So Much To Write, So Little Time

Hi again,

Okay continuing with the update on what I did in Kuria that I started earlier.

I did a visit for one of the OVC's that we sponsor in Kuria. That was very interesting and fun. Since I got to meet her and talk with her about her life and how things are going. It felt a little bit like detective work trying to listen to her speak through the coordinator as a translator and gauge what was going on with her.

I had a really nice time with my hose family in Kuira. Florence, my host mom, is a really wonderful women, and Fiona (my five year old host sister) was a lot of fun to hangout with, especially this time around when she was much more comfortable with me.

I came back to Nairobi on Thursday and immediately started working on proposals. I spent all day on Friday working on them. It was hectic and stressful, but also fun to be working so closely with Edward and Marion on a project. I can't remember if I have mentioned them yet so I will give a quick background because I don't think I have and they have both been very important parts of my trip here. Edward is the Programme (yes spelled that way) Manager of SOTENI Kenya. He runs SOTENI the NGO and oversees all of the programs that go on on the ground here. Marion is the business manager of SK and keeps track of all of the money that gets sent around the country. She just graduated with a degree in accounting (I think but it might be in somthing else, I'll have to double check with her). Her unspoken title is to keep Edward organized (which she is very good at). The two of them are great bosses and besides that great people they make sure that we stay safe while we are in Kenya, and also help us understand what is going on here (which can be hard to do sometimes).

On Friday night I decided to try and find the shul in Nairobi. I thought this would be difficult only to discover that in fact I had been walking by it everyday on my way from the hostel to the office. It is a really beautiful walled compound with a large garden, a hall for events, and a beautiful sanctuary with stained glass windows. It was a michitzah davening, mostly and ex-patriot Israeli crowd. They had more than ten men, but not a minyan because apparently some of the men were just Kenyans interested in Judaism not really Jewish. I found this really intersting. I went back again this morning, it was nice to do something Jewish for a couple of hours.

After shabbat services I went back to the office to catch up on some stuff. Then went with Pat and Steph (Pat's girlfriend who is working in Nairobi if I haven't mentioned her yet) to the massai market. This is a crafts market in Nairobi on Tuesdays and Saturdays that sells traditional crafts. Some nice stuff and some crap also, you have to sort through carefully. Also the prices are ridiculous and bartering is required. I got three wooden bowls I paid about $20 but I probably should have only paid $15 thats about a 500 ksh difference which is a lot, but only a $5 difference, which isn't too bad, and they are nice bowls. Plus, as Marion told me I have to pay extra for my skin color.

Okay its getting late here. I feel like this was a very cursory update, but I was trying to fit two weeks into two posts. Sorry that there are not more details I'll try to write as a go and post when I get to Nairobi so that the updates have more detail.

On an informational note, my parents are arriving here on the 29th very late at night. So they will be here on the 30th and are staying until the 6th. I come home on the 10th. That might seem a long way away to you back in the states, but to me here it really feels like my trip is wrapping up. I will be done with my research (this phase, the fun exciting phase) on Wednesday. That in and of itself is hard to believe. I guess I have almost three more weeks in Kenya, but it seems very very short from my perspective at the moment.

I really feel like I have learned a lot about the world these last six weeks. I also have learned how much more I still have left to learn about the world, which is probably an even more valuable lesson. I just feel incredibly lucky on so many levels and in so many different ways.