Happy Half-term!

Oyaore everybody! (that's good morning in Luo)

(pictured is George the fisherman and brown bear)

Today I was blessed with the opportunity to come to Kendu Bay for the internet connect again! It is half-term break for the students at Wikondiek. It's a celebration!

This is perfect because I was rushed last time and there were a few things I wanted to mention :) god loves me.

The first is Papa's shamba (farm). On this glorious plot of land, we've seen flower, chili, mango, pawpaw (papaya), avocado, maize and millet crops! It's great! We've even seen a family of hippos chillin' because the shamba is right on Lake Victoria. The first time I heard the sound they make, I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at Leslie with utter confusion and fear.

Leslie is like our brother. He maintains the shamba and lives in the home across from us! BFF foreverrr haha! okay enough with the teasing, here are some pics:

Pic 1: The shamba is located in a gulf at Victoria Lake. *pretty*

Pic 2: Leslie holding a little goat still so I can pet it

Pic 3: A woman harvesting chillies

Pic 4: Fishermen fishing with mosquito nets... its actually illegal to to this *yikes*

*note: Last time the computer crashed so the post was disorganized. my bad.

Ready for my close up

Jambo Salaam from mother Africa y'all!

I know, I will try to update more often and with smaller entries but I have to go to some lengths to get the net so bear with me. the good news is... your girl found a USB cord in the bush so this post will mostly be pics to make up for the text heavy post 2 weeks prior :)

First off, UPDATES


So, my personal goal was to make it to an internet connection every week but I have good reason for not making it last week: Malaria. After the vomitting, fever, *stomach* pains and some very scary convulsing Mayan and I experienced, we are back on our feet. SURVIVED (as always..with Hello Kitty)

Now, I'm gonna take you through our initial journey and introduction to Wikondiek. It was hard to describe without pics.

The 7 hour matatu ride:
















Pic 1: the definition of sketchy. we were led through an alley before we arrived and had to leave all our luggage at this place. The driver's baby son is named Barack.
Pic 2: we passed the Rift Valley.

There are other pictures of my journey but connection is ridiculously slow. Half way through the ride we stopped at a restaurant at the side of the road and I decided to use the washroom facilities. What I found was a metal hole in the ground with flies and a rank smell.. what do they use for leverage? Yeah. I held it for 7 hours. the conviction was THAT strong.

Home sweet home





























Pic 1: The front of Papa Asiyo's house.
Pic 2: The back. My room faces the back so the turkeys, chickens, roosters, dogs, goats and cows def. provide and interesting soundtrack
Pic 3: Our washroom. You are correct. I bathe with a basin. theres only one faucet-handle-thing because theres only one temperature offered haha!
Pic 4: My boudoir.

Not bad at all right? (Keep in mind this is the biggest house in the area. It's weird because we live beside mud houses. no lie.)

The food:

I know my family is dying to see what I'm eating for fear i'm not keeping up my impeccable figure *model pose*. The food is seriously HEARTY. and full of LOVE. hahaha

We eat lots and lots of fruits: Avocadoes the size of your head, Pawpaws (papayas), watermelons, mangoes and bananas usually.

lots of fish and chicken and grainy foods.

On a more serious note, I was chatting with my mom the other day about all the foods I miss (my little coping mechanism) and she said she felt the same way when she left Vietnam. It dawned on me: the woman left her home forever with nothing but uncertainty about the journey ahead of her. what do I have to worry about? I am my mother's daughter and I refuse to whine about what I'm missing. (but I have crazy love for my home nonetheless)

Going to enjoy LIFE instead of waiting for it to begin ;)

With love from Kenya,

Maggie

Today it is my birthday!

...and my treat is internet.. haha am I wired or what?

So after spending a few days in the luxurious home of Caesar, I have now arrived and spent a week and a half in my REAL destination. Wikondiek. (try looking for it on a map. you won't find it.) hahaha right now i'm sitting in Kendu Bay, a relatively close destination with internet. God is good :)

Side note: I tried to find icecream today. I settled for a popsicle in a sandwich bag held together with a twig. Tomorrow with be interesting :(

For those of you well wishers (mo and TT) who expected me to be living in the jungle wearing furs and killing wild boars with a spear while perfecting the coyote call, I'm sorry. But I will ease your minds by telling you that my current living situation has come much closer to that fantasy! haha

The home I'm currently staying in is solar powered and occasionally assisted by a generator. So don't you worry! I am taking lots of pics!.... I just can't load them because the internet is slow and I brought the USB cord for my BB, not my camera. What is a city girl to do?

I know I was having some predeparture jitters but me and Mayan are closing on our 3rd week soon and I am really enjoying myself! We're trying to pick up some Kiswahili and Luo (tribal language) but I'm afraid we just can make it to Stacey's level haha! (Stacey, if you are reading, you are a hero here and everyone cherishes the memories they've shared with you, please come back).

Last year when I was away for the summer I was SERIOUSLY in TO withdrawl. Now, I'm even farther but it gives me a calming effect. The Toronto ego is something that i'll never lose though, don't you worry ;) Me and Mayan are like the brother and sister that have to go to school together and travel everywhere together to please our parents haha! I don't know how else to put it but he keeps me grounded. He's there when I need him and he's also there when don't feel like I need him and viceversa. *everyone please take a moment to remember the petty sibling disputes you used to have as a child* ... yeah. that's us. More than anything he keeps me grounded and gives me more perspective. In fact, the other day he told me he judges the people (mostly men) that we meet by how they treat me. Isn't he cuddly? haha! On a more serious note, his comment resonates with me because the society is very patriarchal and the male creeper population is rampant. Thank god I have brown bear on my side :)

In other news, the first days of school were rough...apparently my take on English is odd and my Americanized English sounds alot like "raw-raw-raw" to my students. We laughed about it and hopefully we're over it haha. There are alot of challenges here I did not anticipate but the students generally want to learn from me, it will just take time to get over the hilarity that is a Chinese English teacher :) *putting on a brave face*

The food continues to be delicious and the home I am staying at does have workers that cook gigantic meals. Mom, get ready to let out some seams on my clothes when I get back. The hospitality of my Mama and Papa Asiyo makes refusing food almost impossible. (yeah I think that sounds like an adequate excuse too haha.)

Random thoughts: I have an uneven tan, showing leg is a little risque here. Mosquitoes are ruining my life. On the bright side, I have perfected the art of getting into my moquito-netted bed. The sounds of hippos are surprisingly similar to the man sitting infront of us during our flight. And finally, I miss night life...

You can take the girl out of the city but...... well, I found internet didn't I? So, you know ;)

Staying savy, I miss you TO <3