INTRO

This journey will start in Nairobi on October 11th 2008 and leads through the countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South-Africa ending in Cape Town.

Deze reis begint op 11 oktober 2008 in Nairobi en eindigt, na rondzwervingen door 7 landen, in Kaapstad.....

Flight KL565 leaves shortly after 10:15 from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport  for a 8,5 hours trip to Nairobi, Kenya. At the airport we meet our 12 fellow travelers. A small bus leads us through chaotic streets of Nairobi to the pretty basic hotel Comfort Inn.

Vlucht KL565 vertrekt iets na 10:15 uur vanaf Amsterdam en landt na 8 en half uur in Nairobi om 19:45 uur plaatselijke tijd (1 uur later dan in Nederland). Ontmoeting met de overige 12 reisgenoten van de groep. We worden in een busje door de chaos van Nairobi geloodst naar ons zeer basic hotel Comfort Inn (hoek Muindi Mbingu en Monrovia Street).

Randomness back at Home So, the roommates went off and hiked Mt Kenya and now they are in Mombasa.  The joke is on me.  They took the toilet paper and bathroom key with them.  Hopefully the drugs they gave me will keep me out of the outhouse anyway!

I've noticed that I am finally taking the advice I got from the Female Nomad in Tales of a Female Nomad.  I have been carry around corn cobs and banana peels for long distances never finding trashcans.  Never feeling comfortable to drop it on the ground like everyone here does, though.  But, in the book she says that by not dropping my trash I am making a judgement on them if they see me doing this.  So, I admit it.  I am a litter bug now. I still look around and only drop it into piles where others have and few will notice. Took it easy on my first day back.  I dropped off some laundry.  Can't wait for Thursday to get them back.  The 2 best days of the week are Shower Day and Laundry Day.  Did some internet catch up.  Sent off a message to an organization in Uganda that does leadership training for disadvantage youth and adults.  Hoping they will be the one to respond that they want me there out of about 7 organizations in Uganda I have been looking at.  On the way home I stopped to buy 62 bananas for the kids.  Cost me 310 shillings.  What would it cost in the US?  (divide by 65) Imagine my concern when I got home to find the "pet" duck gone.  And worse yet, when I saw its feet floating in the vat of stew we were being served that night!  Just ugali for me tonight, thanks.  In the middle of the night I heard a loud commotion in the classroom next door.  Then I heard the cat scream loudly.  Then silence.  In the morning, the classroom was locked and I heard people cleaning inside.  Either the dog had cat for dinner or that is what we are being served tonight!  Before they get any ideas, I ran out in the morning with Rapho and brought 12 bags of flour and 2 tubs of oil so that they would make chapati for dinner for us tonight instead!  That better not have been cat porridge they served me this morning! I started working on the Olympics also.  We have made gold and silver metals.  Also made  a torch.  The flags will be next.  Bought a broom stick for the javelin and limbo events.  I brought a jumprope and frisbee for those events.  The most obvious Olympic event for these Kenyan kids does not need any special props....running.  Can anyone think of any other events that can be held with little resources on dirt or mud?   I decided to spare the kids and eliminate the wheel barrel race.    Got to visit with Judson a little again.  I had been by Ushurika and his house 4 times without luck.  Kept missing him.  He invited me to come stay one night with them in my old neighborhood.  Finally Mama Elizabeth Rapho made arrangements for us to meet Mama Elizabeth, my good friend from last year.  She had been in upcountry during the last week.  She still lives in the same place.  She is walking well on her bad foot.  Her daughter Valeria has grown quite a bit.  She held my hand as usual as we walked from the railroad tracks over wet poo bags to her home in the poorest part of Kibera, Katwakera.  She, unfortunately, invited a few of her friends over who when they saw a muzungu immediately started in on how they need help finding a place for the kids to go to school.  They have been kicked out of Mercy by the church and are hoping to find a place for the 39 kids they currently have.  Pamela is the teacher.  Ruth is the market saleswoman.  The children are of 32 single mothers with HIV who make and sell things together at the Masai market in Nairobi.  They are still making the necklaces and baskets, but have added tablecloths and welcome rugs to the collection.  These rugs say STOP AIDS on them.  Not sure that is something many people would want on their doorstep, but okay.  They sell them for 2000 shillings.  The materials cost 940.  It takes a week to make one.  The labor is 500.  Then they have to rent the stall at the market 3 times a week and transport.  Some days they sell none.  These aren't great businesswomen.  Just sick moms trying to find a way to survive on their own.      We made an appointment to visit some of the homes of the women tomorrow.  I will bring Liza with me.  She is a new volunteer at Tunza's from New York.  She is living in Jamhuri right now.  I am thinking about renting a place there if I am able to stay a little longer to work with Mama Elizabeth's women.  It is the only place the video posse says a muzungu woman can live alone without being bothered.  After meeting the woman individually, I will have a better idea if we can get a microloan business circle going with them.  The way it might work is that we select 3-4 woman who have a business plan and give them a loan to start the business.  When they pay it back, they help us select the next woman to get a loan from their repayment.  The candidate who gets selected will have saved some money to also put into the business themselves.  The cycle will continue.  Those who already have businesses will put in 50 shillings per day into a pot.  They will rotate each day who gets the pot.  That money will be used to help expand their existing business.  So, you see, I might have to stay around a little longer to see how this might work.  Home Visits with Mama Elizabeth A very productive day!  And the day that confirmed I can't take that flight home I booked for Tuesday way back when I had a job I needed to get back to.  I dragged Liza along with Rapho and me down into the muddy trenches of Katwekeri.  She had not had the opportunity yet to see anything other than the orphanage.  And, the nice thing is that she bought a bag from Mama Elizabeth.  That is 500 shillings in her group's shared fund! Mama E first took us to meet Pamela at her home.  I will call her Positively Pamela.  She is one of the very few brave enough to let everyone know that she is HIV Positive.  Everyone keeps it a secret here.  She has 3 children and supports them through the group crafts sold and the illegal and dangerous business of selling wood.  It is not legal to go into the forest to cut wood to sell.  It is not safe because women get raped there sometimes.  You can't go in groups to avoid rape because the police are more likely to see you.  So, she goes alone 3 days a week with her machete.  She cuts trees then carries as much as she can on her back to sell to her neighbors. Usually she can carry about 100 shillings worth.  Alot of work for little money and big risk! I asked her what she would prefer to do to feed her kids instead.  She said she used to have a water selling business. She would make 7000 shillings per month in it.  But, she would need to get a pipe from the local well to her house to do that.  She checked into it about 5 months ago and between materials, labor, and paying city council it would cost about 35,000.  That is about $540 USD.  I did not promise anything, but I did ask her if she could research it again.  Bring back written bids for all the work.  Then I would see IF we could find someone willing to fund it...wink wink.  Of course, I will be getting my own bids also.  But, we will see if she comes through.  We will also see if there is another woman in the group who lives closer to the water supply and maybe Positively Pamela could help manage it.  All would need to go to a vote with the woman in the group along with all the other ideas they might all have to make more money for themselves to share. We were also taken to another woman's home.  She is HIV positive, her 18 year old daughter has meningitis, and her 9 month old baby has severe asthma.  I diagnosed it when we arrived.  This baby was huffing and puffing so loud.  Very sad.  They showed me the medication they had run out of for the baby.  There are 2 more kids in this 8x8 mud hut they live in.  None are strong enough to do much more work other than the crafts.  We immediately went out and found the medication and bought it for 160 shillings along with flour, cabbbage, porridge, and sugar for them.  They need food for any of their medication for their various ailments to work. 
We also visited Veronica who is also HIV positive and the hardest working member of the group.  She produces the most craft items.  She and Mama Elizabeth do  nothing else, so this is their source of income and they share it with the other part timers.  We are thinking about getting them a sewing machine.  Then they would not have to pay someone else to do the table cloth and sandal stitching. Possibly one that is both electric and foot pedal.  Electricity isn't too reliable here and I would hate to blow a transformer.  I found an old hand crank one at the YaYa mall for 15,000.  The fancy electric  Brother models were up to 32, 000.  Mama E says she knows a place in  town which has a combo model for 4,000.
Daily Security Check In and Coaching Sessions I have realized after being here for a little over 2 weeks that not one day has gone by where I did not see and hear from at least one member of the video posse.  Could this be intentional?  Maybe.  On several occasions, I come strolling home just before dark to find Erico hanging out in my neighborhood seemingly waiting for me to come home.  Tom is busy preparing to leave for Sweden on Monday, so I get phonecalls just to see how I am doing when he isn't able to drive by.  I finally asked Erico during one of our many evening chats in the classroom at Tunzas.  He admitted that Tom asks him to stop by to check on me.  He said that they realized that  I am a good friend when I helped to get them out during the violence and that they all want to make sure I am safe, enjoying my time, and not getting ripped off.  How sweet!  They even bug me to eat and take my medicine.  Besides the whole hospital thing, they have been most heplful with coaching me as I determine how best I can use my limited resources to help the people I want to help here.  These 3 guys are just 23 years old (at least they claim to be.)  I don't believe it.  They are so mature.  And, skilled consultants!  They have that technique down of not telling you what to do, but asking you the right questions to get you to figure out what you should do.  I am so lucky to have met and have them as friends. So, my social calendar is filling up for the weekend.  Rugby and Tom's big Going Away Party at Marakesh on Saturday.  Hope I get better by then.  Yes, I go from gastro issues to a new ailment.  I have been coughing up my lungs this week.  My nose is dripping like all the kids in town who shake my hand as I go by.  Becoming High Maintenance Again My housing consultant, Erico, informed me that I can get a 1 bedroom in Jamhuri Estates (sounds rich, huh?!) for 17,000 ksh per month (about $200 USD.)  This is where Elena lived (Tom's Swedish girlfirend.)  But, he does not like the idea of me living alone even there.  He suggested I chat up another muzungu I find on the streets and try to get a 2 bedroom together for 25,000.  Chat up a muzungu?  I try to act cool and ignore them when I see them.  There are a few more here this year compared to last year.  I know this is good because they need more assistance here after the post election violence, but selfishly I liked be the token muzungu in town.  I feel a little superior to the others as I walk around on my own instead of with a local chaperone all the time , actually live inside instead of outside the slum, and get waves from the local vendors who recognize me.  LOL  How lame am I?!  Admittedly, Erico says that the rent is too high there because it is where all the muzungus go to live.  It should be half that.  He said he would ask his Dad if I could live in the garage with the matatus at their place.  Wow!  That is nice, but I didn't see a real shower and toilet at your place.  I will have to think about that then!  LOL
In talking with Liza, there might be an opening at her place in Jamuhuri.  She lives with Irene from Victa's sister.  I like that it is a local girl.  She has a few bedrooms that have bunk beds for volunteers.  Maybe I can pay her direct instead of through Victa and get a discount.  I will find out more next week.
How else am I becoming high maintenance?  I have limited my street and orphanage food intake.  The boys have told me that I am no longer allowed to eat my favorite grilled corn on the street.  I am only allowed to eat things that have been boiled.  So what does that leave me?  Ugali.  The rolls are starting to appear already!  My big meal is lunch now.  I have been taking Rapho to Prestige for hamburgers, chicken nuggets, or cardboard pizza in payment for his translation and consulting services. The Shakedown Starts When Andrea and Jamaal took off with some kids to Mombasa, the shakedown at Tunza's started.  I would come home with my nightly food offering for the kids.  Mangos, bananas, chapati, etc for 85 people in hopes that they wouldn't bother me for money.   Guess the problem was that they saw that I had money.  To this point, it only appeared that Andrea had the cash.  I have seen their storage room.  They have bags of food that has been donated.  There is ongoing food funding from Trish's organization.  It covers the basic standard meals for the day.  I hear her fighting with them over it every other day.  So, we figured the food we gave them would be the treats that they don't normally get.  For example, bread intead of porridge for breakfast occasionally.  Fruit.  Vegetables other than skuma.  First, I was asked to buy potatoes.  I told them I had no money at the time and had to go to the ATM the next day.  Funny how they had potatoes that night for dinner even without my help.  Then in the morning Mama T tells me that they are out of sugar and the kids won't eat the porridge unless there is sugar in it.  They can't learn in school if they haven't eaten.  I stick with my story that I have no money on me.  She says she will go get it then and if she gives me a receipt can I pay it later?  How much is it?  300 ksh for 4kg which lasts 2 days.  Cheap enough.  I like my porridge with sugar too.  OK.  That afternoon I went and bought a big sack full of potatoes and had some of the boys carry it home.  If I go with video posse to buy this stuff, I get it in the local market at local prices instead of Mama Tunzas buddy she is in collusion with to jack up the price for muzungus.  Then a receipt is brought to be for 420 ksh for soap and sugar.  I am asked to pay it.  In principle, I say no.  I only agreed to 300 for sugar.   They apologize and ask me if I will buy sugar at 300 the next day.  I agree.  I gotta get an apartment! Chapati and Music Video Night What a great evening I had with the kids.  They were thrilled when I brought home 12 bags of chapati flour and oil.  Chapatis are like tortillas and a big treat here.  There is even a local kids song sung in the schools called "I Like Chapati."  The production line was in full swing until 11:30 at night.  Dough mixers, dough ball makers, flour dusters, dough rollers, oil slatherers, grill flippers, and platers!  There were photographers also.  I think the kids took nearly 200 photos before I could pull myself away from the rolling table.  Thank goodness they didn't hit delete!  We rotated jobs and for those who didn't have a job, it was music video dance time in the TV room.  So cute to the see even the littlest of them signing along and dancing to the latest kswahili hip hop video.  Only when every bit of flour was used, could the first chapati be served.  I was given the honor of the first taste. MMmmmmm These were the thickest chapatis I ever tasted.  In fact, I was only able to eat 1.5 of them.  Then I had to pass the rest off to one of the kids (along with the skuma and goat meat), as usual.  Also had some great conversations with some of the 14 year oldish boys that night.  Wallace is extremely smart.  He asked me all kinds of questions about how things like credit cards, visas, work, benefits, planes, and holidays work in the US. One of the boys wants to be a pilot.  Wallace wants to be an Ambassador after going to school in New York City.  His school sponsor lives in Canada and tried to get him over to visit her just before the violence.  Hopefully he will get that opportunity again soon.  These kids work so hard.  Most nights I can hear them doing math tables until past midnight in the classroom next door in dim light.  They are serious about learning.  Screams in the Night The other night I was awoken at 3AM.  There was a woman screaming at the top of her lungs.  Horrifying screams.  It sounded as if it was next door to the orphanage.  Then I hear her yelling something in kswahili and a man yelling back.  And then lots of crying from children.  This is one of those cirumstances I was worried about being in while here.  Should I lay here and do nothing?  What can I do to help?  If I were at home I would immediately call 9-11 and then pound on the wall.  There is no 9-11 in the slum.  There is no police.  Just the mungkiki gang to take care of things like this.  This is not a real city.  I don't dare go out of my room in pitch black here.  So, I just lay there.  The battle goes on for about 30 minutes.  Hard to get back to sleep after that.  I try to tell myself that maybe it was just a man getting in trouble by this wife for coming home drunk.  But, I know that is not the case.  I probably just heard someone getting raped.  The next day I asked Rapho what people do here about this kind of stuff.  He said that there is nothing you can do.  Very sad.  No wonder the kids leave the radio on all night.  It must be to block out scary noises in the night.  But, there was no way that radio was going to cover these ones up. Craft Day at Tunzas They are shorthanded teachers for the little ones here.  So, the teachers alternate teaching the older and younger ones.  I had a few hours before my appointments so I took over the little ones.  The first lesson was about the Kenyan Flag.  What color is the top stripe?  Black.  Why is it black?  For the people. What color is the next stripe?  White for peace.  The thrid stripe?  Red for the blood that was shed.  Next?  Green for the environment.   I think the real teacher was impressed that I knew this and could teach it to the kids who didn't.  Not sure why I think I have to throw in a lesson in order to justify having fun with the kids.  They weren't much interested in that part for too long.  They just wanted to get to the coloring that went with it.  So, they were all told to make and color a Kenyan flag.  Funny how this flag suddenly has people, animals, houses, etc on it.  I guess the flag wasn't as interesting to draw.   Little did they know that they will be carrying them when we do our Olympics later this week.  Next activity...face painting. I am now a professional at this as it is my second attempt.  The kids were fighting over a chance to have designs on their faces.  Not sure the adults were too pleased.  That meant that every kid had to have their face cleaned that night.  So, I guess the lesson to go with face painting is one in hygiene.  Ironic coming from someone who only gets a real shower about once a week.  Another Wild Goose Day Went to the local internet aroud the corner from Tunza's.  Surprising that it sometimes runs faster than the high tech one I have a membership at at Prestige.  Sitting next to me there was Marvelous.  Yes, that was his name.  He was sending his first email ever.   I had to train him how to do the question mark and @ sign.  He was not aware of the shift key.  Then he did not know how to send it when he was done typing.  Uhhhh...hit the SEND key right here.  Marvelous was so grateful.  He asked for my email address.   What harm could that do?  Well, later that night I got an email from him.  It said that  the memories of me haunted him all day.  He wanted to meet with me again at the same time and same place tomorrow.  Either this guy has game pretending not to know how to email or I don't know.  So, now I am way over at Prestige avoiding running into him at the Cyber in Kibera.  Anyway, although that Cyber was faster...it crashed just as I was finishing my blog entry.  Everything was lost.  What a waste!  Wild goose.

