T.I.A & B.M.T

I'm in Nairobi. Been here since Friday. Haven't done anything I was supposed to do yet. Time just flies. Yesterday Caroline left for Mombasa with the family of her friend Lillian. Lillian worked as Carros translator while she was interviewing people in the slums of Nakuru. While they are on vacation in Mombasa, Lilly let me stay in her apartment in a suburb to Nrb. So nice of her and of course it's good for my wallet :)

However, Lillian told one of her friend to take care of me while she's gone. That is of course very nice of her, but yesterday I was looking forward to a relaxing day by myself in front of the tv. Haven't watched tv since I got here and I have a cold that needs taking care of. Anyways, Che (her friend) suggested we could go and have lunch at a place with her friends. Since I'm a guest I said yes, guessing I would be back at the apartment around four at the latest. The restaurant was situated in Masailand and the setting and the view was amazing. We ate nyama choma- sweet meat carved at the table. Very tasty meat.

It took more than an hour to reach the restaurant and on the way we stopped several times to drop/pick people of/up. Of course we didn't leave the place until it was getting dark so I was back at the apartment at 21.30. So much for my relaxing day. Well, the good thing is that I'm really getting acquanted with the abbreviations TIA and BMT; This Is Africa and Black Mans Time (no Black Women Time here..) The negative thing is that I'm not getting things done. I was supposed to head back to Nakuru today but I haven't even visit Gabby yet. So I decided to stay until Carro gets back on Friday and tomorrow I will go to Juja where Gabby is at.

Last Saturday we were invited to Lillians sister for dinner. We met the father and some friends. This was a new experience for me. At Phyllis all children help the grown ups with everything doing laundry, digging in the shamba, getting water and so on. Here the children were spoiled. Especially the 2-3 year old child. She got everything she wanted and did her pretended-cry if she didn't. She really got on my nervs. Another six year old was chubby looking more than a ten-year-old. So hello upper middle class.

Another irritating thing during the evening at the sister was the obvious difference between men and women. The father sat on his as the entire evening not lifting a finger once. Literally everything was served for him. I was surprised he could lift the fork by himself. The same thing with Esther's (lillys sister) husband. In some ways just like some Swedish families.

Anyways, I'm glad to get the chance to visit genuine homes of Kenyans in different economical levels.

Those dancing days

It took one and a half month but I've finally been out dancing in Kenya. I had fun. A lot of fun! Since we're living 30 min outside the town and about 1 km walk from the main road we decided to stay at a hotel in the center. We were picked up by some friends we've gotten to know and the sight was hilarious. Imagen a pimped van with two big wannabe gangsta Indier sitting in the front! While driving, they had two mini tv's showing hip hop music videos. I don't even have to tell you about the base system making the whole car vibrate. Haha It was like a caricatyr :D

Anyways, we went to a place called The Summit, an outdorr club next to the national park. It was a fun night and I danced like crazy! The music varied, I think they covered every music style from 60's til now. The atmosphere was friendly and most of the gyus were like gentlemens. Not sleezy at all. However, when some gyus were too "on" our gangsta indier rescued us. He was more like a teddy bear than a gangsta. Asking if we were ok the entire evening! (Madde and Lala: he reminded me of Dippo :D or more like how Dippo wanted to be like haha)

The women were nice too! Teaching us how to dance and move. Not at all like in Sweden where the gyus are too drunk and the women looks at you with anger. And yes, the gyus can move those hips!

I'm going to Nairobi on friday, and we'll might hit the dance floor there too. I'm also going to hook up with Gabriella and visit a Norwegian NGO working in the Kibera slum.

I'm trying to upload pics on FB so stay tuned. Caroline have uploaded some pics on her blogg. Drop by and have a look: www.backpacking.se/calin

Things I like about Kenya

• The people! They are friendly, helpfull and talkative.
• The relaxed attitude towards time! Love it. No one is stressed for being five minutes (or even one hour) late.
• The never ending greetings! Not just amongst the neighbours, we shake hands with the kids several times per day.
  
