Cute Kids and Nasty Viruses

Good afternoon everyone!

So as I type this I'm literally surrounded by cute (but screaming) watoto (children) at the school I'm interning at for the next 5 weeks. They've never seen a laptop before, and they're fascinated. I've actually been here for about 1.5 weeks, and a lot has happened, so I'll try to make this brief.

Sunday- Arrived at hut compound, met family, and realized I don't have a pillow or a door. Spent most of the night being silently alarmed, but very well-fed.

Monday- Host sister (also boss), took me all over town to her school, the clinic I work at on Wednesdays, the HIV clinic I go to support group meetings at, and the school for deaf children that I lecture at on Fridays. Whew, long day.

Tuesday- All day at the school...I realize that teaching preschoolers is much harder than it looks. Props to all pre-K teachers, it takes a LOT of patience.

Wednesday- First day at the lab in Ambira. They showed me around, and I took names and information for each patient as they passed through (and got hit on incessantly by lab techs. Gotta love Kenyan men!)

Thursday- All day at Alice Hope again, this time in ECD 2. Trying to teach someone how to draw numbers correctly is also harder than it looks.

Friday- Rough day. Started off with a piki-piki accident (nothing serious), I got to the school late, and then I got lost on the way to the deaf school, Sega. I arrived 45 mins late for that, and then went home after teaching. That night I was bitten by the watchdog of the compound...thankfully it didn't break the skin, because I never got rabies shots. I watched some Gilmore Girls on my laptop in bed to calm down.

Saturday through Tuesday- Sis and I went to Nakuru to see her husband and children, and got groceries for the month. On Sunday we went to a Jehovah's Witness service (interesting), and watch some movies (they have a TV!!!). On Monday we went to the market and got enough vegetables for the month, and on Tuesday we fit it all on the 8 hr bus ride back to Ugunja. I honestly didn't think it was all going to fit, and neither did Lilian, but 6 boxes later we were happily bouncing down the road home! That is until we came upon a traffic jam caused by not 1, but 3 semis stuck in the road. That took a few hours to fix, but we got home before dark. That night, I went to John's homestead so he could use the internet and we could have some mzungu (white person) time. And watched more Gilmore Girls (John thoroughly enjoyed it).

Wednesday- Worked at Alice Hope in the morning, and worked in the lab at Ambira in the afternoon, this time using the CD4 machine to check CD4 levels, and the microscope to check for malaria. It doesn't look any better microscopically (unlike HIV, which is quite beautiful). Also, I sorted though some sputum and stool samples!

Thursday- First talk to class 1 and 2 about HIV. We couldn't find a banana, so we put the condom on a blue bottle. The kids loved that, and the teachers had a good time, too! They've obviously heard the whole 'schpiel about HIV from doctors before, but another voice reinforcing the lesson never hurts (especially at such a great age to for learning!).

This weekend I will be going to Kisumu to work on my papers and hang out with Chelsea and Kaitlyn, while hopefully wandering around the coast of Lake Victoria.

Overall things are going great, but everything moves so slowly here. Once the sun goes down, there's not much to do because we don't have electricity. I actually find it rather relaxing, because I know exactly whe my work day is going to end. Also, in typical small-town fashion, everyone always has a smile on their face, and sincerely wants to know how your days is. It seems like a lot of the people here in Ugunja really enjoy their work, which is something I don't see a lot of in the US; and when you haven't got a TV, other people become your entertainment! What this means is that you can get to know someone in a very short time, and entertain each other for hours.

It's certainly a different lifestyle, but it's starting to grow on me.

Mia

It's the End...

...of the classroom phase of this semester! Our internship starts next week, so we have our Swahili finals tomorrow and Wednesday, and the rest of the week off. It's been more than 6 weeks since we arrived here, which is hard to fathom.

I decided to spend the last weekend in Maasai Mara (there are pictures here), and it was amazing. It was well worth the cost, and we even got to step foot in Tanzania for a little while.

As for the business end of things, the research proposals are almost done, and all of the research papers have been started! I'm not sure how much I'll get done before the week is out, but I'm sure not a lot is going to be accomplished in the field, so I'm trying to wrap everything up.

