Well my holidays now belong to Peace Corps. I have been busy helping with PST( training for the new soon to be volunteers) and my mid service medical( check ups, dentist etc). I have to say even though it took 2 weeks out of my holiday, those 2 weeks really helped me remember why I joined the Peace Corps in the first place. It showed me where I’ve been and where Im going. During PST, I got to hang with the new trainees. It brought back memories of my own PST and how excited I was to soon be teaching in Kenya. They helped me remember that I am a teacher and no matter how sadistic my fellow teachers can be, I will still be a teacher, there to inspire, educate and guide my students. When the week ended, I felt rejuvenated and inspired to tackle my 2nd year here.
After PST, I traveled to Nairobi to complete my medical check ups. While we were there, the group of teachers before us were completing their COS( close of service) It was bittersweet to say the least. As their time here got shorter and shorter, they would talk about their future plans. Some were traveling around the world before heading home, others got jobs in Kenya working with refugees, some were going home to complete school, and a few were extending their service for another year. Listening to their plans, got me excited for my own COS. I love my students and will be sad when I have to say goodbye but I was looking forward to the endless possibilities awaiting me. I was excited to discover what I would do next after my service was complete. Where would I go? What was next for me? I can’t wait to find out!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
New Years Resolutions 2011
Go for a walk to someplace new everyday.
Travel to Rwanda, Ethiopia, Lamu, Hells gate, Lake Turkana, Mount Kenya, and a game reserve before the year is up
Stay out of the teacher drama, this one is going to be a hard one.
Set up at least one IGA so the athletic club can be self sufficient by the time I leave.
Get 2 people trained to work at the VCT
Go up and hang with the students at night at least 2x a week
Try to think better of peoples intentions
Travel to Rwanda, Ethiopia, Lamu, Hells gate, Lake Turkana, Mount Kenya, and a game reserve before the year is up
Stay out of the teacher drama, this one is going to be a hard one.
Set up at least one IGA so the athletic club can be self sufficient by the time I leave.
Get 2 people trained to work at the VCT
Go up and hang with the students at night at least 2x a week
Try to think better of peoples intentions
What have I become?
Anyone who has served in the Peace Corps can tell you, you go through many changes. You dress far more conservative than your friends, you pronounce the p in corps as well as your t‘s, you feel awkward in jeans or trousers, and your view of people changes as well. This one is probably the most difficult to accept. Before joining the peace corps, I felt like I was a trusting person. I would talk to random strangers on the streets of San Francisco, and I never felt nervous or distrustful of someone. This week I came to realize this particular trait has changed and Im not sure it’s for the better. I find myself more conscious of people, less trusting of their motives and always assuming they want something from me. I am finding no matter how nice people are when I first meet them, they always have something they want from me. Whether it’s money, a trip to America or my favorite skirt that they admire. Now are all Kenyans like this? I hope not. But Im finding it very hard to find someone who wants to be my friend just to be my friend. This part of the culture has changed me into something Im not sure I like. I’ve stopped looking for the good in people and just started to assume they are just like the others. Since New Years is coming up, Im starting to think about my resolutions. I think changing my view about Kenyans would be a good one to have. Although this won’t stop people from asking me for things, but maybe it will help me to remember not to jump to conclusions when I meet someone. I don’t want to remember my time in Kenya and the people I’ve met as leeches who just want something from me. I want to remember the market mamas and their desire to teach my Swahili, the kids yelling “Mzungu, How are you,” the hospital staff willing to learn KSL and the joy I have teaching my students. That is what I want to remember.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
You know your a PCV living in Africa when........
You know you're a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa when...
..walking around holding a roll of toilet paper seems like a
completely normal thing to do.
