headed to the homestay

I’m almost completely packed for the homestay. We head there around noon. It’s somewhat frustrating because we don’t know much about them—Ken (the professor from LC) said they would have indoor plumbing, while Alex (the student leader) said we wouldn’t have running water. We’ve been told two people might be housed with the same family, and if that happened it would probably be a boy and a girl; however, Alex said that, so we’re not sure if it will happen or if it’s just what happened with her homestay.

It’s not much of a problem—we’ll figure it all out by the end of the day. It’s just nerve-wracking to go into a homestay with so little knowledge.

Thursday Alex, Rachel Y. and I went to a little “kiosk” for lunch. It was really more of a shack—about 8’X10’ with a metal roof and 10-12 people crammed inside into tiny makeshift booths. The food was amazing: beans with cabbage, rice, and chipatti, which is kind of like a tortilla except way better. It was less than a dollar each, and we didn’t even finish all the food.

We went back there yesterday with a big group and basically overran the place. Everyone there was really nice though, helping us with words and getting the cook to bring us dishes to taste. We ordered beans and rice and chipatti again, plus lentils. Absolutely delicious and again, less than a dollar each.

Have I mentioned aerobics? All the girls got up early on Thursday and took an aerobics class at the hotel. We pretty much made fools of ourselves, but it was a lot of fun.

Class has been pretty good—Swahili’s still great, but I’m not so big on the Kenyan history/politics/etc class. The guy who teaches it is absolutely brilliant and has been in Kenya for at least 45 years and knows everyone. It’s kind of insane; he tells stories beginning with, “Well I’m quite close with the current prime minister” and “I had the fortune to be very good friends with one of the first Kenyan provincial commissioners” and “I was told this by a member of the Kenyatta (the first president of Kenya) family.” So he is very interesting and very smart, but he goes off on so many tangents that we don’t really have a basic level of information yet. We don’t have a starting place from which to understand his tangents, which sometimes makes it hard to pay attention.

I still adore Swahili though. It’s amazing how much we’ve learned just in this first week. We’re separated into four groups of only about six people, and then there are four teachers who rotate through the groups. MJ is my favorite—a hilarious and adorable Kenyan man who uses a pointer in class at the most unnecessary moments. But all four of the teachers are very good, helpful, and kind. The thing about Swahili that we’ve learned so far that is the most confusing: they don’t use commas.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned that it’s cold here! I’ve worn my fleece every day. But it kind of reminds me of Michigan weather, because even though I needed my fleece yesterday morning, when I got back to the hotel for dinner I was sweating bullets.

I don’t know when I can update next—a few of us went in on internet from the hotel, which I’m using now, but I don’t know what will happen when we go to our homestays. Eventually we’ll find an internet café and I’ll keep you updated.

Ninatamani kukuona! (I miss you!)