The new digs

I finally have more information about my internship- I'm going to be talking working with a woman who runs a pre-school, and who's also a prominent member of the deaf community (although she's not deaf). I'll also be working with PLWH (people living with HIV) in the community, and talking about health issues.

I'm very excited about this, but it's going to be hard to leave my host family. They're really great, and on top of the warm fuzzy feelings, they JUST got cable and internet. But at least I'll have 300 channels to surf when I come back from my hut!

Well folks, looks like I'm off to the gym again. I'm trying to maximize the little metered running I have left, I don't think they have mile markers on the roads outside Kisumu.

Mia

More Kenyan Antics

So on Monday, I decided after not being able to run or exercise outside of house aerobics (squats down the hallway are a blast) that I needed to get a good workout. I pulled a random circuit/muscle-building workout off the internet and went to the nearest, cheapest gym, which happens to be 5 minutes from my house, outside of Kenyatta Market. It's only 250 shillings a day for students, and 3000 a month (the exchange rate is about 102 shillings per dollar right now).

It was a great workout, but the people in the gym seemed puzzled at my confusion as they were trying to introduce themselves to me...as I was on the treadmill with my mp3 player on. I think the gym is more of a social scene here, as everyone was having a conversation in the weight/treadmill/water room. But it's a great value, and because of the unsafe running areas around the house, and the hot showers at the gym, I'll be going back there frequently.

I was actually going to return to the gym today, but research got in the way of that. I've been sitting at my computer for about 8 hours now trying to find 'scholarly' sources for all these term papers, and the concept paper for our research proposal. For some topics, finding free sources (mostly studies), is very easy. Apparently American foreign policy in Africa during the Cold War is not one of those topics...JSTOR has failed me again (honestly, who the ^%@* wants to pay 25 dollars for an article), so I'm going to the University of Nairobi's Library tomorrow to attempt to find some of the sources I found online. But I'm sure there are other topics with more available resources, so I'll just have to play it by ear.

On a lighter note, I've been having hair issues lately (I took the braids out, and my hair is longer than it's been in 3 years), so I bit the bullet and got a straightener. I wasn't expecting much (it was 30$, only heats up to 290 degrees, and is tiny), but I was definitely in for a surprise. When I plugged it in, it heated up within 5 seconds, and made my hair the straightest I've ever seen it haha...I think it's one of the nicest ones I've ever used. Kak harasho!

Well, blog break's over, now I have to get back to writing my literature review for the concept paper. The group settled on researching refugees in northern Kenya, and I'm focusing on where and how the children are getting educated. Fun stuff, I'll probably put something about it on here next time.

Have a good day :)

Security, Beads, and Research Papers

Good afternoon!

I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post, but my house got broken into a few weeks ago, so my mom decided to tighten security a bit. Formerly, we had a glass door with a sliding metal grate, and a solid metal door that opens (it's about 7 feet tall). There was a space of about 8 inches between the top of the metal grate and the cement above the door that wasn't secured, and that's how the thief got in.

She had a metal grill put in above the metal grate, and soon I'm going to have a metal grate on my window as well. However, I ran into trouble today because I locked the keys (to everything, it's one keychain) in the yard outside of the aforementioned security measures. The metal grate is secured with a padlock, and there's no other way to get out to the lawn, so I had to break out of the house. Thankfully mom wasn't home, or she might have had a heart attack (I'm still not sure how I'm going to explain this...I'm thinking it might be better left unsaid).

On the upside, I've found something to do to help Kyle out with his NGO. I've decided to gather jewelry from the ladies that sell it outside the malls nearby my house, and sell it when I get back.  Now, I look like a bead hoarder because my desk is covered with necklaces, bracelets, earrings, hair pieces, and keychains! When I come around the mall on Friday and Saturday, the bead ladies give me crazy discounts because they know I'm coming back. The necklaces I'm buying are usually about 1USD, and I plan on selling them for about 7USD when I get back, so the only limit to this endeavor is how much money I can spend on it, and how much space I have in my luggage!

We have a Swahili midterm this week, and several papers (short ones) due at the end of the week. We also have about 5 term papers due at the end of the program, which I'm not looking forward to writing...15 page research papers aren't my favorite. It also looks like I may have to write them by hand, and then copy them, because I won't have electricity at the new digs in October and November. Although there IS a solar powered netbook that just came out here...tempting!

