I’m finally a Peace Corps Volunteer!! That’s right, I made it through training. Here’s a (not so) quick update of what’s happened since the dysentery incident.
The last week of training was long. We took our LPIs (language proficiency interview) and everyone passed (yay!). Then we spent a day listening to a bunch of American college students talk about environmental problems and ways to fix them, which almost always involved a complete change in the way of the life of the people involved (which was the most boring 4 hours of my life). Then I got to practice teaching on all the other trainees because I missed my model school lesson. It was mildly painful, but I think it went well.
Last Saturday was host family appreciation day, where we had a ceremony and lunch and then said goodbye to our host families. It was a little sad, but to be honest, I was ready to get out on my own. We spent that night at Outward and then on Sunday we took the trip to Nairobi. Sunday was pretty much empty, so we went to the mall, which was kind of horrifying after being in a small village for so long, and then I went out and had Indian food with a few people. It was hands down the best meal I’ve had since coming here. I think we all died, it was so good. It was mad expensive, but worth every shilling. After dinner we went to the grocery store and bought a large bottle of wine and went back to AFRALTI.
On Monday we had a long day of sessions. Considering I didn’t get as much sleep as I’m used to the night before, it just seemed longer than it was. After we finished we went to another mall (which was far nicer and far more intimidating). We checked out Nakumatt (the Kenyan version of Walmart), but I didn’t buy much because there’s a Nakumatt in Kakamega and I didn’t really have room in my bags for a lot of new stuff. Then a couple of us went out for burgers, which were definitely not very good by American standards, but by Kenyan standards, which is what we’re all used to now, there were absolutely amazing. Then we went back to the hotel and I watched Star Wars with my friend Ana (yeah, that’s right. I geeked out a little).
We met our counterparts/supervisors on Tuesday. I was super nervous because, let’s face it, I’m not all that good at first impressions. It went well though. My principal is the person who came for me. His name is Humphrey. He’s kind of awesome. He was very much into working together and giving me a workload that works for me. He’s also very into me being a role model for the girls in my school and encouraging them to try hard to reach whatever goals they want. I’m so excited about it. He also wants me to do counseling sessions on Thursday afternoons, which I’m also excited about. He told me my school is very small and very very poor, so I think this whole experience is going to be very eye opening. After a day of training and doing medical stuff and so forth we ate dinner at AFRALTI and Ana and I watched the Empire Strikes Back. I love Star Wars.
We swore in as volunteers on Wednesday. It was really exciting. We’re all volunteers! We all made it! We were so excited. After the ceremony, we all went back to AFRALTI to pack and eat lunch. After packing we hit up the mall one last time and I bought a small duffel bag because one of my bags was not closable, and that’s not okay on a matatu. I also found a bookstore that was selling classics for 160 /= each, which is just over $2, so I bought a bunch of books, which I then had room for in my new duffel. That night we all got dressed up like Americans (!!) and went out dancing. It was a lot of fun.
Yesterday we all left each other. It was super sad. I suck at goodbyes and I hate them. Fortunately I’m really close to a lot of my friends, but a couple of my favorite people are nowhere near my and I won’t see them again until April. It kind of sucked. A lot. I was also one of the last to leave, which kind of made it worse. But, on the bright side, Alan and Kristin are both within 2 km of my house, so I’ll probably see them on a regular basis. Unfortunately my house is in the middle of nowhere and the only form of transportation is piki piki, which I’m not allowed to ride, so I’ll be buying myself a bike. I’m going to be so fit by the end of this. I’m about 3-4 km from the paved road where there are matatus, so I’ll be biking that on a regular basis. I’m also much closer to Kakamega than I thought. Once I hit the paved road, it’s about 1 or 2 more km before I’m in the middle of town, which is nice. I’m also fairly close to the rainforest, which we drove through to get here. It’s beautiful. I’m so excited.
My house is tiny tiny tiny. I have only 2 rooms. It came with a bed and a table and chair in each room. I need to get a new mattress, a sofa, and some shelves. A higher table might be nice too. The nice thing about where I am is that it’s in a family compound, so whatever furniture I don’t want, I can just give back to the family. My bathroom is pretty far from my little house, but it’s all mine, so that’s good. We have a water pump in the front yard (which is huge) and apparently they’ve already chlorinated the water. I still need to filter it though. I have no kitchen, so I think I’ll end up cooking outside, which sucks a little, but I’ll get over it. At least I have electricity!
Anyhow, it’s time for me to go. Alan, Kristin and I are going shopping in town today with our counterparts to get food and furniture and stuff. I’ll take some pictures of my house as soon as I have everything unpacked and set up. Until next time!
P.S. I have a new mailing address! I’ll put it on my communications page. Please send all my mail to that address now. Thanks!
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