Archive for May 2009
Pockets Full of Patience and Flexibility
Friday, May 29, 2009 | 7:47 pmBring them with you to Kenya. That’s what the Peace Corps told us during Staging in Philadelphia. I find that here, a little patience and flexibility goes a long way. It can take a frustrating situation and very quickly turn it into a productive one. A little creativity doesn’t hurt, either.
It [...]
Ramblings
Thursday, May 28, 2009 | 7:35 pmI’m going to party it up in Mombasa this weekend. The problem is, I have nothing to wear. I’ve spent the last 6 months tearing, staining, and stretching out my clothes in an attempt to better integrate into my community (or perhaps I’m just really clumsy and sloppy and bad at hand washing). [...]
Matatus
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 | 10:18 pmMatatus are an interesting phenomenon in Kenya. Matatus are minibuses, usually Nissans, that serve as a primary form of public transportation for many Kenyans and this rather brave mzungu.
Matatus are designed to fit the driver and 14 passengers. Rarely are they ever so empty, however; there are usually between 18 and 24 people [...]
Top 10 List: Unexpected Dangers of Rural Kenya
Monday, May 25, 2009 | 9:23 pmThis post is inspired by a similar post from my friend and colleague, Nic, whose blog can be found here.
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Having a mouse jump out of the choo while you are using it
Getting pecked to death by indigenous foul
Suffocating in an overcrowded matatu
Brain implosion from too many ‘How are you’s
Hungry looks from horny Kenyan men
Lack of [...]
Introduction to Computers
Friday, May 22, 2009 | 8:20 pmEarlier this week, several members of my community approached me and asked me if I would teach a computer class. I put the idea in their heads more than two months ago; I discovered that there was an ICT centre with an internet-enabled computer and printer/scanner for use, but that no one was using [...]
Thank You
Thursday, May 21, 2009 | 9:45 pmThank you to everyone who took time to send me words of encouragement after my last post. I received quite an outpouring of support, from friends, family, and even several people I have never met! I had no idea that my journal was so widely read, or that so many of you enjoy [...]
Sabbatical
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | 7:00 pmI plan to take a little break from this blog for a while.
I think I’ve finally hit my first low-point since arriving in country; the point when all of the development work that I had hoped to accomplish in my two-year stint appears to be a farce and where I spend more time [...]
New Address
Thursday, May 7, 2009 | 12:31 pmI have a new address! This will quite probably be the last time my address changes during my service, barring an unforseen event such as site relocation. I am liberating myself from Box 3, as I discovered that I was at the mercy of the woman who owns the box to give me [...]
Ushindi Ndogo (A Small Victory)
Monday, May 4, 2009 | 7:41 pmI arrived home from my travels this morning and immediately got back to work. We had seven interviews scheduled for 8:00am this morning; we are hiring two Field Assistants to help with office work and to talk about mangrove conservation in schools. The prerequisite was completion of Form 4 (12th Grade) and a [...]
Nairobi and Nanyuki
Monday, May 4, 2009 | 6:53 pmI’ve been a busy bee the last few weeks. I made it through In-Service Training (IST), which was held at a conference center just outside Nairobi. While we were in training, there were some disturbances by Mungiki (see below). Luckily, we were in a super-nice part of town behind a gated, guarded [...]