I was right, the pizza was delicious! The ride after, not so much. The ride home was really long and our driver was swerving all over the place. I knew I was going to get sick but vans here do not stop for anything. Finally someone in our van bribed the driver to stop so she could pee in a bus. I was able to spring out of the van to get sick in some bushes. I hope another incident like that doesn't happen.
Ta'Vonna, Julie, Hilary, and I came to town for lunch today so we could eat some "real" food. I saw Kentucky Fried Chicken on the menu and I went for it. It was seasoned well but it was also fried and did not sit well with me. It was definitely not like the chicken at home. I don't think the food is too bad, but some of the people here are going crazy. Many people will say "I'm starving" which I try to never say. Although many times I feel extremely hungry here, I know I don't know what it feels like to truly be starving. I always tell the other people here "You may be hungry for a few weeks or even a month. Some of the people here will be hungry for their lifetimes." I keep meeting amazing person after amazing person here. It amazes me how positive people are even with some of their cirumstances. I think this quote relates well: "The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These people have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen" - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
I was able to attend a Catholic mass on Sunday. One of the girls who is volunteering on the farm is Catholic and she was going so I tagged along. Her name is Felicity and she is from Down Under (Australia). She thought mass started at nine. When we walked in at five til everyone was going up for communion, Whoops! Mass actually started at seven I guess. Catholic masses here last anywhere from two to four hours. This particular mass ended at ten, so it was around a three hour service. It was so incredible to be there with all of the singing and dancing. These people were just praising the lord so joyously. After mass I was asked to join the youth group. They want to discuss issues like AIDS and other things with me. I also met some Brothers who invited me to have pizza with them on Friday night and discuss some issues. I'm excited to be meeting so many people. I feel very wanted and accepted here. Oh and I have already received two marriage proposals :). I'm starting to think I live in the wrong country. One of the teachers at school that I work with asked "If we were to marry, would your family give a dowry?" I was cracking up. I told me that traditionally when a man and woman in the states gets married the man's family would pay for the rehearsal dinner and the woman's family would pay for the wedding. It thought that was crazy. Then I told him about drive through Vegas weddings and you can imagine how that went, haha! I just love talking to these people. At lunch today our waiter told me his name was Johnathan and he wrote it down for me. He then asked me to write down my name, so I did. Then he said "I would like your address and number as well" and when I asked him why he said "I would like to call on you", ahaha. I laughed so hard and told him that I would never give someone my address so they could come and find me at anytime. He laughed too and then just walked away. I have also had men come up and tell me that they would like to be in my company and I just politely decline.
The teachers at school are constantly asking me questions about America. They think that at the age of 18 everyone in America is paid by the government. They think you get an income whether you work or not, it's so crazy! I told them the way it really is and they are shocked. Ta'Vonna, one of the girls in my group is black and no one believes she is from the U.S. They think that everyone in America is rich and white. When I told them about all of the homeless people they didn't believe me. I wish I would have taken pictures to show them. We laugh a lot at school. The teachers have started calling me Bridge, just like my friends at home. I just joke around with them all of the time and we really enjoy ourselves.
Side Note: Some of the girls I'm with realized how much I adore gumballs. One night Courtney said "Bridget, I have a surprise for you" and she held out her hand and said "pick a color". I looked up to see a big pile of gum balls! I'm loved here :)
It doesn't look like I will be able to upload pictures here. It takes almost ten minutes just to load a page on the internet. Pictures would take me hours. Maybe when I travel we will find a better internet source.
I hope everyone has a good Halloween
"The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun" -Chris McCandless
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
I Love Kenya
I've adjusted pretty well here. I fall more in love with Kenya each day. The students at my school are incredible and they bring me so much joy. Most of the children at the school are orphans and the rest are pretty poor. These kids just amaze me daily. They are so joyful and when they see me coming they run to the windows yelling "teacher, teacher, come teacher, please come and teach me" it is so cute and it breaks my heart at the same time. There are not enough teachers at the school and most of them are extremely lazy. The kids will sit in their classrooms sometimes for hours by themselves because no one is available to teach them. They love school though and they tell me that everyday. Many children here can't afford to be educated, so the children who do get to go to school really value it. The other day we gave the kids jump ropes to play with. The head teacher then told us that we had to collect them soon after. I thought the kids would be so upset and maybe even complain and ask to play long. These kids just handed the jump ropes back and said "oh, thank you teacher." Then the kids wrote pen pal letters to the kids back home. I wish I I could show them to all of you. Many of them wrote "Please come to my country. I will welcome you" and "God will bless you." These kids have the most immense faith.