• The agricultural closeness. One day I'm in the shamba digging, the other day the goat have popped out a baby goat :)
• The political awareness that imbues the society. It makes discussions interesting and you get different opinions and views depending on who you talk to.
• The weather! Even though it's the long rain season its between 20-30 degrees. Love it :D
• The amount of organisations (NGO's and CBO's) trying to make a difference.
• The Swahili language. Haven't learned as much as I'd like but I'm getting there.
  

Catching up

• Last week I visited a rehabilitation centre for street kids run by a Swedish Evangelican Lutheran church. On sundays street kids can come to their church for a meal and to wash their clothes. The ones who shows up regularly and shows an interest in changing their lives are taken to Bethesta outside Nakuru. There are 9 boys staying at the centre at the moment. Watching them doing acrobatics and later playing fotball with them, it is difficult to connect them with the boys you see in town with the glue bottle stuck up their nose. The vision at Bethesta is to keep it small in order to have a family feeling and also to prevent elder boys affecting the younger to run back to the streets. They go to school and sleep at Bethesta and will, if possible, be brought back to their families when ready. In comparision to phyllis where there are more than 100 children we got a good connection quite fast with the boys. After a couple of hours playing and making necklaces some boys held my hand asking if I could come back tomorrow. My heart melted.. They just want to be loved and be able to be kids like anyone else. However, the amount of scars and burnmarks on their arms, legs and heads reveals their violent history.

• The elder boys at Phyllis who go to boarding school have had their spring break. Two weeks ago they were going back to school. They were the one I had gotten to know best at the time so it was really sad waving them off. They were all dressed up in shirts and ties and I felt like a proud mum putting them on the bus..

• The same day as above another boy came back from visiting his family. He is 19 and is supposed to be in secondary school. One evening when I skipped supper he came down wondering if I was ok (alone time doesn't exist in Kenya). We sat and talked for a long time and he told me his life story. He was brought up in a violent household, with an abusive father. He left home and lived on the streets for 7 years.. Later he was taken in by Bethesta but ran away a couple of times (it was difficult to adjust). Since it was no option returning to his family he moved to Phyllis. He's the eldest here and is now catching up in school. He is a very charming, sympathic boy who has been through a lot. After his older brother and his father died he now feels the responsibility to provide for his mum and siblings. During the postelection violence his family's house was burned down too..
  

It's my birthday, I'm gonna party like it's my birth day

I woke up with the dream fresh in my head. In the dream I was pregnant... Hm, I hope the symbolic meaning was about my birthday and not about me having babies cuz in the dream I had no idea who the father was!

My roomies and fellow volunteers gave me presents and a candle to blow. Got two bottles of Fanta and two earrings! :) The rest of the day was spent in town, ate a good lunch and then picked up the cake I had order the day before. Pack to Phyllis, putting all the 29 candles in the cake (damn, it was many candles!) The evening consisted of eating a very sweet cake, singing and chatting. A perfect relaxed b-day!

Long time..

Ojojoj, time flies when in Kenya. Been of the blogging for a while. Much has happened.. A minor update follows:

• During the day its cloudy but warm and the long rains has really kicked in now in the afternoons. Good for the plants!
• We've made a bunch of new friends. Some sellers at the market. Very soft guys who are gonna take us out clubbing for the first time since we arrived. And yes I will try an African beer :D
• Another guy is the salesmen of a bakery where they sell the best samosas in town. Mmm spicy like I prefer! Every time we're there he points out that he is single and 29 years old haha.
• Sry, I know u want to see pics but it have to wait until I'm back in Nairobi. Takes forever to upload them here.
• We're gonna start Swedish lessons on weekends for the elder kids.
• I have to welcome Gabriella who has arrived in Kenya! Karibu rafiki!
• When it rains a lot some special kind of termites gets wings for a day. The children went crazy and started to catch them. Apparently they taste delicious. They hold on to the wings and eat the body. Of course I had to try.. but not until they were fried without the wings and with salt! It was quite good actually :)
• We are regulars at a coffee place in town called Cafe Guava. When we're tired of ugali and home cocked noodles we go there and eat wonderful food like chicken wrap, omelets and drink freshly made fruit juices.
  
