A Suprise Speech

Here in Kenya schools are closing, as they have 3 terms a year and will no start again until January.  Wilfred, who is the head of the Health Department for CBSM invited Breezie and I to his twin daughters high school graduation.  Breezie is a peace corps volunteer working with Wilfred here in Kimilili for 2 years. 
Breezie and I took a motorcycle to travel to the school which was about 15 minutes away from Kimilili.  (Yes Dad I finally was able to go on a motorcycle in Kenya )!  Breezie and I were both passengers on the same bike, without helmets, and arrived without any injuries.  Wilfred, Breezie and I than went to the principals office and has fanta with the principal and discussed various things.  The graduation had parents and other guests including other principals from local schools, individuals from the Ministry of Education and a few pastors.  Breezie, Wilfred and I sat with the teachers and "distinguished guests" and even got name tags. The ceremony was to start at 11 and did not begin until 1ish, everything in Kenya is behind schedule.  It was outside and luckily we were under a tent, as it rained later on in the day.  Some of the classes prepared songs and dances, skits and other things for their parents, fellow students and guests.  Than came the speeches.....and boy there were a lot!  Most speeches were in kiswahili and I had no idea what was going on, but acted interested.  Than the principal had her speech and said "I would like for Mandie and Breexzie to come up and say hello"! OMG I cant speak kiswahili, ahhhhhhhh!  So we went to the front and I took the mic and said "hi" and waved and the crowd said "hi" back and waved.  I than said who I was, where I am from and that I was happy to be invited to their graduation.  Breezie took some kiswahili language training so she spoke in kiswahili and made them laugh....she def out shone me! haha Oh well!  Than a pastor did a speech that lasted so long, we ended up leaving while he was still speaking at 5pm.  That ceremony must have lasted for another few hours, but originally was suppose to be finished at 4-5pm!  I took a motorcycle back to town with Wilfred and walked back to the house in the rain! What a day! A great experience non the less.  

We have been without running water at the house for a few days, so, fingers crossed I can shower today...I haven't showered since Tuesday! :(
I have decided to cut my trip a bit short and come home next week.  Things that normally take a month in Canada takes about a year in Africa, which has really limited the things I planned on doing here.  I was able to get a lot accomplished and would prefer to continue to work on things in Canada than here in Kenya.  I have enjoyed Kenya so much, but I do not want to be just a house guest for another 2 weeks. 
I hope to come back again to do some work and visit the very special people I have met on my trip. 
Kenya is the most beautiful place on earth and I am so glad I was able to come here. 
When you hear people say "Africa changes you" it is true, Africa changes you whether you like it or not!

Yup, that person has totally spend some time in Kenya

Although I have only been in Kenya for 2 weeks I have gotten use to A LOT of things that I experience on a daily basis.  Here are the top reasons you know someone has been to Kenya........ because......

1. Their feet are permanently dyed red from the dirt
2. They can bargain prices for any produce item under the sun
3. They wear the same clothes (and I'm talking FULL outfit) 3 days in a row without thinking twice
4. They cheer when there is running water
5. They forget that there are things called light switches...
6. They apply hand sanitizer so often you'd think it was holy water
7. They aren't phased when a chicken is found walking in their home
8. They carry toilet paper in their bags
9. They smile at the littlest thing in life
10. They can tell which children are the first born in their families.

Hair and Fingers Everywhere!

