Mombasa is very hot

I'm working on a longer post, but right now I'm killing some time before going to the ferry to go to Diani this weekend! I'm shamelessly excited to be going to a tourist beach. More on the public beach in my upcoming post.

My family here is great- I have my mother Shadia, brothers Nabil (17) and Fadhil (2,) and sisters Iptisam (15) and Hafsa (13.) We're staying in Kisauni just outside Mombasa right next to the big Mosque, which is very beautiful and loud. Things are quite rural- no running water or electricity, but I think I'm adjusting well.

My internship is both confusing and interesting- more on it later, but it seems there is no need for orientations or training in this country, so I've just been winging it.

Miss you all!

When in Rome...

I have no running water at my next homestay, so I figured a hairstyle I don't need to wash or comb would be best.

A short lesson in Kiswahili

Hamjambo, Wanafunzi!
I thought I'd teach you all a little lesson in Kiswahili this week! Here is a list of all of the phrases that have come in handy during my travels thus far. Feel free to use them if you ever grace the country of Kenya.

Tuende! Let's go! Useful when urging lagging classmates and host brothers along.

Bei ngapi? How much is the price? Helpful when shopping in the market- you can get lower prices if you bargain in Kiswahili!

Usiniguse! Don't touch me! This will come in handy when dealing with a certain host brother who habitually pets you like a dog.

Niache! Leave me! Gets those market "helpers" off your back. Don't believe anyone who offers to "help" you bargain- they're getting a cut of the sale.

Sawasawa? Alright/Ok? More fun to say in Kiswahili than in English.

Sina pesa. I don't have money. Useful in the market, on the street, and when answering your host brother's request for a new watch when you know very well he broke his last one a day after purchase by testing its water resistance.

Pole! Sorry! Useful when apologizing to a classmate for chickening out for the third time when trying to cross the street, and holding them back with you.

Nina mpenzi. I have a boyfriend. If this doesn't work, Nina mume may be more effective. (I have a husband.)

There you go- the survival sayings kwa Kiswahili. Enjoy!

I have an internship!

Good news, folks! I will be interning in Mombasa at the Wema Centre. The Wema Centre is a rehabilitation center for street kids, and it provides both formal and nonformal education, vocational training, food, shelter, medical care, and counseling. My biggest role will be teaching reading and writing to youth ages 9-13 as well as conducting outreach among community children with the social workers. For more information about the organization, visit www.wemacentre.org. I'm excited to finally know what I am doing and where I will be! It seems I won't be very rural, as Mombasa is a decently sized city, but most Kiswahili is spoken on the coast, so being there should help my language skills quite a bit.

I also learned a little bit about my host family in Mombasa, and I am very excited about that as well. I'll get to experience a bigger culture change, as my family is Muslim, and I'll have four host siblings ranging in age from 2 to 16. I'm really looking forward to the internship portion of the program now!

Internship in Mombasa?

So, the MSID staff refuses to announce our internships until everyone is all together, but Simon (one of the staff members) asked me offhand if I would mind too terribly if my internship was in Mombasa. Of course, I do not mind at all, as they speak the most Kiswahili on the coast. Looks like I may not be in Kitui or Machakos after all...

I still don't know what I'll be doing in Mombasa, but it's a start. Coastal paradise, here I come!

another trip to the embassy

Yesterday, the five of us who were staying in the country for the weekend decided to go to the town hall meeting of Americans at the U.S. Embassy. The rest of the students on our program went to Uganda for the weekend to raft the Nile (which would have been amazing, but I couldn't justify spending over $300 to go to Uganda without seeing a good chunk of the country.) I've decided, along with my fellow students, that I hate U.S. Embassy meetings.

At the time of the meeting, they had not yet announced the news that Kibaki and Odinga had come to a power-sharing agreement, so everyone was still in the mindset that, should the talks fail, Kenya would have a civil war on its hands. Many people had questions that the ambassador either dodged or answered a little too optimistically in my opinion. Furthermore, he commended the police for their actions in maintaining stability in the country, which really sickened me and my classmates. He argued that the statistics released (which say that over 91% of the deaths in some areas were a result of police brutality) are "not very credible," even though numerous incidents have been caught on tape. He spoke highly of the Kenyan government structure and Constitution too, and it became even more clear to us that the reason the U.S. put so much pressure on Kenya to come to a political solution was not because the U.S. values democracy or freedom. So long as the country is stable, by any means necessary, the U.S. is fine and in fact, for most U.S. citizens in Kenya, it's business as usual. The ambassador even had the guts to say he thought the media over-dramatized the violence through the incident in Eldoret. I don't know how you over-dramatize over 30 women and children burned alive while seeking refuge in a church.

During the Q-and-A session, it was increasingly clear which citizens were in Kenya for exploitive reasons and which weren't. Many people had commendible questions on aid for IDPs and how to address the problem of ethnicity in the country, and others were more concerned with the state of their tourism industry or whether it was likely that the violence would spread to the "upper-class areas." I had to leave before the session was done because I was getting so upset.

I am happy that the two politicians reached their settlement, and was actually quite surprised with the amount of power Kibaki yeilded. It was great to see all of the Kenyans celebrating the news! Now only time will tell if this agreement is actually feasible, and if Odinga can live up to all of the promises he made to the people, or if he too will be swayed by power.

Samburu!

This weekend was amazing! We ended up going to Samburu National Park instead of Maasai Mara because the University of Minnesota didn't like the idea of us driving through a small portion of the Rift Valley, but I loved Samburu nonetheless. On Friday afternoon, we saw one of the Mau Mau caves, which I was really excited about. The Mau Mau fighters used to hide from the British in the caves, and also used them to pray. I was happy to see the caves I had read so much about, and was also happy to see Mount Kenya (even if I am too poor and out of shape to climb it.) It was also nice to be in the historically "white" highlands just because the climate is much cooler due to the altitude. We then went to a primary school near Mount Kenya which is sponsored by Minneapolis, MN. It was fun playing with the kids and seeing where they go to school each day. They were very eager to hear me sing a song, and I'm afraid to say they heard a very poor rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Me and my new friends in Standard 6.

After camping Friday night, we headed to a Samburu village, but first had an incredibly touristy moment when we stopped and took a picture at the equator. Four of us were wearing Wisconsin shirts, and we're determined now to get our picture on the study abroad website. When we arrived in the Samburu village, we were greeted with a song and dance by the women. The whole experience was surreal. The Samburu people are cousins to the Maasai, but were separated from them by the British when they were placed in the north, while the Maasai were placed in the southwest. We participated in a short dance with them and then bought a few things from their market before heading to the National Park.

In our Samburu jewelry after the dance

Me, Caitlin, and the Samburu Warriors

At the national park, we went on an afternoon game drive. We didn't fulfill my friend's dream of watching a lion kill a zebra, but we did see tons of elephants! Afterwards we camped in the park and I realized that after the novelty of monkeys wears off, they really are pests. One even opened my friend's tent and took her cosmetic bag. She wasn't able to get it back. A group of the Samburu joined us for dinner and we had a goat roast. I chickened out and hid while they killed the goat and drank its blood, but a few of my classmates were brave and drank the blood too. I found out that I don't really like goat meat and will most definitely be returning to vegetarianism when I return to the U.S., but I do like it that the animals here get to live life before being slaughtered.

Elephants!

Giraffe!
The beautiful view

This picture reminded me of the Lion King

Sunday morning we went on an early morning game drive and saw many giraffes, impalas, gazelles, zebras, and water buffalo, then got in the vans for the long haul back to Nairobi. It was a great weekend!