• I'm off the coffee.. And I drink my tea without milk now. Big changes I'll tell you haha!
• Last week there was an athletic competition between primary schools in the neighbourhood. It was supposed to start at nine but it started when all the schools had arrived. Then around twelve the teachers had a meeting deciding the time table for all the events and who should be in charge of what.. it is interesting to observe the organization. The finest school (kabarak) had the highest saying in all the matters. Further, the field was a grass field and no times was taken. And damn when the guys ran 400 m.. it was fast I'll tell you!
• Best pick-up line so far: "You and me can make an Obama!"
• I can recommend a very good book which offers a general overview of the African history during the postwar era. "The State of Africa" written by Martin Meredith.
  
• I printed my very first business cards! I've attended some workshops and visited organizations and everyone throws business cards at you. Now I can do the same :) It cost only 140 skr for 200.
• Lala: guess what table and sweets are called in Swahili? Meza and peremende! Ah ah see the connection! ;)
  

I don't know where to start.. Haven't been to town for five days and reading upon on emails and bloggs makes me both glad and emotional. My head was already full of thoughts and happenings I wanted to share with you, so now the sign over my head blinks "overload"! So where should I start..?

I am surprised how quickly one adapt to a new setting. We've been here two and a half week but its seems like a life time. The strangest thing is my adjustment to the new diurnal rhythm. Since we're at the equator the sun rises at around seven and sets at seven and since our lamps are run by solar cells the lighting is quite dimmed. Och hor och hapna, I go to bed at ten and every morning I go up between seven and eight. It's impossible to fall back to sleep! Scary I tell you ;) But it's nice to have a regular rhythm for once!

So how do my days pass by?
Well I go up (around 7.30!), eat breakfast and depending on weekday it differs. On weekdays while the children are in school I either help rinsing the beans and maize or I assist in school. On Mondays the principal start the school week with a ceremony at the flag pole in front of the children. I sneaked up and stood next to the teachers. I hear that the principal changes his language to more and more include English (from Swahili) and then I hear him say:
"I see we have a visitor here today. We welcome you and won't you come up here and say some words.

I look at the teacher Karen next to me and asks if he wants me to go up in front of the children. She says yes. Up I go. I greet the principal and he starts to talk about Sweden and the connection to the school and how the school uniform represents the colours of the Swedish flag and so on. Then he tells me to say something inspiring to the children that will encourage them in life and with their studies! You can imagen the situation haha! Anyways, I introduced myself and then just babbled on, of course my words was filled with wisdom ;)

Later while observing the second grade class I was asked to teach the English class (!) Again, there I stand in front of 15 second graders teaching them the orders of the weekdays. Since their first weekday is Sunday and ours is Monday I occasionally had to peek in the book for the right answers :D The same thing happened in math class. Division isn't the easiest task I can tell you haha! I definitely will think twice before I attend seven or eight grade..

There aren't just children from Phyllis who goes to the Phyllis school. A lot of the neighbouring children attend Phyllis school which makes it many many children to recognize. During dinner time it is just Phyllis children left, but still they are many (about 60) and learning all the names is tricky. The elder children are more difficult to approach, especially the girls. Some of them have the teen age I-don't-care-attitude. The elder guys are a bit shy and when they just hang (only guys) it's not the most appropriate thing to try to be one in the gang haha! The division between men and women are very visible. But then again, it makes sense that a man stirs the ugali (very heavy) and the women rinse beans. It's the rural life.

The adaption to time consuming chores has also gone smoothly. I'm still in the face where I romanticize this life. No stress. Pole pole. Washing our clothes takes half a day (and that's just one set of laundry, black or white). You sit outside in the sun while washing and have time to cook while the clothes lays in the water. I draw parallels to the tv-show "house on the praire" all the time haha! Laura Ingels here I come :D

To shower we have to warm up water and then mix it with cold rain water and then pour it over ourselves with a pet bottle. The same goes with washing the hair. Just like back in the day at Uvö, right family members!? So you'll see how days just passes by.

