oh shooooo

well, im on day 18 or so here. its a lot of the same stuff, and i feel most productive just doing the domestic chores, though they certainly aren't my favorite. doing field work is by far my favorite though. walking on dirt paths to various sponsored childrens' homes, and seeing so much of the beautiful country. its so strange too because the guardians are always so grateful that we came to "visit" them. they offer hot chai (even though im sweating my life away because it is so freaking hot) and one home even gave us oranges, chapati (so delicious, we have it on friday nights at the orphanage and it's a BIG deal), and soda pops. it feels wrong to accept these things from people who live on so little. but that's the way it is done, hospitality is important. a lot of times we go to homes and no one is home. it's often a long way to walk and i asked eric (the staff social worker) why they don't plan these visits in advance. he explained that if they knew we were coming it "would be very expensive" because they would cook a big feast for visitors.

i had to go to the public health clinic in makuyu because i was having some sort of allergic reaction - im sure it was poison ivy. that was an interesting experience, too. i showed the doctor my fingers and explained that i thought it was from some sort of plant. he left the room and came back with a little baggy of 14 pills and told me to take one three times a day. there was no indication to what in the world kind of pill was in there, and he didnt ask me about any other medications i was taking, or if i was allergic to any medicines, it was just that. here are the pills and i dont need to know what they are and i am to take them. how incredibly different it is in the states... there is paperwork to sign and "do you want to talk to the pharmacist about this medication". but i guess everyone just puts complete faith in the doctors.

today was sponsor day, so all the sponsored children come to get maize, beans, soap, toothpaste, a pencil, body jelly, and then whatever other needs they have indicated (clothing, school books, pens, kerosene lamps, bookbags, etc). that was really incredible, actually seeing the money going to use for these children who do not live at the orphanage.

right now there are seven other volunteers - my roommate is from poland but lives in england and is a wonderful person to share a small living space with. one girl is from germany and the only dude is from ireland. the rest are americans. we talk about foods we miss a lot - namely cheese. there is an amazing amount of fresh fruit here - passion fruits (so weird and delicious), papaya, mangoes, avocadoes, bananas, oranges, and pineapple to name a few. they are all so affordable too, its just lovely.

i cant think of much else now. im really getting into the swing of things though, and am not as homesick as i was previously, though of course i miss all you wonderful people.

woah, the internet.

well, turns out there is a internet cafe closer than thika that is also a faster connection. yay! i love you kenol!

yesterday i did field work again, and we walked about ten miles to a village to visit the guardians of sponsored children and let them know of a gathering at the orphanage. these people live on so little a day and have so little possessions and i have to wonder what keeps them going. but most of these people probably dont know a different life. they have no clue that it exists. and they seem genuinely happy. its incredible.

today i went to the clinic again. i started in the maternity ward, and was apalled that they didnt have gloves, so they make the women coming in to have babies(!) bring them. there is so much information on the walls about administering ARVs (antiretrovirals? - meds for HIV+ people), with, obviously good reason. there are no computers, so everything is written in a book-like register, which is just so foreign to me.

then i was in the AIDS counseling/testing room. there was a prostitute who came in and tested negative and a young boy who also tested negative. they gave the prostitute 100 condoms. the boy asked me how i refrain from having sex - there is a rich older woman who is making advances at him and offering him money. i suggested masterbation, but was later told that this is not encouraged, which kind of made me feel embarrassed for making a cultural boo-boo, and kind of upset me, because i dont know why you would tell people not to have sex, and also not to masterbate. maybe thats just me.

the matatu, the form of transport here, is a cultural experience in itself. its a ramshackle "bus" with 14 seats. but they pack as many people in as they can. i've counted 28 at one point, so it gets intense. i honestly cant tell if it is just to make more money, or so that no one gets left behind. i bet its a combination of both. but its incredible because children just sit on random people's laps, ladies will have people (strangers, not people they know) hold their purses and babies as they get on and off, and that is perfectly normal. i cant explain it well, and im overwhelmed by the internet, but its really just so different in the states. most people would not put their child on someones lap who they did not know on public transportation, and certainly would not give them their purse to hold.

life at the orphanage is good. its funny that it is friday and i will be going to sleep around 9. hard work during the days, and nt a lot to do except read and play with the children in the evening. it is getting to be the winter, which is just funny, because it is so darned hot.

this was all over the place, i dont even know if anyone is readin this, but its fun to write about anyway.

im here!

hey y'all. i dont have a lot of time to write, so please excuse teh typing errors. ive been here for a week now, and ive got teh hang of everything. there are 32 kids at the orphanage and they are all just wonderful. they are so good at sharing with eachother, and at working (saturdays, when they dont have school, they do all kinds of work!) ive been helping with laundry (by hand!), in the kitchen, doing dishes and serving food, and ive been doing fieldwork, visiting sponsored childrens houses to make sure the money the sponsors provide to them is being spend appropriately (for school, clothes, food...). today i was in a clinic with a doctor who saw SO MANY patients, just one after the other. mostly cases of malaria and typhoid and a few STIs. i shower out of a bucket, pee in a hole and have to wash my clothing by hand. its pretty rough, i have a sore back for helping with the laundry and in the kitchen, so ihave NO IDEA how these women do this kind of work everyday. and it is everyday, there are no days off. the orphange food is bland and im at the point where i would kill a man for a pizza (not really). i dont have regular access to the internet, so these posting will be sporadic. i must go now, to catch the scary bus back to the remote village where we live. the sun goes down at 645 here everyday, and we dont want to be caught out in the dark.

not yet...

So, as far as plans go this trip has been slightly disastrous. I will arrive in Kenya 12 hours later than I planned due to a missed connection in Minneapolis (not to be confused with the Craigslist personal ads), which I am still pretty salty about. So I'm in Heathrow on a 8 hour layover paying 5 £ to use the internet and not even sure how much that is. The cool thing about this airport though is all the shops they have. Burburry?! Does anyone buy Burburry at the airport? I guess in London. This has fortunately given me time to go over a bunch of my swahili notes and I'm prepared to introduce myself and ask how the morning is going to whoever is picking me up at the airport at the wretched hour of 6:30 AM.



Jina langu ni Morgan. Habari za asibuhi?



If whoever picks me up is an elder, I will greet them by saying "Shikamoo!", which is a way to show respect.



Alright, hopefully I'll be back with a legitimate update. With pictures.