So far today had been the hottest day I've experienced in Kenya.  I got quite the tan and even a head ache from the sun.  Phylis did the was today, I will do mine tomorrow because there will be no room for my clothes on the line to dry.  After breakfast I went on the steps outside the front door and read my favourite book 'The Poison Weed Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver.  Slowly but surely the children form the other houses came and sat beside me on the steps.  They were mostly all girls and they started playing with my hair and ask for a comb.  Soon I have 8 hands rubbing, pulling, stroking and twirling my hair.  I am weirdly obsessed with clean hair and haven't had much luck keeping it clean during my trip!  Soon my hair was braided in different directions and I was questioned by some of the older girls about my fav food, movie, hobbies and books.  I again had to explain that High School Musical was fake and I could heart the hearts breaking!  Maybe I should just lie and say that it is real and I am good friends with some of the people in the movie! HAHA! No no, lying is wrong.......
During my hour long visit to the Kenyan hair salon my toes and feet were curiously tugged, touched and poked.  I really hate feet and I especially HATE when people touch my feet....but apparently EVERYONE just loves my feet and they are quite the topic of conversation!
After my hair was done I walked to town with Sylvia and we were followed by 20 children which were copying the way I walked and touched my hair.  It was quite an overwhelming day because of all the attention.  I hate attention and it is hard to hide from when you are the only different person within a community of 10,000! 
Because of the heat I wore shorts all day and boy oh boy I dont know if I'll be doing that again.  Sylvia asked why I was wearing hot pants, even though they were regulation length by Ontario school standards! Women here do not show their thighs and I got even MORE stares (mostly male) on the walk to town.  I was able to get quite the tan on my legs so I think I will avoid wearing shorts for as long as possible!
To answer my mom's comment about circumcision, boys are circumcised when they are 12 and than live in a house by themselves.  Woman are also circumcised around the same age but the practice is much more popular with the Masai people. 
Wish me luck that my hair doesn't fall out by the endless rubbing, touching and braiding! 

Sugar Cane Scars

While most of you were in bed sleeping this morning I was on a journey.....one that has left to with scars, scratches and great memories.  Sylvia and I decided to go for a long walk to the river at the edge of town.  Sally a 7 year old girl (who is SO SMART) joined us and we eventually met up with 3 of Sylvia's cousins.  Together we walked 30 minutes to Sylvia's grandmothers house; unfortunately she was no home because her sister's funeral was that afternoon (she died at the age of 112).  The walk to the grandmothers house was quite hard core, I was wearing a long grey cotton skirt which I had to hold the entire way so it wouldn't get wet and muddy (I failed at keeping it clean).  We walked through a swamp and each step I took I wondered and hoped I wouldn't be stepping on a weird unknown plant or animal that would kill me (okay, maybe not KILL me but injure me somehow).  The cousins held my flip flops and made a chain to make sure we stepped in the shallow part of the swamp.  The waters current was quite fast and thankfully didn't take us away.  We arrived at the grandmothers house and took a break in a mud hut which the 3 boys live in (after circumcision they live by themselves).  The floors were dirt, the walls mud and sticks and it was furnished with various tables and chairs not to mention many calendars hanging on the walls.  They had a few cows living on the land and a few families of chickens.  We wandered outside and one o the boys pulled out a sugar cane, roots intact and cut it into pieces with a machete.  Eating raw sugar cane is very difficult because you have to peel the skin off with your teeth.  My mom and dad spent a lot of money on my teeth so I decided to not join in on the sugar cane eating.  The boys were playing with a round top to a large canister that they would push along the ground with a homemade stick handle.  One of the boys asked Sylvia in Swahili (I usually never know what anyone is saying because they all speak Swahili) where I am from.  She explained I was Canadian and he said "I have a Canadian dollar, can she use it if I give it to her."  After about an hour of playing we took the same way back and got home and I took a shower (more like tempted to take a shower) and discovered that my legs were ALL TORN UP from the sugar cane leaves!  I didn't notice the stinging while walking through the swamp because of the mud, but I can sure feel it now!  It was well worth it though.  Walking with the children on a hot Kenyan afternoon with Mount Elgon in the background is simply priceless.  I didn't bring my camera on the journey, which I actually don't regret because the camera would have ne ruined and I wouldn't have been able to take it all in.  Some memories are best kept to yourself so you can dream of them at a later time. 
I am quite full from dinner of chipati.....which is soy beans in a stew with onions and tomatoes with a pancake type of thing to dip.  It was SO GOOD!  Now I can sleep and have some crazy dreams (my malaria pills cause quite the vivid dreams).  Oh, by the way....it didn't rain today! YIPPY!
Good Night!