I had a 10AM appointment to meet George from AMKA in Dagoretti to go visit the businesses who got loans last year.  It takes 30-40 minutes to get there.  He calls me just as I am walking up to his gate to say he is at the hospital with a patient and can not meet.  Drat!  We will meet the next day.  Wild goose. 

So I figure out what bus I need to take to get to YaYa where the Kenya Airways office is...46.  I am told by them that they can not help me at their small office and I have to go into Nairobi City.  Drat!  Wild goose.  Before jumping on another unfamiliar bus to an unfamiliar place I call them.  In the middle of the call, I run out of credits.  Drat!  Wild goose.  Thank goodness there was a Safaricom store there.  Bought more credit and called again.  The big office said they couldn't help me either and I would have to call Delta in the US.  Drat!  That costs me about $4 per minute and you know they are going to put me on hold forever.  Wild goose!   So, I  blackberry  Mom.  Thank goodness for her.  She has been pretending to be me while I have been gone.  Depositing checks, opening mail, contacting my insurance, and now getting my ticket changed to an open return date anytime before May 2009.  All this and she doesn't even want me to be here!  Thanks, Mom!

I need a pick me up.  So, I buy a ginger mango smoothie in this fancy  mall then go out to figure out which matatu to take home.  This is where I think I got  an offer of marriage.  A  man started talking to me.  He used to live and run an NGO in Kibera before the violence.  He asked what California was like.  I told him boring compared to  here and that is why I am staying.  Then he said he could help me become a citizen.  Not really something I want, but thanks.  Then he proceeded to tell me he could come home with me and relieve my bottom and become my husband. What?!  That sounds nasty.  Relieve my bottom?!  I later realized it was the accent...Relieve my boredom!  Thanks anyway.  Then give me your number and tell me where you live.  I don't have that memorized, I say.  Then I realize that I am becoming a big white liar here.  I need to go back to being candid without fear.  Sorry, I don't think we will be seeing each other again.  Here's my matatu.  Bye!  Whew!

Dan let me know that the woman we visited in the hospital on our first day here died this weekend alone there while he was climbing Mt Kenya with Andrea and Jamaal.  Sad.

DRAAAAAAAAMMMMMAAA My Home Visits with Mama Elizabeth, Becoming high Maintenance, and Another Wild Goose Day entries above did not get finished due to an interuption of draaaammmmaaa.  So, go back up there to read the rest of the story.  Then you can read about  this drama....

I get phone calls from both Erico and Tom wanting to know where I am at.   They say to wait there.  They are distressed and need to talk.  We jump in the car and head to Ethopia (not the country, the restaurant.)   I buy them beers and pizza and listen to the issue.  They are  scared for their lives and those of their family.  Vicki (Tom's sister) let him know that she was offered a copy of their violence video on the street in Kibera for 300 shillings.  Apparently they are being sold all around there now. And this is the copy they intended to go outside the country that has their names in the credits.  Crap!  If the police get ahold of it, they are good as dead because it shows the police killing people unprovoked. 

Later they ran into Peter Boi who, by the way, mentioned to them that he has been seeing Andrew's partner, Kelly, walking around Kibera.  I assumed he had no idea who I was.  We both ignore each other when we run into each other.  Well, I don't ignore.  I usually growl.  But, I didn't think he noticed.  Anyway, Peter asked them why he has not seen them at the studio at the showgrounds.  What studio?  The one where Rapho, Simon, and Juroguie have been hanging out.  What?!  So, the guys go over there and sure enough...there are their best friends since they were kids running a recording studio using the knowledge that Tom taught them without his knowledge.  They see the video equipment that Rapho claimed was stolen from his home at gunpoint a few months back.  In fact, the police killed the suspect because it was reported that it was stolen at gunpoint.  Guns are illegal here.  I wonder when machetes will be banned.  They think back and recall that these guys asked not to have their names on the credits on the video.  So, these guys are the ones distributing and selling the video on the street while risking Erico and Tom's lives.   Maybe they were upset that Tom wanted the world to see it and did not want to sell it.  Maybe they thought Tom was abandoning them by going to Sweden.  Maybe they were concerned that Erico was being put in charge when Tom left.  Maybe they were desparate for money.  Who knows what the truth is or why.  I feel a little strange being friends with both sides.  I intend to ignore it.  Not say anything to Rapho about it. 

The thing I find most interesting is how these guys, while scared, still say they will forgive, learn from this, and continue working with these guys.  This is common here.  They do not get mad.  They realize that this is Kenya and it is your fault if you trust.  Horrible way to live, I think.

We spent the afternoon playing taxi.  Picked up Unlce Nelson's daughter Janet at school.  Then picked up Andrea, Jamaal, and the 8 kids they took with them to Mombasa at the bus station. 

