After a week of new teacher orientation, I have successfully and completely learned how to live in Kenya. Ok, so maybe not completely, but I have learned a lot! I feel like I have been here for a month! We have accomplished quite a bit in a week and two days. Of course, we have had some pretty good teachers! Everyone has taken extra good care of us, for which I am greatly blessed. I have no idea how I would learn how to live here without help! It would take me months to figure out everything I've been taught this week. Here's a little bit of what I've been up to in my traditional 10 Snippets fashion...
1) On my first full day we went to the toi (open) market to look for house supplies: sheets, towels, curtains, etc. Well, since I love to decorate and am a bit OCD about such things, I didn't get much. I'm not a germaphobe, but buying such things at the equivalent of a giant, dirty yard sale did not quite meet my fancy. I did end up getting some towels and sheets (that don't match), but I bought my quilt in a store. I still haven't bought curtains because I can't find any that match. I figure that if I have to live with it for at least two years, I should like it. I absolutely loved the experience though....I LOVE open markets.
2) I got to drive!! Yah, that's right, I drove on the wrong side of the road, sitting in the wrong side of the car. I didn't do bad though! Turned the windshield wipers on a few times while trying to turn on my turn signal. I've driven a few times since and I love it! You have to be very alert because the roads are horrible, and you're always dodging everything under the sun: people, animals, carts, cars, etc. It's all good though. Oh, and I got pulled over the first time I drove. Yep, that's right. It was no big deal though, we had a tail light out, and he was super nice.
3) I absolutely love my house! It's a huge apartment that is gorgeous. I'm sharing it with three other girls. Amanda and Kelly are sharing the massive master bedroom, and Kaitlyn and I have our own bedrooms and bathrooms. We do have a helper's bedroom and bath, but it's kinda seperate so nobody wanted to sleep there. And the shower didn't have hot water.
4) We've been shopping for about an eternity. Shopping is way exhausting, especially when you don't know what you're looking at and you have to use a calculator just to figure out the price in US dollars.
5) It is way fun however, that my new money is called shillings! Or, of course, you could just call it "bob." I do love it.
6) Everything is crazy expensive which I don't like. And I don't like forking out money for stuff I have back home, but that's the nature of the beast.
7) I had a full Kenyan meal, and it was pretty good! I don't know the swahili names for everything, but here's what we had.... a thick maize mash which is the stable, you eat that with the equivalent of collard greens, a type of tortilla thing which is extra good, triangles of meat pies, a type of salad, a beaf and vegetable stew, and I think that's it. Some of it I didn't like, but some was great!
8) We only have a washing machine, so drying clothes take forever on our lines. We're gonna have to work on that one.
9) It's really cold here, that's way stuff doesn't dry. I've been wearing lots of layers everyday. If the sun doesn't come out, it's freezing. When the sun is out, it's like a perfect fall day! There's no humidity either, which is super nice.
10) I love it here! I really do! I am very content and comfortable. I'm still excited to be here, but really feel at peace about making this my home.
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