My friend Vivian told me yesterday that both of her parents died from AIDS. She was eleven when they died. Her dad was 32 and her mother was only 27. She is so strong and she educated herself. Now she is living with an Aunt and teaching. At least one person inspires me daily.
It's hard to hear about all of the corruption in Kenya. Almost everyone here is corrupt in the business sense, even the UN. People will donate clothes and other things and certain people pay the UN to get those things and then sell them on the streets. It's some shady business. Female circumcision/mutalation is legal here and still continues to happen. There was a ceramony in August :(. Polygamy is also legal here. Some men have up to ten wives. Women who make something of themselves are not respected. Their place is suppose to be in the home with the children. Even with all of those things Kenya is beautiful. If you look past all of the corruption and the bad traditions there are incredible people around every corner. When I have a moment to myself and the breeze crosses my face, I feel extreme peace.
The group I am with is really great as I mentioned before. I seriously laugh at least two hours every night. Someone has to say "Ok Bridget that's enough, we have to go to bed now" :). We all help eachother and share and we've created a nice little family.
Oh I almost forgot to tell you about today. So I am in Kisumu right now. It has the biggest craft market in Kenya so I bought lots of cool things. It took us 4 hours to get here from our village. Everyone wanted to get fish for lunch because the food on the farm consists of beans, cabbage, rice, kale, and occasionally some meat. We walked forever to find a restaurant and we finally came across a place that sits on Lake Victoria. They served us a whole fish, eyeballs and everything. We had to pick the meat off with our hands and eat it that way. They don't have utensils here. Eating with your hands is the way to do it. I was nervous about eating a fish with a face in tact, but when in Kenya. It was talipia and it was pretty good. Definitely an experience for me. Tonight we are going to get some pizza, mmmm!
I have written some letters and mailed them out. It can take up to one month to receive a letter here. Please do not write me past November 2nd, just to be safe. I'm trying to write as many of you as I can.
I'll write more soon and try to post some pictures this week!
"We need silence" ~Mother Teresa
My friend Vivian told me yesterday that both of her parents died from AIDS. She was eleven when they died. Her dad was 32 and her mother was only 27. She is so strong and she educated herself. Now she is living with an Aunt and teaching. At least one person inspires me daily.
It's hard to hear about all of the corruption in Kenya. Almost everyone here is corrupt in the business sense, even the UN. People will donate clothes and other things and certain people pay the UN to get those things and then sell them on the streets. It's some shady business. Female circumcision/mutalation is legal here and still continues to happen. There was a ceramony in August :(. Polygamy is also legal here. Some men have up to ten wives. Women who make something of themselves are not respected. Their place is suppose to be in the home with the children. Even with all of those things Kenya is beautiful. If you look past all of the corruption and the bad traditions there are incredible people around every corner. When I have a moment to myself and the breeze crosses my face, I feel extreme peace.
The group I am with is really great as I mentioned before. I seriously laugh at least two hours every night. Someone has to say "Ok Bridget that's enough, we have to go to bed now" :). We all help eachother and share and we've created a nice little family.
Oh I almost forgot to tell you about today. So I am in Kisumu right now. It has the biggest craft market in Kenya so I bought lots of cool things. It took us 4 hours to get here from our village. Everyone wanted to get fish for lunch because the food on the farm consists of beans, cabbage, rice, kale, and occasionally some meat. We walked forever to find a restaurant and we finally came across a place that sits on Lake Victoria. They served us a whole fish, eyeballs and everything. We had to pick the meat off with our hands and eat it that way. They don't have utensils here. Eating with your hands is the way to do it. I was nervous about eating a fish with a face in tact, but when in Kenya. It was talipia and it was pretty good. Definitely an experience for me. Tonight we are going to get some pizza, mmmm!