In the middle of the night I heard gunshots.  Please let it not be the boys!  Then helicopters fly overhead.  Then screaming cats on the roof.  Then rocks being thrown at our building.   All this started while Jamaal is down getting sick in the outhouse in the dark.  He must be scared to come out!  When he returns he said he say a coyote on the roof with a cat in its mouth.  They were throwing rocks at it.  Thank goodness we are not having cat soup tonight! The next morning I learn that the boys are fine.  Jeroguie has come over at 5AM in guil tto explain the whole thing.  They have sold 80,000 copies of the video.  They have a distributor.  It was greed.  The proceeds went towards building a new studio that they planned to run when Tom left the country. Business Visits with AMKA I met up with George and Gilbert for a long long walk around Dagoretti and Gatina to visit the businesses I gave loans to last year.  But first, I asked to see the records.  I was impressed that they had extensive documentation of when each got their loans, how much they had saved on their own before they got the loan, and when they repaid them.  All of them came through! The first stop was to visit Teddy in Dagoretti at her clothing stall.  It was great talking business strategy with her.  She was able to move to a better location this year.  She takes some special orders and also buys in Nairobi what she thinks her regular customers will like.  She does not buy mens clothes because they don't buy like women do for them and their kids.  She also sells candy at the front of the stall to attract people in.  She is short on hangers and that is her next big purchase when she saves enough....12 hangers.  She is HIV positive, but pretty healthy.  She has a cute little daughter.  She speaks great English.  I have asked her to paint my nails like hers in the coming weeks.  She was very excited about that.  She gave me a lolipop for the road and thanked me for the past support (of just $107 USD.)  Looking forward to meeting up with her again. The next stop was Irene in Dagoretti.  She is HIV positive.  She sells vegetables.  I had gone to see her last year, but was greeted by her drunk husband.  I was actually pleasantly surprised to see it was the same place.  I half way expected to be taken to bogus businesses with paid actors so that the muzungu would believe her money actually went where it was supposed to.  Irene lives behind her veg stall with 5 kids.  All of her veg and fruits are very small.  She sold mangoes the size of apricots.  Most interesting were the rocks she sold.  Pregnant woman eat them because they have iron.  Depending on the color they may be sweet or sour.  Interesting.  I did not ask to taste. Then we walked a very long way to Gatina.  We passed by another dead man walking.  He had guns in his back as he was escorted down the road.  It surprises me that people aren't affected by that when they see it.  Just another day in Kenya.  Our goal was to see Grace's mondazi business and get a free sample donut, but we ran out of time.  Something to look forward to the next week.  We did make it to Bridget's coal business.  She was hit by a matatu in 2002, has a metal bar in her leg, and is still on pain meds.    She is also HIV positive and takes care of her sister's 5 kids.  Two are sponsored for school through AMKA. They all sleep in one bed.  It must be especially uncomfortable with a metal leg.  The bed is all they have room for in the home because the rest of the space is filled with coal sacks.  She sells the coal from the home.  A truck drops it off.  She buys a sack for 750.  She puts them into 30 metal containers to sell.  Her revenue is 900.  She also recycles the scraps by remolding them with her hands.   They had taken her 9 year old to the hospital the night before with malaria. I was also shown a photo by the guys of a woman in their group who has the biggest tumor I have ever seen on her cheek.  It is the size of her head.  It looks like her brain is outside her head.  Very sad.  Apparently a couple of volunteers took an interest in her when they met her there a few months ago.  They said they would pay the portion of the surgery that is not covered by the government to have it removed.  The cost... just 17,000 shillings.  Then they disappeared.  How cruel.  This was going to be her 2nd surgery.  She already had one remove before, but it came back.  She needs chemo.  I plan to go back to see the mandazi business I invested just $44 in in a few weeks.  They will be busy next week taking the kids on daily educational field trips, so they can go back to school and have something to share about their vacaton time like the other kids.  I also hope to see the busniness seminars they require the women to attend before getting loans.  Possibly that is something I can help them with in my spare time here. The Final Saturday The fun part of the weekend started in the afternoon.  The Kenya National Rugby Team was playing Uganda.  I met Erico there, got my free Tusker beer and some samosas, and watched the game with crazy fans singing what appeared to be dirty songs in kswahili.  I asked if they were Hash House Harriers, but they weren't.  Jamaal dropped off Steve (one of the kids) to watch the game with us.    The evening was to be the big going away party for Tom, Andrea, and Jamaal that Erico had planned.  Just before we were leaving Mama T cries that they have no flour for the kids ugali that night.  We tell them we don't have enough money for that and all the beers we are going to drink tonight.  Priorities! No worries.  We knew and they did get their ugali that night.  She had the cash herself.  One of my travel partners could not wait for them to pick us up to get to a real toilet to deal with their tummy issues, so we got a little daring and walked the streets of Kibera in the dark.  Foreigners strolling the streets of Kibera in daylight unattended is uncommon.  Now we are strolling in the dark unattended.  Something many locals don't even do.  But deparate times call for desparate measures.  Jumped on a matatu and made it safely to Prestige.  They boys and Hawa picked us up there at 9PM.  Sad that they no longer felt comfortable inviting their other local friends to join us.  First stop was Ethiopia.  We got the private room with pillows to hang out in.  It was nice.  Had the appetizer plate and beers.  The usual picking on each other began.   The next stop was a bar in Westlands.  This is where the muzungus supposedly live.  I didn't see any.  Not too exciting.  So, we headed next to Casablanca.  Got ourselfs a bed and the mint sheesha pipe was passed to those of us who weren't already coughing.  After a little dancing, most of the group fell asleep.  I couldn't though.  I was enjoying the conversation with Tom and watching the high class hookers dancing around the rich old men in the place.  After some urging by the sleepers, we were home by 2:30AM.  Taken It Easy It is Sunday.  Thou shall not work much.  Slept in until 8AM eagar to take a shower.  Drat!  The showers do not work today.  I resorted to the cold bucket of water splash.  The local woman were surprised to see me there.  They helped load my bucket of water and showed me how to drain the stall with a broom when I was done.  Just as I was heading out to Olympic Field in the Olympic area of Kibera to see if we could hold the Olympics for the kids there in the afternoon (how appropriate is all this?!) I am cornered by Steve (one of the teachers and former orphan.)  He was raised there for the last 10 years since he was 10 years old.  He said that they don't have flour and rice for lunch.  I drilled him with the usual questions about the storage and Trish's donations.  He says she has pulled her funds.  Interesting.  I'm sure if I talk to her it will be a different story.  I was going to buy food for them anyway today.  Fine!  Let's go.  So we purchased 12 bags of flour for 930 ksh and a big bag of rice that will last a week for 2750 shillings.  I got big hugs when I got back with the wheelbarrel of food.  Had lunch with them for the first time too.  If I had known that lunch was rice, beans, juice, and cookies, I would have been home more often and skipped dinner!  At lunch Mama T asked me if I was leaving with A & J tomorrow.  Told her I would be in Kibera for a few more months and will be looking for a place to move.  She told me she wants me to stay here for the 2 months.  Gee how sweet...you want me to keep buying you food. Then it was off to meet with the Pastor to see if I could rent the field for the kids.  It was already reserved.  So, next week we will hold the Olympics.  This gives them time to train.  The field goes for 2500 ksh, but I was able to get him down to 1000 ksh.    Any taking it easy day requires that you take a nap.  Took my first one since being here.  Felt great.  What else will feel great?  An ice cream!  Headed over to Prestige again for a scoop of chocolate.  Yum.
Kids Mini Field Trip Day
The day started with A, J and I taking 3 of the girls 9-11 years old with us to Java at Adams for breakfast.  Marcie, Mercy, and Milka all seemed to have a great time.  They had never had pancakes before, nor cucumber, nor home fries.  The home fries were too seasoned and they spit them out.  For obvious reasons they did not like the cucumber...I mean, it is a vegetable for gosh sakes!  The only way Milka would eat the pancakes is if a ton of salt was put on them.  LOL.  Syrup was too sweet.  What they really wanted for breakfast was ice cream.  They did not get it.  I think what they liked the most was the restrooms there.  They made several trips on their own for long periods of time in there.  I know how they feel!  On our walk back, we noticed that Marcie was walking on a bad flip flop.   So, I bought her a new pair for 80 shillings.  Now she could walk straight instead of half on the dirt to hold the loose strap in place. 
When we got back it was time for field trip number 2.  I took Patrick and Bramwell with me to Olympic Field to go pay the Pastor for Saturday's reservation.  Amazing how excited kids get just to take a walk outside the locked gate.  The third field trip of the day was with Walter and Marvin.  I took them to go see Jamaal getting his braids redone by Vicki (Tom's sister.)  They had never seen one of those spacesuit looking hair dryers before and had fun playing with it for a bit.  Vicki was going to have to work that afternoon so she was unable to go to the airport with us later that day to say good bye to Tom.  I also got to talk with Bobby (the brother up in Kisumu) for a bit while there.  They are going to miss Tom alot.  On the way home, I brought the boys oranges and mangos.  We sat on a rock eating them.  Juice evidence all over their faces when we returned. 
Rapho called to see if I wanted to come help him with construction today.  I was unable to since I would be with Tom that afternoon....where he should be too!  While waiting for Tom,  the small world got smaller.  Sitting in the TV room I recognize this woman who hadn't been there before.  It was Alice's Mom!  This is the girl that kSlum sponsored for school last year.  She did not recognize me until I had someone ask her some questions for me.  She said that Alice is now staying in Jerico (not too far) with a relative.  Apparently another daughter, Esther is going to school at Tunza's.  There are 85 who live here and 150 here for school.  Crazy!  According to a nurse/sister that I met on the street, the place should only have the capasity of 30.  This nurse was very concerned about Bramwell and Marcie who both have HIV.  They show up at the clinic with no shoes or sandals when it is cold.  No sweater.  Holey and dirty clothes.  I assured her that the kids eat well, but hygiene really is an issue.  She believes the place will be closed down soon.  There were hints of it this day.  Trish had brought in lots of social workers and her board members from New York to check out the place.  Shockingly, Wallace had raped 2 of the littler girls.  He admitted to one. Mama Tunza would not kick him out since he is a nephew.  So, Trish had the girls taken out this day.  She is building another orphanage that will be all girls and take half of Tunza's kids if she can.  Lots of drama over this.
Everyone came by this day probably to see the drama.  I talked with Megan who told me that she is leaving at the end of the month and Jen needs someone to take her place until the end of Sept.  They have a 1 bedroom in Jamhuri with mattresses, a toilet, and a cold shower.  They split the rent of 15,000 shillings.  Jen seemed cool with this when I talked to her.  But, if I can find a hot shower and earlier move in date...I am all over it.  She understands.  I called Alice (Liza's local roommate) to see what she would charge for one of the 4 bunk beds she has open.  They get breakfast and dinner, toilet, hot shower, and a microwave.  Alice said it was $10 USD per day.  At first it sounded steep, but then if meals are included... I need to go check it out.  Erico took me for a walk around the area.  We met a  friend of his who will be on the lookout for a place for me too. 
Took 2 trips to the airport on this day.  First with Papa (Tom's 21 year old brother) and Erico to see Tom off.  Up until the last day Tom was working hard.  First he had a meeting with the guys who showed up at Erico's wanting to beat him up the night before.   They had heard that he was selling video showing them looting.  Not true.  Then he had a meeting with the US  Ambassador.  They tease that now that Erico is stepping up to Tom's role, I am his Secretary now.  So, I guess I will have to get a better understanding of all their projects.  They hope I can at least help introduce them to organizations that would like to use their Art Center when it opens and those who might be interested in funding.  Currently they have funds for the first floor, but hope to have a 4 story building to accommodate all arts activities.  The website is not up yet, but I think it will be www.Kamdec.com Kibera Arts and Media Development Center.
Also had Papa take Andrea and Jamaal to the airport later that night.  Erico and I came along for that ride too.  They had tons of bags even after giving away practically all their clothes they brought and leaving a suitcase full of coloring books, crayons, pencils, sharpeners, pens, rubber bands, stickers, and candy with me.  It was funny to get back to a room with just my little bag sitting in it.  I immediately started cleaning house.  Filled up 3 Nakumatt bags full of trash.  One man's trash is another kid's play toy.  The kid's immediately started digging through the trash bag using their imagination to make toys.  Water bottles are very versatile!  I also moved to Jamaal's more comfortable bed.  Nice not to have to be in a bunk.
I was supposed to go home today
But, here I am making plans to stay awhile so I can work with Mama Elizabeth some.  I took Dan this time.  Proud that I found my way there down the winding poo paths without getting lost.  He had never met her.  He was very impressed with how she appeared to be a selfless woman sincerely wanting to help the other woman who have been raped and contracted AIDS without much benefit to her.  He was especially interested in how she sells her crafts because he has been able to help other groups market to the right people.  He is also helping to find real orphans on the street to get into a home he works with.  Mama Elizabeth told him about 4, so this was a good connection.  It seems that I am a connected networker here.  I have been able to introduce various locals to each other who can help each other out.  He helped me translate.  It will be good to have both he and Rapho to help with that.  I hate to take up both of their time.  Mama E said that Positively Pamela has been working on the bids.  She will eventually take us to meet all the woman to hear their ideas over the next few weeks.  In talking with Dan, he said anotehr woman we met on my first day died.  That is two.  We had visited Margaret at home that day.  She had AIDS and epilepsy issues.  Very sad. 
I have been keeping in contact with Judson and Pauline, but just by phone.  I think they are both glad I am staying a little longer because I haven't been able to spend as much time with them as hoped.  The more interesting story about someone not getting to spend more time with me is Marvelous.  You know, the guy who I trained how to send an email?  The one who's memory of me haunts him?  He sends me daily messages now wanting to meet.  Romantic messages about wanting to be close friends.  He is 21 years old and thinks I can teach him things.  LOL  Not like those Boy Toys in the US, but about being succesful in life.  I guess I will have to put him out of his misery soon.  
I continue to run into Peter and David (the bad guys from last visit.)  Today David just stared like he was in shock or trying to figure out how he knew me.  I ignored him.  Peter actually talked to me this time.  He asked if I speak Kswahili...probably so he could talk about me without me understanding.  I told him I speak Chang... the slang version of Kswahili.  That made his friends laugh and him shut up.  When we left him, Dan asked me if it was true that Peter stole 30,000 shillings from us last year.  Nothing is a secret here!  No, I think we got it back, but it was missing for a while.     
Marvelous Messages I know this blog is beginning to seem a little gossippy.  All kinds of drama.  But, that is what Kenya is like.  Everyone talking about everyone's business.  Not many people have TVs so what else are you gonna do?  So, my roommates think these messages are worth sharing.  They are pretty funny.  You American boys could learn a little something from Mr. Marvelous!  Hi,Kelly hope u are doing well since we parted.Am good just your memories keep haunting me through ma day.I would like to meet u same time tommorrow at the cyber,so u can nurture me even more,u really made ma day.See u kesho gd night?
Kelly hope u are fine.Mum am concerned u are so much committed to your personal
matters
that u can hardly squeeze some time for indifferent issues like new
relationships.I do need u not only as a friend but a close one.I know that may
sound somewhat owkward but i have some feeling that u can understand me better
and help foster me to the potential i might be having.Am barely 21yrs and dont
want to waste away in unproductive relationships.I believe u have experienced or
know a whole lot that can be of noble importance to ma life if only u can offer
to be a close friend and help nurture me to that great person of ma dream.I have
alot more for you so atleast now you are on track.Good day to u!
Hi Hellen,it was such a pleasure me chatting to u.I miss that moment its one of
the greatest i ever experienced.Mum i picked up a lesson from that.I now know am
timid and need to improve on my language.Hellen with u am growing.In reality a
moment with u is like winning an olympic medal,am overwhelmed.There's no
greatest thing in this world as saving a soul.Hellen be behind me,maybe that  is
the moment  the world has been yearning for,ha,ha just kidding.I wish u best in
your quest. Wow!  Talking to me (or someone named Hellen)  for 5 minutes on the street is like winning an Olympic medal!  I responded to this one in typical Kelly fashion... Fabulous (LOL), you may be timid in person but you sure have a way with words in
email. One word you messed up was my name, though. Kelly

