so the year comes to an end...

So the holiday season is almost over... Christmas didn't really feel like Christmas this year. Nairobi weather is nowhere close to that of NYC or Philly. So I went to church on Christmas morning. We were given two packs of flour and a tub of cooking fat. That was the gift. Later I visited Inspiration Centre to help eat a goat that had been slaughtered earlier that day. I opened an enourmous pot, only to find a charred goat's head in a rolling boil. That was the dinner. I helped hand out pencils and little "happy meal" toys to eager children. American kids would laugh at me if I handed them one of those as a gift...

I made it home in time to watch "Storm Over Paradise," the soap opera all of Kenya is currently addicted to. So the story is the same... Imar has yet to find her true paradise love, Nicholas, and I have yet to find my holiday spirit in this foreign land. Will the holidays really be over so soon???

On another note...

Last week I spent some time at a wedding in Najile, learning about Maasai life and culture:


Low Point: having to greet men by bowing and letting them pat my head.

Lower Point: repeatedly stepping in thorns... (flip flops are cute but useless)

High Point: riding on a motorcyclye to Maasai market, using my up and coming swahili to vegetables and fabric.

Higher Point: visiting a few traditional Maasai compounds (homes) and being given the name "Kijoolu," meaning "she just arrived."

This week I will be leaving my current host family to live with another. A bit nervous... new beginning for a new year... Happy 2010... maybe.

turkey murder

Here's my friend Godfrey with the kids during the Buildabridge camp.

Happy belated thanksgiving!

okay, this post has to be quick...

I went with my english students to the Giraffe center in Nairobi. We had a great time feeding them and it it said that giraffe spit is medicine....

I spent a week in Mathare slum teaching kids art. The week went by so fast, with alot of drama too...

-my cell phone fell into a latrine (toilet) and was fished out by a man with rubber gloves. (Horrible to see... horrible to smell...)

-i witnessed a turkey being murdered for thanksgiving dinner (what a horror!)

but other than that, all is well with me. I'm doing okay, and so is my stomach. It's been tough getting to the internet though.

Happy holidays... njoy the cold weather folks... heheheh!

It Rained

It's been raining cats and dogs... and camels. Seriously, it gets so muddy here, u wouldnt

believe it!

Here are some pics for you to njoy...

Here I am with two of the teachers at the center. And some images of life in Eastleigh...

Here's a little girl. She's our neighbor. We live on the 5th floor, so that's my daily workout...

More to come soon. I'm doing great. Okay... surviving...

cj

eastleigh rox

okay, so its busier than nyc... theres plenty of dust and deisel smoke to inhale, and matatus (buses) honk at you if you get in their way. Eastleigh is where its happening!
I walk four blocks to work everyday (and crossing the streets is not an easy feat). There is music, men working, a call to prayer on the loudspeaker, women walking, mud, sewage, extra bumpy roads, and a camel's head lying on the road...
there i am, standing out like a sore thumb in my american clothes: shirt too bright, skirt too short, and an accent that is clearly too heavy to go unnoticed: I think i like it here.

I've met my host fam, and theyre great. My "parents" are so young they're like my older brother and sister. I've learned to count and today was my first day riding the bus across town on my own... i think i can make it!

i've been helping teach english at the center. the students clap when i arrive and want to take pictures with me... lol. celebrity status wasnt one of my expectations but hey... what can i say?

I'm adjusting to the large quantities of food and the new muscles required for squatty potty use. other than that, i'm good. i'm good. i'm here...

pix coming soon!

week 1

okay, so i've gotten over jetlag pretty quickly. im really enjoying it here, other than it being colder than i expected (so much for all of the summer clothes i packed...)
so far i've been learning about mcc's role in kenya. i haven't met my host family just yet, but i will next week.

yesterday i walked around westlands in nairobi a bit... i have to learn how to cross the street again, i feel like a child in need of a chaperone. the traffic here confuses me, but by the end of my time here i dare to drive a bit.

i am looking forward to starting swahili classes. I pass easily for a kenyan, but my ny accent gives it all away... (or maybe it's the blank stare i give people when they speak to me?)

i miss home