I have written some letters and mailed them out. It can take up to one month to receive a letter here. Please do not write me past November 2nd, just to be safe. I'm trying to write as many of you as I can.
I'll write more soon and try to post some pictures this week!
"We need silence" ~Mother Teresa
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Jambo
Jambo (Hello) from Kenya!
I arrived here last night and oh my what crazy travels I've had so far. I have a million things to say in such a short time...
I had to take three different planes to get here. One from Indianapolis to Chicago which made me get sick. It was only a thirty minute ride and I still managed to get sick. The next two planes were much better. From Chicago to London we had a 7 hour flight and then another 9 hours from London to Nairobi. Once we arrived in Nairobi we went to a city called Nikuru and stayed in a youth hostel. It ended up being these little cabins (they looked like shipping crates). Two of us shared each one. Our cab driver from the airport was so kind hearted and wonderful to talk to. He told us about how he had his daughter on a "plan". If she makes her bed every morning she receives ten shillings, but if she doesn't make her bed for just one day she isn't paid for the entire week. If she is paid for the week she must tide 10% to the church and save 10%. The rest of the money is hers to spend as she wishes. The man said that in Kenya people have an etremely hard time saving and he dreams of coming to America one day. He also told us that the older people of Kenya do not understand the young. She said so many young people have dreams of what they want to become and he wants to be someone who believes in those dreams. Ah, I have chills just typing that out. So many of the people here have the most insightful things to say. They really get the true meaning of life.
So after three plane rides and two hours in a car we had to get up on Monday morning after four hours of sleep to ride a bus for nine hours. Oh my goodness, I would rather do anything in the world than have to get on that bus again. I took two dramamine's before so I wouldn't get sick and ended up taking two more halfway through the ride. I was pretty loopy to say the least. The bus ride was nine hours with only two stops! We had one twenty minute stop for bathroom and food. Then we had another five minute stop just to go to the bathroom (you would have never made it Ann). I have to pee about every hour at least, so I thought my bladder was going to explode. As most of you know I cannot hold my bladder at all. So...I went on the bus, no joke! One of the girls in my group had a little knife and I used that to cut the top off one of my water bottles. The bus was crazy bouncy for the whole nine hours. I mean we were literally flying out of our seats. Therefore going to the bathroom on the bus was very tricky, but hey, when duty calls. I had to put my jacket over my lap so no one could see anything they weren't suppose to and then I just wedged myself inbetween the seats and went. I drippled a little but I had baby wipes :). I had to do that three different times and I still can't believe I did it. I have bruises all over my legs for having to hold myself up. I need to thank my Grandma for teaching me how to squat so well ;).
After nine hours on the bus we arrived in our village last night. It was pouring rain and the Lubanga's said it was a sign of a blessing. They told us today that we are a great blessing to them. Julie, Hilary, Ta'Vonna, and I are all sharing hut #2 (my favorite number) and it's pretty cozy. I had my first bathing experience this morning and it wasn't bad at all. I also met my students today. Every time they smile it melts my heart. They all sang this greeting to us and it was adorbale. I will be teaching first grade math, second grade english, and third grade science. I already made a friend with one of the teachers at scool. Her name is Vivian and she invited me over to her house one night for supper. She is twenty two and seems extremely mature for her age. The Lubanga's have eight children and they are all very friendly.
With all of that being said I am in major culture shock. I feel overwhlemed constantly and I know it will just take time. The kids at the school speak little english and I wasn't prepared for that. It will definitely be an adjustment and I know in the end I will love my time here. I am so grateful for the other people in my group. They are all really supportive and we all help eachother out.
My ineternet is messing up so I have to go. I'll write more later this week if I can get back into town...and i'll try to post pictures.
Oh and one more thing...the people here smell awful. Especially when you are riding in a matatu (van) with 10-15 people in it, wowza!
Swahili words I know so far:
Wapicho- "Where's the bathroom?"
Jena Yako-"What's your name?"
Hari Yako-"Hello, How are you?"
Mzuri-"I'm, Fine"
Asanti-"Thank You"
Karibu-"Welcome"
"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing" (Thanks Heather :) )
I arrived here last night and oh my what crazy travels I've had so far. I have a million things to say in such a short time...