Construction Worker for the Day I am sure the people at Tunza's think I am a total player.  The boys seem to alternate nights coming over to hang out with me.  One night it is Rapho.  The next it is Erico.  Then they see me with the others on the street.  On Rapho's night he asked me again if I would like to come help them at the Showgrounds where they are building the new location for Hood Productions.  Sure!  I like trying new jobs. So, Rapho, Jeroguie, Alex, Papa and I spent a few hours chipping paint off the side of the building.  It is a cute little building in this woodsy area down the railroad tracks.  Should be very quiet for recording artists.  They had already sound proofed it.  It just needs to be painted before the Tradefair starts in September.  They were a little surprised when they got their rent notice while I was there.  They need to pay a 3 month deposit plus 3 months rent in advance at around $6000 shillings per month.  They thought it was $3000 and no deposit.  Good going guys!  I hope they saved some of that post election violence video selling cash!  We quit early when we got that news and decided to go have some chapati and beans down the road.  MMmmmmmm I'm a Total Sell Out Got up early to go negotiate living in Jamhuri Estates with a Kikuyu lady named Alice and Liza and Laura (who volunteers at Ushurika.)  Alice is the sister or Irene from Victa (the people who find housing for GVN volunteers.)  I am hoping she won't make me go through her sister and pay extra fees.  I am also hoping that people will continue to remain peaceful as she is a member of the tribe that most of the people here were against during the violence.  Well, Alice not a negotiator!  Even with my consultant Erico talking, she would not budge from $10 USD per day.  He couldn't even get her to agree to allow me visitors.  The boys have to wait downstairs at the gate.  She wanted 2 weeks in advance.  Includes a hearty breakfast and dinner.  Hot shower.  Toilet that you can put paper in.  Bunk bed.  TV. Microwave.  For my health, it was worth it.  I could have lived with Jen for a third the price, but no meals, cold water, and just a mattress.  I moved in that day!  But, not before I went home to Mama Tunza's with a big bag full of mandazis, flour, and sugar.  Mama T was pleased with that, but not happy that I did not give her the chance to move me to another less smokey room.  Like that would have mattered!  What about the food that sent me to the hospital?  What are you going to do about that?  Have Pizza Inn delivered to me every night?  And, then there was last night when Peter pee'd on my lap while watching TV.  I only have 2 pairs of pants to begin with.  At this rate, I will be walking around in my underwear.  To think I was worried that I would have to change the first diaper of my life if I was going to live in an orphanage with 85 kids.  No way!  They don't wear diapers here!  Girl, I gotsta go!  When the kids saw Papa and Hamisi pull up with the car and me come down with the bag, jaws dropped.  I was staying 2 months.  What about the Olympics this weekend?  Walter and Marvin started the fake crying.  I assured them that I would be visiting often and will be here for the Olympics on Saturday.  I also shut them up by tossing candy at them.  Andrea and Jamaal left bags of the stuff.  I'm not so much for giving candy to kids who can't see a dentist, but I can't throw it away and I can't eat it myself.  So, they got a lesson in health with the candy.  Do not eat the wrapper!  See this Nakumat bag?  It is a trashbag.  Put the wrapper here instead of in your mouth or on the ground.  Oh ya, and brush your teeth!  You don't want to look like your toothless parents! My new roommates were very nice about it, but I totally stunk up their house.  Have I really been smelling this bad?  How come nobody told me?  My bag and all of my clothes reaked of smoke from Tunza's.  I took anything I could not get clean by spraying carpet deoderizer and hanging them outside on the clothesline to the drycleaner.  I am spending a fortune there, but this was disgusting!  No wonder I have been unable to get rid of this cough!  Immediately, I noticed I could breath just a little deeper after the first night.  I am sure it will be a slow process getting my lungs back though.  Knocked a few years off my life staying in that place! The other health benefit is the food.  Alice is a nutritionist.  We had tea, rice, peas, tomatoes, and fruit for dinner.  Missing the meat, but that is okay with me.  For breakfast, I got my protein.  Fried egg, toast, banana, and cocoa.  Now I might not be so weak.  Still, the hot shower was my favorite part of my first 24 hours living large at Jamhuri Estates.  Where exactly do I live?  There is no address on this dirt road.  No street name.  I just know it by landmarks walking from Kibera.  Cross the railroad tracks, go around the corner, and go through the second black gate.  But, I was not sure if I knew where I was from the main Ngong Road.  Uh Oh!  Papa had driven me all the way to Satelite (after we fixed the popped tire that went flat when he dropped me off at my place) where he lives.  He wanted me to see his place and meet his girlfriend.  It is way way way down this very bumpy dirt road by lots of goats and sheep.  Kinda nice to be away in the open spaces.  When it was time for me to go home, he drove me to the closest main drag and put me on a 4W bus.  He said to get off at Adams and it should just be a 10 minute walk.  I wasn't all entirely confident that I would find it on the first try but I did.  I am such a local now.   I wonder if Tom has given him orders to check in on me because I got the "just wanted to make sure you made it home okay" call.   Sweet boys.
Olympics Day! Boy did I worry when I was typing this last evening and it started to rain. First I thought about how long it was taking to close all my windows.  It was getting dark. And, now it has started to pour rain.  My second thought was that it better not rain for the Olympics tomorrow.  But, back to last night.  I had no choice but to start running in the mud and rain the 200 yards to my home.  Soon it would be pitch black. Of course I was wearing my only other pair of pants that hadn't been peed on and they were cream colored. Now they are cream colored with brown polka dots!  What I noticed on this run to my house is that I felt safer at this hour when I was deep in the slum at Tunza's than here in the estates.  Back in the Olympic section of Kibera there are still tons of people on the streets.  The streets are lined with shops.  Here, it is deserted dirt road with an occasional shack shop with teenage boys loitering out front.  And, no one knows me here.  No waves from the Corn Man, Mango Man, Mandazi Woman, etc.  No one has seen me with the video posse to know not to mess with me.  I need the boys to come stroll the neighborhood with me a few times. Wish I could then offer them to come up for tea, but no visitors allowed! And, I need to start buying phone credits and fruit from various people.  Then I should feel more comfortable here.  The nice thing about this cyber besides being close is that they only charge half a shilling per minute during the day.  Other places charge 1-2 shillings per minute.

When I got home, apparently the concern about visitors stealing things does not apply to Alice's boyfriend.  Out of the bedroom, she comes with mussed up hair.  Then 5 minutes later comes a very distinguished looking man.  He shakes my hand and says that we are meeting again.  He looks familiar but I don't recall where I have met him. She later tells us that her boyfriend is a veterinarian and lecturer at the college.  He has a 15 year old daughter from a previous marriage.  Now I'm definitely not sure how I would have met him.  Maybe it is just that we all look alike.

Alice served us spegetti! Sounds great, but what type of sauce goes over it? Liver!  I am told I need more iron, so I guess this is a good thing.  The four chunks I managed to get down weren't too bad.  Apparently it is very expensive here.  Dessert was avocado, mango,and banana fruit salad.  Yum.  Laura has left to tour the rest of Africa, so now it is just Liza (a mature 21 year old from New York) and Alice (the local 37 year old) and me (the immature 44 year old.)  That means we have 2 bunk beds open.  Maybe we can get a 50 sumthing and a 60 sumthing to hit all generations.

I tried to balance my checkbook while watching an interesting show on the 30 year anniversary of Kenyatta's (first President here) death. Not an easy task at home. Try it from the road. I made several attempts and have now decided to give up.  I think I can trust the bank not to mess up.  This is a big deal for me. I usually will re-do it and re-do it until I find that 1 cent it is off by.  I think my new found less anal could care less attitude will give me more time for more interesting things.

So anyways... The Olympics!   Thank goodness Liza (my roommate) came with me because everyone else flaked.  Erico was a no show.  (I later learned that he had to take one of his rugby kids to the hospital.)  Rapho flaked, but he sent Fundi (construction dude) Edwin in his place.  This was a surprise.  He was the guy we hired to help us out with finishing the project last year.  He was great with the kids.  His swahili helped Liza and I out a bunch.  Dan, Megan, and Jen who I also invited all got pulled away by Mama Tunza who said they are in an emergency sitution and have no food for the kids until their new donor starts paying September 1st.  Could this be a case of crying wolf?!  Rapho showed up at the end.  I took my 3 helpers out for dinner at my new favorite place, Samaki.  They have the best beans and chapati. The view isn't so great though...Peter always walks by when I am there.

The smaller kids loved the Olympics.  The older ones immediately took off to the other end of the fieled to play basketball and soccer.  So, they missed out.  I plan to take the extra medals I made for them and sell them at the Masai market.  Bling bling.  LOL We started off with the torch run.  Every kid got to run with it.  Then it was the flag cermony.  Those without flags were to sing the national anthem.  Only one kid knew it.  Oh well.  Let's just get to the competition!

A special thanks to cousin Michelle TB QUICKQ who sent me a whole list of good ideas for competitions.  Gold and silver medals were given out.  They didn't seem to notice that bronze was missing.  Marvin was the big winner of the day with 2 gold medals.  Steve had a gold and a silver.  The girls dominated in the jump rope competition (no surprise.)  The biggest surprise was the limbo contest.  These kids had never seen the limbo before, but sure got the hang of it.  We were amazed at how low some of them could go.

On the way home home, I stopped by Ushurika to get some cough medicine advice from Judson.  He wasn't there as usual.  So, I stopped at my neighborhood Duka La Dawa (drug store) and got some Actifed after consulting with the pharmacist there.  He could barely contain himself because Kenya had won 2 gold medals that day.  Very cute. 

