Fires & Obama-mania

Hi, all,

Apologies for the delay in writing. It’s been a busy week of orientation and I have limited computer access. (I really wish I had brought a laptop!) I moved in with my host family on Saturday, and living with them couldn’t be further from the mud-floor, pit-latrine, bucket-shower life I was imagining. They have a shower with instant hot water (usually you flip a switch and wait 10 minutes for the water to heat up), a new refrigerator and a computer (with wireless dial-up internet - I don't think there's a landline). They’ve made me feel very welcome and even painted the whole house before I arrived (Of course it wasn’t JUST for me, but having a house guest is definitely good motivation to finish home-improvement projects.) My host parents speak near perfect English – it’s going to be hard to learn Swahili when I can revert to English so easily. My host father (babu) works for the government doing gender equality training and some social work and my host mother (mama) teaches primary level (elementary school) teacher certification (AND human resource management once a week.) And cooks dinner from scratch every night. I don't know where she finds the energy. She says "one gets used to it!" My host father whistles all the time while he’s working around the house and has a deep, jolly laugh. They're both extremely sweet. Susan (host-mama) is letting me help her cook Luhya and Kikuyu traditional food (she is Kikuyu and he is Luhya). They have three children, ages 11, 15 and 17. All three go to different boarding schools, but there was a fire in the dorm of the youngest, (Steve) so he’s home while the school looks for alternate housing. The fire was at 5 am, but these kids start EARLY, so they were long off to their pre-breakfast study session. Nuts.

Speaking of which, it’s been a bad week in Kenya for fires. In Nairobi, a Nakumat (basically like a Target) burned to the ground killing 27 – including a Kenyan celebrity actor. There were reports that when the fire first began with a generator, people started heading for the door, but the guards thought they were stealing so locked the doors. Ei yi yi. Additionally, there was not adequate water available for the firefighters. Then, on Saturday, a tanker overturned on the road a few hours from Kakamega. As scores of locals ran to steal the petrol, some idiot lit a cigarette. You can imagine what happened. So far, over a hundred people have been reported dead. My host mom said that the same thing happened 3 years ago, but that Kenyan's don't learn. The president has declared that all flags fly at half-mast this week and that the tanker victims get top notch medical care (this is ironic to me considering how many others around the country have no health care, period, or are dying of preventable diseases like malaria. Hello, PR.

On a more positive topic, this country is IN LOVE with our president, their own native son. Walking down the main drag (the A-1), I’ll get, in this order of frequency “Hihowareyou,” “misungu” or “Obama!” Misungu means “foreigner,” or, literally “explorer.” It’s not derogatory, just descriptive. But it does get old. Obama’s face also graces the back of matatus (minibuses), posters for sale and the odd t-shirt or roadside banner. Most of them feature el presidente in front of a Kenyan and American flag. Awwww. My host parents said that many Kenyans are looking at the US as a positive example of a country that’s overcome racism, and are inspired to stop their own tribal racism. The majority of folks here identify more with their tribe as opposed to being Kenyan, though hopefully as they intermarry more and more, that will lessen. The major political parties are aligned along tribal lines, which can result in violence during elections. Apparently, other Americans were being congratulated “on a peaceful election” before I got here. The things we take for granted!

Time for bed. I miss you guys! I have yet to have a dream about Kenya – they’re all about home.

Love,
Katy