I had to take three different planes to get here. One from Indianapolis to Chicago which made me get sick. It was only a thirty minute ride and I still managed to get sick. The next two planes were much better. From Chicago to London we had a 7 hour flight and then another 9 hours from London to Nairobi. Once we arrived in Nairobi we went to a city called Nikuru and stayed in a youth hostel. It ended up being these little cabins (they looked like shipping crates). Two of us shared each one. Our cab driver from the airport was so kind hearted and wonderful to talk to. He told us about how he had his daughter on a "plan". If she makes her bed every morning she receives ten shillings, but if she doesn't make her bed for just one day she isn't paid for the entire week. If she is paid for the week she must tide 10% to the church and save 10%. The rest of the money is hers to spend as she wishes. The man said that in Kenya people have an etremely hard time saving and he dreams of coming to America one day. He also told us that the older people of Kenya do not understand the young. She said so many young people have dreams of what they want to become and he wants to be someone who believes in those dreams. Ah, I have chills just typing that out. So many of the people here have the most insightful things to say. They really get the true meaning of life.
So after three plane rides and two hours in a car we had to get up on Monday morning after four hours of sleep to ride a bus for nine hours. Oh my goodness, I would rather do anything in the world than have to get on that bus again. I took two dramamine's before so I wouldn't get sick and ended up taking two more halfway through the ride. I was pretty loopy to say the least. The bus ride was nine hours with only two stops! We had one twenty minute stop for bathroom and food. Then we had another five minute stop just to go to the bathroom (you would have never made it Ann). I have to pee about every hour at least, so I thought my bladder was going to explode. As most of you know I cannot hold my bladder at all. So...I went on the bus, no joke! One of the girls in my group had a little knife and I used that to cut the top off one of my water bottles. The bus was crazy bouncy for the whole nine hours. I mean we were literally flying out of our seats. Therefore going to the bathroom on the bus was very tricky, but hey, when duty calls. I had to put my jacket over my lap so no one could see anything they weren't suppose to and then I just wedged myself inbetween the seats and went. I drippled a little but I had baby wipes :). I had to do that three different times and I still can't believe I did it. I have bruises all over my legs for having to hold myself up. I need to thank my Grandma for teaching me how to squat so well ;).
After nine hours on the bus we arrived in our village last night. It was pouring rain and the Lubanga's said it was a sign of a blessing. They told us today that we are a great blessing to them. Julie, Hilary, Ta'Vonna, and I are all sharing hut #2 (my favorite number) and it's pretty cozy. I had my first bathing experience this morning and it wasn't bad at all. I also met my students today. Every time they smile it melts my heart. They all sang this greeting to us and it was adorbale. I will be teaching first grade math, second grade english, and third grade science. I already made a friend with one of the teachers at scool. Her name is Vivian and she invited me over to her house one night for supper. She is twenty two and seems extremely mature for her age. The Lubanga's have eight children and they are all very friendly.
With all of that being said I am in major culture shock. I feel overwhlemed constantly and I know it will just take time. The kids at the school speak little english and I wasn't prepared for that. It will definitely be an adjustment and I know in the end I will love my time here. I am so grateful for the other people in my group. They are all really supportive and we all help eachother out.
My ineternet is messing up so I have to go. I'll write more later this week if I can get back into town...and i'll try to post pictures.
Oh and one more thing...the people here smell awful. Especially when you are riding in a matatu (van) with 10-15 people in it, wowza!
Swahili words I know so far:
Wapicho- "Where's the bathroom?"
Jena Yako-"What's your name?"
Hari Yako-"Hello, How are you?"
Mzuri-"I'm, Fine"
Asanti-"Thank You"
Karibu-"Welcome"
"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing" (Thanks Heather :) )
Sunday, October 5, 2008
How to contact me in Kenya
Address in Kenya:
Bridget King
c/o Reuben Lubanga
PO Box 459
Bungoma, Kenya 50200
*Please write me! I would love to get letters from all of you. I can’t promise I can write everyone back, but I will update my blog as frequently as I can. My cordinator said it takes 7 to 10 days to receive a letter. If you want to write me now I would have one shortly after I get there J!
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