Church at Shelter

Before coming to Kibera a few weeks ago, Liza spent 5 weeks in Ngong at an orphanage called Shelter.  It is out on a farm near where Virginia the Masai lady I stayed with last year lives. I went along with her  to drop off some  clothes for the kids and more importantly...attend church.  Liza had told me about her experience at their church and I had to see it.  She said it is a 6 hour service, but we can come and go for the good parts.  What are the good parts?  When the people start chanting, yelling, and acting possessed.  Unfortunately, the pastor who leads the craziness was not there this day.  I sat in on a 2 hour service which was basicially just kids and a few adults getting up one by one to sing, dance, say a prayer, or preach.  Wouldn't you know it...at one point they asked me to get up and say a few words or sing.  I got nothing.  "Jesus loves me yes he does...." That's all I remember of that song.  Crap!  I knew I shouldn't have ditched that church school my parents dropped me off at every Monday night when I was a kid.  Hey Liza, wanna sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with me?  NO!  Thank goodness the British kid who had recently become a Christian felt compelled to give a sermon and saved me from having to say anymore than my name and where I was from.  If they heard from one of us 3 muzungus there, they were happy.

After church some of the kids took us on a tour of their facility.  Wow!  What a difference compared to Tunza's!  They have plenty of room.  Only 2 kids per bed.  The place is painted real nice.  They sell the veggies on the farm for funding along with the 400 chickens they have, 2 pigs, cows, etc.  www.shelterchildrenkenya.org They served us a nice lunch and gossiped about Tunza's with us.  Everyone thinks she is stubborn and is going to get the place shut down. You have to respect the fact that she even got the thing going, though.  I guess it is better that these kids are in cramped quarters than on the street.  I also admire the fact that she is going to school.  GVN is paying for her to get a high school education. But still, you could definitely see the difference between Tunza's kids and these.  These kids with the nice environment were so much more mature, polite, ans well spoken in English.  I later learned from Liza that it might be due to the stick that they get hit with when they get out of line.  I am very surprised that they do this in front of the volunteers or that GVN doesn't warn the volunteers that this is normal in the schools here.  I never saw anyone get hit with a stick at Tunza's.  However, I have heard some yelling a whack with the hand on rare occasions.

Got to pick up my drycleaning on the way home.  Thank goodness they were able to get that smoke smell out of everything.  Now, if I can just get it out of the bag I have to put them in when I travel again!  Had another wonderful meal prepared by Alice before laying down to cough all night long.  My poor roomates.  They are probably sorry they let me stay there.  Ya know, Alice doesn't even know my last name.  When volunteers get sent to her for housing, they have been screened with police background checks.  Me?  I just called her and asked to live with her.  The same with Tunza's.  Kinda scarey that they would let anyone live with the kids or live in their homes without even asking to look at a Passport.

Temporary Secretary of KAMDEC

Had some arrowroot (purple and white poatoes) and oranges for breakfast before heading to Ushurika.  Spent an hour hanging with Judson.  He served me chai like old times and we chatted in between him filling prescriptions.  He asked if I could help find school sponsors for the 3 kids of 2 women with HIV who had been patients of his.  I am getting pretty good at this networking thing here.  I know just who to hook them up with.  David popped his head in.  Still hasn't figured out where he knows me from.  Andrew had asked me to kick him the next time I saw him, but I just didn't have the guts to do it.

Next stop was Erico's for a very long meeting with the KAMDEC members.  Erico introduced me as his long time good friend and personal secretary.  Surprised how I was accepted immediately and was asked for my input.  The members are all from different parts of the art and media worlds.  Winnie is an on air journalist.  Patricia writes newscasts and is a photographer.  Tony is in computer graphics.  Crazy writes screenplays (which I got to read one that is very good.)  Bishop is the most famous reggae singer in Kibera. Mwanjua does video camera work, and is the new secretary.  I ended up taking the notes and typing them up this time but it is all his next time we meet in 2 weeks.  Tom joined us via speakerphone from Sweden.  It was good for me to hear all the details of their funding and options.  The more I learn about how business is done here, the better.  After the meeting, we went up to the top floor of the X9 building in Ayany (the skyscraper of Kibera with 5 floors)  to the Pamoja radio station 99.9 FM.  Immediately, Bishop was put on air and was able to promote KAMDEC in betwen answering questions about his latest album.  Then Erico bought us all lunch. 

For those of you wondering what is new with Marvelous... I have not heard from him since I called him Fabulous.  I guess he doesn't like being called the wrong name either. LOL      

Banana Bead Day

Today I was to go do more home visits with Mama Elizabeth...the reason I am staying in Kenya longer.  But, she has not come back from Kisumu yet.  So instead, Liza and I went over to Raphos to watch some of the documentaries they have produced.  There is a second post election violence one that Crazy is narrating.  I wonder if Tom and Erico know about this one.   It might be the one that is being sold on the street.  We also watched a video they made of some local people with HIV who spent a week in Lamu doing dance skits about being open about your status.  I recognized Dorka in it.  She is a woman I see on the street every day who chats with me and gives me a hard time about not coming by to buy her bracelets.  (I bought one last year and it broke within a month!)  They also have docmentaries on child labor and the pesticides that are endangering people in Naivasha.  None of these have been aired because the government would not allow these types of exposes.  I hope that somehow they can get to stations outside Kenya who would be willing to pay the guys for broadcasting them.  They are well done.  On our way out Rapho asked me if I had seen Erico yesterday.  Yes.   Was it for a meeting?  Yes. I hate these direct questions.  I don't want to be in the middle of this.   Was it at Samaki?  No, but I ate there yesterday.  (Obviously someone like Peter reported in that he saw me with  people there.)  Was it at Erico's?  Yes.  Were all the guys there?  I don't know who all of them are.  Gotta go. Okay, I am going to Erico's now.  Really?   Do I warn Erico?  No.  Stay out of it.

Liza and I met up with Kathy (volunteering in the city and from New York) to bring her to Tunza's.  I stopped and bought 75 bananas for them.  Locals laughed as I carried the big bag on my head like they do.  It really is easier than carrying it on your back or hanging from one arm.  The kids were excited to get those.  We also posted up the results of the Olympics.  Some kids were still wearing their medals days later.  Then it was up to the beading room.  The kids make these fantastic beads out of disgarded colored paper.  I had Dennis make me a bracelet for 150 shillings.  Necklaces go for up to 500 shillings.  The kids were so excited to get some cash while Mama T was out.  (She might have wanted to use it for food.)  They immeditely went out and bought a box to store their bead supply in.  That surprised me.  I would think they would go get fancy clothes, a watch, a camera, the things they seem to envy of others.  But, they decide to reinvest in their business.  I love it!  I was pleasantly surprised to see tht the food storage room now had beds in it.  Now the kids have a little more room for sleeping.  But, I also did think that maybe they don't need the food storage room anymore beause there really isn't any food.  Maybe she isn't crying wolf. 

Tomorrow I am to see Pauline, go observe a business seminar held by AMKA for the women receiving loans in Gnando, and teach Erico how to use the internet.  Let's see if the day actually goes as planned.

Business Seminar Day

Got up early to go to Prestige to upload photos.  I have tried several times at my local Jamhuri Estates cyber without luck.  The nice thing is that it only costs half a shilling a minute there, but doesn't help much if it is too slow to upload photos.  I have membership pricing at the faster Prestige location at 1 shilling a minute.  That is half off the usual price.  The 2 mile walk is worth it.

Stopped by The Chemist to see if they carry Malarone.  I realized if I am going to stay here longer, I might need more anti-malarials.  They have Malanil.  It appears to be the same ingredients.  It also has the same high US price, unfortunately.  $85 USD for only a 12 day supply!  I am going to have to hit up all the muzungus heading home to see if they have leftovers they want to sell cheap.  Liza leaves on Friday.  She's got some doxy and larium , the alternatives.  I  don't really want to hallucinate or get fried in the sun with their side affects, though.  It is gonna be boring in the evenings when Liza leaves because it will be just me and Alice.  She says that Alice is talking more now that I am here, but the  trouble is that I don't understand her.  She has a very thick and low volume accent.  I assume she is saying funny things and just laugh when she talks.  We watch Tihindi High together as we sip tea (which I am sure I am addicted to now as you drink it all day long here.)  It is the Kenyan version of 90210.  I have been enjoying reading a little now that I have light at night.  I will have to find more books if I am going to be able to handle this whole be home by dark thing much longer.  My current book is called written by a Lonely Planet travel writer.  He shares his crazy adventures while researching Brazil for the book.  I'll share more about it later.

Why is it that people always want to talk to you when you are paying by the minute at the cyber?  They see a muzungu and they need to be your friend.  They assume you have an organization that will funnel them money.  They always have an organization too.  They want to work together.  I think I am going to tell them I am a tour guide.  I actually would really love to be a tour guide to muzungus here.  Peter (my arch enemy) charges 150 shilling for the 2 hour tour he does.  Liza said she got more out of the day she did home visits with me that on his tour.  He takes them to his house, Ushurika, and Tunza's.  Wish I had the guts to steal his business out from under him.  It would only be a minor ding his income as I am sure he makes more in his scam business.  

Anyways...about the business seminar.  I had no business suit to wear, so the least I could do was use my luxury item to fix my appearance up a little.  I smoothed my hair down with the flat iron and wore my best jeans...okay, my only jeans.  Before meeting Gilbert and George in Gnando for the seminar, I met up with Pauline.  She picked the place...Java at Adams.  This is the really expensive westernized restaurant.  She made a bigger mistake, though.  She brought 3 of her friends with her.   What does she think I am a rich American or something?!  If it would have been just the two of us, she would have gotten a nice lunch.  She would have also gotten a nice little shopping spree at Nakumat for personal items she would need as she was leaving for boarding school the next day.  Instead, we just sat on a bench and talked for an hour.  Mostly about how I might be able to help her and her friends get to the US, how unfair they are treated here, how poor they are, etc.  I have been disappointed pretty much everytime I have met with her this time.  And, I had such big hopes for her when we were messaging each other over the past year.  At least this time I only had to pay matatu fare for one of her friends, Maggie, since she showed me where I was to get off on the 111 for the seminar at Pathways in Ngando.

Anyways...about the business seminar again.   It wasn't a business seminar!  It ended up being a seminar about AIDS and TB medications.  You see, AMKA does both business seminars and health seminars for their members.  I guess I should have clarified that I only was interested in the business ones.  Worse yet, it was in kswahili.   So, I sat there for 2 hours understanding only a small portion of the discussion about drugs I do not take and never plan to.  However, I was impressed with the turnout.  25 woman and 5 men filled the room.  George and Gilbert were very good at facilitating the discussion.  It was very interactive and everyone was laughing throughout.  They talked of the importance of taking them on time and the affects if they don't.  They clarified the difference between when the doctor writes 1 x 3 and 3 x 1 on the label.  Scarey that some people might be taking 3 at once when they should be taking 1 three times a day!  They also talked about ensuring they are taking it with food.  A couple of new muzungu volunteers (Canadian Janine and UK Jemma) scared me when it was their turn to lead the discussion.  They were obviously untrained in the medical field, but that didn't matter.  People were taking notes on what they said as if any muzungu must know what they are talking about.  They were asked what they should do if they don't have food that day.  Take the meds or not.  They looked at each other hoping the other would have an answer.  Then they just made up one.  They were asked if they had 4 different drugs to take for different reasons, when should they take them.  These little girls said that they should take them all in the morning.  Thank goodness Gilbert jumped in and said that they should take them in the intervals that the doctor indicated.  They did get it right when they said not to take the drugs with alcohol.  Really?  Thanks for that insight ladies.

I got to visit with Teddy (the clothing business lady I gave a loan to last year), so that was nice.  We made plans for her to paint my toes soon.  Had the customary chai and bread with Gilbert.  He is pretty westernized.  Has a blackberry and everything.  He claims that he makes good guacamole and scrambled eggs.  So, we made plans to go to the horse races and I'd get to sample his guac.  We also discussed his desire to start Clowns Without Borders with local teenagers.  In addition, he'd like to create a skit and dance about AIDS awareness that these kids could travel and perform.  Looks like it is another opportunity for me to network.  I share with him that I have friends who did something similar with adults and filmed it a few years ago.  Now they are about to open up a community arts and media center where maybe his kids could  rehearse.  Maybe he would even like to teach drawing classes from the location.  He is a good artist.   I am so connected in this slum!

