About Time for an Update

Well after not writing for quite a while, there’s a lot to say. Here’s the beginning of an older blog entry I never finished or posted: This is the first time I’ve ever rung in the new year in a foreign country, so I didn’t have very high hopes for the holidays, but they turned out well. We were in the middle of our sixth week of training when we broke for Christmas and Boxing Day. Having spend two Christmases in Hawaii, it wasn’t completely strange to have warm weather and no snow, but the complete lack of any holiday hype leading up to Christmas was a little odd. There were no carols playing on the radio or festive decorations anywhere. There were a few commercials about holiday sales at the one big chain store in Kenya, but that was about it. My host family treated it like pretty much any other day as well. Well, actually, the tradition is to have a church service on Christmas Eve leading up to midnight and then another one Christmas morning. Since my host dad is a pastor I was prepared witness Christmas Kenyan style; however, all the power in the town went out Christmas Eve afternoon and didn’t come back on all night. So we didn’t go to church for the big midnight service. Then Christmas morning was like any other day on the farm and we didn’t go to church then either. I probably could have just asked why we didn’t go, but they didn’t bring it up, so I just let it go. I learned how to make chapati for most of the morning. Chapati is pretty similar to tortillas but a little thicker and much greasier and all together delicious. It is one of my favorite foods her and will probably be a staple at my house, although it’s pretty tedious because after making a very simple dough, you break off small pieces, spread oil on them, roll them up, let them sit, roll them flat, and then fry them one at a time on a hot cast iron chapati pan.

Now for the big news. I am an official volunteer! We had our swearing in ceremony on January 8, one day after receiving our site assignments and meeting our new supervisors. I am in a town in Central Province called Mukurwe-ini. It is near Mt. Kenya and the city of Nyeri, which I hear is a pretty big place. I got two different population estimates for the town, so it’s somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 people. I live on my own for the first time ever in a two-bedroom apartment. By Kenyan standards it’s a palace: One large living room, a tiny front bedroom, a decent-sized back bedroom, an inside “toilet”/shower room, and a tiny kitchen area with a sink with running (cold) water! I also have electricity, although I’m paying for it so I’ll probably try to use it as little as possible (as I sit here on my laptop in the dark!). I am only about 3 hours driving distance from Nairobi, which is a big relief. Most of the other volunteers I’m close with got placed on the coast, which is great when I want to visit, but a really long trip (about 8 hours from Nairobi to Mombasa, then one or more hours to their various sites). I’m very glad to be in this province with a dry, cool night/warm day climate rather than at the hot, humid, very Muslim-influenced coast. From what I hear, I’m actually going to have to pick up some more warm clothes because when it’s cold, it’s pretty cold (even down to the 30s).
We volunteers spent the past few days in Nairobi to finish training, get our site assignments, meet our business partners, and swear in. Then this morning we all traveled with our partners to our sites. My method of transportation was a minivan type public vehicle called a matatu. My partner and I crammed into the seats with my bags and were on our way by 10am. We arrived at my apartment (after changing matatus in a town called Karatina) around 12:30. We dropped off my bags then went to the office to meet some people. I am working for a company called Rumukia Farmer’s Co-op Society. It is the second largest coffee co-op in the country. From what I saw at the office today, it runs more like an American company than anything I’ve seen in Kenya. My Peace Corps supervisor told me that they reviewed everyone’s resumes and picked mine, which is both flattering and daunting. It sounds like they have a lot for me to do, which is good because I like to stay busy, but then again “a lot” by Kenyan standards is probably slightly different.

We certainly stayed busy today. After stopping at the office, we got lunch at a hotel in town (a dish called githeri which is just beans and corn together and chapati, of course). Then we picked up the bed my partner had very thoughtfully commissioned for me from a carpenter friend. My apartment is completely unfurnished, so having him help me with the bed was a huge relief because that, to me, is the most essential piece of furniture and also the most difficult to deal with acquiring. Then we bought a mattress and most of the things I need for the kitchen. Although I have electricity, I’ll be doing most of my cooking on a Coleman type single burner and a charcoal burner (called a jiko). We picked up plenty of paraffin and charcoal, so I should be set with those for a while. I am trying to figure out how much I will actually cook, but until I know my work schedule, it’s hard to determine. Breakfast will probably not require heat except if I make tea. I am only a 15 minute walk from the office, so I may come home and make lunch, although the place we had lunch today was super cheap, so it may be cheaper to just buy it. I’m a little concerned with money right now because I really have no idea how much things will cost. Plus I’m paying my water and electric which many others don’t have to do, plus Peace Corps has cut our living allowances due to budget stuff. I’m sure I’ll figure it out; we spent some time with a few current volunteers that have been here for a while and they seemed fine with money, so we’ll see. I still need to furnish the rest of the house, which I think will just entail a couch and maybe a chair or two, a coffee table for the living room, a work table for the kitchen, a dresser, and maybe eventually a bed for the second bedroom for visitors (hint, hint).

After buying all of these items we brought them home in a taxi and I’ve spent the rest of the evening sort of unpacking and settling in. After making sure I didn’t need anything else tonight, my partner said “see you Monday” and left. I have a fairly busy weekend ahead of me just doing the settling in things, but at the same time I’m wondering how I’m going to get through two entire days on my own in a brand new town. I’m confident that I can, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a long weekend. I’m going to break now and go to sleep (it’s 7:30 but I’m exhausted and drained). Let me know if you want any specific information and I’ll try to blog it or email you. Otherwise it will be more of my rambling thoughts as they spill out! Miss you and love you.

Love me