All about my new digs

April 24, 2002

Been out of the communication loop lately - sorry. Spent a hectic week in Nairobi and then two weeks in Naivasha for in-service training (IST). Never managed to find enough time for a web update. IST was fun but tiring. Forgot how tough it is to sit in class all day, every day for 2 weeks. Part of IST was technical - giving us tips for proposal writing, how to open a bank account for a rural women's group, etc. The other part of IST was language. It was good to be so focused but some days all we did was language...6 hours at one time is too much! I'm back in Nunguni now (well not right now...I'm typing this in Nairobi) and it's such a joy to be back home. The pace of life here is so nice and slow. My house was still there waiting for me after my 3-week absence. Surprisingly, I didn't find it overrun with bugs. I'm anxious to start fixing it up and to decorate it.

Three fellow PCVs are coming to visit me and spend the night this Friday. My first house guests! Ok, on to some more FAQ's (no one actually asked me these questions, I just thought you'd like to know):

What's your new house like?

It's small, but has potential to be comfy. It's half of a one-story duplex on the hospital compound, a 10-minute walk into town. The duplex is down a small slope from the one-story, multi-building hospital. It's quite private - no one but me and my neighbors use the mud access road that leads to our houses. My house has 4 rooms - a sitting room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathing room. The floors and walls are concrete but the walls at least are whitewashed. There is no electricity or running water. Not even solar power. The house is wired and used to have electricity, but the line was cut some time ago when a tree fell on it. It's proving to be a bureaucratic nightmare to get someone out to fix it. Maybe by the time my 2 years are up? For now I use a kerosene lantern and candles. Quite peaceful but impractical if you want to read or write after dark.

There are no closets or shelves in any of the rooms - not even a counter in the kitchen. My room is large but then again the only thing in there right now is my bed. I take that back, all my suitcases stuffed with clothes are in there too as are plastic bags filled with food, books, papers and misc. sundries. It's all on the floor. I have a small (2' x 3') rug next to my bed so I can get out of bed and not have to put my feet on the cold concrete. My sitting room currently has a large rug, borrowed from my NGO, a couch, and a small coffee table, also borrowed. I had the couch made in Nairobi and I love it. It's a log couch with big pillows that I got to pick the color for (brown). My kitchen has a chimney but nothing else. Most families cook using a wood or coal-burning stove (like a small bbq) hence the need for a chimney to carry the smoke up and out. I have a 3-burner gas stove which is currently propped up on some boxes. No running water so no sink. I have 2 buckets - one for clean water (not really clean) and the other for dirty water. I've got a real nice set of dishes I bought in Nairobi but so far I've only taken one bowl and one plate out of the box and I just use them and wash 'em when I'm done. The rest are in the box I'm using to prop up my stove. Guess I'll have to break a few more out for my visitors or eat in shifts.

I've got some other empty boxes on the floor where I stack the tupperware my mom sends me, filled with goodies, in her care packages. I put all my food in those or zip lock bags as the ants will get into everything otherwise. My bathing room is in 2 parts. One part is like a storage area, currently storing my mountain bike, and the other part is where I bathe. Again, no running water so I take bucket baths with water I heat on my stove. I have a nail in there and I hang a shower caddy to hold my shampoo and soap. I also have rope strung up to dry my towel and undergarments when I do the wash. It's scandalous to hang your undergarments outside for all to see. Now that I'm home for a couple weeks I'm attempting to get some bookshelves made for my room and some kind of shelving for the kitchen. My NGO is giving me a cabinet for the kitchen but transporting it to me in Nunguni is a problem. I'd like to eventually get a dresser or armoire made too but those will have to wait until I can save up money.

We all got a certain amount of money to move-in with but it didn't go very far. I spent mine on the stove, gas cylinder, couch, bed, sheets, buckets, dishes, cleaning supplies and some staple foods. A chair or two would be nice but I at least have a couch. Several fellow PCVs in my group sit on overturned buckets and sleep on a mattress on the floor. Not sure what they spent their move-in allowance on!

Where do you get your water from?

There is a water tank just up the slope from my house, in back of the hospital. The water comes from a borehole somewhere. It looks clean as it comes out of the spigot but when you pour it into a clear cup it's actually quite murky. It doesn't settle either, just stays murky. I only use it to wash my clothes, my dishes and me. I put bleach in my dishwater hoping it'll help in some way. I'm giving the Peace Corps a sample of it to test, just out of curiosity.

Right now I have a large supply of clean drinking water that I boiled and filtered before leaving my other house. I also have 2, 20-litre jerry cans that I will have filled 15KM away at the town of Salama. They get their water from a pipeline that comes from Kilimanjaro. It costs 2 shillings to fill each one (80 shillings = $1). The District Officer (a government post, like a mayor) will use his vehicle to transport it for me. I'm getting used to bathing in the dirty water but may use the clean water for my dishes...wait, no maybes, I will.

