Thursday, August 6, 2009

I just finished my 2nd term of teaching (only 4 more left) and am now able to take a few deep breaths. Last night I sat down and just realized that it was my last day of teaching for a month! I can't imagine how American teachers feel when they get to the start of their 3 month break. It is amazing how different the last three months have been compared to my first three months in namanga. For one, I'm now 24, which means taht I've become much more mature (right!). My Kenyan birthday was a little different than any American birthday that I've had: no one in Namanga knew; I spent the day proctoring mid-term exams; and my birthday present to myself was a papaya, yogurt, and a WARM bucket bath. It was amazing. I met up with a bunch of volunteers in Nairobi for the July 4th weekend. it was an odd combination of America and Kenya. America, because I was with more Americans than I had been around in a while, and there were sparklers. Kenya, because we had Ethiopian for lunch, and nyama choma (roast meat) and ugali (like really this cream of wheat) for dinner. It was also Kenyan because I didn't get to claim my spot near the cemetary for the Williston 4th of July parade, dance with the Jazzersizers, and race to catch the candy. I didn't let myself think about it too much, or I would have really missed home.

Many PCV's talk about how they have so much free time on their hands. Where did MY free time go? I don't have a radio, TV, or computer, but I haven't yet had the chance to be bored. My Kenyan co-workers are baffled at how I can keep myself busy on the weekends. Between writing letters home, drawing posters of biological structures, planning for the next week of school, cleaning my house/clothes/sheets/me, baking, and lots and lots of reading, I don't find time to feel bored. They also don't understand how I am not lonely. many kenyan women my age have already started their families. I try to explain that I'm not ready, that I can't even commit to a cat or houseplant, but I'm not sure that they get me. In Kenya, people don't tend to be along by choice. I cannot deny thinking about home at least once a day, but I wouldn't describe myself as homesick. It is more a way to keep my mind busy. I think A LOT about what I want to do when I return, how I wish taht I could see the babies that have been and will be born before I come back, and many many hours of retracing my corvallis marathon training steps to make up for only running once a week here.

Being a teacher with PC, as compared to other assignments, gives me the advantage of never having to question WHAT I am doing here. From day one, I knew where I would be on Monday through Saturday. I have had to ask myself whether or not I am really helping, if it is really effective for schools to have PCV's. If it is looked at strictly from an educational curriculum perspective, the answer is a definite No. The kenyan education system is very rigid about what facts, details, drawings, and practicals are taught. No one would know that more than a Kenyan who has been through the system. They take a national exam at the end of 4 years of secondary school. No one will understand the exam like a Kenyan. The fact that my school gets a science teacher virtually for free is for sure helpful, but at what educational cost to the students? They have to spend so much energy just tring to understand my english, and to sit patiently as I try to think of real life examples of they whey are learning in physics, biology, or chemistry that apply to their lives. For example, I was just eaching about liquid pressure in physics. I wanted to give them an example of where you can actually feel the pressure increase as you go deeper. The first thing that came to my mind was swimming. The problem was that most of the students had never seen a swimming pool, the ocean, or even a lake. It challenges me, which is what I was looking for in my experience. I know that I am learning, becoming more confident, and growing, but I want that for them too! The conclusion that I've come up with to make myself feel better, is that I'm not just here for the curriculum. All of the students are learning to work with and learn from someone from an entirely different culture. They have learned that there is poverty in America, though I'm pretty sure that they don't believe me. They are learning how to teach someone about their culture and language and food. They are still trying to figure out if Tupac really is dead.

The other day, as a tourist bus passed me on the tarmac I couldn't help but think of how different their image of Namanga is from mind. They see it flash by their eyes as they are zoning out to their ipod or look up from their book. Why are their heads always facing their laps? Don't they realize that the world is outside of the bus? It makes me appreciate that I am experiencing Kenya the way that I am. I am living in namanga on my own. Entirely on my own. I have joined a community by myself in a culture other than my own. I am actually experiencing namanga. As the tour bus rode by, I looked around to see what they would have seen as their entire image, or impression, of namanga; a snapshot. There was an mzee (old man) communicating using mostly his hands and arms, much like a bird taking off for flight, and a little unsteady on his feet. There were many wazee taking chai at Al Yassin (my favorite hoteli). The Masai mamas were at their stations, ready to swarm any bus that stops to sell their beadwork. The Somali men were relaxing outside of Baba Halima's shop. And many many lorrys were lined up at the tarmac. They don't get to see the warm smiles on the market mamas faces, or how beautiful the hills are when the sun is rising. They don't have to watch dogs mistreated or children hit. They man see children in dirty rags, but they don't see the full effect that poverty can have on ana entire culture or community. They don't see my students, who sometimes are so hungry they cannot concentrate, offer me half of their orange. They don't see how much they are affected by a lack of resources, but how much their faces still light up when I say 'good morning' or try to speak kiswahili (or kimasai or kisomali). Namanga is growing on me...

Some side notes:
-I got to pet a 2 week old camel
-I went to a nearby shamba (farm) with a friend to see the destruction caused by elephants. Banana and mango trees were knocked down and they ate all of the maze. They left the kale and spinach. I put my hand in one of their footprints...they are HUGE
-Lately the children on the compound have been halping me fill in my water buckets. They are under two, so by helping I mean they follow me from the outside tap into my house, again and again. They are pretty cute.
-Termites are taking over my house!
-Anytime and American visits me, I spend the next week explaining that they are not my brother or sister