My New Favorite Place

Okay, clearly I’m not good at this and it’s been way too long since I last wrote anything. Since Shirazi we spent about five days in Mombasa, came back to Nairobi and had fun adventures for two weeks, then I spent the past four days in Kisumu. It’s been a whirlwind and the program is flying by! I only have about five whole days left in Nairobi total, crazy! Anyways…here’s my attempt to catch you all up on things I’ve done that seem like they happened a long time in the past now.

Post-Shirazi village living we had a great few days in Mombasa. We had health lectures while there and also got to visit a center for children with Cerebral Palsy and a hospital for physically disabled people and treatment center for kids with Spina Bifida. All really interesting programs for populations that are greatly underserved here. While in Mombasa we also got to have dinner at our academic director Jamal’s house one night and his Uncle’s house another night. Literally best two meals I’ve had in Kenya…the food was to die for! Just to give you an idea: chapatti and mandazi and somosas and rice bread and sweet balls. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I’ve actually been really trying to enjoy my time back in Nairobi as well. The first weekend back a group of us took a matatu out to Nairobi National Park to go to the elephant orphanage! Unfortunately, the matatu dropped us off at the main entrance to the park, and upon asking we found out that the elephant orphanage was about a 20min drive back the other direction. Other problem, the orphanage is only open for 1 hour every day and at this point we were already late. We ended up paying a park taxi driver to let all 9 of us pile into his tiny car to drive us there…and even though we were half an hour late it was absolutely worth it! We got to watch a group of adorable baby elephants bathe in the mud and play with a soccer ball while their keepers told us all of their sob stories about how they were orphaned by poachers.

When we got back from the orphanage we actually went to a “classical-fusion” music concert at an open field pretty close to the Kibera area. A bunch of SIT kids went and we all brought food and had a picnic lunch. The pretty famous South African acapella group Ladysmith Black Mombazo was there for their first time in Kenya and they owned the stage. Also got to watch all the girls in the audience drool over Sauti Sol, a young Kenyan acoustic pop group who are actually pretty talented. They ended up closing out the day with a rendition of Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes and I felt like I was right back at a Middlebury acapella concert!

Other fun things: had development lectures all last week, which were actually really interesting even though I’m not an econ-type person. Watched Friends with Benefits during lunch in the SIT office because someone’s homestay sister bought it at one of the knock-off stands here for 50shillings. Side-note, you can literally get any American movie here in knock-off form for 50cents on the side of the road. Had liver for dinner one night- not my favorite. But mama made up for it by making pilau. Also went out for two friends’ birthdays and got spinach ravioli- delicious!

Then the next Saturday I hiked a volcano!! It was by far my favorite activity I’ve done in Kenya so far. 11 of us went so we rented the Jazz Quartet (best bus ever) for the day and it drove us out to Longonot National Park so we could hike Mt. Longonot. The drive was worth it in and of itself, as we got to drive along a ridge overlooking the beginning of the Great Rift Valley. Geology friends (you know who you are) I spend the whole time thinking about how much you would have loved this adventure. Then at the beginning of the hike we saw a herd of giraffes walking around the bottom of the volcano. After 6 hours of hiking, with a nice long lunch break, and a weird number of Kenyans running the length of the trail up this volcano past us, we piled back into the JQ to go home, covered in dust but incredibly happy.

This picture makes it look pathetic, but it wasn't, I promise.

The next day was Fatuma’s “Kitchen Party” which Susanna and I concluded is kind of like a bridal shower and a bachelorette party all combined into one. This was probably the most interesting Kenyan cultural experience I’ve had so far. It was supposed to start at 2 (which is when we got there because mama had to make her entrance and help with the setup since we’re basically family with the bride) but in typical Kenyan fashion the party started a little after 4. Basically, in short, the purpose of a kitchen party, for Nubian Muslim’s, is to have a sex teacher come and teach the bride-to-be how to properly please her husband in the bedroom. So Fatuma sat at the front of the room facing an audience full of mostly middle-aged women (probably the entire Kibera Nubian population turned out for the event) and watched some woman show her how to properly shake her hips and crawl across the floor seductively like a tiger. Unfortunately it was all in Swahili but there was enough demonstration that Susanna and I got the gist. The teacher also cited the examples of Beyonce and Shakira to explain sexy hip action. Basically the day was a sex-talk free for all, where hundreds of middle-aged Nubian women got to get together for one day and release all of their sexual energy because other than on special days like that, sex is never discussed. The best part of the party may have been when a fairly large older woman got up in front of the room during one of the numerous dance breaks, bent over with her behind facing the crowd, and shook it like her life depended on it. This prompted about five women to jump up and stick money in the dancing woman’s dress—almost like a bachelorette party minus any alcohol because they’re all Muslim. By far the funniest thing I’ve seen in Nairobi and also a fascinating day in a culture where sex is not discussed at all.