Well, this is going to be a short one, because I'm off to the gym. Hope everyone in the US has a good Saturday!

Mia

Updates from Nairobi

I'm really bad at this whole blogging business.

Updates: I've been going to Kibera, I got braids, I gave blood at the hospital yesterday, and I'm going camping tomorrow.

I started going to the Kibera Girls' Soccer Club (which is really a school) with my friend, Jeremy, to help with the girls' play. The play was this Saturday (it was amazing, look at the videos on my Facebook). At first I was incredibly pissed off that people lived like that in the slums, and that no one was doing anything about it. But after being with the girls for a while, I realized that yes, it sucks that they live in a place like that, but they're making the best of it, and they're doing a great job of it. It's incredibly inspiring to see a group of young girls reap the rewards of all their hard work, and raise money for themselves.

That same day, in the morning, I visited the giraffe center and got to kiss some giraffes! We were allowed to put giraffe food in our mouths so the the giraffe could take food from us! I got some lovely pics, particularly of another guy in our class really going for it. He got along splendidly with that giraffe...

After the play, some of the other students and I went to an Egyptian restaurant and enjoyed some Tuskers while watching the Wisconsin football game online...until we lost the feed. Then we relied on updates from Grace's boyfriend, and Roy gave me updates on the OSU game. We stayed out for a while, and Chris and I had an unfortunate almost run-in with some men with AK-47s, but the night ended with all of us happily in our beds (except maybe Steve, he may have hit the floor first).

Also, I managed to find time to get braids last Friday. I tip-toed into the Kenyatta market, trying to avoid attracting too much attention (impossible, I stick out a bit) and after a few minutes found some ladies who were willing to attempt the challenge of braiding a mzungu's hair. At one point there were five ladies working on my head, it was quite the experience!

The final result!

On a darker note, the local hospital put out a request for blood after an explosion in a nearby slum caused by a oil spill. Over 100 people were killed, and many more were injured. A lot of the MSID students went to give blood and food to the hospital, and there were tons of people lined up there when we arrived. The hospital staff said the response had been great, and that they'd reached their goal for blood.

Tomorrow I'll be going camping with Simon's (one of our coordinators) family, in Ngong Hills. It should be a great time! We will be matatu-ing out there (a kind of crazy bus), and then piki-piki-ing (a motorcycle) to the camp site. Apparently we're going on a guided hiking tour, so I'm very excited for that.

The majestic Matatu.

That's all for now, I'm off to write some papers for class.

Mia

First Experiences in Nairobi

Good afternoon! Getting internet took a really long time. I'm actually writing this on my computer (no internet) on the 3rd; I couldn't get to an internet cafe, and the service stores close early on Sat and don't open on Sun. So I'll tell you about my day today!

I met my host mom! She's an adorable Kikuyu woman with a 17 year old son. Her husband died about 16 years ago, and she lives alone with her son, but has a househelp come once a week to clean and do the laundry. We watched soap operas and the news all day, and had lots of rice and masala tea. By the way, the soap operas here are English-dubbed telenovelas (figure that one out), and EVERYONE watches them. It's very odd, but I did enjoy watching them with her. Tomorrow I'm going to meet a group of women that she's part of who loan each other money to start businesses and help each other out.

My mom also does HIV outreach in the Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, and I'm going to try to tag along with her. One of the boys in my class, Jeremy, also works in the slum with the Kibera Girls Soccer Club, which started as a soccer club but involved into a school. It's a great place, and UW Madison has strong ties to it. I'm going to visit them as well. I'm very excited by all of this, and I really like Kenya...it's so beautiful, and the people are so honest with you. I get stares everywhere because people have never seen a whitey ('mzungu') before, but everyone I've met has been friendly.

The city itself isn't that different than the worst parts of Kazan, and the house I'm in is spacious (two bathrooms!). I've got my own room, desk, and queen sized bed. However, there's rarely running water because the government rations it, and the electricity is intermittent. However, it's a good trade-off, and I have a yard to play in! Also, I'm about 20 feet from a golf course...the Air Force has followed me after all.

