Will write more later. For now, catch up on the photos:
Me, my sister and my mom in Mombasa:
And in Watamu and Malindi:
And on safari with the fam and my girlfriend:
And visiting an officially-sanctioned tourist-friendly Massai village:
Well, I’m back from Machakos and I’ve met the ten new Deaf Education Volunteers who just arrived. Some of them have blogs, which are now listed in the right column. Enjoy! I got back from Machakos just in time to grade my students’ exams, return them, and to finish shooting video for the DVD yearbook.
Today we had a big school lunch where all the teachers gave speeches (actually variations of one speech— help your parents when you go home and don’t be lazy) and the kids dressed up in their fine clothes, which is unnerving with the older ones because it becomes clear how indistinguishable they become from adults if they dress well. I just now (this evening) got home from the library, which I opened one last time for them to use the computers. Tomorrow is the day when the parents are supposed to pick them all up until the next school year starts. I’m “off” for the next month, but I anticipate the blog will soon attest that I’m going to be pretty busy.
If you’re a Peace Corps blog addict or a stickler for time, you might have noticed that I’ve not been in America for over a year, although I haven’t mentioned it until just now. For many people this is cause for reflection, but since I’m an endless pool of reflection, I thought I’d do something a little different. I thought I’d post some pictures from my phone. Phone pictures are a little different from camera pictures. Their subjects are unexpected and fleeting: people or places I probably wasn’t expecting to see twice, or simple moments that for whatever reason stuck me as worth documenting. So let’s see what the heck I’m talking about.
I took this picture in Loitokitok because I was struck by just how far I could see, something alien when I lived in LA and just as alien now in Mombasa.
I took this one because I’m an egomaniac. Also, this is about as long as my hair got in Kenya. I could never maintain those wisps in the heat here.
I found a copy of Climbing Magazine in the woodshop where I teach. It made me think of Salt Lake City and begging climbing companies for documentary money not long before leaving for Kenya.
A typical Kenyan dish… add a toothpick and it’s just about iconic.
Kids in my art class turning my vase into two faces.
President Kibaki and his entourage fly by in their Land Cruisers and Mercedeses just as I’m walking home. They’re a few minutes from the big fiber optic unveiling for East Africa, where Kibaki gave a speech.
ErinRose loving her henna as it’s being applied in old town:
If there was any doubt about the heat here, check out these candles in a hotel’s gift shop:
So there you have it… one year. I’m still too busy to make the big profound reflective post, but it’ll come around I’m sure.
1. About a month ago, I bought a new couch. Having guests is much nicer now… it was awkward before when people had to stand.
2. Around the same time I also bought a larger mosquito net. I makes sleeping a less claustrophobic experience:
3. Lastly, about two weeks ago I (actually ErinRose) discovered that I do in fact have running water for a few hours a week. This has literally changed my life. My clothes and I are much cleaner than ever before. All this time I had just assumed that the faucet never worked, but in fact the city rations out water to my school from time to time, so Monday and Tuesday mornings, if I turn on the faucet and wait a few minutes, water will eventually come out!
OK, enough of that. I have to run because I’m off to a weekend event (some kind of HIV workshop / games thing), but here are my nine English/Math students from the vocational school:
Paul,
This really does bring back the memories. When I was there, the water would run several days a week during the early morning (sometime after midnight and before 6 a.m.) for a short period of time. If I left the tap open overnight and left a 5-litre bucket under the tap, it would usually be about half full by the time I woke up in the morning. That would give me enough water for some daily needs. If I saved up the water over several days, I had enough to do some laundry.
Carey
Hi Paul,
I came across your blog through Peace Corps Journals Kenya. It’s very cool- glad people like you are sharing their stories!
I’m a RPCV Botswana (04-06). I live in Corvallis, Oregon where I’m working on a graduate degree in International Health. I’m active in Oregon State University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter who is working on a project in Lela, Kenya. EWB is an interdisciplinary group with professional and student chapters with the goal of helping communities meet their basic needs. This particular project is focused on water supply and quality, the specific plan of which is to be determined after an assessment trip in December. Lela is a tiny, tiny village outside of the still fairly small town of Migori, just north of Tanzania, south of Homa Bay. The other nearest sizable town is Kisumu (north of Homa Bay).
I’m contacting you because I am seeking a PCV in that area of Kenya to serve as a contact for us and I was hoping your might know someone in that region. There’s so much about an area that we can’t know without being there, hence, it’d be great to have someone who can field questions about the region, the environment, etc. I’m contacting other PCVs in Kenya as well, just to try and get help from anyone who might be able to point me in the right direction.
If you know someone in that region, please do let me know, especially if you can tell me how to get a hold of them. Thanks a lot, and good luck in the rest of your service!
Best,
Susanna Murrie, suztheday@gmail.com
Hi Paul & ErinRose,
Thank you for sharing the beautiful Safari photos – how exciting!!
Love,
Patrick & Gloria
omg these pictures are so much better than mine. how did that happen! i never saw that zebra or giraffe one. and the lion and cheetah ones are way better than mine. what the heck!
Well, some of these pictures are actually yours, so don’t give me too much credit. Your sleeping lion couple one is still probably the best picture of the bunch.
oops btw this is elise who is jealous of ur pictures.