Karibu (you are welcome)

I have had some great moments since I arrived a few days ago.  Some more memorable than others and not always for good reasons.


My first day here was a whirlwind.  After traveling for 26 hours to make it from Chicago to Kisumu, I was supposed to be picked up by Victor, a driver for NRHS (Nyanza Reproductive Health Society).  Unfortunately, Victor kind of forgot to come get me and by the time he remembered I had already borrowed a phone from a Kenyan Police Officer and contacted Matt and Nelli (friends from UIC that live in Kenya) to come pick me up.

After Matt collected me from the Kisumu airport (which is a tiny little regional airport) he took me the house I am staying in to drop my stuff and then over to his and Nelli's place (right next door) to have breakfast.  They made delicious fruit smoothies with homemade yogurt and banana bread.


They took great care of me for the rest of the day and I got to see Leta (their beautiful daughter) again, who I hadn't seen since she was a week old.  Before having dinner together, we all took a walk around the neighborhood.  The weather was beautiful.


After dinner, we were sitting around drinking wine and the wind started really gusting and we had monsoon like rains. By about 11 pm the rain let up some and Matt walked me home down the muddy road back to my house.  When I got into the house it was pitch black so I started to feel for the light switch on the wall and clicked one - but nothing happened.  I then tried the one next to it and the light came on.


I had tracked mud all through the house since I had been in flip flops and despite taking my shoes off at the door my feet were covered in mud.  I grabbed the mop to clean up the mess when the doorbell rang and 4 Large Kenyan Men with billy clubs were at my house.


Through an open window I asked what I could do for them and they go, "Are you alright, Miss?"  I couldn't imagine they were asking about the mud situation so I looked at them relatively dumbfounded and they then stated that I had rung the alarm from inside the house.  I clearly had no clue what they meant so one of them said, "May I come in to show you?"  My first thought was HELL no you can't come in here man with the club! But I decided that since I had to mop to defend myself with in case of emergency that I would be ok.  So he came in the showed me this:

As you can imagine - in the dark it would be easy to assume both are light switches!


On day #2 (August 29th), Matt, Nelli, baby Leta and I took at trip to the Nakumat Market, which is a a huge grocery/all purpose store.  I got groceries and acquainted with what is available here - which is a lot more than the last time I was in Kisumu.


As part of the trip, I bought a large jug of water to which you attach a pump for drinking water.  When I got home, I set up the water jug in the kitchen and then got the pump out of the cabinet.  I was jut about to put the pump directly onto the jug when I decided to check inside the part that would be going into the water to make sure it was clean.  THANK GOD I checked because there was a cockroach inside the pump!!!!  


I rapidly dealt with the situation by flushing the cockroach out with sink water and then promptly washed the hell out of the pump with lots of soap.  Later that day I was sharing this story with Matt and Nelli and they both responded with You need to get DOOM! (Not to be confused with the 1990's computer game, Doom, in which you try to wipe out Nazi Germany and ultimately kill Hitler)


They proceeded to share a story with me about how one evening they heard some noise and so Matt went to check on it while Nelli stayed upstairs and as Matt was coming back up the stairs they saw a cockroach the size of a bird at the top of the steps and Nelli with ninja like qualities grabbed the DOOM and terminated the cockroach in a few sprays.  This stuff is clearly toxic for both humans and insects, because cockroaches have been around for a bazillion years.


So yesterday I made a quick stop at Tuskees Market and bought myself some DOOM.

I

I am hoping that I will never actually have to use the Doom since I am sure it will give me some horrible side effect due to toxicity.

More to come...

An Abode away from Home

I have a video tour of the house where I am staying, but it is having troubles loading. So, for the time being here are some pictures of the house where I am staying.

When you walk in the front door, there is a lovely sitting room from which you can catch the first glimpse of Lake Victoria through the glass doors:

The dining area is adjacent to this sitting room (I am standing in part of it to take the above picture:

The Kitchen is on the other side of the sitting room's wall:

I love the floor of the kitchen!!!  The sink didn't make it into the picture - it's on the far left just out of view.  There is a refrigerator and microwave on the opposite wall as well.  

Beyond the Kitchen is a pantry and big sink for cleaning and laundry, I think.  There is also one bedroom on the main floor.

Once you head upstairs there is another sitting room and 2 more bedrooms.  Below are 2 images of my room.  Once with my mosquito net down on the bed (which is how I sleep) and one with it tied up.

There is also a bathroom in each bedroom.  Here is mine:

Finally, this was the view from my room this morning (Lake Victoria aka the source of the Nile):

Some tails of the first few days to come...

The Land of Rhinos

This first post is going to be catch up from the trip to Kenya.

August 28, 2010

Just arrived in Kenya via Istanbul.  I am sitting waiting for my flight to Kisumu.  My flight arrived in Nairobi at 1:20 am and my flight to Kisumu doesn’t leave until 7:30.  I am waiting at a little café in the international terminal because the domestic terminal doesn’t open until 5:30 am.

The flight from Chicago to Istanbul was pretty good.  Turkish Airlines is quite lovely.  I had an entire row to myself on the airplane (4 seats) until a Turkish gentleman ditched his wife and took the liberty of sitting in my row and occupying 2 of the seats.  Regardless, I was able to sleep about 7 or 8 hours on that flight.  I would say it was more like 5-7 good hours - but sleep nonetheless.

The Second flight was not quite as luxurious as the first.  It was a smaller airplane and did not have the personal media or space that the first flight provided.  It kind of eases you into the third world.

Acquiring a visa was pretty easy.  It cost $25 which is half the price of my last visa for Kenya.  Not sure what that’s all about – but I wasn’t going to argue.  John later informed me that they dropped the cost to lure more tourists.  I am not sure that the $25 really is a make or break it for a trip to Kenya, but I like their moxy.

Little notes:

Turkish Delights are not delightful in fact they should be called Turkish Muck rolled in pistachios or coconut or whatever.  While laying over in Istanbul, I was eager to purchase some of these delectable candies based on a memory of how incredibly delicious they tasted to me in Turkmenistan.  A fellow Peace Corps Volunteer had brought some back after her vacation in Turkey.  

I guess that context really affects our taste buds.  I tried one at the Bazaar Duty Free to help me decide which one to get and pleck not so yummy.  So, thank you Duty Free for putting out those samples so I didn’t waste 13 euros on something so delight-less.

Another lovely tid bit:

There is this super super bizarre middle aged man (I am guessing Russian) who is sitting in the café as well waiting for his domestic flight.  He is listening to an mp3 device and singing (as if there is no one else here) a seriously out of tune version of From a Distance (yes, Bette Midler).  It's pretty classic, but great to know that God is watching us from a distance!

I wish that I could tell you that the video below is of that guy, but it's not.  I must have been too exhausted to think about capturing his performance on film.  I could have had a Youtube sensation on my hands.

Below is a small clip of the domestic terminal at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi.  

Next up: A tour of the house that I am staying at and a recap of my first few days in Kenya.