Later that evening, Erico and I meet up at the train tracks.  I later learn that this is the most dangerous place in Kibera.  Even Rapho won't walk through there at night.  I wait for Erico to arrive on Kenya time (10-15 min late.)  During that time I am approached by every scab filled drunk wanting a free meal.  It was comical when a couple of them started lifting pants legs and pulling off shirts to show me their pussie sores as if that would make me more willing to sit down and buy dinner for them.  Erico shows up in his white linen shirt and his fancy Masai tire sandals looking fly just in time to save me.  He tells them that he will be back through here later to buy them dinner.  This I don't like, but that is what everyone here does.  They don't say NO.  They say Later or Kesho (tomorrow.)  I hate giving false hope, but I am told that everyone here understands that to mean NEVER.

Erico and I spend the next hour at the cyber.  As his secretary, I am to show him how to use the internet.  And he is to give me edits on the minutes I took from the KAMDEC meeting.  He is tickled when I show him the link to apply for the Diversity Visa Lottery.  He is dying to come to the US and be a Marine.  Kenya happens to be on the list of countries that the US doesn't get many immigrants from.  They give 55,000 Visas away each year in this lottery.  The deadline to apply is September 30th.  He is so grateful that I have shown him this that he said he will buy me lunch at Pizza Inn and take me to the movies on Sept 6th.  I wonder if Sept 6th is the same as Later and Kesho!  I will let you know in a week.

Sponsoring Tunza's Kids

Andrea messaged me that she had a little bit more money that she'd like my help getting to the kids.  She Western Unioned me the equivelant of $300 USD that I am running around distributing to various teachers and shopping with some kids. I can't give it to Mama T or it might not be used for the intended purpose.  I can't give it to the kids for the same reason.  I have already been asked by Lydia to use the 4,000 shillings I am to deliver to Raila Secondary School for her fees to use some of it instead to buy her a new sweater.  Uh no!  Thanks goodness I can easily say that I am only allowed to use the money as directed by my boss, Andrea.  Several other kids are now approaching me asking me to buy things for them.  Some of the money is designated to open an internet membership for them to share.  This way they can email Andrea and ask her directly.  LOL!  This will keep me busy for a few days but will also be a good way for me to get a little one on one time with a few kids I hadn't spent much time with previously.

Meeting Joseph from KISCODEP

Mama Elizabeth ended up getting her bus pass stolen, so she is having to stay in Kisumu longer than expected.  She is the reason I am staying longer and she has been gone for these last two weeks.  Funny thing is...I am still keeping very busy.  Liza and I stopped by Rapho and Simon's to get a copy of the videos so she can take them back to her brother who works in video production in New York and has connections with the news channels there.  Then he said he's like to take us to see a friend of his who has an organization in the same area as Mama E, Katwekara.  This called for an eye roll from me.  How many organizations am I going to meet?  I can't work with all of them.  I don't want to give them hope.  We go anyway and I am glad we did.  Afterall, Katwekara is the area that I feel has the most need.  Joseph is the type of guy I like dealing with.  Positive.  Doesn't ask for anything.  No pressure.  Doesn't already have been sponsors.  He just shared what he is doing.   He started Kibera Slums Community Development Program 2 years ago.  His wife runs a little shop in front of his office selling candy and snacks.  This allows him to volunteer his time with the program.  Before the election violence, he had 13 computers that were donated by some people from Chicago.  He is a computer wiz and he taught people how to use them.  They were looted during the violence, but he has managed to get 3 donated since then.  He also runs a microloan group for small businesses, HIV home assistance, and a nursery school.  He showed us the website he just created that should be running any day now.  It is pretty well done.  www.kiscodep.org  I plan to bring him school supplies from the stash Andrea and Jamaal left me next week.  That is all I can do for him right now, but if Mama Elizabeth doesn't return soon my attention might go his way.

Bead Brother's Join Up Anniversary Party

We hung out at Tunza's after meeting  Joseph who 's office is very near them.  Took a few boys to see Corn Man.  Had my first corn since coming out of the hospital against the boy's advice.  It is soooo good though!  It ended up being a total junk food day because the boys who make the beaded jewelry at Tunza's decided to spend some of their income from our purchases on an anniversary party for themselves.  It has been one year since they started making jewelry.  They waited for Mama Tunza to leave for a visit to her husband's house and then opened up the classroom where they had been preparing the party.  Ballons everywhere!   Popcorn with honey poured over it.  Candy.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches.  Cake.  Bisquits (cookies.)  And, orange punch.  I was honored to be invited to this semi private party just for the bead workers and Liza  and me.  These guys were so cute.  When it was toast time, I quickly whispered to Liza to pretend sip the orange punch as it had not been made with bottled water and we could not be sure that it was boiled.  The boys were onto us, as usual, though.  They asked us if we didn't like their Varnish Punch.  LOL!  They use varnish to shine their beads and it happens to be the color of this punch.  I was very proud of these boys (all 14 years and under) and enjoyed my day with them.

Third Trip to Airport

I am losing another roommate.  Liza and I got up early on her last day.  Jumped on the 111 to Karen so she could buy some gifts from her favorite bead lady.  I jumped on the 24 matatu from there to go raise some hell at Karen Hospital.  I have sent them 3 emails asking for the electronic copies of my paperwork so I can get reimbursed from my travel insurance.  Not to mention the credit of about $350 USD they owe me from the deposit I gave them for my medical bills.  I am sure they hoped I had gone back to my country and wouldhave a hard time tracking them down.  Face-to-face they admitted the oversight and promised to email me everything that day.  I got an email alright, but one that says see attachment and there is no little paperclip showing that there is an attachment.  Tricky!  I got her number.  I got her name.  I have no problem spening the 80 shillings tp get back there and create a scene.   I might bring back up though just in case they want to admit me into the looney bin there.

Next stop was Nakumat because I was in desparate need of a nail file.  I had already stopped at every beauty supply stall in Kibera.  The best I was offered was the opportunity to buy an obviously used one for 50 shillings.  Thanks anyway.  I will get 4 new ones in a pack at Nakumat for 95 shillings.  Whjle I was there I bought a new book to read.  It is one that I have been wanting to read for a while about child soldiers.  Thought it approapriate since my next destination is probably Uganda. 

Stopped by the local drycleaner drop off point to see if they had found the bug net I gave them to get the smoke out of yet.  No luck.  It has been missing for about a week.  I smell another opportunity to start raising hell.  Think I can get them to pay me the $55 of so it cost me for that thing at REI in the US?!  Not counting on it.

Ran into Joseph, the taxi driver to the muzungus, as I stolled Old Kibera Road.  (I think that might be the name of my street.)  He was just about to call Liza to find out where she lived so he could take her to the airport.  So, I jumped in to show him.  Along the drive we see Rapho.  He is just about to call Liza to find out which apartment is ours since he has another video for her to bring back to the US.  Jump in!  We decided we'd all come along on Liza's last drive though Nairobi  to the airport.  This is my third trip there and 4th friend I've seen off.  Luckily the police that stop you along the route are high and think we muzungus all look alike.  Otherwise they might hit me up for kiti kidogo (a little something) from the transportation service I am obviously running.   I laugh everytime I jump into his car.  There are mug shots (visa photos that they tell you to bring, but never ask for when you land here) of muzungus from all over the world.  There is even one of the Anna and Lianna who I met last year here.  He thinks seeing these photos will make muzungus feel safe and want to drive with him.  I told him that these 1.5 x 1.5 photos that no one is smiling in either look like he has a bunch on convict muzungu friends or they look like victims he has picked up and buried somewhere in the Masai Mara.  I will be sure to give him a smiling 8 x 10 glossy of me before I leave!

I had been blown off again by George for our mandazi business visit, so when Joseph asked if we wanted to come along on some errands with him I said why not.  I got another good free tour of parts of Nairobi I had never seen before.  Traffic got bad and we got hungry.  Rapho treated us to some ground nuts (peanuts) that guys sell to you in wrapped up scraps of paper on the street.  I got some protein plus something to read.  When I unraveled the paper cone they are sold in, I was able to read a transcript of some speech a politician gave about the post election violence. Joseph had told me last week when he stopped by the Olympics in tow with Erin, a Chicago medical researcher  studying malaria, that he also owed a  hotel (restaurant.)  So, I asked if we could eat there when we got back to Toi market in Kibera where it is located.  Had the usual.  Chapati and beans.  Thought we might get comped, but no.  Even he paid.  Hmmm... does he really own this place?  He is the second Kenyan I have seen with a blackberry.  It says Verizon on it. Not Safaricom or Celtel or Zain, the providers here.  hmmm.  Could it have belonged to one of those muzungus in the mug shots on his dashboard?!  You become very aware and untrusting here.

After lunch, I took Rapho to see Judson at Ushurika.  Judson is a pharmacist.  Rapho has been taking sleeping pills every night for the last 3 weeks.  Says he can't sleep unless he takes 2 per night.  I need Judson to scare him and tell him how to come off of these things.  I wondered if he was having trouble sleeping due to violence flashbacks or guilt about double crossing Tom and Erico.  He says he started taking them when he had a cold instead of regular cold medicine.  Why?  These things only cost half a shilling per pill.  You can get them at any Duka La Dawa without a prescription.  There are apparently no rules here about dispensing addictive substances or at least rules that are followed.  I am especially shocked at the price.  My anti-malarials cost 450 shillings per pill!  The ones Liza used cost 70 shillings per pill.  Sleeping pills are half a shilling?  Doesn't make sense.  Especially when every local you talk to knows someone who currently has malaria or had it themselves recently. The volunteers working at Ushurika tell me that the majority of people who are treated there have been confirmed to have malaria.  Make these drugs affordable!  Do they think it is better to "sleep" your way out of disease?! By the way, I decided that I will finish out my supply of anti-malarials from home then switch to doxy for price reasons.  Liza was nice enough to leave me a 3 week supply so I won't have to pay for them here for a while.  She also left me some sunscreen protection so that I don't turn bright red from them. 

I got home at the usual 6:45pm just before dark.  Alice was not home.  Dinner was not on the table.  Hmmm.  She usually leaves dinner on the table for us to warm up if she will be out late.  It is Friday night.  I am going to be so annoyed if she is out partying at Garage Pub and I am stuck home without dinner, without being able to have friends over, when all I really want to do is enjoy a beer with them.  It is driving me nuts to have this curfew.  Well, she shows up at 9:30pm. I have just locked all the windows and tucked myself in tight for the evening.  She offers to make me dinner, but I don't feel like getting up for it.  She makes up for it the next morning by making me chapati and pineapple for breakfast.

More Randomness

I have noticed that I am getting alot more spam since being here.  I used toget hardly any.  Now I get alot and very specific ones.  Usually with subject headings like  Get Out of Debt,  Need a Loan,  Business Opportunity, Foreign Investment Venture,  You Won Lottery,  Please Give Us Your Account Number So We Can Steal Your Money to Pay for a Poor African Child to go to School.  Do they somehow know what IP address I logged into my email account from and send me targeted direct spam?!

Is it legal to gamble in Kenya?  I have started a pool with my local friends.  I have made a calendar from Sept-Dec.  We have each guessed what day we think Tom will come back to Kenya.  The winner gets 100 ksh from each of the participants.  His messages to me talk of issues he is having with the language.  He as mentioned an opportunity to do some filming in Sudan.  He'll have to come home for equipment first.  KAMDEC really needs his leadership.  Elina likes Kenya so maybe she would come back with him.  So, my name is on November 1st.

I wish I had Kenyan eyelashes.  They have that naturally curly hair, so their lashes curl up perfectly.  To get that look, I would have to take a metal contraption, point a blow dryer at it to warm it up, try to crimp my eyelashes between the metal parts without squeezing my eyelid, hold it there without tearing out a chunk of lashes for about 15 seconds, then immediately before they uncurl swipe some mascara on them, and blow the dryer on them so they stay in place.  Either that or glue some fake ones on.  Neither I am willing to do.

