What I wrote a couple day ago:
No longer a PCT. It has been such a long time coming, but I am FINALLY an official Peace Corps Volunteer! And I am so proud to be a part of the Peace Corps. After the craziest 9 weeks of my life to date, we made it to Nairobi for a few days and eagerly awaited our swearing in ceremony on Wednesday. We were sworn in at the Deputy Chief of Mission’s house, the second in command at the embassy. The home made me feel like I was walking through the Breakers mansions in New England, and the food was even better. My stomach yelled at me that night for downing so many cookies, but I couldn’t help myself.
Nairobi gave us access to SO many things that we had not seen for 9 weeks; namely cheese, free wireless, and western toilets. It’s practically paradise. Tuesday night before the big day (as if the vacay in Nairobi couldn’t get any better) we even went to town and saw Harry Potter. I got a movie, a hot dog (with real mustard!), popcorn (with real butter!), a coke, and a chocolate milkshake, all for the equivalent of about 7 bucks. Awesome.
We also had a chance to meet our supervisors in Nairobi. They came from all over the country to attend our swearing in ceremony, and then take us back to site. The headmistress of my school in Kilifi came to get me, and she is super nice. She seems very progressive and eager to start up lots of clubs with the students. Count me in! Looks like I will also be teaching 1 or 2 computer classes, and possibly English. I want to start my Life Skills class as well, but not sure if I’m allowed to until 2nd term. We’ll see. The other volunteer that was at my site in Kilifi has gone home, so I am now on my own at the school. Part of me thinks it’s better this way though. I can’t wait to be settled, to be comfortable teaching, and to just feel like I belong.
Overall training was wonderful, stressful, educational, frustrating, and the best thing ever. Here’s some things that I learned in my pre-service training for Peace Corps Kenya, in no particular order.
- PB& J is a life saver. As is American candy.
- I have to adjust the way I speak in order for most Kenyans to understand me. Annunciate everything and don’t use contractions. If you’ve talked to me on the phone here you’ve witnessed this.
- I feel so lucky to be in deaf education. I can’t wait to start teaching.
- Taking things one day at a time is just about the only way to go.
- My group here is pretty much the best group I could have ever asked for.
- I now know exactly how animals in zoos and celebrities feel on a daily basis.
- National exams are just about the worst thing ever.
- I feel even luckier to have received the education I did in the States. Being here has taught me how much I appreciate the American education system.
- They have plows in Africa too, though not for snow… for mud.
- “Mzungu” and “’Ow ah you!” are probably the most obnoxious things in the world.
- It is totally possible and actually quite easy to live without running water or electricity.
- Kenyan families are not that much different from American families; they laugh and miss and cry and love, and just like mine back home, have a great way of showing me what’s really important.
What I wrote today:
So this post has been mulling over in a word document for the longest time, and I finally now have time to post. Swearing in was an absolute party, I drank a little too much afterwards, and though I didn’t feel so hot traveling the next day, it was the perfect way to end PST. We got up early early on Thursday morning because the trip to Kilifi is not short. Took a taxi to the bus station, took about a 9 hour bus ride to Mombasa, took another hour bus ride into Kilifi town, and a couple tuk tuks to my headmistresses house. Another volunteer, Alli (also in Deaf Ed.), has a supervisor who is out of town for the next week. So she is staying with me for the time being. It’s absolutely wonderful not being alone right away. So since my house was a shambles when we got to Kilifi on Thursday night, we stayed at my headmistress’s house. Kenyan’s are so hospitable it’s redonkulous. We had a full dinner, a nice cold bath, and a comfortable bed. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Friday we made our way over to my house at Kibarani, the primary school for the deaf compound. I think I am really going to like it here. There are always people to say hi to, there are people to take me to town to pick up furniture, there’s a couple small kids who think I’m deaf, and there’s always some very crazy cows trying to eat my laundry. My house is SUPER old, but definitely better than what some of the other volunteers have. It’s got 2 bedrooms, a spacious sitting room, kitchen, walk-in pantry, bathroom, and electricity and running water that are present but very fickle. I have headlamps and water storage tanks for when they decide to go out, so life could be a lot worse. The house, however, was dirtier than all get-out when I moved in, and if you know me at all, you know I hate dirt and I love to clean. Kenyan’s are also not big on aesthetics, so I’ve taken the liberty of repainting the whole inside of the house too. We are well into the throws of priming everything, and I’m still not sure what color will be the finish coat, but anything is better than the satanic blood red that it was before. It’s going to take a few more weeks to get everything finished, but if this is home for the next two years, it needs to be HOME, and not just a dirty cement shack. So aside from the extremely abundant ants, termites, spiders, lizards, cockroaches, giant millipedes, mice, and frogs that find their way into every corner of the house, this place isn’t bad, and it’s gonna be a lot better when I’m done with it.
My house is about a half hour walk from town, and a little bit longer to the new supermarket they just put in! Hooray for living in a tourist town! Tusky’s is fantastic; it’s got fresh bread, and apples, and cleaning supplies, and furniture and clothes and almost everything else. I love it. I feel so lucky to be in Kilifi. Another good thing about this town is that there is already a group of mzungus from all over the place that live here too and hang out all the time. Some from the states, Ireland, the UK and plenty of other PCVs on the coast as well that will hopefully come visit me at some point. I’m pretty sure these white people are going to be crucial to my sanity out here. They do dinner about once a week and drinks even more often. It’s wonderful.
Also, I am SO excited to start teaching. Model School really helped my confidence in the front of a classroom and since I already know a lot of the kids, it will hopefully be an easier transition than I thought. It still scares me that I’m going to be here for two whole years, but hopefully I’ll get over that.
So I know it’s almost Christmas or something, and apparently there’s been snow back home, but that’s all I want to hear about it. I sweat in unbelievable amounts here, and I’m pretty sure I won’t see rain for a few more months. When I think too hard about the holiday season back home I get a little sad, so I don’t like doing that.
I hope everyone is happy and healthy and enjoying winter! I miss you all like nobody’s business, and really hope I get to come home next Christmas. Love you all and Happy Holidays from East Africa!
~ Shub :)
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