Sex teacher in action

Not too exciting after that. I spent all last week living in my aunt’s house in a nearby neighborhood because my mom had to go to Uganda for some family matters. It was a nice change of pace since this house had a lot more activity. I lived with my aunt, two house help girls, and a two year old son of the house help but we also had a lot of visitors coming in and out of the house all the time. The two-year old, Ampakata, cried every time he saw me for the first night I was there but we bonded after I played soccer with him one night. I did eventually figure out, thought, that this family called me “HiHowAreYou” instead of Sarah. They would be talking to the little boy and say, “Ampakata, onyesha HiHowAreYou.” I guess that’s a nice new nickname to add to the list. We also religiously watched the Spanish soap opera (with fabulously well-done English voice-overs) Triumph of Love every night, and I hate to admit I actually got caught up in the plot-line. I’m going to miss watching it now that I’m back to my normal house.

For school we also visited the Gikomba Market, the largest second-hand clothing market in Kenya and I think in Africa (someone fact-check me on that). It was really interesting to learn about the informal sector of the economy here. There’s incredibly high unemployment, and the informal sector, including the massively large industry of selling all the clothes you’ve donated to the Salvation Army and other such charities, ends up providing a lot of jobs to people. You can buy incredibly cheap second hand clothes on the side of the road anywhere here. We also visited the Kenya headquarters of the Peace Corps and met the Kenya country director, Steve, who was incredibly nice and welcoming and answered a lot of our questions. Their office is also in the swanky neighborhood of Nairobi so that was a nice outing for the day.

Last but certainly not least I took a bus this past Saturday to Kisumu, a city in Western Kenya, to try to figure stuff out for my ISP. The bus ride was stellar, we saw zebras on the side of the road on the way there. Drove through the Great Rift Valley and past lots of tea plantations. Gorgeous all around.

In Kisumu ended up spending most of my time out at our academic director’s house there in Usoma Village. It was far and away my favorite place in Kenya so far…like my own little slice of Vermont only way hotter. It’s right on Lake Victoria with mountains surrounding it all in the distance. Our director’s two sons, Onek and Isaac, are living there right now and they cooked for us and showed us around and had movie nights with us while we were there. We had screenings of Jurassic Park and then the much more intense Blood Diamond. Their house was incredibly relaxing and if I could bottle up the whole house, with Onek and Isaac inside, and carry it around with me to break it out when I needed it I would.

The bench swing under this tree might be one of my new favorite places in the world (you can't tell but Lake Victoria is about 100 meters behind it)!

Also started to figure out my life a little bit in terms of ISP. I had a meeting with the Fisheries Ministry office while I was there and got the phone numbers of lots of contacts on various beaches in the area to see if I could study women’s economic opportunities in the beach communities around Kisumu. Still have to figure out exactly what that will be able to entail but I’m excited to be there!

Now we’re back in Nairobi just until Sunday when we leave for Tanzania for 10 days and then come back to Nairobi just to finalize things for our ISP and then I’ll head back to Kisumu for the month of November to do all my research for ISP! Crazy how time flies, the program is going to be over before I know it!

Also, you will never guess what I’m eating while I post this…that’s right fro-yo baby. I have found YogurtLand in Nairobi!!! I am actually not kidding at all…it is the closest replica I’ve found to yogurtland…self-serve with pink and green spoons. Only in Nairobi…who would have thought Nairobi would be the next place to pick up on the fro-yo trend. Most magical place in Nairobi? I think so. Don't worry, I have photographic evidence, I'll put it up soon.

Shirazi: Sugar on Sugar and Ants on Ants

We arrived in Mombasa Saturday morning, went shopping for “culturally appropriate” attire, aka kangas and mumus, had lunch and took our bus to the kijiji of Shirazi, about 2 hours south of Mombasa. 

