5.

Last night there was a really big bug. I don’t know what it was but I hit it with a coaster and it is still underneath. I plan on removing it later and throwing it outside. It was about two inches long, brown, as big around as my pinky finger and had wings sort of like a termite. Maybe there is a book out there, “Insects of Kenya” I will figure it out when I get home. (Brief note on said insect: I checked about an hour later to throw it outside and it was gone… I don’t know where it went or who took it… gross)

I am sitting in my sitting area typing and eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Jane gave me so many bananas to eat and I still have the mangoes. I think I will eat one for supper with some fried eggs and toast, unless someone insists on taking me to supper again. Next time I go to the market, I think I will get some drinking chocolate to try, and some bread. On my own I prefer my tea without the milk, they think this is strange and bring me milk everyday anyway. So, if I have drinking chocolate maybe I will drink the milk then and there will be calcium in my diet. Milk will probably be the first thing I buy in the airport on my way home…

Outside my window there is a green banana tree. In Kenya there are two types of bananas the large green ones, and the small yellow ones. I have discovered that the green thing we ate so much of last time I was here, and thought was peas and potatoes mashed together, was actually green bananas and potatoes mashed together and mixed with corn. It is interesting to watch the bananas develop from inside the flower. Just beyond the tree is Rev. Edwin Mwirabua’s house.

Yesterday David took his brother, the head teacher of the Gianchuku School, and me to the restaurant “Seasons” in town. The restaurant was quaint and we had chicken and chips. I didn’t clean my plate but the food was good and the Stoney was great. I think it is funny that they name businesses after ours, for instance you will pass on the road a “Holiday INN” but it is nothing more that a tin shed which can be rented for the night. They have green Fanta here. I haven’t had one yet but I will. I tried one on my last trip and I remember liking it. Maybe when I go to town next I will get some sodas.

This morning I went to the classroom 8 Violet, I helped pass out their exams and take their scores. It went okay. Then I let the girls ask me whatever questions they wanted. Several gave me their addresses to find them pen pals. I foresee this pen pal thing being a problem. When school starts again in the fall I think I need to head to some classes and find girls to take these names and addresses. There are a few girls in my church who are interested, but maybe in the presbytery somewhere we have a 6th, 7th, or 8th grade teacher who would be willing to take a bunch of addresses to their students. The girls really are sweet and curious.

When I get home I think I know how to expand my book project. I will just keep a list of the libraries I have visited and what their needs are. When I get home I will have a better understanding of where things should go and the addresses and contacts to mail them to.

The first shipment of children’s books that I sent to David are a welcome addition to their library and are some of the better books that they have, however I am finding out that the libraries here run a bit differently. The Complex library is not always open to the students. They are allowed to come by class and they get 30 minutes to read the books. They are most interested in reference material, and didn’t have a lot of anything. David’s school especially focuses on international awareness. The students are encouraged to find out about other countries, but Liz (the librarian who is in standard 8) said that she only has reference material for a few European countries. The girls school here has a lot more books, but they are required to read a book a week, and are interested in more storybooks like the ones my English Club shipped at the end of the school year. Actually, I’m not sure that they got shipped because I didn’t take them there, but I sent Eunice the address, and if they haven’t gone yet I will send them when I get home.

Yesterday I made soup and put onions in it. I still can’t get the smell out of my fingers!

(Later)

I have just gotten back from the Complex. The computer teacher was out practicing with the children for the school athletics competition. David let me into the computer room and I showed him how to defragment and scan the computers. He sent in two girls to learn from me. I taught them how to take apart and clean the mouse (they break a lot and I think some preventative maintenance would not be amiss), how to use a few shortcuts to end programs and open the start menu without using the mouse, and how to run the scanning and defragmenting programs. The computer guy stopped by and we had a bit of a chat regarding my lack of Internet and very expensive phone issue. He was easy to understand and explained the problem well. So there is at least one person here who knows what is going on in computer land. I told him what I was teaching the girls and he said that it was good, but whenever he has a problem with his computer, he just wipes the hard drive and starts over. He does have an external drive to back up all of his music though.

