Rural living

Hello-
When we last left you we were leaving Nairobi to meet our host family. About 30 to 40 minutes away from the city we arrived at our family's home. Our family is amazing. They are very friendly. Alex, the father is helpful in getting us aquainted. He works in the district education department and trains special education teachers. Our host mother, Sephira, does not speak english as well but is a gracious host. They have three children. William is the oldest, 14, and attends a boarding high school. He is only home for this weekend because he is on a break. Michelle, 12, is so friendly, and tells us many stories. John, 6, is adorable and loves to jump and play all the time. Both John and Michelle attend a private school. Alex also hosts his niece, Beth, 15, who attends the school where we teach at.

It is a moderate home and we have a comfortable bedroom to stay in. It has definitely been difficult to get used to life without running water. There is an enclosed area outside for the toilet. It consists of a hole. We wash in the morning in a room inside the house with a bucket of warm water. The kitchen is in a separate enclosed area outside. All the food that is prepared either comes from their garden, animals, or the market. Milk for tea comes straight from the cow to the boiler to us. We eat a lot of rice, cabbage, potatoes, and we drink a lot of kenyan tea (chai). So far we have only experienced minor stomach problems adjusting to the food.

We had our first day of school yesterday. It is almost an hour hike up and down hills each way. The teachers are friendly and so grateful to have us work with them. The head of the school is a woman which is very progressive for a rural school. The children were extremely excited to see us. Many of them have never seen a foreigner before. Mostly the first day was introductions. They would leave us alone separately with a class so we would get to know the students. We are teaching 4th-8th grade different subjects such as English, Math, Social Studies, PE, and Religion (Christianity). The children were very curious touching our hair and asking us questions about our family and where we came from. Sometimes they were a bit shy at first but then they would crowd around us in a large group. Some of the classes contain 60 or more children, so the teachers are overwhelmed. They have never had a volunteer at the school before or anywhere in the immediate area. The area is so rural that some of the children walk 2 hours to school. It seems like we will be able to impact the community of children even though we are only here for a relatively short time.

The entire area of Olorien Kajiado is Christian and most take their faith very seriously. There are many Christian radio stations. Our host father tells us that most Kenyans are Christian and that there are very few people who only practice traditional beliefs. Even the people who do keep up with some old traditions are Christian.

Today was our first trip on the Matatus-small busses for public transport. We walked from Alex's home about 25 minutes to the bus stop. We took one matatu to Kiserian, a small town with some shopping. Then we took another matatu to Ngong, the closest place with the internet. We will only be able to update the blog on weekends. We are not sure yet if we can post pictures. We will try next time.

With our volunteer program we already planned a safari in a few weeks to the Masai Mara animal reserve. We will camp with a group for three days. There we will be able to see all the major animals in Kenya. In the area where we are staying in there used to be many zebras, giraffes,antelopes, and other game animals. Now it is rare to see them because there are so many big fences and new farms in the area.

The area is very beautiful. There are many large hills. It is a savannah like geography. It is winter here now so the first few days it was in the upper 60s/lower 70s and everyone was complaining about how cold they were, wearing multiple layers of sweaters and jackets. They think we are crazy for enjoying the weather. Today it was hotter, probably 80s.

We are enjoying our trip very much so far. We did get homesick last night when we encountered an ant infestation on the floor and a gigantic spider on the bathroom door. When we return in a month we will appreciate running water and our bathroom like never before! More to come next weekend :)

In Nairobi

Hello from Nairobi.

We arrived safely last night minus one bag, which will hopefully show up sometime soon. We spent a night at a hotel where we took some very cold showers and settled into our mosquito net protected beds. At breakfast there were some Masai dressed in traditional clothing who did a song and dance. As we were leaving they were showing some of their travel companions how to jump very high in the air. The jump was exactly as Aunt Christa had predicted to our utter surprise. After breakfast we were taken to the Cosmic Volunteer headquarters where we got some introduction to Kenya. We did some shopping and bought a cell phone (number to come) in case of emergency.

We will be leaving for Kajiado this afternoon, shortly after we finish typing this blog. We have learned that the family we will stay with is Kikuyu in origin though the area is primarily Masai. There will be no electricity or running water (so we've stocked up on bottled water). Most of the villagers live in Masai huts and tend cattle. We are told that women in the village are not valued at all according to Masai culture. The men value the cattle first then the children and then the women. So we are preparing for a very different way of life. The school where we will be teaching has many many students and too few teachers. Some of our classes might have 80 students! We are also responsible for correcting their schoolwork. It looks like we will have our work cut out for us.

All in all it has been quite shocking to be here but so far we aren't seriously second guessing our decision to come. It will be difficult at first but we are open to the challenge. We can already see how much different our perspective of the world will be when we return.

More to come soon...hopefully.

We're leaving tomorrow?!?

Yes, that's right, tomorrow is the big day. The last few days have been pretty stressful doing last minute errands and packing our bags. Nikki almost couldn't get her bag shut. Now we are sitting here contemplating what we have gotten ourselves into and what lies ahead...

Recently we have received additional information on our accommodations in Kenya. Kajiado, home to the Masai tribe, is extremely rural. There is no electricity and the nearest Internet source is 20 minutes away by bus. Our host family has three children, ages 9, 12, and 14 who will help us get accustomed to the area. We will be arriving in Kajiado on Thursday evening and we expect to begin teaching on Friday. We will then have the weekend to get settled into our new home. We hope to update the blog as often as possible, however, this may happen only once a week when we venture to the next town.

Some family and friends have already posed some interesting questions that they would like to have answered: What's the food like? How do you say bad words in Swahili? Does the Masai tribe really drink cows blood and milk? What is the religion like in the area? What's with the jumping? If you have other questions let us know and we'll try to get them answered for you. On to Africa!!!

Welcome

Hey all! Welcome to our blog on our Kenya adventure. We'll try to keep you updated on our trip to Kenya as we travel. For those of you who don't know we are spending one month in Kajiado Kenya, a small rural village in the Southern Rift Valley. There we will be living with a host family and teaching English at a primary school. We also plan on filling our weekends with orphanage work and safari trips.

It is less than a week away until we leave, and the excitement and nervousness has definitely set in. We are currently in Petoskey, MI until Sunday when we return to Ann Arbor. We leave the US on Tuesday June 26th. Wish us luck!