Sadly, I doubt I'll be drinking here. The streets are very unsafe at night, and being drunk after dark, even in a group, is a bad idea. Some guys on our program got robbed last year, and some guys this year almost got carjacked, so I'm going to be 'keeping it real' with studying and the lovely telenovelas.

Update, 5 Sep 11

So I decided that running by myself during the day wouldn't be too risky, and went for a 3 or so mile run on the streets. It's hard to run here; it's a mile higher than I'm used to, and there's smog everywhere.

I talked to Jeremy, and I'm definitely going to Kibera with him tomorrow to meet the girls. We also have 4 hours of Swahili lecture tomorrow (the director, Jama, swears up and down that it's 2 hours straight, then another 2 hours straight, but my experience with Kenyan time leads me to believe otherwise...). I'm very excited to start learning again :)

I'm thinking about getting braids with Barb next week. I know they usually don't look good on white girls, but I'm hoping to find a style that don't look too ridiculous. I've always wanted to try them, and everyone has them here so it won't look out of place (even on a mzungu). It's also incredibly cheap here, 20USD as opposed to the 100$ it usually is in the USA.

I picked up internet today, and I won't mention names, but it's awful. Splotchy, slow, and agitating in general. But, it works sometimes, which is all I need. The MSID office has wifi, so I'll be skyping there. It's about a 40 minute walk away, so it'll be very rare.

I'm watching a random American movie with my family right now (my brother has lots of them, most of them are recent, and I don't watch movies so I haven't seen any of them). It's great bonding- we watched 'Friends with Benefits' last night. It was interesting to watch it with my brother, he got almost all of the random American pop culture references, which I wasn't expecting. American culture really has permeated Kenya.

Ah, I've figured it out- the movie we're watching is 'No Ordinary Family'. Or maybe it's a TV show. I'm really not sure. But I'm going to take a break and relax on the kiti (chair). Until tomorrow!

Mia

Russia-Illinois-Texas-Ohio-Kenya

Good afternoon everyone! As had been mentioned previously, I usually forget that I have this blog, so I've gotten very, very behind on writing about my travels. This is an attempt to rectify that situation!

For the past 2 months or so, I've been studying in Kazan, Russia. I was in an intensive Russian program through Arizona State University. The program itself is called CLI, and it's a great thing to do (especially if you're in ROTC like me, they'll pay for everything). Due to some interesting circumstances I went through 2 host families; however, because of this switch, I was able to experience living with the two ethnic majorities in Kazan, Russians and Tatars. It was a valuable experience, and not just linguistically- study abroad programs, especially intensive ones, really pare you down and show you what you're made of (much more than Field Training ever did).

I got back to Wisconsin on the 13th of August, at which point I celebrated my 21st birthday with my roommate, Natalie, and several close friends! It was a belated party, as I spent my real 21st studying for a final in Russia. However, after 40 or so hours without sleep, I was beginning to doubt my commitment to partying. Thankfully, I had no choice in the matter, and was whisked out the door as soon as I arrived! I also recall consuming at least two quesadillas that night, at two different restaurants (there isn't Mexican food in Russia). The night was a success, and I ended up curled up in my bed with no ill consequences, and no hangover OR jet lag the next morning! So, if you're looking for advice on how to avoid jet lag...

After that I rushed down to Illinois to see my family, and got back to Madison in time to hop a plane to Texas to see my good friend Courtney, which is where I am right now. It's lovely down here, minus the 105 degree weather today...thankfully no humidity, or I'd never leave the apartment. Courtney and I hit up a Mexican restaurant yesterday, and she advised me to get the Purple Margarita, which is made with Everclear. They limit you to 2 for a reason, that drink is not a joke! Sadly, it also wasn't very tasty; margaritas are made with tequila for a reason.

Today we're going to terrorize the food trailers downtown, and maybe get some fish and chips for Courtney and some lovely vegan food for me! They have quite a selection of grub at the trailers, or so Courtney says. After that, it's karaoke and Harry Potter (in English this time!). I leave early tomorrow morning, so we're trying to squeeze in as much as possible.

Well, it's time for a run! I have to keep my energy up, because after I get back to Illinois, I'm driving to Ohio to see Roy, and after that...I'm going to Kenya. I'll try to post more regularly!

Mia