I'm slowly getting to know some of the children. We usually sit with them after school and chore time and before dinner. Of course some are more forward than others and it's difficult to come close to everyone. But once they seeked contact it gets easier and easier. Some boys seeks attention the typically boy way by scaring us with the biggest beetle I have ever seen. Talking to the children reminds me how fortunate life we live in Sweden and how much we take for granted.

The social worker at Phyllis, Maragia, is a good investment. He is only 22 years old but gives a professional impression and has really good care with the children. Unfortunately its too many children and another social worker is needed but they have the money for it. Maragia makes 500 Swedish kr a month and he has to provide for his sisters schooling and housing. Last Sunday we followed Maragia to church and afterwards we visited Maragias sisters house. It was a one room apartment 15-20 kvm. Kitchen, living room and bed room in one room. They lived three persons there. Rent 100 sw kr. I feel grateful to get the opportunity to visit a "normal" kenyan house and not just the tourist sights.

I think the visit to the church was the longest ceremony I have attended. Afterwards I could feel a good old four ours ceremony in my body!

The weather has actually been quite cold at moments. Some days are cloudy and it rains in the afternoon. The last couple of days however, have been warmer.

My thesis (D-uppsats) goes.. well I don't know. I felt that I had to land first before thinking in terms of hypothesis and research questions. I'll realized that I have to change my focus a bit cuz I don't just want to focus on the childrens home. I want to get a more general apprehension about ethnic identity in Kenya. National versus local (tribe) belonging and analyse if there is a differences in attitudes amongst generations.

Ok, guess it's time to round up. Think I covered a little bit of everything. Miss you at home! But I really enjoy Kenya too!

Lots of love <3

Kunguni mingi

Yesterday I was up and walking again. Sleeping for an entire day was not my plan so I was anxious to talk to, and get to know both the children and the adults. During the day the children are at school. Before lunch I helped in the kitchen with rinsing beans from gravel. It took some time and I realized why I got sick. That amount of dust and gravel would upset the most tolerant stomach.

Of course it's a woman's job and I sat with Rachel and Sarah. Sarah has HIV and had to leave her village during the riots (election 08) with her daughter Ruth. It was a very meditative chore. At least for me who couldn't keep up with the conversation since they talked swahili. I guess you have time to analyze a lot of subject while rinsing the beans every day.

The first day we arrived both the children and I observed each other after saying hello. It was a lot of new impressions to take in and a lot of new faces to remember. The children are approximately a hundred, some more outgoing than others. Last night after dinner, a couple of children approached us. Obviously they also needed a couple of days to adjust to the "newcomers". They taught me Kiswahili and I taught them Swedish. They had a million question. The questions about Sweden were the hardest to take in. Questions like:
-Do you have famine (svalt) in Sweden?
-Do you have street kids in Sweden?
-Do you have violence and war during election time in Sweden?

More easy questions were the ones like:
-Why does your skin become red when something bites you and not ours?
-Why is your hair so long?
-Why is your hand so soft? Don't you work? Don't you wash your clothes in Sweden?

Caroline, Sofia and I talks a lot with each other and express our inner thoughts. I'm glad that I can talk to them in Swedish. Otherwise the impressions and thoughts would be too much to keep inside me.

Ciao for now <3



(Btw, everyone can make a comment now. Just had to press a button.. ;))

Chakula

Sofia and Caroline looked at me with skepticism in their eyes.
- Do u really like it?
- Yeah, it's really good!
- Just wait until you try it at the children's home.. it's just taste like leaves.
- Hm, but this is really good! The ugali though, not so good.

They're talking about the dish sukuma wiki. It is made of some kind of green leaves. It's not spinach (though I call it that :) The sukuma wiki I had at the hostel in Naiobi reminded me of the indian dish palak paneer (my favorite). It had onions and spices in it and, as mentioned, tasted really good ;) S and C kept saying:
- Just ait until you try it at Phyllis..