Katika Shirazi jina langu ilikuwa Samira. We got to Shirazi and moved right in with our homestay families. I lived with my mom, Birode, my 13 year old sister Samira, and a 5 ½ year old brother Omari. I was named Samira after my sister. My family was fantastic and to continue the food log for dinner the first night we had beans with coconut and rice bread. Delicious if unhealthy, as was all the food in the village. Can't be positive but pretty sure I gained 10 pounds in 10 days.

“I hate Nairobi- it makes me feel weird.” Anna’s excellently articulated quote of day 2 as we were lying in the sand on the most beautiful sandbar beach I’ve ever seen in the middle of the Indian Ocean. We boated out on a dhow right from the dock in Shirazi (because yes, it’s a village on the water, surrounded by palm trees and everything) until we parked it at a sandbar that was basically paradise. The sandbar overlooks the island of Funzi, which is home to the most expensive hotel in Kenya. Basically we spent the day swimming and rejoicing in how much more wonderful everything there was compared to Nairobi.

Went to a funeral when we got home. Well, not really, because we were late so we missed the burial but sat with all the women there. A 21 year old fisherman from the village had drowned while fishing. His death led me to the interesting discovery that a lot of people in Shirazi don’t know how to swim even though the ocean is in their backyard. So if anyone has a desire to move to the coast and implement swimming lessons it would definitely be really helpful.

I told my mom that I wanted to run in the morning and she didn’t think I was crazy!! She didn’t even ask questions, instead we went on a search to find my uncle Fundi who likes to run and recruited him to take me running at 5:45 the next morning. I ended up running with Uncle Fundi (almost) every morning I was there and he’s actually a great runner, except on the days he’s hungover or oversleeps and forgets to come pick me up. Regardless, running in Shirazi was surreal. It was still dark out when we started so we could still see all the stars, which were unbelievable themselves, and then while we ran the stars would fade as the sun slowly rose above the palm trees and lit up the mud huts and sandy paths.

While in Shirazi we had Swahili class every morning from 7-11. My classroom was outside under a mango tree, also home to wandering chickens and a multitude of monkeys. A monkey actually peed on the girl sitting next to me in class one day!

Uncle Salim waving at me from 50ft in the air up a coconut tree.

Another uncle named Salim, who is 22, became my extra Swahili and Shirazi life coach for the week. He taught me how to climb a coconut tree to harvest the coconuts. He literally scaled the tree and kept turning around to look down and wave at me which prompted me to freak out and yell at his that he was crazy in Swahili. But he harvested a bunch of coconuts that we broke open and drank right then and there and then we grated the rest of the coconut to use with dinner. Salim ended up coming to dinner every night and he would stay after and help teach me Swahili while I taught him English. 

After Salim showed me how to climb the coconut tree, this is how far up 

the tree I made it...my sister looks unimpressed.

Some guests I had in my room in Shirazi: a spider the size of my fist, bats galore, gigantic millipedes, a bed-full of fire-ants one night, and a few monkeys. Fire-ants also had an anthill on the floor in my choo which made every bathroom trip a lot riskier than it should have been.

We did a couple of education visits too, one to the medical clinic in the neighboring village of Bodo, and one to the island of Funzi where we learned a little bit about traditional practices there and saw the most wazungu we’ve seen in Kenya since the resort is on the island. When we pulled up in our boat we met a Canadian woman who’s first comment to us was, “There’s a nice little market over there. It’s very African.” How thoughtful of her to give us such a helpful hint.

One day my mom introduced me to my “mpenzi” (fiancée) in Shirazi. We were walking to some random relative’s house when she turned around and told me we were going to meet my fiancée. We get there and sitting outside his house is this old guy with his wife and children. Turns out he’s my mom’s father’s brother and somehow this makes him my mpenzi. The women put a stool right in front of his mat and forced me to sit there while they sat around laughing and asking me questions like, “this is the man you’re going to marry, do you like him?” and “Oh he’s old, he has no hair even, do you like that?” Keep in mind that this is all happening in Swahili and I have never been so uncomfortable before and I couldn’t think of any sort of response in Swahili. This led my mpenzi to think I was sort of stupid and bad at Swahili, which is probably fine because he wouldn’t want to marry a dumb girl, but I got defensive and practically yelled at him in Swahili which made me feel much better about the whole situation. That was the end of that though and I managed to avoid him like the plague (or chiggers) the rest of the time in Shirazi.

