Settling in

Hello there! I know I promised a blog before now, but life in Kenya has been busy, fun and at times overwhelming. Generally by the time I have processed (or at least attempted to do so) what is going on, writing it down seems like a daunting task, so I usually do a sudoku instead.

First things first: contact info for Mary
Cell phone (011-254-0713-959418)
Mailing address: Mary Paul
C/O Foundation for Sustainable Development
P.O. Box 43015-80100
Mombasa, Kenya
Skype name: Maryallegrapaul
(What is that? you don't know what Skype is? go to www.skype.com, download it, add me as a contact and we can talk on the Internet phone for free if we are both online. Or you can call me for cheap-ish rates through them as well)
Email is still Maryallegrapaul@gmail.com and I still want to hear from you.

So overall things here in Kenya have been going well. I flew into Mombasa on the 14th, with the five other interns. We spent the week in the city at a hotel learning Swahili, sitting through workshops on sustainable international development, Kenyan coastal culture, health and safety and learning our way around Mombasa. On the 20th, we were picked up by our host families and taken to our new homes. We were given the weekend to settle in a bit before starting with our host organizations the following Monday.

I am staying just south of Mombasa, in a town called Likoni. Mombasa is actually an island, so you have to take a ferry to get here. Originally, I knew I was going to be working here and I was thrilled at the idea of taking a boat to work everyday. As it turns out, the ferry ride is only 5 minutes long, is extremely packed, especially during rush hour and one of the pick-pocket hot spots. Luckily, my host family is in Likoni, so I don't have to deal with the rough commute and can just walk to work. Likoni is home to about 150,000 people according to what I have read. The area isn't overly developed and most of the people living here actually commute to work in the city or run small enterprises out of their homes or in the market. The ferry serves as the main artery to the rest of southern Kenya so there are a lot of trucks, cars and matatus (14 passenger buses, which I promise to write about later) crowding the streets. Islam is the main religion in the area so no matter where you are in the city five times a day you hear the call to prayer from one of the many mosques (including 5am every morning just across the street from my house). It also means that the women wear long dresses, cover their heads, and many of them also cover their faces, something I am still getting used to. Pictures will be posted sometime soon.

My host family is excellent. The Mwalizuma family has been incredibly warm and after a week I am feeling fairly at home. There are two parents. My host mom, Mama Mwalizuma, is an adult education teacher in Mombasa and Baba Mwalizuma runs a poultry farm at the house with about 350 chickens. There are five "kids" living at the house as well: Jack (27), Baimba (15), Helima (13), Fatumah (10) and Suleman (5). They have all been wonderful in helping me learn the language, instructing me on what is culturally appropriate ("Mary, don't eat with your left hand"), making me laugh, escorting me around town so I don't get lost, teaching me how to cook and generally just looking out for my well being. They also like to make fun of me in Swahili so half the time i am not sure what is funny about what I am doing, but I laugh along with them anyway. We have a new ritual (can you call it a ritual if it has only happened three times? I think so) where we all sit at the table after dinner and work on homework. My job is to help Suleman, which usually involves simple math and writing out the ABC's. In addition there is an aunt and uncle who hang out at the house during the day. The aunt, Mama Helima, runs a small business selling porridge and deep fried breaded potatoes just outside the family compound every evening. So far I think this has been my favorite ritual at the house. First, because the food is so good (there will be a future post on food as well), but secondly because it means that all of the neighbors and family come over to sit, eat and talk for a few hours. It has been a great way to meet people and learn more about Kenyan coastal culture. They have even started cluing me in on some of the neighborhood gossip, which in an odd way, makes me feel at home. My Swahili is very rough at this point, but people are generally willing to work with me and speak a bit in English when I get really stuck.

When I was trying to think of what to write I started thinking about a few of the best moments I have experienced since I have been here. Many of them have been language related things that have just made me laugh.

1. I met a man named My Love. Apparently his dad had a dream the night before he was born in which he was told to name his child My Love. So when greeting him one says "How are you My Love?" At first I thought he was playing a little joke on me. He wasn't. There are just so many jokes you can do with this so I'll let you imagine.

2. People say "I'm coming" when they are going. I think it means they are coming back after they go, but there have been several times where someone says I am coming as they turn and walk away from me. I vaguely remember this happening in Ghana as well so I am going to blame this on a glitch in the British colonial government when they set-up the education system here. I have no real basis for this assumption other than the fact that both countries were colonized by Britain.

3. Sitting with Suleman, practicing Swahili. We were practicing some basics when I realized just how silly I must look to this little boy. I was saying something along the lines of "I am called Mary. I come from America where I go to school and am artist. I worked in Chicago three years. I like to drink Chai. I eat bananas and bread" and "One, two five, four, three, six, seven" (I was having issues mixing up 3 and 5). Now I am proud that I have been able to pick some things up, and anticipate getting much better with the language. But I am 24 years old and must look like a total idiot to this kid, which might be why he laughs at me a lot.

3. Cooking. Helima was boiling some unrecognizable meat so I asked her what it was. She said "Meat of dog". I was mildly shocked. I had been appalled when someone had asked me if they ate dog meat in Kenya, and now it looked like I was going to be proven wrong! Seeing the confused look on my face she further explained "For Whiskey, it's his supper". She mean "Meat for the dog". DUH Mary!

That is it for now. Love and miss you all.

Mary Allegra