What do you do all day?

Well, in Nunguni I attend my women’s group's meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 10-1. On Monday's and Thursday's I have a 2-hour Kiswahili lesson with my tutor from 2-4. Tuesday is a market day so I usually buy my week's worth of veggies and fruit. During down times I'm either tinkering in my house, writing letters, reading, or working on project-related things. For instance I sometimes write out tasks for my NGO to do next time I'm in Nairobi, work on proposals, or work on writing the content for my NGO's soon-to-be web site. In Nairobi I'm usually working 8-hour days, 5 days a week at my NGO's office. I take that back, I make sure I get one day off a week to do personal things like email, write my update, shop or just see a movie.

I often meet with producers that come to the office to see if we can buy some of their products and sell them. I usually give them suggestions on how to improve their quality, color choices, etc. Not much I've seen is actually market-ready, including the bags from my group. I struggle with quality issues with them all the time. I want them to produce multiple bags of one particular style but they can't grasp the concept of uniformity. No two look alike. I shudder to think what will happen if we get a large order for one particular style...'did you say you want them all 8 inches tall? Will you take some at 5" some at 4.5" and some at 7"?' Color matching seems to be a problem too. All shades of brown seem acceptable even if the sample they're trying to match is dark brown.

Ok, got some more things I need to do here in Nairobi before I head back in a few hours. For those of you waiting for letters, sorry, I've had my head in the sand the last month or so. For those of you waiting to see lovely pictures of Kenya, Nunguni, etc. sorry...the shots I sent my sister to scan in for me got lost in the mail. Seriously. It'll take me a bit to go through all my negatives again and make reprints. Guess you'll just have to come and visit me and see the place for yourself!

June 8, 2002

Was anyone wondering if I forgot how to type? Sorry, I've been having technical difficulties with my website (still am) so haven't been able to update. I have so many things to say but for the life of me can't remember most of them. I did write some things down, but wouldn't you know? I forgot to bring that paper with me to the cyber cafe!! D'oh. Before I forget, here's a great quote that a soon-to-be PC trainee sent to me via email. She's coming in September and is in my sector, SED/IT. Here it is:

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover." -- Mark Twain

Pretty inspiring, huh? Let's see, what have I been doing for the past month? I've been trying to get my house in order mostly. I commissioned a local metal worker (usually makes metal window grills) to make me some tall candle stands. Some are 4ft, 3ft, 2ft, etc. Got each made for less than a dollar! I've been in Nairobi for the past week and bought some large candles to put on my new stands. I prefer to use candles at night as the kerosene lantern gives me a headache from the fumes. I also have a local wood-worker making me a kitchen counter - that I drew up. I got price quotes on the other furniture I want made (cut out pictures from a Pottery Barn catalog) and now I'm just waiting to have enough money to get it all started.

I'm hoping to have my place in order by the time Karin et al come to Kenya in August. Still no electricity. Found out that the house never did have it connected, which means my neighbors have been waiting for over 2 years! I keep bugging the hospital administrator about it so I'm hoping he'll get off his butt and do what needs to be done, if only to shut me up! Been watching some World Cup games as I'm in Nairobi. The time difference works out well as most games are at 9:30am, noon, or 2:30pm. Saw the US vs. Portugal game, bits of the England vs. Argentina and S. Africa vs. Slovenia games. The cyber cafe I'm at right now has a small TV set up and the latest game is on .... not sure who it is, Italy I think. Most of Nairobi is really into it. They root for most of the teams but especially the African teams. Interestingly, they root for England over France. I thought that because they were ruled for so long by the British that they would root for anyone BUT England. Guess they hate the French even more. Man were they excited that Senegal beat France.

Going to go see Spiderman, the movie, in about an hour. Elizabeth, the PCV from Machakos, is in town today and I'll meet her for the flick. Been spending more time in Machakos lately. It's nice to have someone to talk to about all your daily stresses ... someone who knows exactly what you're going through. For those of you in Seattle and drooling to get a look at some of my photos, you're in luck. I just sent home ALL my photos with Carla, Karin's roommate. They are to eventually make their way to my mom but Karin has been given the green light to show them to anyone who is interested. I wrote captions on the back of each so you'll know what you're looking at. For those not in Seattle, one of the packets of photos is earmarked for the website. It is to go to my sister who will then scan them in for me and post to my site. I wouldn't expect to see them on the site for at least a month or more (I think I have 30 pics to post). Hum, can't think what else to write and it's almost movie time. I'll be in Nairobi again the beginning of July and will do another update then. See you!