Lunch at St. Claire’s Student Hostel has become a bit of a fixture for me on Mondays. Martha goes from her Human Rights class with our friend Mary Anne back to her hostel, and I meet up with them to eat some amazing chips (French fries… that term doesn’t really make sense here…..ha!) and visit with the cooking staff with whom we’ve become good friends. They visit our place often and are friends with our cooks, so we see them often. Bertha, Beatrice, and Maureen work as the cooks there and are my age. Lunch with Mary Anne is a good time to just hang out and relax a bit. She’s been stressed lately being that she was about 36 weeks pregnant when we started this and starting CATs (mid-terms exams). Well, now she’s given birth, but I’ll talk about that later. We’ve formed a close friendship with her.
One of my classmates at CUEA, a priest from Malawi, told me that he could get me a really nice touch-screen phone just like his for pretty cheap compared to the original price, so since mine from the US was breaking, I decided to take him up on it. I gave him the money, and he went into town to buy it since he would surely get a better price while bargaining than I simply because of his skin color, and possibly superior Kiswahili skills. Martha sent for one too, and we waited patiently. Finally, we got them on a Saturday evening. The very next Monday, the first day I brought it out with me, I found that both screens had cracked. I had no recollection of hitting anything hard with my leg, so I was quite surprised and upset. Anyway, I started using a borrowed phone again until I think I ruined that one while running home in a rainstorm. (Stay tuned!) After that, I used Martha’s first phone she bought here, and she threatened many things would happen if I broke hers. I am happy to report that the phone is still in good condition. She even offered to give me her touch-screen phone for me to use instead of fixing the other one.
Losing internet is the next big topic. I have had no access to internet at my residence since Oct 18th. This has created a problem of being in contact with people, especially with my parents on skype (though I do miss other conversations on skype too!). Ha, let me finally get around to the cause of it. There has been a lot of talk of a huge increase in bandwidth for the whole of Kenya in the form of some huge cable from I have no idea where. Anyway, all the internet companies basically are scrambling for their share of the market and have even resorted to sabotaging the other companies. Case in point: our building was supposed to receive a fiber-optic cable direct by the beginning of October. They couldn’t do it because the cable that was supposed to come was stolen. We still had internet, but just at a different capacity. Now, the internet in this area has been sabotaged, so we have zero internet now. Of course the schools and a couple cyber cafes were able to quickly repair theirs. That is where I go now.
Papers and research have been an interesting task since the loss of internet. So it’s back to the stone-age of card catalogues and talking to a person in order to find these funny things with paper and ink. I don’t know how much longer I can take the human contact or the tangible readings. In all seriousness, I was able to use my own, personal field research and a few books to complete my papers well. I spent the majority of last week on writing two papers for my masters-level classes. First, I completed a 16-page rough draft on Male Socialization in the Maasai Culture for my African Culture class. Second, I finished a 13-page final draft of a paper discussing the enculturation of African culture and Christianity in Africa for my class in CUEA, Living and Promoting Justice and Peace.
Have you ever given birth? I haven’t. Do you know someone who’s given birth? Why, yes I do, Chris. Have you been with them in the hospital, before and after? Hmm, well… From noon on Friday the 23rd to the evening of Saturday the 24th, Martha and I joined our great friend Mary Anne in Avenue Hospital. She was two weeks too early and had to have a C-Section on Saturday because, after inducing her twice, she hadn’t dilated enough. I’ll tell you more about that if you choose to ask, but anyway, it was good to be with her. I have never been with anyone who has given birth. I didn’t see the surgery or anyone else giving birth, but it was an unforgettable experience, knowing a piece of what the end of pregnancy looks like. I have a lot of respect for the whole process and that role that women have to physically bring children into the world. Incredible! Some things were surely imbedded in my mind for use at a future date.
We have been experiencing a little more of the dangers of Nairobi lately. Don’t be scarred! That’s not to say that it’s not serious, but things like pick-pocketing happens everywhere. Once a guy tried to unzip Martha’s backpack, I picked him up and set him aside. He left with nothing. What I really wanted to say is a story from one day this last week. I boarded a suspect matatu and didn’t realize that it was a pick-pocketing operation until a bit into it, at which point I simply tried to defend from all the most obvious tactics. Again I was spared because of my vigilance. Yes, both guys sitting on either side of me tried to reach in my pockets and bag, but I had the grace of a nice lady, Lisa, in the front seat who helped make them nervous. Other people in the back were certainly stolen from. I saw the cell phone being transferred out of the matatu. Lisa and I walked for another 15 minutes to our destinations, which was a really important time to talk about what happened. She helped me to realize the gravity of what could have happened and what to do next time: alight (an English word for getting out of the matatu. I forget if I knew that word before arriving here). Now, Martha and I are suspicious of town and matatus, mainly people taking advantage of us. I hope this doesn’t sour or consume my experience here, and I see good hope of that happening.
So, I went to the dentist the other day. I haven’t been in a number of years and was worried that I had an infection under my tooth implant and maybe some cavities. The doc took a look and a quick x-ray of my implant and pronounced my mouth to be in tip-top condition. Sweet, I guess I just have to brush more around the implant because of the extra gaps I have there where food can enjoy good cover. I paid a total of $29.22 for everything including the digital x-rays. Thanks Kenya!
I just returned on Sunday from Nanyuki. This is the end of the rail line, which the British installed in the colonial days. It’s not the end of the whole thing, just the one going north from Nairobi. It sits in the morning shadow of Mount Kenya, and the British keep their military base there. My reason for going was part of my coursework in my African Culture class (Tangaza College’s Maryknoll Institute for African Studies-MIAS). My field assistant, Joseph, lives close to the town with his mother, youngest sister, wife, two daughters, and brother’s family. He is the eldest and his father died in 1989, so he assumes the role of his father. Don’t be mistaken, all of these people do not live under one roof, for once a man is married, he cannot go under his mother’s roof or eat her cooking again. She has a house of her own in the original compound, in the middle of their land (maybe 10 acres of farm and pasture). He has a house there too but plans to move it over the Christmas holidays (“days” being plural because there is more than one “day” to the time off from work, school, etc.). His brother already has his own homestead outside of the original compound with his wife and three children. They grow mostly all of their own food. This made me want to live with them. Anyway, I can do that wherever, so I will. Martha, her field assistant Idah, Joseph, and I enjoyed about 24 hours in his rural home there in the shadow of Mt. Kenya, which we couldn’t see because of the clouds. We had great food, enjoyed fun and laughter with his beautiful family, and talked a lot about culture.
On another point, If you want to hear anything more about any of these topics, feel free to be inquisitive! I purposely leave out some things to tell people who will write me. Though, for the casual reader, I can assure you that you’re getting the real stories. Don’t worry too much!
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