Week one
SIDE NOTE: So I started writing this
last week – when I was still at the hotel with the other interns
during orientation week. Things started to get super busy and I just
finished writing the entry. Because of the delay in writing, I may
switch tenses a bit. Sorry for any confusion!
Orientation with Foundation for
Sustainable Development
Life here in Kakamega has been amazing.
I've been staying at a hotel this week with the other FSD interns
doing orientation training. There is so much that we have been
learning and it has been crazy busy here!
Weather
It has been hot here in comparison to
the Pacific Northwest (PNW) (or maybe I'm just not well suited for
heat) and sunny every day. However, almost every single night, it
rains and a couple times there has been thunder and lightning storms.
The rain is very very different from the rain in the PNW. For the
most part here, it comes with no notice and pours for about an hour
or so (sometimes a bit longer) in the evening. Often times during the
rain, there would be a black out or the lights would flicker on and
off for a bit. (Thankfully, I remembered to buy a flashlight right
before I left! That has come in handy over the past week.)
Comparatively, the rain in the PNW is fairly constant and most times,
not pouring.
Training
Along with three other interns from the
States (two of which were from the University of Portland), we spent
some time being trained by FSD to get ready for our two month
internship. We spent quite a bit of time learning kiswahili, one of
the official languages of Kenya. (The other being English.) There are
also many tribal languages here because there are 52 tribes that make
up Kenya's population.
Culture Shock
During orientation, there were two big
ways in which I experienced culture shock. One included our kiswahili
lessons, where we learned a lot about different Kenyan topics. (For
example, because it is common here, there is a kiswahili verb for
diarrhea. Also, when someone sneezes, that person says 'sorry',
rather than others saying 'bless you'.) Another way in which I
experienced culture shock was out in the market places. Because of my
skin color and my hair, I get a lot of attention. Some with shake my
hand, others will say hello or ask how I am, and I hear “muzungu”
quite often (especially from children).
Food
Before this, I was not much of a tea
drinker. I preferred coffee or water and would rarely take tea. Here,
people drink tea every single day, multiple times a day so I have
grown to love the hot beverage. However, in Kenya, tea is called chai
and is made with hot milk, black tea, and sugar.
During orientation week, I really
started to like chapati, which we ate at almost every single meal.
Between ugali and chapati, I ate a lot of meals with a minimal use of
silverwear. Rice is also another big factor of Kenyan food and is
often eaten with stew of some sort. Cooked shredded cabbage is also
another dish that we had a couple times.
Random fact: because of the way that
food is prepared and served here, it has become easier for me to eat
meat. My stomach is still getting used to the concept but once I'm
back in the States, it is back to no meat.
After two and a half weeks in Kenya,
there is still so much I am getting used to. Kenyan and American
cultures are very very different, which is something that I am going
to cover more in depth in my next post.
Right now, I am settled in at my host
family, who are all very nice people. I am living with host parents,
a host sister, and a host niece. However, I have meet a lot of the
other host siblings (who live in Nairobi or a nearby village) and
other extended families members.
I also started work with ACCES
yesterday, which has been keeping me very busy! I am learning so very
much so far!
Until next time,
Andrea
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