widely. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

pictures, pictures, pictures!!!

see facebook for more pics!

GIRAFFE CENTER!!

IDP CAMP IN NAKURU

KIBERA SLUM

LUCY AND ME :)

Gettin' into the swing of things

If you're one of the lucky few who got to talk to me 3 weeks ago (or, rather, if you got to listen to me sob), you wouldn't recognize me today.

It's so easy to be miserable-- for things to be dull or far or difficult or different than you expected. I was so overwhelmed when I first arrived that I could barely think straight—haha I read back to some of my blog posts and am embarrassed at how mopey and emotional they are!! I don't know what it was about Africa that was so horrible at first. I'm asked, “What exactly was wrong?” and ya know, nothing really. I was just horribly homesick, unimpressed with my teaching, and feeling really stupid.
A month later, though, staying in Africa was definitely the right choice. I'm teaching, studying, reading, cooking, but most of all, learning.

While teaching admittedly isn't the most needed service I can give to Kenya, it is fun as hell!!! I don't plan on doing it for more than another month or so, but I'm going to ENJOY it while it lasts! I mean c'mon—what's more fun than playing with a hundred kids all day?! I've begun making friends with the other teachers (whom I realize I had seriously neglected), eating lunch at school, and having students over to the house after class for a glass of water, a game of cards (usually War), and some music listening. I like to think that I'm balancing “Madam Jennifer” and “Jen” well.

While class can sometimes get out of hands (I apologize to every teacher in my life whose class I talked during), my students have learned that I like fun.......but there's a clear line. When a problem arises in classes with other teachers, the answer is simple: the teacher takes a stick and smacks the student's hand, arm, leg, or back. And I would love to be able to do that—it makes discipline really easy. But there's simply no way I could ever do that without busting into tears and apologizing! Use words first...that's my motto! So, school's going well and is way more fun than before!

Also, another little story that I forgot to mention from my last post was some random man's attempt at stealing my ipod. I was sitting in the matatu on the way to Nakuru (where the IDP camp is) with the window open about 1 foot next to me. We were driving through town and had slowed for traffic when for some reason I felt like I should grip onto my ipod in my lap...then 5 seconds later a hand slipped in the window, hit me in the face, fiercely tried to yank it from my grasp, and then ran away. Things like that happen in books where people warn you about “Nairobbery” and I'd become waaay too comfortable in town, forgetting that I'm in a huge city. It was by chance/luck/whatever that I was holding on to the ipod so tightly...it shook me up, but the day could've been a lot worse. Everything is an experience—and I'm glad to have had that one.

Speaking more about the IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camp, I have never felt so needed or wanted at one place. Within 1 minute of entering the camp, I was holding a sleeping baby and being kissed on the cheeks by a line of women elders. I gave them my best Swahili which they entertained by responding in Swahili....even though I lost them after “How are you? I'm fine.”

The story behind the camp is mind numbing. In the last presidential election in February of 2008, the President elected was from the Kikuyu tribe. (In Africa, everyone knows what tribe he comes from) All the non-Kikyuys in Kenya were convinced that the Kikuyus cheated. So, all of the other tribes basically ganged up on the Kikuyu, thus beginning one of the bloodiest wars in Kenyan history. For months after the election, Kikuyu markets were burned, houses razed, and people mugged and murdered. And, of course, without markets nobody could get food! People from all tribes starved.
After the election, violent Massai, Luo, Kamba, etc. planned a raid on a Kikuyu village, but the villagers were able to escape just before the attack. All the villagers piled in 3 sixteen wheelers and made a new “temporary” home in a valley miles away from their village. 2 years later, that village is the IDP camp that I visited and where I hope to work in around a couple months.

The camp itself is enormous, hot, dirty, and brown—but it is not sad. The people there were some of the happiest, most life-loving group I've ever met. And they so appreciated my being there! I can't wait to work there...and like I said before, it's up to the volunteers to talk to the people and figure out what they need. If I'm able to work there, I'd like to continue Julie's hygiene courses, teach women how to weave mats from straw to use as “carpets” in their tents, and I'd like to do a Spring Cleaning of the entire camp. The tents smell and are infested with bugs—no kids can be healthy in those conditions. I've written letters to various companies asking for donations of soap, toothbrushes, bug spray, trash cans, etc. I'll be ecstatic if I get 1 response, though.