..Sitting under a tree watching goats graze is considered a "productive day"
..you stare when you see a white person you don't know
..the length of time it takes you to walk anywhere is wholy dependent
on how many people happen to be in their yards along the way
..knee length skirts are shocking, but toplessness is not
..two weeks, three countries, and three changes of clothes in a
backpack seems about right
..seeing a movie in a theatre is a good bargain, but buying a book is
an unthinkable expense
..you have come to realize that the monkeys in the park's play pretty
much the same role as squirrels in America but you persist in taking
pictures of them anyway
..there is a rooster you would like to kill, if only he weren't
dangerously close to your size
..you are considered the eminent expert on professional wrestling
dispite being able to count you're WWE viewing sessions on one hand
..you are outraged whenever the fare for a 30 minute taxi ride goes up
30 cents US dollars
..you are not outraged whenever your 30 minute taxi ride takes 2 hours
..you are stuck in an overcrowded bus for 10 hours in 120 degree heat
and no one is willing to open the windows for fear of catching the flu
..you can identify an otherwise unmarked strecth of road by the
pattern of the potholes
..when walking down the street, small children shout "white person"
and point at you but as you walk towards them they run away screaming
in terror
..you find government employees sleeping on the floor of their offices
in the middle of the work day
..when buying clothes you think "how hard would this be to wash in a bucket?"
..the fact that peptobismal turns vomit black is a standard and
essential element of your knowledge base
..showering every day seems like a decotive vacation
..you live in an almost constant state of exestential anxiety about
whether or not you are driving on the wrong side of the road no matter
which side you happen to be on
..you're cognizant of being the worst dressed person in your village
and you don't care
..you double up on words beyond the standard shop shop and now now so
that such phrases as soon soon, past past, long long, and hot hot are
part in parcel with your everyday vocabulary
..if you have to choose between whether you would rather loose your
passport or your adapter you would choose the passport
..30 kilometers is considered a pretty short distance
..you don't think twice about going potty in a plastic bag at night as
a way to avoid leaving your hut
..you have so many random bags that when you travel you look like a gipsy
..you will drink and enjoy anything that is cold
..if you're taking public transport and your lap is empty, there is
always room for more people
..you immediately loose your ability to estimate distances and waving
your hand towards a certain place is considered giving directions
..if a problem arises, your first reaction is a single big long sigh
..you secretly enjoy African pop music including Klito (sp?) and
KwasaKwasa (sp?)
..you enjoy eating maize meal and even order it at restaurants
..you're menstrual cycle coincides with the moon cycle
..basically, you have no shame
..you can never act more crazy than your African counterparts already
think you are
..spiders are no longer the enemy, but your trusted ally in the
constant battle against bugs
..you let complete strangers crash at your place just because they speak English
..you've lost track of how many marriage proposals you've received.
..you know how to make alcohol with local ingredients
..a long work day is six hours
..you distinguish between your Peace Corps family and your American family
..those eggs have been sitting out in the sun all day, sure i'll take two
..you realize that every village must have its token crazy person
..you stare at foriegn tourists as much as the locals
..when you actually realize you miss having a salad
..when you know if someone at your site says "yes" it means
"definitely not", "maybe" means "probably not" and "no" means "no"
..when you have a story for every possible topic in life that starts
with "when i lived in Africa..."
..walking around holding a roll of toilet paper seems like a
completely normal thing to do.
..Sitting under a tree watching goats graze is considered a "productive day"
..you stare when you see a white person you don't know
..the length of time it takes you to walk anywhere is wholy dependent
on how many people happen to be in their yards along the way
..knee length skirts are shocking, but toplessness is not
..two weeks, three countries, and three changes of clothes in a
backpack seems about right
..seeing a movie in a theatre is a good bargain, but buying a book is
an unthinkable expense
..you have come to realize that the monkeys in the park's play pretty
much the same role as squirrels in America but you persist in taking
pictures of them anyway
..there is a rooster you would like to kill, if only he weren't
dangerously close to your size
..you are considered the eminent expert on professional wrestling
dispite being able to count you're WWE viewing sessions on one hand
..you are outraged whenever the fare for a 30 minute taxi ride goes up
30 cents US dollars
..you are not outraged whenever your 30 minute taxi ride takes 2 hours
..you are stuck in an overcrowded bus for 10 hours in 120 degree heat
and no one is willing to open the windows for fear of catching the flu
..you can identify an otherwise unmarked strecth of road by the
pattern of the potholes
..when walking down the street, small children shout "white person"
and point at you but as you walk towards them they run away screaming
in terror
..you find government employees sleeping on the floor of their offices
in the middle of the work day
..when buying clothes you think "how hard would this be to wash in a bucket?"