Alice has gifts from all over the world around her house from volunteers who stayed with her.  She has bowls from Australia, plates from Ethiopia, artwork from Ecuador, and flip flops with the British flag on them.  Those Brits are classy!  What can I give her when I leave?   I didn't bring any American Flag keychains with me.  Would it be wrong to give her something practical that she really needs like a toilet seat?!  This thing has a crack in it.  If you sit too far back on it, you cheek gets stuck in the crack.  Ouch! It really hurts!  So, what do you think?  Good hostess gift?

I know i shouldn't be complaining.  I actually have a shower and toilet now.  But, why do they put them on top of each other?  Is it such a space saver to have the shower head over the toilet?  After a shower, I have to towel down the whole bathroom floor as well as the toilet seat.  Instead of worrying about annoying your roommate by leaving the seat up here, you have to worry about remembering to towel off the toilet seat so they don't plunk themselves down on a wet one. 

They have found me!  Those Jehova Witnesses who used to knock on my door at home have found me way over here in Kenya.  First they found me walking down the railroad tracks.  They found me walking down Ngong Road.  They even found me while I was at home.   I take their pamphlets to be polite. So annoying though because there are no trash cans in this country.  So, I walk for hours with pamphlet in hand.  Until I got a bright idea on how to get rid of it without littering.  I pretend I am a Jehova's Witness!  I wait to be introduced to some new unsuspecting friend of a friend.  Then I give it to them as we shake hands.  They are polite and take it since I am a friend of a friend.  It is assumed that any muzungu here is a missionary or something of the sort, so it works.  Until my friends start laughing.

Should I be concerned that my thigh has been numb for almost 3 weeks now?  At the hospital they shot me in the leg with some painkiller.   Ever since, I have not been able to feel that side of my leg.  Strange.  It was my stomach that hurt so not sure why this happened.   I can only deal with one ailment at a time though.  It is dying down, but I am still periodically coughing up a storm for no apparent reason.  When that stops, I will worry about the leg.  I guess I could have brought it up when I went there to complain about my billing issues. Maybe threaten to sue them or something.   Do they have medical malpractice here?  I really just don't want to get put back in that hospital.

I hired a property management company to handle the rental of my condo.  So, why do I spend so much time messaging back and forth with them each day?  The tenants are high maintenance to say the least.  We don't want this air conditioner she left us, please haul it out.  Give us the key to her storage because we think the entrance to the attick is in there for the cable guy.  No, try looking in your closet.  The entrance is there.  We need an electrician because the bathroom lights don't work.  No, try flipping the circuit breaker.  I have had to follow up 3 times to ensure that the electicity and gas were switched from my name to theirs.  Annoying.  I've been moaning about this for weeks until today when I am told a rent check is in the mail to me.  Yes!  Income will allow me to stay out on the road longer. 

It is Never Easy

I knew this would happen.  I try to sneak out with Steve to go shopping for his school items and out runs Mama Tunza.  She says that  she paid some of his fees, so instead of needing 8,000 ksh, we only need to pay 5,627 ksh.   Interesting.  Then she says I can give it to her and she will take care of it.  Riiiiiiight!  I ignore that and say that we need to get to Nakumat.  Surprisingly, Steve says to me after we are well down the road that he does not want me to give the money to Mama T because it will not be used for his fees.  Really?  Shocker!  I assure him that I am directed by Andrea to give it directly to the school and no one else.  Then he tells me that Posta is closed now, so I won't be able to get a check made directly to them for him to take with him tomorrow.  Great!  Could you have told me that a few days ago?  So, we walk about 2 miles to a bank.  We walk because Steve does not want waste even 20 ksh of his 9,000 ksh on a matatu.  I like that!  The bank will cut a check for me to the school if I pay the 1,200 ksh fee.  Steve looks at me and says let's get out of here!  He tells me that I can go to Posta on Monday and have them mail it to the school for about 300.  I hope he is right.  I'm not getting on a bus for the 12 hour ride each way to pay them.   Then he tells me that it is good that the fees are lower because  he needs 1,000 - 1,200 ksh for bus fare.  He had expected that to be paid by Andrea.  I email her and she agrees to this.

I tell him that he has 1,000 ksh to spend on personal items for school.  I want to give him privacy as he shops for deoderant, condoms, whatever.  So, I tell him to be sure to add things up as he puts them in his cart so he doesn't go over at the register.  Luckily, I am close by at check out because his purchases got up to about 1,500 ksh.  I noticed that he had about 8 rolls of TP, about 50 bars of soap, cocoa, cookies, juice, mints....do you really need all of this?  I wonder if he trades soap for other items when he gets there.  He gets rid of the mints and a few rolls of TP.  The total gets down to about 1,300.  Fine.  But, you might not be able to buy that storage box you wanted along with the bus ticket.  And the 2kg of suger you need to make the porridge they serve you at school taste as good as Tunza's.  Apparently his clothing gets stolen each time he leaves Tunza's for school.  So, he wanted to buy a locking storage box for 300.  When we get back, we go looking for this storage box because this is more important to him than the sugar.  I stay about 20 feet behind him as we go from stall to stall in hopes that they won't give him the muzungu price.  Doesn't work.  They are selling from 350-800 ksh.  I call Rapho.  He thinks we can get one at Toi Market for 300 ksh, so we call it quits for the day.  Thank goodness.  We walked another 4 miles searching for this box without having eaten lunch. 

On my walk back I run into Dorkus, as usual.  I also see a teenage boy holding his stomache while blood pours out.  He is headed towards Ushurika Clinic.  There is a crowd following him.  Then there is a man holding another teenage by the arm and beating him with a stick.  A bigger crowd is following them.  I wonder what happened.  I wonder what is going to happen.  But, think it is best not to join the crowd.  I'll stop by Ushurika tomorrow and find out I'm sure.  Also ran into Wallace and Lydia taking Maureen to the hospital.  She is sick.  Hope she is okay.  She is another one I will be paying school fees for next week.

They are into the texting thing here just as we are at home.  My texts today were from Gilbert and Fundi Edwin.  Fundi said that his family wants to know when I will be coming to see them. I've never met them.  Why would they want to see me?  Oh ya, I am a muzungu who will probably give them lots of money.  I was hungry and really could use some guacamole, but was too tired after all this walking to hightail it over to Dagoretti to see Gilbert.  Instead I had a chapati and stawberry water while watching a little of the stage set up on the street where locals musicians  performed songs like the ones you hear here in every matatu.  Do they have that "Do Me and I'll Do You" song back at home?  I hope not!  I hear it probably 50 times a day! 

Message from Pauline

Should I feel bad about my comments of disappointment in my meetings with Pauline?  Here's the email she just sent me. Hellen Keller quotes and all.  Think she is trying to make me feel okay about not giving her money?

Dear kelly,      Its yet another wonderful day that the Almighty has granted us. I am returning to school today. Thanks for visiting me at my place. I was reaaly happy. Thanks for taking your time, energy and resources to come back to Africa especially Kenya. Friendship is a necessity in life of which if one was to be present of all other advantages none will equal it. It adds flavour to our daily existence. I am only one; but still I am one; I cannot do everything , but still do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do. (Hellen Keller)   Lots of love,   Pauline
Saturday Night with Alice

Alice asked me Saturday morning what it means when a guy (not your boyfriend) texts you early in the morning "What R U up 2?"  Gee Alice, I think it might be a booty call.  She giggled.  I thought for sure that I would be home alone later that night.  But no, she and I were home watching The Gardner's Daughter (a racey dubbed into English Mexican novela.)  How pathetic is that?! 

I found it odd that in a place like this where the security gate is never locked that Alice also sits in the house with the door unlocked.  I am constantly checking it and bolting it when I notice it is unlocked.  I am told that this is the safest place, though, because it is guarded at night by Masai's with bow and arrows.  Really?!  I wouldn't know because I am not allowed out at night!  However, I did see a sign the other day up at the gate that said "Residents, please pay the guard here." 

Alice and I also talk US politics during the evening news.  In fact, everyone here wants to talk US politics.  Alice is strong in her beliefs that there is no way that Obama will win.  Why?  Because the US would NEVER allow a black person to be President.   You really think that?  Yes, Americans are very predjudice.  Alice, did I mention that I am an American?  I bite my tongue before I say "At least we don't rig elections and insight violence like you Kikuyus."  I try to tell her that although there are some people who care about race, my experience tells me that most people do not take that into consideration these days.  I tell her that it is more in a few isolated parts of the country where it might still exist.  She then tells me that even in New York, the blacks live in the poor areas and the whites are rich.  She doesn't believe me when I tell her that there are rich and poor of all races. I hate and feel bad when people feel this way. 

I find a copy of Out of Africa as I wait for Alice to wake up and make me my breakfast.  Hey, I am paying her good money for this service!  It isn't like it sounds.  The woman is richer than me.  She has a job.  Anyway, I decide to take a peek at it before starting my new boy soldier book.  The writer talks of the natives she encounters in this Ngong area probably not too far from where I was at Shelter last week.  She says that they are good friends, yet hard to really know.  So, true.  I feel that I have good friends here, but have been surprised at some of the things I have learned about and from them.  She also talks about how natives seem to get a chuckle and maybe even delight out of things going wrong for others.  I have also noticed this when little kids fall down, hurt themselves, and cry.   Instead of being nurturing, they laugh.  They might say  "pole" (sorry) at the same time, but it never sounds sincere.  Kinda like the other day when I decided to go out in  flip flops.  This is a rare occasion for me, but it is hot and the locals seem to have no problem walking in this land of poo bags with them.  Well, I sipped on a banana peel (just like in a cartoon) while walking down Kibera Road.  Immediately some guys on the street said "pole", but could not contain their laughter telling me that bananas are very dangerous here.  I couldn't contain mine either.  I was very relieved to find out that it was just a banana!

My book gets put down when Alice wakes up about 2-3 hours after me and my attention turns to the TV she switches on for church.  We also laugh at this as we sip strong Kenyan coffee and watch the cockroaches scurry across the floor, microwave, counter, everywhere!  So strong this coffee is that I get a head rush when I get off the couch.  Our favorite is a preacher from Ghana.  He is pretty funny.  I always feel like such a bum on Sundays around here.  Everyone is so dressed up.  They are all coming or going from church. 

Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?

This is the name of the book I just finished.  I 'm not going to say that it is really good, but I could relate to some of the things in it and though fellow travellers might enjoy my regurgitation of some of the things the writer says.  This guy writes for Lonely Plnet and says that he has made several attempts to return to civilian life, but the road has always pulled him back.   This has been my experience over the last few years.  But, I hope I can get myself back into it because at some point this body is going to get tired and the money is going to run out .  What is tough for him is that he is in the limbo of work and play while on the road.  It is glamorous and pathetic, exciting yet routine. You live in perpetual motion.  Relationships and friendships are transitory.  Home is where you are on a given night.   The longer you do it, the more likely the road will become your permanent address.  Uh oh!

He makes fun of what he is doing and who he is writing for.  My current situation doesn't place me in the backpacker category right now.  But I was part of it in May and June and expect to be part of it again in a few months.  He talks of the Gringo Trail and Tourist Ghettos he creates as he determines which places end up in Lonely Planet...the Bible of the road.  The places get busier, pricier, and more touristy each year.  He writes for the backpacker crowd.  These are the people who would be homeless in their own country, but are smart enough to travel to places where they are considered rich.  They know what it is like to spend hours bouncing up and down in the back of a bus' poo sauna after eating something that they could actually afford on the street or got a little over confident and rinsed their toothbrush out with sink water.  They are tired, dirty, and ready to drop that heavy backpack.  They find comfort when they can find their own space in a private bathroom, corner of a dorm room, or bus station locker.   They need to find some sort of foundation so they spend hours doing things like reorganizing their packs like those girls in my dorm in San Cristobol or re-sorting their travel brochures.  They get used to leaning over the edge of a bed to use it as a makeshift table while kneeling on flip flops to help their knees from going numb while typing on their laptops. They are dependent "independent" travellers all going wherever the bible tells them to.  Basically, what he is doing is teaching inexperienced people how to tour around in little groups imagining that they are doing something independent.  He feels that real travellers are those who can travel without his guidebook, without plans, without money, without shoes or a passport (like Bo from Antigua.)  These guys feel that we should get our info from the people who live in the place rather than from a book printed in China and writen by a guy who was too busy partying on the road to have really been to the places he is recommending in the book.  On the otherhand, is it really worth 2 hours of your time to try to find out where the closest laundromat is from a local when you don't speak each other's languages?!  What's wrong with saving a little time and frustration by looking it up in a book?   
 
