Jambo! News about my internship and life in Kenya...

Hey everyone! It is day 15 for me in Kenya and there is a lot of good news:
- I haven't gotten sick
- I know how to get home without getting lost
- I learned how to say - in Swahili, "No, I have no money, I am a student!"
- Hiding money in my bra and socks come second nature
- I have my shower down to about 7 minutes
- I know what NOT to order at a restraunt!!!
- I know where I should walk really fast and avoid all eye contact!
- I don't miss home, macaroni and cheese, and my bed as much
- I don't even notice I am under a mosquito net at night
- And among many other things - I found out my what my internship will be!

For those unfamiliar with my program, I study for the first half than volunteer in a rural area through an internship for the second half. So, after my time here is finished, I will be moving onto a small village just outside of Kisumu (near Lake Victoria and Uganda)...I will be living with an older widowed woman who runs a daycare and always has little kids running about. The village is self sustaining so they farm and grow all of their own food. Also, in the village is an orphanage and primary school. I will be teaching agricultural education to the orphans that attend the primary school then helping with the growing of food.

These are the details I have gotten so far - they could be a little off but that's the jist of it. I am very excited because it suits me perfectly and I adore little kids and have a big passion for agriculture - which is a vital industry here that over 75% of the population is directly involved in. In the USA, only 2% of the population is directly involved in production agriculture.

What else is new? I am connecting more and more with my host family although I have learned what it is like to have little (very litte) siblings. While they are so cute, they are a handful! They have ripped my homework, eaten my cards, broken my flashlight, hid my candy, and run in my room at all times to jump on my bed, try to brush my hair, etc, etc!!! I told my host mom that I want to wait a loooooooooong time before I have kids. My host mom is a really cool woman. Yesterday I found out she is going to school to get her master's degree in psycology, meanwhile she works selling chickens. My dad is an engineer. Their dream is to one day move into a bigger house. The only person I haven't connected with is the house-help, I hope to connect more with her because she has to teach me how to wash my clothes today! I haven't washed any clothes since I've been here and I guess it is kind of a process. Appliances like washers and dryers, air conditioners, and even refridgerators are not very common at all.

Class is going better but some of what we are learning is frustrating and discouraging, there are so many problems and issues in Africa, other third world countries, and the world in general, it is sometimes overwhelming. Everything is so corrupt over here I can't believe how full of hope everyone is. For example, the police rent out their guns to people in the slums at night, they pretend to shake hands with Matatu (mini buses) drivers but really take money as a bribe not to report illegal driving. The police are underpaid. A common theme is steal or starve. The city doesn't even have enough water for their citizens but you will find coca cola stands everywhere. For three days my family had no water...couldn't flush the toilet, brush teeth, take a shower, cook with water, wash hands, etc. This is normal. The garbage is everywhere, sewage, people setting up stands at every free inch of space to sell any random thing you can imagine. In the slums (some of the largest in the world are here) children can't go to school because they need to take care of their siblings, work, or are too malnourished or sick to even attend, or can't afford the mandatory uniform. There was also a big news story about children getting electrocuted because the slums are trying to illegally take wires and steal electricity and there are loose wires everywhere. Another story was that there was a big raid on an illegal form of alcohol that is home brewed with things like lighter fluid, gasoline, etc. So, instead of trying to help the problem, the brewing industry is trying to create a cheaper and stronger alcohol so that the people in the slums can not only afford it, but get drunker off of it faster. They are doing research in the slum and testing it out. I guess the USA has many problems too, but they seem to be deeper and more widespread here. It is hard to explain without seeing it. While we have homelessness and low income housing, if you were to see a slum here, it is different. It is as far as the eye can see, an ocean of poverty. Along with that poverty are a million other problems. And unlike the USA - there aren't very many or even any (in some cases) shelters, rehab programs, education programs, organizations, and finances to help even begin to move in the right direction.

On a totally different note, speaking of the vendors and people in the markets... when they see me, because I am white, I am surrounded! I am automatically the richest person they have seen - I am automatically American. I can automatically send a message to my president for them, get them a visa, etc. I can work miracles and spend money like it's endless. (In their opinion!) The only other white people I have seen are ex-patriots - as my host mom says, "The colonist's children or the colonists themselves who won't leave our country."

There is a lot of crazy history in Africa and it is all very interesting. Everyone is welcoming and I am glad to be here. Even the first day, walking in the pouring rain, completely lost and crying, trying to get home, as a bus drove by and splashed me with mud, someone yelled, "Welcome to Kenya!" and you just have to stop and laugh. :)

Miss you all and hope things are well. Feel free to write me mail or call me if you're bored! My mom, grandma and grandpa K, and nick all have my info. so you can get it from them (I can't remember it off hand!)...

LOVE, Chelsey