Hey guys and Donia, sorry for the delay in posts. I have seriously been running around like a chicken without a head, and trust me, they do run. I haven’t really had a chance to breath till now. So updates….
I have been living without running water for about 4 days. The good thing is it’s not just me but the whole town. This means, there is more pressure on the people who control the water to get it up and running. So, living without running water means I have to get water from the tanks on the school grounds… and because my tanks are small, I have to go a lot. Its definitely becoming an inconvenience. My dishes are piling up because I would rather have water to drink and take a bath then wash dishes. But if water does not return tomorrow, Im going to have to suck it up and wash them…my kitchen is starting to smell.
I had my first dinner party on Sunday night. I guess you could call it a success. If you call running out of dishes, half of the cake stuck in the pan and having a kid pee on your floor a success, then yeah it was a success. It was fun having the ladies over. The kids also seemed to like going over to the muzungu house especially when there was a movie involved. Yeah I bribed the kids into liking me with Kung Fu Panda. Hey it worked. I cooked rice for them, another lady brought over beans and chapti. I was really good and I didn’t kill anyone with my rice. I also got a gas stove from one of them. I probably have the best neighbors. They are all mothers so I am like their baby. I have a gas stove and a jeko which I didn’t have to buy. The gas stove definitely works faster than the kerosene stove and I really starting to get the hang of this cooking thing.
I am still working in the classroom at night. It is my favorite time with the students. It’s very relaxed. My students writing skills are very weak, so I have been trying to teach them composition. I think I got through one lesson before they started asking for signs. Although, I can’t tell if they are genuinely asking or trying to kill time so I don’t lecture on composition. There seems to be a bit of let’s mess with the volunteer. The other night, one of the words that came up was period. I always ask if they know the meaning an sometimes they do, but this time they didn’t know. So, for the next 5-7 minutes, they sat watching me struggle to explain puberty. I tried to keep it simple as possible but there were some words they would stop me at and ask the meaning. Well, I later found out they know all about puberty and periods from class 6. So, did they forget or did they just want to see if the volunteer could pull it off?
Besides getting to teach the cheeky little buggers, I have started to integrate with the staff. Everyone is very helpful and seems to enjoy my company. They tell me I am never short on things to say and like my students am very cheeky( maybe that why my students and I get along so well). But like most teachers will tell you, there always has to be one that you just don’t connect with, and I found him. This gentleman is very nice, however there are a few of his quirks that just seem to irk me. My lessons always seem to follow his and this wouldn’t be a bad thing if he would get out of his class on time. Every single day and every single lesson, guaranteed, he is 15 minutes over. With 1 lesson being only 30 minutes, I don’t get much time to teach. I have asked the other teachers and it seems like he does it to them, although I only asked the female teachers,. So I don’t know if it’s just him or some weird patriarchal thing, since that is sort of the culture here. Once in a while, I can understand, but every single lesson? I was teaching tonight in class 8, we were going over vocabulary, and the same gentleman walks in and starts writing on the board. He finishes and then waits, like I should know this is his class time. So like any true stubborn American would do, I took my time. I guess all this” taking over my classes” was sort of getting to me. He asked where some of the students were, I told him I let them go since my class was over, it was their bed time and I didn’t know he wanted to teach. I am not sure how to deal with this situation, Kenyan style. This country seems to be very indirect and I have no idea how to be indirect. I think I might talk to the deputy headmaster and ask him to either talk to the gentleman or tell me how to address it. I’m going to be working with the man for the next 2 yrs, I wouldn’t want to have it start badly from the beginning and be uncomfortable for the rest of my time.
Well, that about covers the updates. It’s been a month of adjustments and I know they aren’t over, but I haven’t run home crying yet so that’s something good. Even with all the up’s and down’s of this job, I’m having a wonderful time and I don’t even mind when I’m so exhausted from school, I go directly home a sleep for 4 hours.
Here’s the recipe for the cake that got stuck in the pan. I also included the frosting, although I thought the cake was sweet enough without it( believe it or not it was the salt loving Kenyans who wanted it). I do advise when making it, follow the recipe. I sort of added some extra banana and pineapple… it was still good but a little too banana-ee
Tenaya’s birthday cake
Pineapple banana cake
1 cup sugar
¾ cup oil
2 eggs
1 ½ cup flour
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup crushed pineapple
¾ cup diced ripe bananas
Mix dry ingredients. Add all other ingredients. Mix Well. Bake in greased enamel pan for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Sorry this part is a little hazy. Since I’m cooking it Kenyan style. Im sure it’s around 350 degrees and just cook it till its golden brown.
Frosting
¼ cup margarine
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups icing sugar
¼ cup Milk
Margarine should be fairly soft. Mix all ingredients, adding milk to make a good spreading consistency.
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