Changes

This week I made a very important decision. I chose to stop volunteering at the Muslim Secondary School. Monday was my last day at the school, but I didn't actually spend anytime there. We (Dorcas, me, three form 1 boys and three form 2 girls) went to the national library for a meeting/workshop for the librarians and students in the area. The workshop was supposed to start at 8 a.m. I didn't get to the school until 9:45 and we didn't arrive to the library until 10. But that was no problem because we weren't even late! This, is the best example of African time. Everyone is told 8 a.m. And the actual conference doesn't start until 11:30 a.m. This particular meeting was actually very interesting (although one of the guys just wouldn't stop talking!). From the start, all the librarians were asked to discuss problems they have. Apparently, there is a huge rift between librarians and teachers...(not sure if the same problem occurs in America...) and I can't lie. I have noticed tensions between some of the teachers with Dorcas. They don't really see her as important as other teachers, and many librarians at the meeting were also complaining of that. Librarians are a key component to a child's education. As one librarian said "we provide the tools and information that both teachers and students have and need to use." I couldn't have put it better myself. The two hosts of the meeting (whose names I cannot remember...whoops!) were representatives from KNLS (Kenya National Library Service - the group that provided funding for the library we were meeting at) and KLA (Kenya Librarian Association). The meeting was to bring support and networking for the librarians in the area. I won't bore you with all the details but at the end the chairman of the KNLS asked "can our sister from America give a response for all that she has witnessed today?" And so...I stood up and just told them how cool it was that they were doing something like this (and it really is awesome what they are doing) and that I hope it will work for years to come. After the meeting we all hung around and chatted. And I was again asked to volunteer at the National Library and this time I decided to give a solid answer and say yes. The term at school ends in 2 weeks and my visa will expire not long after, in which case I'll be leaving. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to diversify my volunteering. And Dorcas was so supportive. She had wanted me to volunteer there for a while and she was glad that I agreed. I actually started at the library the very next day and that's where I have been since. I go from 9:30 to 2 pm. I work in the American Corner which is funded by the American Embassy. I've been processing books, nothing too fancy. But these are all the boxes we have to do. 

When I say we I mean myself, Irene, Evans and Anthony. They are the cleaners there and they help me out with all the books. They have been so nice! They are very proud of Obama. Not because of politics but because his village is so close to Kisumu and because they are all "cousins" hahaha. While we were talking I noticed something...people like America. Before I left, many people told me I shouldn't tell people that I am from America because America isn't well liked. That may be the case, but I don't think lying about where I am from would make someone like me any more. And maybe, as I explore and travel to other places I won't get the same reaction as here but honestly, no one really cares. And let's just say that they do care, they are happy to know I am from America. They either have a relative there or dreams to go there. They don't judge me on where I am from but how I treat them as a human being. And vice versa. Which is the way it should be. I am proud to be an American and I will not lie to anyone about where I am from or who I am. And if they end up disliking me for being American, then they are not someone I want to spend my time with. But anyway, I am excited to be volunteering at the National library! And the American Corner is the children's section...so who gets to work with cute kids all day? This girl! 

So adorable! And I still plan on visiting the Muslim Secondary school. I am actually going tomorrow just to say hi and see everyone. I just can't stop seeing them! Everyone has been so kind and wonderful. It's been an amazing experience and I know I have friendships that will last a lifetime with Dorcas, Halima and the "wolf pack". 

My Voice is Forever Recorded

I got another picture of the guard! Hopefully this one is more clear...

That thin line beside her leg...that's the gun! On Friday, Dorcas got an application to fill out for this program called Worldreader. What it is, is that it will donate e-readers to a library in order to reduce the cost of books. All the necessary textbooks and thousands of titles in fiction as well as non-fiction are free to access. The deadline for the application is Novemeber 1st and by the 9th (I think) she will know if our library got selected. If our library did get selected it would change everything. There wouldn't be any worry about books being stolen. And I think they would also implement a much better security system than what we would had. It is meant to promote reading and I think the kids would really benefit from it. So I really hope we get selected!! And then on Friday, Zeina (Halima's daughter) decided to come hang out with us in the library. It was so funny! She would run up to me, grab the pencil and some random book and pretend to read. 

