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!