Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!


I have had my first Kenyan Christmas. The days leading up to Christmas here in Loitokitok, it was hard to tell it was the holiday season at all, but I woke up on Christmas morning to Christmas carols being sang on TV. My host Mama and I spent the morning cooking, and then took all of the food to my host Baba’s parent’s house. As my Christmas present my host Mama gave me a new outfit to wear, and it is really pretty, a bit too big for me, but it was really really nice of her to get me something. The celebrations included eating a lot of food, most importantly goat; I was given the honor of eating some of the goat pancreas… I also got to talk to my family back at home. It was really great to hear their voices. I miss them a lot, especially during the holiday season!


Since Kenya celebrates Boxing Day, we exchanged presents on Saturday. I use the word exchange loosely because exchanging presents is not normally a part of how most Kenyans celebrate Christmas. But, in a cultural exchange, I did give gifts to my host family. They were partly Christmas and partly thank you so much for letting me stay with you gifts. I gave my host Mama a Peace Corps lesso (a kind of shawl/wrap thing, that all of the women here wear) and I gave my host Baba a calendar of Oregon. The calendar is already on the wall, and it is a nice reminder of home! The kids in my family got pens, stickers, a Frisbee, a deck of cards, and earrings (for my 16 year old sister), and I think all the presents were a big hit! And, my special Boxing Day treat was phone calls from my two best friends from home! I was so surprised when my phone rang and it was an international number, I was expecting my parents again, but was shocked when it was Cydney’s voice, and then Courtney’s voice! It was really great to hear from them, and it was so nice of my mom to arrange for them to call me! I can’t believe how lucky I am that it is so easy for me to communicate with the people I love back home!


Then, on Sunday, our training class got together to have a little Christmas celebration of our own. We did a Secret Santa gift exchange and also everyone brought little snacks. It was a fun day. It felt a lot more like Christmas than Christmas day did here.


In other news, training is almost coming to an end. We will be leaving Loitokitok next Sunday and heading to Nairobi for a while for training sessions with our future supervisors. It is hard to believe that we have really been here that long, and soon we will be officially sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers and we will be sent out to our respective schools. I am excited to start doing the work which I came here to do, but there is also an expected level of nervousness that comes along with leaving PST. Our swearing in date is January 6th. And, since 2010 marks the 45th anniversary of Peace Corps here in Kenya, our swearing in ceremony is going to be a bigger event than usual. The ceremony itself is taking place at the ambassador’s house, and a number of high ranking government officials have been invited. I’m sure it will be a day I will not soon forget, and I promise to take lots of pictures.


In the last few weeks we have been wrapping up PST and there has been a new focus of learning skills which will help us to integrate into our community. Those trainees who passed their LPI last time have started to study their local language, to assist with integration. I am studying Dhuluo (which literally means, mouth of the Luo), which is challenging, to say the least. Kiswahili and Dhuluo are in different language families, so while they share some words, knowing Kiswahili has not aided us much in learning the language. But, the kicker is that Dhuluo is tonal. Words that are spelled the same, when pronounced differently, mean two different things. And, since I have never encountered a tonal language before it can be incredibly difficult to decipher between the two, let alone try to recreate the sound you are supposed to be making when you say certain words! I must say, though, that the language is fun! Some of the sounds incite fits of laughter in all of the trainees learning Luo! And, I am very happy to have the advantage of knowing some Luo before I head to site!


Last week our entire training class traveled to Makindu for some FBT (Field Based Training… remember Peace Corps is a government organization, so they love their acronyms). We traveled to Makindu on Sunday. Peace Corps staff had decided that in an effort for us trainees to become more comfortable with public transportation, they would not be driving us in Peace Corps vehicles, but instead we were on our own to find our way there. Jenny, Whitney, Margaret and I arranged for a matatu to take us to Emali where we would need to switch matatus for the short remainder of the trip to Makindu. Since I am almost positive most of you don’t have firsthand experience with matatus, I will try my best to explain the experience. Matatus are mini buses that serve as the main mode of transportation between towns, and also around major cities like Nairobi. They usually have 14 seats. And by seats, I mean legal, has a seat belt, comfortable seats. BUT, most matatus cram as many people as possible into them in an effort to make more money. At one point between Emali and Makindu we counted 21 people in our Matatu. Some Matatus are falling apart, and their top speed is about 20MPH, while others are very nice and even have video screens that project music videos during the ride. Since the road linking Loitokitok to Emali is only partially paved the trip takes about 2 hours but can take up to 3 hours, despite it being only about 115 Km away. The ride from Emali to Makindu was less than an hour, and we all arrived safely, and with more matatu experience under our belts!


In Makindu we visited the current project of a currently serving Peace Corps volunteer in the business sector. She is working with the Makindu Children’s Center. This center provides services and support to OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) and to their caretakers. The children at the center performed songs for us, and we heard from a student who graduated the program and is now studying law. The current PCV gave us excellent insight into how to integrate into the community and also ideas on what kind of secondary projects we can be involved in. We also visited a VCT center and the local hospital’s AIDS/HIV center. But, at least for me, the highlight of the trip was watching various groups perform songs and dances in their traditional style which portrayed educational messages regarding AIDS/HIV. One of the groups was made up of young men and women, while another was comprised of women who were all above the age of 60. It was one of the most powerful experiences I have had since arriving in Kenya. I was struck by these women who were doing all they could to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV and their use of traditional styles of song and dance were very powerful. It was inspiring and humbling all at the same time. AIDS/HIV is a huge issue in all of Africa, and the numbers can be daunting and overwhelming to say the least, but there are things that can be done to make a difference, and these women are definitely going their part to make that difference.


Well, that’s all from me. I’m really sorry the pictures didn’t upload last time, but I will try again today and hope that I have better luck! Thanks for all the Christmas wishes, emails, and facebook messages! Love you and miss you all! And I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!