A Third Week Retrospective

September 19

I like making lists...

Things that are challenging

• Exhaust: There are fewer regulations, perhaps no regulations, when it comes to vehicle exhaust here. Thick smoke pours out of exhaust pipes and right into my face. Sometimes I am unlucky enough to be walking behind a bus when it starts up and get a blast onto my legs that quickly envelopes my entire body.
• Trash and lack of recycling: This really tears at my emotions. It is so sad to see a beautiful field covered, literally, in trash. It is very common. Trash piles are everywhere, even in city parks. No one ever recycles, so there is no place for me to recycle. I miss America in this respect.
• Living in dangerous “Nairobbery”: I am not able to travel easily at night, nor take my camera to many places, and I usually hide my money in my bra. I miss going out easily at night, even just the times my mom and I would go to the grocery at 10pm.
• Lack of raw vegetables: Dear carrot, I miss you.
• No being able to wash my hands: My hands are so sticky from using hand sanitizer all the time. When I actually do get to wash my hands, dirt runs of them. It’s gross to think how dirty my hands are, yet they are so sanitary.
• Missing hamburgers and pizza: Their pizza is ok.
• Getting stared at and blatantly talked about: Today as I was leaving my house, two guys were staring at me and obviously talking about me in Kiswahili. I gave them the old “Habari gani” and that shut them up quickly. (Habari gani is a common, pleasant greeting)
• Knowing that many Kenyans are starving: There is a major drought here. All Kenyans are affected and most are in hardship. Some wait days for a sip of water. In rural places, people are drinking dirty water that is making them sick. Crops are dying and, therefore, so are cattle.
• Being scared because I am a woman: Generally, women are treated with less respect. I guess it happens everywhere.
• Complete disregard for pedestrians: I have gotten close to being run over many times, especially when walking by myself. Cars actually honk at pedestrians to get out of the road. It can take a long time to cross the road.
• Traffic jams: Without jams, I can get home in 10 minutes. With jams, it can take hours. You never know how long it is going to take.
• Distrust of people: It has been hard to meet genuine people. We (Americans) have a hard time reading Kenyans. White people are a novelty; it’s true, I’ve lived it. It’s hard to know who is interested in you as a person.
• People thinking that I’m a tourist so I have lots of money: I get asked for money a lot. I generally carry about 500 Ksh on me (~$7)
• Saying ‘no’ to children who ask for money: I love children (see “likes” section), but I say no when they ask for money. I’ve been told it is a scheme and they only ask white people. The other day Tegan and I rejected some children. They went to the next table over and the Kenyans there gave them food. Tegan and I felt really guilty.
• Walking in such congested sidewalks: Sometimes I wish I could walk freely. I feel claustrophobic.
• Suspicion that I hold a fake student ID: Our group has to fight to get student rates. People do not believe that we are Kenyan students.
• Paying so much for internet: At my house, I pay per MB. I wish I could video chat.
• Fear of offending my host mom
• Meat: It’s chewier, bonier, and fatter.
• Being expected to be Christian: Religious questions are very common. People often ask right away. I think it is the culture of missionaries. People really want me to believe in god. It’s hard to say no, but I stand by my non-belief. Many Kenyans are Christian, except for those who are Muslim, so perhaps it is usually a common bond to build a relationship.

Things that I enjoy

• Children: They are adorable and so playful.
• School uniforms: All students wear uniforms. The children are so cute.
• Chai: It means tea. It’s made with milk instead of water. It’s drank four times a day. Yum.
• Long lunches
• Mango juice
• Passion fruit
• Buying a litre of bottled water for 65 cents
• Learning how to get around: I’ve learned that matatus are quite easy to ride, you just have to know where to get the one you want.
• Getting to know my host family
• Getting to know my American classmates: I love them all and really enjoy our circle questions, i.e. “give a description of your siblings,” or “what is your best and worst birthday.” I love learning about everyone’s life.
• Birthdays: We’ve celebrated two already!
• Kenyan TV: Kenyans watch a lot of American shows, but at the same time have their own shows, like “Tusker Project Fame.” Even though I can’t understand it, I love watching the news in Kiswahili. Sometimes my host mom translates, but I just enjoy listening.
• Surprising people with Kiswahili
• Asking questions about basic things
• Kenyans are relationship orientated: they take time to talk and value their friends so much. In America, people rush. They try to get out of conversations. Here people are really interested in how you are. There is no ‘hello.’ ‘Jambo!’ is b.s. There are many greetings, such as ‘habari gani’ – What is the news?
• Learning Kiswahili
• A cell phone that generally gets service everywhere: Safaricom is a king of corporations. It is huge. I think it is the largest company because it is always mentioned during the stock market news. Its logo is painted on a third of buildings, I have no idea how they are able to do that.
  
• Running errands in Nairobi
• Watching orphan elephants on TV: I really want to visit them, I wrote it as an option for my ICRP. They have strong emotions. They need love.
• Learning from and laughing with my host mom

Things I’m adjusting to

• BO: People get sweaty here, but I do too and it’s ok.
• Showering with a bucket: I’ve gotten pretty efficient. It makes me use less soap.
• Peeing in holes: I actually get really excited when I succeed at peeing. It’s like I’m 2. I also get really excited when a bathroom has toilet paper, running water, or soap. All are somewhat rare. When I’m around town I tend to sneak into the University skyscraper to use the bathrooms. They have seats on the bowl.
• Constant honking. Sometimes I like to imagine it as the beginning of a musical composition. But that quickly fades.
• Loud matatus. Today I rode in one that had one large screen and 4 smaller screens throughout the bus all playing a music video
• Large bugs
• Sleeping with a mosquito net