The Kenyan Life

Hello everyone! I am starting to get use to the Kenyan life!  The biggest thing I have had to get use to it the bathroom experience, the tradition and culture pertaining to women and the mud!  I have given up on washing my feet after the muddy days and they are officially dyed red from the dirt.  Although, my nails are now pink because I bought pink nail polish in town for Slyiva, Phylis and I to wear!  I also bought a table for the house in town at the supermarket and Sylvia carried it on her head all the way home! My jaw drops everytime I see a woman carrying things on their head, sometimes things are piled high AND she has a baby tied to her.  How they do it, I don't know! I want to learn...I dont think I will be good at it though!  Everyday it rains in the afternoon and we usually get stuck in the rain on the way home from town!  My legs ache from walking everywhere, and all the women have gret calves because of the walking.  In town there are people everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE! you have to dodge motorcycles and bikes and people, cows, goats, chickens and children runing this way and that way.  I just finished lunch of rice and potatoes and an avacado.  I'm lovin; the potatoes, Phylis cooks them in a tomato sauce mmmm (for those of you who dont know, my fav food is mashed potatoes).  Last night some of the children in the compound I live in came over and coloured, one boy Tyson who is from a town close to Uganda and left because of fighting drew me a car! He is so shy and would hide his face everytime I looked at him.  To say thank you to Tyson for the picture I drew him a picture and gave it to him in school this morning.  He was embaressed and didnt want it because the students would make fun of him and say that a white girl loves him! Today I also became the care taker of Jerry a 10 month old boy who lives next door, the neighbour (Jerry's aunt) gave him to me to watch for an hour.  I sat on the from steps nd the other children came over and kept laughing at me and saying "muzungu how are you".  Later tonight Phylis is going to put Sylvia's hair in braids, which I bought at a store.  Now that she is done school she can wear her hair nice, so I am looking forward to seeing how the hair is done.  Tomorrow is laundry day and I am nervous about how it will happen, I hope I dont look stupid for not knowing how to wash my clothes by hand.....I'm sure my mom will be proud and hopefull she will still let me come over to do laundry at her house haha! Today I also had a conversation with Phylis and Sylvia about movies and if they are real or not.  Some of them they think are true stories.  Also I had to tell Sylvia that high school musical is also not real......highschool musically is very popular here, a girl my age who I bough potatoes from asked me if I know the actors in highschool musical.
Until next time.......

I made it!

I have made it to Kimilili! Yippy! To start from the beginning.......I arrived in Nairobi and 10pm on Sunday and went to Rev Wasikes house, the power was out (which is a common occurrence) and we ate dinner at midnight with candle light! The next morning I took a shower with a bucket of hot water in a room with a hole in the ground...good thing I brought toilet paper! I spend all day Monday with Rev's kids Samson (8 yrs old) and Sheila, we coloured played and just hung out.  Rev Wasike and I left Nairobi at 530 am to take a bus to Kimilili, the first bus we were on took us to a random town at 3pm (we only stopped once to pee :-s) and we had to get onto a 'pass bus' which is a bus for 8 ppl but they pack 25 ppl in it and put ur bags on the ceiling! it was crazy and fun ahhhh! We arrived in town and I think the whole town stopped to stare! I am the only white person!  I live in a home shared with Phylis (Rev's wife) and their eldest daughter Sylvia (14 yrs old).  They have running water and electricity which has been awesome! Sylvia has been loving the GLAMOUR magazine I brought and LOVES LOVES LOVES the fashion! She brought her mattress into my room and we chatted until bed.  She is amazed AND upset I am not married. Before bed every night she prays out loud and she prayed "I hope Mandie is married within one year, I will find her a husband! ohhh goodness! I look forward to spending time with Sylvia while I am here! Today I was able to visit the school, meet the teachers and students! Everywhere I go people stare and the children say "how are you" and call me muzungu which means white girl! Some follow me everywhere and try and touch my skin! One little boy cried when touching me!  I finally found the internet cafe and can get from the house to the cafe and back! Phylis and Rev are really encouraging me to go whereever I chose as long as I tell them where I am going.  I feel quite safe and try to not notice the stares!  Africa so far has been amazing......until tomorrow