Did I mention that our families dressed  us up in Shirazi? This was by far my best look...please note the rainbow-fish-like quality of this lovely gown.

Our mom’s gave all the girls henna towards the end of our stay. Salim also helped me learn a lot about traditional medicine in the village which was awesome. He even took me to interview the traditional medicine man. That was fascinating and it was definitely understandable why people believe in him but my willingness to believe in his abilities was dampened a little when he asked me to pay him for the time he spent answering my questions.

I learned how to kill, de-feather, and cut up a chicken. Also learned how to roast fresh cashew nuts, fry mandazi, make chapatti, and cook tambi (aka sugar spaghetti). There are no recipes here but I can't wait to try to replicate all of this food for you when I get home!

On our last day Salim took me to see the Shirazi village soccer team play a local team in a nearby village. We got to ride a piki piki (motorcycle taxi) there which gave us great views of the village on our last afternoon. Plus Shirazi won 3-1 so we couldn’t complain.

I also broke out the bubble gun I brought for my little brother and it was like Christmas come early. Omari has been walking around with the bubble gun holstered in the waist-band of his pants ever since then.

The most liberating part of Shirazi was being able to walk anywhere and greet every person you saw. I never had to walk around with my angry face on like I do in Nairobi. I also had a cold outdoor bucket shower every day, which was best done by lantern under the stars at night or post-run in the morning with monkey’s climbing the palm trees over my head.

I’m sure I’ve left out a million details that I wanted to share but basically our ten days in Shirazi flew by way too fast and I really hope I can take my mom up on her offer to come back and visit Shirazi some time in the future!

My fam right before our tearful goodbye. They were fantastic people and I've already talked to them on the phone a few times since we left the village.

50 Nifty United States (Pre-Mombasa Stories)

There is literally too much to possibly catch you all up on but here begins my best attempt. I’m breaking this up into parts, so feel free to skip to what you actually want to know about!

First to finish off my last Nairobi stories pre-Mombasa. I promise I’m not actually being stalked by a Massai runner. I was running in Nairobi and this guy ran past me, motioned for me to catch up, and when I refused he came back and ended up running with me for 20min. He only really spoke Swahili so I’m not entirely sure what we talked about sometimes but I did find out that he’s a professional runner and he was training for the Nairobi marathon. So the exchange ended with me taking his phone number since all us SITers want to go to a track meet while we’re here and I figured who would know where to find them better than a real-live-Kenyan runner. The other trackie who’s here and I decided to call Jack the Massai runner (did I forget to mention his name is Jack, funny right?) that night and since then he’s called me a million times and texted me. Don’t worry though, no harm no foul. And I’m not a stupid msichana mzungu.

We got to visit Carolina for Kibera! The people there were great and I learned that their office is basically in my backyard so I could easily go visit again. They have a bunch of impressive programs but the one I was most excited about is a “Trash is Cash” program where they pay kids in Kibera to bring trash to their center and then they recycle just about all of their trash. Literally the first thing I’ve heard about recycling since being in Kenya.

This is just an example of why I got so excited to learn about a Trash is Cash program.

Then hung out with my Nairobi family on my last night before heading to Mombasa for two weeks. In the course of this meal I learned two things: that my family has significantly more knowledge than me about American movies and significantly less about American geography. My mom and brother started asking me about Massachusetts again (a word they find incredibly hard to pronounce) and then in an attempt to figure out where it is my mom asked if it is near Boston. Then I had to explain that Boston is the capital city of the state of MA. That really threw them for a loop and my mom, in an attempt to understand how that works, asked how many different parts there are. I explained that there are 50 states to which mom responded, “50? Oh, are you sure?” Yes, momma, last time I checked I’m fairly certain there were 50 states. This turned into a game where my family named all the states they know, which included Miami and Manhattan before it got too hard to explain.

Then that night we left Nairobi on the coast bus overnight to Mombasa. It was like a track bus, with wonderful movie selections alá Nicole. We watched The Reef, a movie about a bunch of friends getting shipwrecked and eaten by sharks. What better way to start a two week stay on the coast?