And then she would quietly close the book, put down the pencil and run off! She did that maybe three times. And she knows my name now so she says "mzungu Kashmiraaaa!" All the time. Haha! Then on Saturday, we had another religious class but instead of going to the classroom we got to go to Impala park. Impala park is a nature park where there are zebras and impalas freely roaming around. It also has a mini zoo with all these animals. And there is a hotel called Ecolodge which is right on the lake and is absolutely gorgeous! 

There is the lake. And this is where we got to sit for our class. 

That little gazebo right on the lake is where we were. So pretty!! And the class was much better than the first class I went to. We had teacher from Nairobi and we just had an open discussion about everything. He was able to answer my questions much better than the other guy. And he would not only answer my question but have the rest of the students answer also and discuss each answer individually. He was a very nice man and a great teacher. I feel like I was able to learn a lot more from him than the last guy. He didn't talk to us as if we were 5 year olds. It was a great learning experience for me. It was also cool because this Impala park would cost me $15 dollars not including food or anything. But because I went for this class I got free admission anddddd free food!! Breakfast and lunch! Yum yum! We had these burgers for lunch. Oh. My. God. It reminded me of home! Of dad's burgers! They had grilled onions and cheese on top, just like dad's! Best burger I've had in Africa so far! And today we had a seniors barbecue at the sports club. Asma, Afsana (one of the other girls) and I played, I don't know how many, card games! And there was bingo. Hehe (for the oldies). But it was a nice time. It was just a fun gathering to be together and spend the afternoon. Massi played a game where she bowled! She almost toppled over throwing the ball, thankfully she was fine! But it was so funny. And on the way home Asma called into a radio station. She made me talk and then 20 minutes later my voice was broadcasted all over Kenya! Hahaha! It was so weird. They asked me where I was from (I said Kisumu), what my name was (I said Asma), the answer to the question (which I didn't know but Asma told me) and who I dedicated the song to...Rehan! Asma's little brother!!! It was so weird to hear my voice on the radio. And they shall never know it was just a girl from Texas talking because her friend was too shy to speak! 

National Exams

This week begins the almost month long session for the K.C.S.E. exams for the form 4s. I got to school today and the form 4s had just started their break in between the Kiswahili paper 1 and paper 2. Almost at once a huge rush of people swarmed into the library running to get Kiswahili books to flash study before going back to the testing room. I had at least ten people greet me at the same time in a rush to enter the library. After they went back to their room I saw something really interesting. Apparently these tests are very, very important and because of that they have national guards to make sure that the tests are not corrupted by teachers or fellow students. I saw one of the guards and she had a machine gun...sooo...guess these things are serious. Here is my creeper picture of her. 

I'll try and show the gun next time. But taking creeper pics is an art form! It takes time to get the perfect one hahaha. You can tell by her posture she is holding something heavy on her left side. Anyways, I saw Arnold again. He was allowed to come back to school grounds because the exam has to do with the nation and he paid the separate fee. And Dorcas brought her son again today. There's him and Zeina (Halima's daughter). 

They are so cute! This time, Junior wasn't afraid of me and we played peek-a-boo for a good while. And I forgot to say this in the last post but on Friday (which was my mom's birthday...Happy late birthday momma, I love you!) They had a prayer day for the students at school. All the parents came. There was both a pastor and an imam to conduct prayers for the students and the students received success cards which just wish them luck. Apparently, the more cards you get, the more popular you are. Also on Friday I convinced Halima to let me take a picture of her beautiful mendhi (henna) that she had. 

She even had some on her feet!