The girls were Giselle and Becky. Giselle hopes to become a doctor and Becky wants to be a lawyer. They were very bright and I think they work hard. We sat and talked for some time about language and school. All of the students here think that it is fascinating that teachers in the US can be arrested for beating their students, and even parents for beating their children. David’s brother was telling me that teachers using the cane on their students was common, but now the teachers can get in trouble for it so it is rare. I asked the girls about marriage and how they will choose their husbands. They giggled, so I asked if their parents will choose or if they will choose. They said that they will choose but their parents will have some influence. The portion of the book that I read last night went into detail about “dowry and ‘bride price.’” In Kenya, they use the term “dowry” to describe the gifts that a man brings to the family of the girl he intends to marry. The other term is “bride price” and can be used interchangeably. The book said that now that the economy has turned to money holding more value than goods, some families are now requesting that the dowry be paid in cash, but this causes problems because now a man can say that he paid X amount for his wife and X amount for his car. The other system of giving cows, goats, millet, etc. seems to be more out of respect for the family of the girl than an actual purchase price. I asked the girls if their husbands in the future will have to pay the dowry, and they said that they probably would because it ties the families together and is an honored tradition. I asked them how much influence their families will have on their decision to marry a man. They told me that they will bring him to meet the family and later their parents will tell them if it is okay. They said that the only type of person that their parents wouldn’t allow would be a “Luo” because they are not circumcised. They told me that part of becoming a man for the Meru is circumcision of the boys. This is done after completion of standard 8 and then they are considered a man. Curiously enough on my last trip I brought a Discover magazine along to read and one of the articles talked about how AIDS spread in Africa and that it was less common in regions that practiced circumcision. In recent years, they have discovered that there is actually a scientific link between circumcision and AIDS because there is a small gland which is found in the skin often removed that has been found to affect how easily the disease is passed on. I believe I read that if a man has been circumcised he is 1/3 less likely to spread the disease. The book also talked about “female circumcision” and “the cut” but that is in a later portion and not very applicable to this region.

After my time in the computer lab, I came home and did a bit of laundry. I decided that it was probably better to do it now so that it can dry before I run out of clothes. I also washed the pillow cover; it was pretty gross. I have been putting it under the bedclothes so that my head doesn’t have to touch it. It smells like it got wet a long time ago and then sat and no one has washed it. The pillow itself is the root of the problem. I didn’t have any way to really wash that so I sprayed it with my foot spray to kill a few things and remove some of the odor. The bar of laundry soap that I got smells amazing. It is like walking into an import store. I’m not sure what the smell is, reminiscent of sandalwood. I will bring it home. It was actually kind of fun to wash my clothes in plastic “basins.” I laughed. Maybe I will get sick of it by the time I leave, but it is no bother right now. I do, however, refuse to hang my underwear out on the line. Edwin Mwirabua does NOT need to see those! I have hung them in one of the spare bedrooms that had a rope running across one of the corners and that will be just fine. I am looking forward to wearing the clothes I washed because I want to smell like the soap. The bar of soap to be used for the dishes is not as nice, but it still smells good. Yes mother, I have been washing my dishes.

The first few days I was not inclined to drink tea, but today I realized that if I am not drinking tea, what am I drinking? I actually LOVE tea, just not with milk in it and not over brewed like most people in the world make it. It does not take ten minutes or even 3 to brew, two is more than enough otherwise it begins to get bitter.

Trash or rubbish has been a bit of a problem. Like any other American, I like to throw things away. I have learned my lesson. If I cook and there are leftovers and I have gotten rid of all of my plastic bags, where do you put the waste? Good question. Also the obligatory ladies restroom garbage can is not always available. What do you do then? This is also a good question. The answer to both of these is to just figure it out. You just keep the garbage items until you have somewhere to put them.

I need to bring home a bunch of tea if for no other reason than to put it in a drawer so that it smells good. The girls’ teeth here are so white, but I think mine will be very stained by the time I get home.

Today, now that they have seen me a bit more the students are more willing to talk to me and ask me questions instead of running away.

I did have the mango and eggs for supper followed by many cups of tea. “It is good.”