Usually they serve the same dish every evening at Phyllis (ugali and sukuma wiki), however this week they have served cabbage together with the ugali. It tasted good and I actually asked for more cabbage. My stomach was satisfied when I went to bed. Or at least I thought so..

The next morning something was up. After breakfast I felt natious and decided to stay at home cuz S and C were going into Nakuru town. I did nothing the whole day but run to the toilette and sleep in between. At some occasions I had a bucket in my lap while sitting on the toilette. I actually laughed a bit, cuz I had my period at the same time and realized that it was coming fluid from almost every hole in my body!

All and all. I'm fine now and I ate some cracker for supper last night :)

Change of atmosphere

It's my last day in Nairobi. Tomorrow we're heading for Nakuru and the children's home. I'm actually looking forward to the peaceful life in the countryside where I can sit outside and read a book, concentrate on my studies and learn Swahili! I guess I'm getting older when one week of the hectic city life is enough haha! Since everything takes longer time here, one day can consist of max three things to do. So, one tourist thing, lunch and a book store is enough and then it's time to get back to the hostel before dark. Yesterday we got up really early (at seven :) and didn't get back to the hostel until five. I crashed in my bed and slept for two hours, woke up, had dinner and then got to bed again. Our room get humidly hot even though it's somewhat cool weather outside.

My Swahili is approving slowly. Since I don't just want to learn phrases, I'm trying to understand the complicated grammar. Sofia and I bought a couple of children books and tried to translate the sentences by using her lonely planet grammar book. Not the easiest task. We guest a lot, but when we "solved" one sentence we felt so smart haha! It's like doing a crossword or soduku. The difference being the reward of learning a language.

Well, I'm off to buy some books about the history of East Africa. I feel trapped in a culture when I don't know the language and the history well enough. Got to get out of these tourist clothes.

Dudu mingi sana

The stay at our first hostel lasted only for two nights. The reason being unwelcome guests in my bed. Since we arrived late in the evening we had pre-booked a hostel outside the city center. The cabin for the night was small but cozy and since we were tired we went straight to bed. The sloppy way I put up my mosquito net can be blamed on my jet lag.. ehm :p

Anyways, I had my earplugs in due to a cabin neighbour making some lovingly sounds.. The only reason for waking up in the middle of the night is the crawly feeling of something on my leg (cuz the net was laying on my leg instead of being stretched out).

My first panicy thought is "OMG it's a tarantel!!"
My second panicy thouhgt is " OMG, it's inside my mosquito net!!!"
My first reaction is to whisper (god knows why I didn't yell?!) "girls.. girls.."
My second reaction is to get out of the bed and jump onto my friends bed..

So, there I stand, confused, dizzy and tired shaking my friends and mumbling something about a spider..

Fortunately, it wasn't a spider (my worst nightmare) it was a rat. (L and M, it wasn't like the cute little tiny mice we had as a guest on the train in India). We're talking about the kind of rat which runs fast and has a long tail. The rest of the night I shared a bed with Sofia. Luckily though, the rat saved me from being eaten up by ants cuz when the morning rise my entire bed is full of tiny little ants! You know the kind of ants that lives in wood and bites. So, thank you rat :)

After bunking together with ten other people in a dorm we moved to a hostel in the city center.

Here we go

First blogging experience. I've been in Nairobi for almost four days and my head is spinning with thoughts, impressions and plans. I don't know where to start.. Should I start with the rat attacking me during my sleep, the teargas attack, the non-existing culture clash or the weather report? For my mums sake I'll start with the teargas attack.. :)

We're staying at a hostel at River Road in Nairobi. Chilling in our room after a long day of walking, we hear some shootings outside our window. We stick our heads outside the window and see people running down the street. As naive tourists we come up with the brilliant idea to go up to the roof of the hostel to see better (!) We have time to see a group of polices before the smoke hits our eyes and tears starts to run down our cheeks. Safely in our room we can breath again and starts to pad our faces with water. Later in the evening while socializing in the living room, all guests and those who work at the hostel take turns in sneezing.

Oh, and the story behind it. The police was getting rid of street salesmen. A wii bit more effective strategy than in Sweden won't you say.