And I tried this drink called Krest Bitter Lemon...it's a soda and it tastes like a lemonade ginger ale. Except not very sweet. I actually enjoyed it! And on Thursday I watched a guy kill a chicken. That's a blunt way to put it but it wasn't a traumatic experience at all. He wa a Muslim and so the process for him to kill the chicken was very peaceful and clean. He said a prayer, slit the throat, said another prayer, slit another part of the throat and let the chicken die peacefully. I was kinda mesmerized by it. It was nothing like what I've seen in the states when it comes to killing meat. A much better process in my opinion. All the meat that comes to the school is halal which is great. Maybe from now on I should be like those annoying people who demand to know where the chicken they are eating is from and what it's name was, but instead of asking those questions I shall just demand for halal meat! 

Touristy Weekend

This weekend my cousin Tabi came down from Nairobi to visit for her birthday! She and her friends Evette, Brian, Melissa and Tara (I hope those names are spelled right) all came on Saturday evening and stayed until today. There was a national holiday yesterday which meant that most schools were closed today so we were able to have a lovely weekend together. They arrived Saturday at around 7pm and right away we checked into a little hostel called Sooper Guest House and then went to eat at The Laughing Buddha. The Laughing Buddha is a veggitarian cafe that has delicious food. We are dinner and went back to the hostel to get ready to go out. It was my first time going out to a club/bar scene since being in Kenya and it was pretty interesting. Tara, Tabi, Evette, Brian and I all went to this club called Signiture. I tried a Tusker for the first time! Real African beer! And then we danced the night away! They even played Spanish music which I freaked out about. Dad, they played your song by Don Omar - Danza Kuduro! And oh man, I love Kiswahili music so much! Brian gave me a huge list of people to look up. It's definitely good to go to the clubs in a large group and I don't want to go to any clubs or bars unless I am in a big group like that. We all watched out for eachother. At one point some guy came up trying to offer to buy me a drink and I just spoke Spanish to him and pretended to not know English. Tara and Tabi couldn't stop laughing! But we had a great night and I could barely walk back to the hostel, my legs were so sore from dancing! The next day (Sunday) we decided to spend all day on the lake. We woke up late and went to the lakeside for some fish.

We ended up at a Restuarant called Delta. We originally had a table on the rooftop. And then we went downstairs to pick out a fish. When we got back to the rooftop there was a couple sitting at our table. Now I just want y'all to know I was with a group of Canadians and this is where the difference between Americans and Candians was obvious. I was ready to wait for another table or demand to have the table back. The girls just said "oh sorry lets go back downstairs". Typical passive Canadians hahaha! Litteraly they say sorry wayyyy to much! Anyways, here is a picture of the fish we ate. 

And a view from the lake. 

That's Lake Victoria. The second largest lake in the world and the largest lake in Africa. Then after the delicious fish with chapati we went to the Dhow point to relax and maybe find a boat to take us out to find....hippos! Here is all of us stuffed in a tuktuk (6 people!)

We laid around for a while and just talked. Then Brian was able to find a cheaper rate for a boat and we got a great tour of the shore line of the lake. 

There is me and Tabi!

And then...dun fun duhhhhh! WE FOUND HIPPOS!! 

It was both scary and amazing to see these magnificent creatures in real life. The tour guide said that the hippos in Kisumu are the least aggressive because the humans tend to let them do their own thing as opposed to take over their land on the shore so they are less intimidated by the boats and humans. 

There's just some landscape pictures! 

From left to right: Evette, Tabi, Melissa, Tara and me in the brightttt pinkkk! Haha. 

After the hippos we walked back to the hostel (about 40 minutes) and took a quick nap before going out for dinner. We went to the Green Garden Restaurant. Oh my gosh. We waited over an hour and a half for food...which was okay just a bit annoying because we didn't get out of there until 9 ish. Then, today we went for breakfast at the Al Noor Cafeteria which is famous for its sheesh kebabs and mishkaki. We had breakfast and then just hung out at the Jomo Kenyatta park in the middle of the town. We just laid around and talked for a while. Then we went around looking at fabrics and different vendors. And we finally ended up back at Al Noor for the famous sheesh kebabs and mishkaki. 