So, that's on the agenda hopefully sometime soon. I feel so strongly drawn to it.

Another observation I've made about Kenya was inspired by the Bob Marley tribute concert. Shamari and I were walking in, showing our hand stamps to the security, and I walked in easily but he was stopped by a guard and briefly interrogated. He walked outside once, and it happened again when he was trying to come back in, and it happened several times downtown the weekend before.

The only way I could think to describe his situation is that because of my light skin, I'm obviously a tourist and people here want me to have a good impression of their country. Because he's black, Shamari blends in with the Africans here who don't get special treatment. That seems so backwards though: locals being shoved around and pushed aside. Also, I imagine it would create self-loathing like “God, why do I have to be African? Why can't I be a European?”

That's something I've noticed in talking to my co-teachers at school, too. I usually spend my afternoons talking with Jared and Maurice, both of whom are looking for “a nice mzungu lady.” Being with an African lady would be Jared's “last option” and Maurice “isn't looking for African ladies.” Tuesday, Jared and I were talking about “the 1 thing you would change about the world if you could” and I said that I'd have Pangaea come back so that people could visit other countries more easily. He said that he'd have everyone have the same color skin.....white. I was with him for the same color skin part! but then....white? So I said, what about all black? Or green or blue or purple? He said those would be fine, too, but white skin is the nicest. I really think his mindset is a product of great treatment towards whites and hostile treatment towards Africans. He's said several times that he wishes he were white...I thought that prejudice about race wouldn't exist in Africa where basically everyone looks the same. But nah, it exists just as much as it does in the States.

Another observation I've made, which I expected, is that everyone (kids and adults alike) all associate money with light skin. Children begging for money single me out in a crowd...but I tell them “no, really, I don't have any money to give you! i'm sorry!” They're just programmed that way. White = rich, when in fact, when I was walking around downtown the other day, I saw local ladies with Coach purses, designer jeans, their hair all done up fancy, painted nails—looking MUCH nicer than I was!

But then on the reverse, I guess I came here with a certain mindset, too. I figured that because I'm going to Africa that everyone would live in grass huts, earlobes stretched out with long sticks through their noses. Definitely not. Nairobi is a city just like ANY American city!! Sure, those grass huts exist but they're way out in the country sides. And if those people had a choice, they'd move to the city! There's a big hype about African tribes, tribal jewelry, weapons, etc. but those people don't want to live like that—it's just how it is for them and they make the most of it.

Anyway, this week is almost over—Tuesday we leave for the Safari!!!! Sarah, I'm gonna record the sunrise on Mount Kenya (how awesome is that!!) and I'll take about a million pictures (I'm buying another memory card...THATS how many!!) Tomorrow I think I'm gonna get a haircut at a local salon next door (the lady said she's never cut mzungu hair before so we'll see how that goes!!) and I found this really amazing CD/DVD stand down the street. Let's just say, I own Avatar on DVD. That's wussup.
This weekend, I'm going to a local music festival with Jared and Maurice and going out to lunch with a new friend, James, from the Bob Marley concert. It's so nice to have local friends! And I've also become pretty handy in the kitchen with local food—I'm in charge of dinners this week 'cause Lucy's working late—and cooking is fun! The microwave isn't the answer to everything!

I've also begun bringing my laptop to the cyber cafe which is really convenient and now I can get on Skype! Talk to you all soon, I think about home every day-- love and miss you!

PS – Jenay, congrats on your speech!!!!!
PPS -- pictures are coming tomorrow when I can spend time at Nakumatt (basically Kenya's Walmart) using its free internet!

Mzungu!! Mzungu!!

Wow it's been a long time since I was able to write—it's nice to be busy!

