An African Thanksgiving.. and some other things

Well it certainly wasn't like any Thanksgiving I've had before, but it definitely was fantastic. Here's a recap: We stayed at Outward Bound, a camp/resort-type place where we spend many a medical session learning about STDs and getting shots. Thankfully neither of those were included in Thanksgiving. We rolled in around 10am Friday morning and promptly broke into our first stock of beer. We helped the staff guys set up our tents for the night, and then decided to do some hanging around. Hanging around turned into a few games of American football followed by ultimate frisbee. This turned into us taking over the Outward Bound kitchen to start making our desserts. This was around noon. Dinner was at 6. Desserts turned into appetizers which was soon followed up by more hanging around. This persisted for a while until we decided to start cooking dinner around 5. The Outward Bound kitchen staff cooked some, but we spent a lot of time telling them not to put too much grease in things, and to put certain spices in other things. We wanted things to taste as American as possible. One of the girls in the group even volunteered to slaughter our chickens! I tried telling the cooks that in America our food isn't running around the field with us a few hours before it's in our bellies. They weren't quite sure what to think. So dinner ended up happening around 7. We had our own room, we had a giant table, and we had enough space to sit just about all 26 of us, plus a few PC staff. Before eating we all went around the table and said what we were thankful for. This included everything from friends and family back home, to the American taxpayer, to large African beers, to the best Thanksgiving some people had ever had. It was the happiest I have been in PST so far. One trainee stood up and said "I'm thankful that you guys are a lot weirder than I thought you would be." This got a giant round of applause. Training has been the most frustrating thing, and being with everyone for this holiday made it all worth it.

Dinner was chicken, mashed potatoes, spaghetti and homemade sauce, I made an avocado pineapple salad, a few Kenyan foods that I refused to touch for one night, and a million delicious desserts. It was the best meal in Kenya yet and and I could not be more thankful for it. After dinner we had our own private bonfire until it started raining. A couple flooded tents later I was sharing a two-person tent with 3 other people and loving every minute of it. I didn't sleep much through the night but that gave me more time to think about the amazing food I had just consumed.

We all woke up at the crack of dawn, waited for breakfast at 8:30, settled the beer money, and walked back to town. All in all it was definitely one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had. Nothing really beats Thanksgiving with my family, but this certainly ran a close second. One might even say it was actually quite similar since these people are my family here :)

On a more serious note, I had the scariest night so far in Africa last week. It was the first time I was truly afraid. Here's what happened: My little sister Margaret (who is 5) and little cousin Mary (who is 3) did not come home from school when they were supposed to. My other sister Ann (13) went back to look for them 4 times but they were no where to be found. I had just gotten home from class when I found all this out, and as soon as I got home, everyone left to go look for them and told me to stay home. I was alone in the house thinking about my missing siblings when all I wanted to do was help look for them. Soon the whole town was out looking as well. About an hour later I heard hysterical crying down the road. It was Mama. She couldn't even walk back to the house by herself she was crying so hard. I thought the worst had happened. Apparently they still could not be found, and Mama was so upset because people from Tanzania come to Loitokitok to kidnap children, rape them, and then take their skin. The thought of something so horrific happening to my little Margaret made me want to explode. Soon there were 8 or 10 neighbors in the house with Mama and I, trying to calm her down. They yelled for a good 45 minutes in Kiswahili while I sat holding Mama's hand, helpless and totally clueless as to what was going on. FINALLY an English phrase popped in: "They are coming." I wasn't going to believe it until I saw it. The other bad thing was it was almost dark. Night comes in the blink of an eye on the equator, and I imagine Africa at night as it is in I Am Legend; everyone turns into Zombies and no one is safe. Margaret and Mary eventually showed up just as the sun was going down. I have never felt more relieved in my entire life. It's surprising how much I love my family here, even though I've lived with them for only 5 weeks. Turns out the girls had gone to someone else's house after school, where they had never been before, and without telling anyone. Mama held Maggie so tight I think she learned her lesson. All in all it was super stressful, freaked me out, and made me miss my real family even more. Whew.

Moving on. This week is Model School. Current PCVs have brought their students from all over Kenya to Loitokitok so that we can practice teaching them. It's free education for them, it's extra help that they might need in math and science, and it's wonderful practice for us. While everyone else in the group is teaching 3 lessons throughout the week, Amanda and I are teaching 8 a piece. Story of our lives in PST. Also, everyone else gets to teach in English, while Amanda and I actually have to teach in the language we're learning. *Sigh.* So we team-taught two Biology Form 1 lessons this morning, and although it was pretty horrible for both our first times teaching, it wasn't a complete disaster. We certainly have a lot to learn, but we also have all week to practice. More updates on Model School later.

Just about everyone in the group has been sick so far, and I was kind of just waiting my turn, which unfortunately hit me last night. Apparently we're the sickest group PCKenya has seen in a long time. So I'm eating plain rice, bananas, and attempting to down some oral rehydration salts, which taste like I'm drinking the Pacific. Hopefully I'll get better for the rest of Model School. Great timing!

Anywho, I basically cannot WAIT to get to site. As much as I love my host family, PST cannot end soon enough. Last night I was trying to talk to my Mama and sisters about when I leave in 2 weeks, and every time I opened my mouth they started screaming really loud and talking over me. They refuse to admit that I'm leaving and probably have plans to lock me in the house so I never leave. It's definitely a good feeling :)

OH! And I forgot to say that I passed my LPI (Language Exam) for KSL and have started Kiswahili lessons. We'll see how that goes.

So even though I'm not there yet, I have changed the address to my new one in Kilifi. Beau will pick up anything that gets there before I do. But I doubt in two weeks anything will. I have received letters and packages so far (hint hint) if you want to send anything :) Getting mail is just about my favorite thing in the Peace Corps.

I think that's about it for now. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was just as good as mine and I hope you all enjoy the holiday consumerism back home! We don't have anything like that here. Sing some carols for me and get an extra pretty Christmas tree too.

Love love love from Africa. Miss you all.

~ Shub :)