And I ordered falood! This milkshake with noodles and tapioca! And look what I saw at Swan Center (a mall).

It doesn't work but it was cool to see! 

Anyways, I had a wonderful time with the Candians. It's cool to travel in a group. You have more freedom to go out without worrying about the dangers of being alone. I can't wait to go visit them in Nairobi! And I really hope they had as good of a time in Kisumu as I did with them. 

My First Month!

I've been in Kisumu for a little over a month now and I've been alone for about a month. And though I've been here for so long...I haven't really gotten to go anywhere. I am hoping that at the end of this week I'll be able to do some "tourist" things. But this week was good! Wednesday, the home science students (all of the 5, there were 9 total but 5 were from our school) had to finish up their national exam. That means...FOOD!!! Hehe, the final part of their exam was to cook a breakfast for three. The menu included: mandazi's (this bread thing) or droplets (a sweeter version), sweet potato and chai. And guess who gets to eat all of that after the exam is over...? The staff!! Mmm mmm mmm! All I can say is, there is nothing like home cooked food. (Even if it is cooked at a school). But not only did the students have to cook, they had to set the table up as well. 

Some of the "students" were actually private students who weren't in school but decided to get the credit. (Like when ex-military go for their SAT). If you can't tell, they set up all the food in the library. So after they were judged all the staff came, ate and talked for about an hour. 

Halima took my camera and went on a picture escapade. 

There is the French teacher (on the left) and the geography teacher Sofie. 

That's one of the science teachers and the Kiswahili teacher Florence. 

There's me with the principal and the other English teacher (Matta) who is taking the picture while Halima was taking the picture. Pic-seption!! 

And there is Halima with her plate of goodies! Then later on, Halima decided to do my hair...

And to put her hijab on me...

And then we were dancing around the library during lunch and all the students were trying to see what we were doing! 

Then Thursday, some girls got caught skipping and so their punishment was to clean the library, dormitories and classrooms along the East wing. 

I also tried this thing called arrow root. 

It's that purple thing. It's pretty good. And I realized that the coke bottles here have no nutrition facts. Nothing had nutrition facts actually. Just ingredient lists. 

Then on Friday I went to the national library with Dorcas! 

It had an American Corner!! 

And I was invited to volunteer there as well! So I may just do that! We had walked to the library from school, but we took a motorcycle back to the school because we were running late. I have now officially used every form of public transportation here (now, whether or not it was a good idea is not the point...:p). The motorcycle was fun! The only problem was the dust got into my eyes and oh man does that hurt like a...female dog...I was crying on the ride home, but I wasn't sad, my eyes were just running from all the dust! Also, on Friday I had Asma sleep over at the hotel! Then Saturday she had to go to a sports tournament and I walked to visit Massi. Oh man. I hate walking here. All the men cat call just because I am white and I'm alone. One guy was shouting "hey pretty ladyyyy, I love you! I miss you! Come back to me babyyy!"  Ugh. Whitegirlprobs. Even though I want to make it clear. I'm mixed!!! Not white! Anyways, I had a good time with Massi. This time she told me I should just get married and settle down....that's not part of my 5 year plan, but who knows. Only if he is rich and handsome...and his name is Aubrey Drake Graham (; Ha! Then Saturday night Asma picked me up and we went to a Hindu temple for a function. There was dandia (dancing) and live music. She has pictures she is supposed to send me, so when she does I'll post them. Everyone was dressed so beautifully. And I felt like I was in India! I don't know if y'all have watched Indian movies, but there is always 2 classic scenes. The children running and the women dancing. And both happened! It was like I was in a movie! It was a great night! And today I had lunch with Gulshan and Shams. 

Beef oxtail! Never had it before and it was delish!