The past 2 weeks or so have been average, but nice. School is going well: I'm starting to make friends with the faculty and I have a group of ladies I eat lunch with most days—and we do some serious laughing!

Last Monday and Tuesday I (last minute) took leave from school to go to Nakuru with John to see the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps. Nearly 1,000 people live at the camp we visited. An average house is a tent, but not a triangular tent like the ones that come to mind—the tents are tarps, pieces of plastic, towels, anything that they can find, all suspended by cables in the shape of a box. It's hard to explain without pictures...it was unreal.

Volunteers who work at the IDP camps stay with host families and walk to the camp every day. During the day, the volunteers make their own work—they talk to the people to see what problems there are and decide how to best fix them. One girl I met, Julie, works at the hospital (she's a nurse) and is arranging hygiene classes to teach women how to keep their babies healthy (they're constantly sick). Another volunteer is building a fish pond so that the camp'll have a reliable source of food and income. To make your ideas come to life, you have to give a presentation to some board, have your idea approved, get money from them, hire your people, manage the site, and everything else you can think of. Sounds stressful, but sounds great.

Another volunteer based there, Shamarie, has come to Nairobi the past couple weekends. He's 22, from NY, and fun to be around. Last weekend we went dancing downtown and walked around Kibera slum next to my house (I have a million things to say about that btw), and this Saturday went to a Bob Marley concert to celebrate what would have been his 65th birthday. God it was fun, too...everybody was jammin' out, didn't matter what kind of dance you were doing or how you looked doing it. Whatever it was, it was cool. I was the only female and mzungu there for a while until others eventually showed. It's kinda cool to be one of a kind in a crowd though! Reggae is amazing.

Earlier on Saturday, also, was probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. Shamarie and I went to the Giraffe Center 30 minutes outside of Nairobi. We got to pet the giraffes, feed them, and make out with them! After getting enough pictures, we went across the street to the Bird Sanctuary thinking “alright, we'll see some birds, it'll be cool.”

We were walking around taking pictures of plants and things, when we see a sign that says Please Stay At Least 15m Away From Giraffes...and we're like....giraffes?!? We thought this was birds!!! After seeing that sign, we decided that we were not leaving until we saw one!

So we're walking around for around a half hour following footprints and droppings and all that, when OMG!! WE FOUND ONE!!!!! #%^&&#%&*@@#@#@^!! We were on her turf...no protective fences, no park professionals watching out for us, no idea how to act around a giraffe in the wild! We were able to get pretty close....moving veerrrryyyy ssssllllooooowwwwllllyyyy when all of a sudden this dude walked by holding a bundle of sticks (we think he lived back in the forest on the park) and the giraffe TORE away!! My god if it had run towards us, I don't even know what woulda happened!!! My heart jumped out of my chest, that's for sure. I mean, they're huge!! and they're high up—they aren't lookin at the ground to make sure they're not steppin on any tourists!

So basically, we almost died.

It was amazing, though. And later, we found out that there are 9 giraffes in the whole park. There's a 100 acre space where the giraffes sleep, and there're 40 acres where they spend time during the day with the tourists. There's 1 giraffe, though, who's camera shy and doesn't like making out with tourists, so she stays in the 100 acres by herself during the day while the rest go to the touristy 40 acres. AND WE FOUND HER.

On Feb. 16th John, Shamarie, the two Canadians, 3 other Americans (18,19 and 20), and I leave for our Safari!! We haven't decided where exactly we're gonna go---either to Massai Mara or Mt. Kenya---but I'm positive that it's going to be absolutely fantastic. If I thought seeing a giraffe in the wild was crazy, I can't wait to see a LION!!

I'll be updating more--sorry for the drop off. When I first got here, my blog was someone to cry to (yeah, sad but true) but now things have been looking up and I haven't needed such a constant outlet. I will update more though. Cross my heart! and tomorrow I'll upload a ton of pictures!! Until then, here are a few to appease your appetite :)

Jamuhuri National Road/Kibera Post Road = the street I live on.....see that blue gate? i live (when you're looking at the gate) just to the left of it



4 of my favorites

Lucy :)