..the fact that peptobismal turns vomit black is a standard and
essential element of your knowledge base
..showering every day seems like a decotive vacation
..you live in an almost constant state of exestential anxiety about
whether or not you are driving on the wrong side of the road no matter
which side you happen to be on
..you're cognizant of being the worst dressed person in your village
and you don't care
..you double up on words beyond the standard shop shop and now now so
that such phrases as soon soon, past past, long long, and hot hot are
part in parcel with your everyday vocabulary
..if you have to choose between whether you would rather loose your
passport or your adapter you would choose the passport
..30 kilometers is considered a pretty short distance
..you don't think twice about going potty in a plastic bag at night as
a way to avoid leaving your hut
..you have so many random bags that when you travel you look like a gipsy
..you will drink and enjoy anything that is cold
..if you're taking public transport and your lap is empty, there is
always room for more people
..you immediately loose your ability to estimate distances and waving
your hand towards a certain place is considered giving directions
..if a problem arises, your first reaction is a single big long sigh
..you secretly enjoy African pop music including Klito (sp?) and
KwasaKwasa (sp?)
..you enjoy eating maize meal and even order it at restaurants
..you're menstrual cycle coincides with the moon cycle
..basically, you have no shame
..you can never act more crazy than your African counterparts already
think you are
..spiders are no longer the enemy, but your trusted ally in the
constant battle against bugs
..you let complete strangers crash at your place just because they speak English
..you've lost track of how many marriage proposals you've received.
..you know how to make alcohol with local ingredients
..a long work day is six hours
..you distinguish between your Peace Corps family and your American family
..those eggs have been sitting out in the sun all day, sure i'll take two
..you realize that every village must have its token crazy person
..you stare at foriegn tourists as much as the locals
..when you actually realize you miss having a salad
..when you know if someone at your site says "yes" it means
"definitely not", "maybe" means "probably not" and "no" means "no"
..when you have a story for every possible topic in life that starts
with "when i lived in Africa..."
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Lowest point of my service
I don’t know if it’s a good idea to post this on my blog. I did promise not to post any more sad posts but I feel I need to get it out. Today, I had a staff meeting. It started out like any other staff meeting, slow and redundant. Then without any knowledge before hand, I found out that a few days ago one of my class 8 boys raped one of the class 2 girls. This is a boy who I thought was a caring, sweet boy. He was always there to help me and I respected him. He always worked hard and even helped me during my girl empowerment class where I taught the girls how to say no to boys when they ( the boys) ask for sex and how to fight off a boy if they ever grabbed her. I even taught his class about rape and how wrong it was. I thought I had made an impact, I thought I was protecting them for what’s out there. I thought it had sunk in and I was actually doing some good. But I was wrong. I also had been working with a local athletic club and the boy was the first person I thought of. He is an amazing runner and hard working. I even had people come out and see him. One of the coaches really was impressed with him and wanted him to join. This was his ticket out of here. He would have gone to meets around the country and then hopefully around the world. But knowing he raped one of the girls we now can not have him in the club. So his future is ruined. I even had to tell the headmaster, he should not be allowed back at the school. These life skills classes, guidance classes I am teaching, I am starting to think they are not doing any good. So why am I even here? What impact am I really having?
1 yr of teaching done!
Well another milestone happened today. I finished my 1st year of teaching. And as my class 8 students leave one by one, I can’t help feeling a little sad. Sad, because my students won’t be here next year with me, sad because I only have one more year here in Kenya and sad I still have another year with the psycho teacher. Since reaching my year mark in Kenyan everyone from family to friends, to random people in the cyber world have asked me what will I do after Kenya. Well, as I sit here wrapped up in a fleece blanket, wool sweater, drinking coffee listening to the rain thundering outside and reading The Sex Lives of Cannibals by T. Maarten Troost, I have sudden passion to do a stint in the south pacific....
