So Friday night we met Wairimu and she to us to this fancy Italian restaurant behind a gate. The people that live and eat behind the gates in this country really know a different Kenya. It was perfect though after my day in the hot congested city. I even got to have fruit and ice cream. Then I wenthome and slept for 13 hours. My weekend was pretty low key. Saturday I washed some clothes, and read and watched TV. THe TV is almost always on, which wears me down sometimes, and my apt is so small, that thereis nowhere to be except in the TV room, unless I am in my room. But on Saturday night just as I was about to take my first bite of dinner, the power went out...which happens pretty often. The only other time it happened though, it was day time. THis time it was night and it was PITCH black. So we ate by lantern light and in silence. Then when we finished eating, Chippa said how boring it was with no electricity...meaning no TV. So I asked him ifhe knew any card games. Then we spent the night playing Kenyan poker (kind of like UNO) and "theif" kind oflike Old Maid, and a few other games.
On Sunday Chippa made French Toast and itwas SO good! I was just thinking about how I missed eating sweetthings, and voila! Hepresents me with some delicious French Toast. After lunch we took two matatus to go see a movie. We saw "The Last King of Scotland". As soon aswe sat down inthe theater, everyone stood up andI realized it was because the Kenyan national anthem was playing. I happened to get a coughing fit during the entire anthem, which was a little embarrassing. THe moviewas intense, and it was interesting to watch it and then leave and walk out into a country right next to Uganda. So many of the scenes in the movie looked exactly like Nairobi and Kariokor. A very interesting experience.
Today I had my drumming lesson andI have an international students meeting at 4pm. SO I am killing some time in between. I am still feeling homesick, which annoys me, and missing family and friends. I wonder when and if that will stop.
the homesickness will get better. i have been here for about a month and i am still feeling it. it takes time, a long time, but you will be ok.
ReplyDeleteWe saw the Last King of Scotland a week ago and I was wondering how similar the scenic shots were to where you are. Sound like it was pretty similar. Also saw something in the paper a couple of days ago - can't remember the name of the town in Kenya - but they were doing a gun collection (mostly rifles) and had piled up all the rifles (100's) and were set to light them on fire. Have you heard of anything like that going on?
ReplyDeleteStill kind of cold here. The snow is finally mostly melted. I am way ready for Spring!
Heading up to the lake this weekend - looks like it will be in the high 40's most of the time. The lake is still probably frozen but if there is any open water, I'll be out there to see if any of the fish are biting.
Love and miss you, Dad
im mad at that 24 is right. Probably after awhile, you'll get into a rhythm and maybe you'll even feel a sense of belonging to Nairobi and Kariokor. You're finishing your second week there. Be patient, grasshoppa.
ReplyDeleteYou have a huge advantage of being able to carry a lot of your culture with you (iPod, computer, that chip in your brain that provokes coughing fits when other countries' national anthems are playing, etc.) Back in the Pleistocene era, when I was in Europe for the summer of 1980 (AD, not BC), when computers were about as portable as cars, I spent most of the summer missing my favorite music. Several times I came very close to calling my brother Jim, who had one of the records (not CDs, they hadn't been invented yet) I missed just so he could play a 30-second snippit for me. Instead, I saved my $$ (because it cost a squillion dollars for a 3 minute call to the states) and walked around Europe humming over and over this one particular phrase from a song by Egberto Gismonti that features people blowing on bottles in the background behind this eerie chanting. Hard to reproduce by humming, but it had a rhythm that kept me going. And I suppose it was better than, say, repetitive shouting/singing of "ROOOOOOOOOXANNE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO --- ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOXXANNNE... YOU DON'T -- ROOOOOOOOOXXXANNE"
Still, I'm sure people thought I was some wacko who could only communicate by humming. Turns out, in most of the countries, humming would have been far more effective than my Gerspanglish.
Love you tons, brave drumming sunshine sistawoman.
P.S. We got 6 inches of snow Friday night. Grace and Laura and I went sledding on the street in front of the house.
Hey, I just noticed that our comments are time stamped with your time zone. That's kinda crazy, writing into the future.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog every morning and then reading Joy's comments. She is a funny one.
ReplyDeleteMaybe classes will start tomorrow?
mwah. Mama
The homesickness will get better. we were talking about CollegeSarah (you) with Meredith's parents, my Mom, and the kids last night and realized you haven't been there very long. Give it a little time.
ReplyDeleteOne thing everyone agreed on was how proud we are of you and the fact that you're living the culture instead of "hanging and drinking with other American students" (Meredith's words - direct from her experiences in Australia).
Hang in there.
It says anonymous but it should say drummer girl...
ReplyDeleteHow dare you cough through the national anthem of Kenya! Baaaaaad American!
I didn't travel abroad while I was in school but I do know what home sickness feels like and... well, it is what it is. No way around it. I'm sure it'll get better once you get in the swing of classes. Of course, when it's time for you to come home, you won't want to leave, then you'll be "homesick" for your peeps in Kenya. You'll see! :-)
luv much... mamav
Yeah! They seized 8,000 guns and set them on fire! It was crazy!
ReplyDelete