Saturday, November 6, 2010
A Goodbye Letter
Dear Winny, Irene, Kelvin, Ronald, Julius, Tumanka, Joan, Betty, Vincent K, Jackline, Goffrey, Tonkei, Komoni, Vincent L, and Obadiah,
As I sit here in my new rocking chair, trying not to tear up, I can’t help thinking that I have you for only one more week. I failed. Tearing up has now moved to full on crying. It was you guys who helped me survive my first year in Kenya and KSL and I owe you everything. I remember my first time as teacher on duty, I was so scared. I had no idea what to do. But when I came to you asking for help, all of you stepped up and assisted me all week. It was you who had the patience to deal with my crazy and sometimes unconventional ways of teaching. I can’t imagine school without you next term. We formed a special bond that I will never forget. I am so happy and proud of all of you but I can’t help being a little sad to see you all go.
Julius and your caring nature, watching over me and the little ones. Assuring me my signing was not the problem and helping me explain what I was teaching to the kids who were slower. Kelvin and your cheeky, witty humor. I would always have to stop at least 3 times during class to get you to stop day dreaming. I always wondered what you dreamed about. Winny, and your ever present smile and how happy you would get when you answered a question correctly. I hope you realize how smart you are. I got to see your self esteem blossom from when I first met you. Irene, I always looked forward to your hugs on opening day. You were always stealing my phone calling your parents who don’t even speak English. Vincent L, you have a passion for art and playing tricks on me, always trying to get me…you never succeeded. Obadiah always focused on your studies. I was so impressed when the other kids were out playing, you were in the classroom alone studying. Ronald and your endless questions about Obama and America. You always made me laugh. Tumanka, you were always the first person I saw when I walked into class. I loved seeing your face light up when you got something correct. Geoffrey, I’ll miss you always trying to steal my phone to play games until I got it back and it‘s was dead.. Jackline, komoni, betty, Joan, my 4 musketeers. So subdued but I feel privileged to get to be the one to see you guys get silly and animated during our games. Tonkei you always had a smile and a positive attitude. You are one of the sweetest boys I have ever met. Vincent K, you have an amazing talent and passion for art and I hope you never loose it.
We have learned together and faced challenges together. All of you have brought something to my education here in Kenya.. You all have so many dreams and I hope someday you reach them. My wish for all of you is to realize your full potential and go out and do great things. I am going to miss all you so much and I feel honored and proud that you were my first class.
Love,
Danielle
As I sit here in my new rocking chair, trying not to tear up, I can’t help thinking that I have you for only one more week. I failed. Tearing up has now moved to full on crying. It was you guys who helped me survive my first year in Kenya and KSL and I owe you everything. I remember my first time as teacher on duty, I was so scared. I had no idea what to do. But when I came to you asking for help, all of you stepped up and assisted me all week. It was you who had the patience to deal with my crazy and sometimes unconventional ways of teaching. I can’t imagine school without you next term. We formed a special bond that I will never forget. I am so happy and proud of all of you but I can’t help being a little sad to see you all go.
Julius and your caring nature, watching over me and the little ones. Assuring me my signing was not the problem and helping me explain what I was teaching to the kids who were slower. Kelvin and your cheeky, witty humor. I would always have to stop at least 3 times during class to get you to stop day dreaming. I always wondered what you dreamed about. Winny, and your ever present smile and how happy you would get when you answered a question correctly. I hope you realize how smart you are. I got to see your self esteem blossom from when I first met you. Irene, I always looked forward to your hugs on opening day. You were always stealing my phone calling your parents who don’t even speak English. Vincent L, you have a passion for art and playing tricks on me, always trying to get me…you never succeeded. Obadiah always focused on your studies. I was so impressed when the other kids were out playing, you were in the classroom alone studying. Ronald and your endless questions about Obama and America. You always made me laugh. Tumanka, you were always the first person I saw when I walked into class. I loved seeing your face light up when you got something correct. Geoffrey, I’ll miss you always trying to steal my phone to play games until I got it back and it‘s was dead.. Jackline, komoni, betty, Joan, my 4 musketeers. So subdued but I feel privileged to get to be the one to see you guys get silly and animated during our games. Tonkei you always had a smile and a positive attitude. You are one of the sweetest boys I have ever met. Vincent K, you have an amazing talent and passion for art and I hope you never loose it.
We have learned together and faced challenges together. All of you have brought something to my education here in Kenya.. You all have so many dreams and I hope someday you reach them. My wish for all of you is to realize your full potential and go out and do great things. I am going to miss all you so much and I feel honored and proud that you were my first class.
Love,
Danielle
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