It takes a special kind of person to appreciate this type of travel.  They must relish in the quirks and setbacks that make up an average day on the road.  A missed bus?  An opportunity to soak up the culture of a foreign bus station.  Malaria?  The opportunity to learn about foreign medical systems.  Or maybe it is just a great blog entry or go-to story to outdo other travellers at your next hostel.  I think I excel in this manner.  I tend to see the positive in a lot of situations or at least find the humor of it.

In the author's crowd, rebellion is passe.  Che Guevara is a t-shirt.  He says the American Dream is for immigrants.  The rest of us are better acquainted with entitlement or boredom.  Escape is our action of choice.  That escape might be drugs, technology, or running away to travel.  The most effective fences exist only in our minds.  In order to execute such a vision, you have to be willing to walk away from it all and be ruthless in your own sentimentality.  Does this mean I should have thrown away that wine glass with the ex-boyfriend's name etched on it?  LOL!  Get rid of your job.  Get rid of your apartment.  Get rid of your boy/girlfriend.  Eliminate any chance of backing out of your plan.  Be free of expectations and constraints.   Be free of everything except your most essential possessions.  It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything!  I guess this is how I became a Jehovah's Witness, matatu tout, doctor, teacher, face-painter, and pipecleaner artist!  When people are free from their customary surroundings,  they are are freeing themselves of preconceived notions of how they are supposed to act.  No one (at least no one that they are going to see again) is going to pass judgement on them.  When travelling our senses are filled with new sights, smells (burning trash) and sounds (roosters.)  The flow of new details make you like a wide eyed child.  The more concentration, recognition, and appreciation you have throughout the day.  So, stop reading this blog and get out there and make it happen for yourself if you think you can handle it!

Tour of the Schools

We ended up getting Steve his storage box, sugar, and bus fare.  For kicks I went to Toi Market alone to see what the mzungu price was for a box.  I was told 600 ksh for one the size Steve got for 350 elsewhere.  Now it is time to distribute the rest of this money!

Lydia took me on a dry run to Raila Secondary the day before to make sure I could find it on my own while she was in class.  Lydia is 16 years old and in Form 3 (junior year.)  Maureen also goes there and is in Form 2.  We stopped to share a pineapple for 25 ksh before going back home to play with the rest of the kids.  Translation... have my purse emptied of its daily supply of LifeSavers.  On my way home I stopped by Ushurika to hang with Judson in front of the TV.  While there, a little boy comes in with blood pouring out the back of his head.  He was hit by a car.  The driver is required to go with the injured to the hospital and pay for the medical bills.  Otherwise, they will be beaten by the onlookers.  Anyway, while there, I get a text from Mama Tunza.  It tells me that if I am going to go pay school fees myself, I should hand the money directly to specific people at each school.  She tells me if I don't give it to the people she names, the money will be lost.  Whatever!  I'm sure that these are her buddies at each school who are in collusion with her to tell me the fees are higher than they really are.

So, here is what happened...  No problems at the Posta (post office) getting the fees sent to the post office near Steve's school for pick up and at a much lower price than the bank was charging for him to hand deliver it.  Then I was off to Raila Secondary.  As I was walking along the road at 9:30am, I run into Lydia.  She tells me that she was kicked out of school for having a fee balance.  Wow!  They don't waste time.  Maureen had been sent home even earlier.  Must be embarrassing to these kids who get pulled out of class for this reason and then have some muzungu come pay for them.  Anyway, got them both back in school right away.  But, not without a glitch.  Of course, Andrea was not told about the fee balances...just what it costs for this term.  So, I learn that they owe an additional 4,200 each for last term.  Past due balances must be paid first.  Patrick, the  only guy there able to take  money and the one that Tunza said I needed to talk to, said that he would let them back in school for another month, but will be kicked out if an additional payment is not made.  Mama Tunza is going to have to come up with that cash from whoever paid her for it last term that she obviously used for something else.

Met some nice people at Raila.  It was a family from Illinois who had been here since January 2007 working in various slums in the area.   Mom was about my age and had 20-something kids with her.  They drive around in a cool Trooper.  Hope to hitch a ride from them next time they come cruising down Kibera Road and I am breaking a sweat on the side of it. 

Next stop was to drop off some school supplies with Joseph who I met last week.  He was very excited to get the 60 pencils, several sharpeners, stack of coloring books, and boxes of crayons I gave him for the first day of school.  I plan to go visit it sometime next week. He is across the steet from Vicki's (Tom's sister) beauty salon.  I stop in to say hello and get her date in the big When Is Tom Coming Back pool.  The pot is up to 800 ksh.   Imagine my surprise as I walked through Olympic to find some of the kids who should have been in school on the street.  I asked Collins why he was not at Ayany Primary.  He said that he slept in too late.  I told him that I was on my way there to pay his exam fees, so I could go with him.  His buddies just laughed and said they don't  let you in when you are late.  I shook my finger at him and told him I would be watching him.  He better be in school tomorrow.  Then I confirmed with Tunza that this is a school rule.  Hope I didn't get him a beating later that day.  Met a nice lady named Clara while taking a short cut downt he railroad tracks.  She said that she owns a clothing stall near Olympic where I have been hanging out.  She said she was surprised I was walking down the railroad tracks in Katwekara by myself.  Later, Rapho said the same thing.  Why, I ask.  Is it not safe?  No, it is just that we don't see many muzungus in that area doing that.  I laughed when later I was in that same area and came across 2 muzungus with British accents and large cameras walking with a local man.  I could hear them say as I walked by on my own, "Wow.  I didn't realize that Kibera was a tourist zone."  I held back pointing out that I was not the one with a camera and tour guide.

Ran into Erico and Gaza (KAMDEC artist and singer) on the street.  Erico decided to join me at Ayany Primary.  Got into another one of those political discussions in the waiting room with a local guy.  Hard for me to defend our leaders when Aljezeera is playing a clip of Cindy McCain saying that Sara Palin is qualified for Vice Presidency because she is from the State that is closest to Russia.  I'm not sure, but I might be closer to Russia than her right now.  Can I be President?  Anyway, we get escorted to an office to pay the Senior Teacher the exam fees for 4 kids.  Mid-way through the process a woman comes running in and asks if I am the one from Tunza's.  Yes.  Oh!  Then you must pay the Head Teacher; not the Senior Teacher.  Twende, tafadali.  (Let's go, please.)  I was afraid of this.  Sure enough, Head Teacher tells me that the 30 ksh per kid we were told should really be 90 ksh per kid.  I wonder how much of a cut she and Tunza are getting.  Apparently the kids each took 3 exams; not one.  I tell her that all I am able to pay is the 120 ksh we were originally told.  I don't have the additional 240 ksh (about $4 USD.) I'm sure she believed that.    After getting Andrea's approval, I went back the next day to pay the rest.

I talked Erico into stopping by Rapho's since we were in the neighborhood.  This would be the first time since Kissumu that I would see them together.  A few of the Hood Productions and KAMDEC guys were there.  We watched hip hop videos for a while.  It felt good to have my work for the day complete by 11am.  Hey!  It was Labor Day back at home.  I should not feel guilty for knocking off early.  After running an errand in Kianda, I eventually talked Rapho and his brother Fred into buying me some Palau (tasty rice and meat dish) and.... a Guinness!  We had to find a place in Kibera where we could hide.  The guys told me that it doesn't look good if a woman is drinking here and especially in the daytime.  So, we snuck in behind the curtain at Green Pub.  About half a beer into it, in walks Judson.  I actually think I turned red when I was caught.  He said that he had been eating lunch next door and heard my voice through the curtain.  Great!  Loud American voices!  Flash forward about 4 hours and we are still there.  Fred is smashed.  He has drunk about 6 bottles of 40% proof Kenya Kane with a splash of Coke.  I tried to stop him and the bartender from making it happen.  Just before Fred vomits all over himself, the bartender offers a room for 400 ksh to me.  Says it is the muzungu discount.  When the boys get out of the bathroom, they are offered a room for 500 ksh.  Interesting.  A bar with hotel rooms.  I make my escape before they start putting me to work at the hotel.

Ran into Dan as I walked by Ushurika on the way home.  This allowed me to take care of some of secretarial duties for KAMDEC.  Gave him the CD I had been carrying of a proposal for funding that he was to give to someone.  Got home just before the rain started pouring. 

I wish I had my camera out on this walk home.  I would love to get a photo of the guys on the street wearing the t-shirts that you all give to goodwill after getting them for free at some tradefair.  I walked by a guy wearing an Always Maxi Pad logo shirt.  Another was wearing a Pampers Diaper shirt.  I would think these guys were cool back at home if they were brave enough to wear these shirts out.  I just think that these guys here don't realize what it is that they are wearing.  Speaking of clothes, mine are really starting to fall off.  Even my skinny pants are about 2 inches too big in the waist for me now.  I am about ready to start tieing my bra in a knot in the back like a bathing suit to make it fit my back now.  Not sure I am ready to search the local stalls for new clothes...I mean, to buy your dirty reject clothes they sell on the streets here now.  Think Old Navy and Victoria's Secret will deliver to a PO Box here if I order online?!

Back at home, I was excited to find Big Brother Africa on the TV.  I watched this while Alice entertained her boyfriend in her room.  I had to avert my eyes when he came out to use the restroom wearing nothing but a pink towel wrapped around his middle.  Ewww!  Before he could come out again, I ran into my room and locked it with the skeleton key. 

Phone conversations with Kenyans are funny.  They never last more than a minute because it uses up your phone credits.  Most of the time I don't realize that the conversation is over.  No one says good bye.  They just hang up.  Sometimes not even a hello.  They just say into the phone as quick as they can  "Where are you at?"  After you answer, they hang up.  You can expect that this means do not move because I am on my way to talk to you in person.  Text messages are cheaper.  Usually they just say "Call me please."  That way YOU pay for the call; not them.  Either that or you get the one ring hang up.  They aren't charge unless you pick up.. This is called flashing.  When you get flashed, you are to call that person back.  (I am sure there is a joke in here, but I can't think of one right now.)  Anyway, I have learned to play ignorant to the whole flashing thing.  Like the other night I got flashed twice by Knight, Pauline's friend.  What could she want at 9pm?   Money for the bus to boarding school?  She will call or text if it is really important.  Whew!  Never heard anything more. 

Got a little leftover cash from what Andrea sent me.  So, we have gotten the kids a pre-paid internet account at Prestige.  Now they can email us when they want to say hello or tell us that they need money for past due school fee balances. Andrea also asked me to take George on a shopping spree.  Nice kid.  Hope we can afford new rugby shoes for him.

Mama Tunza was so happy when I provided her with copies of the receipts from my school fees distribution.  She served me tea, served me beans & rice, and then...gave me 3 peices of candy!  Candy is actually called sweeties here.  I fell in love when the little kids would run up to me when I show up, hug me, and say "muzungu Kelly sweetie."  How cute.  Everyone is calling me "sweetie" now!  Actually, they have learned that each day I come my purse is filled with lifesavers from the leftover stash of Andrea and Jamaal's. 

I played with the kids and waited around until 5pm when George got home from school.  I gave him the secret password for the internet account and then asked him if he'd like to go get some rugby shoes.  Erico, the rugby coach, was with me and had assured me that we had enough for those.  But, imagine our surprise when our star rubgy player said he thinks he should get those shiny dressy black school shoes instead.  Apparently he was borrowing Brodus' this week, but he will be starting his school next week and will need them back.  Okay, how much are those?  Way more than rugby shoes.  Looks like I will have to dip into my travel fund.  But, this kid is worth it.  Never asks for anything and a decent trustworthy kid.  Plus he has the best smile of the group.  Maybe I should be giving attention to the shy, not so smiley ones who probably never get noticed in the crowd of 85-230 kids in here in any given day, but Geroge is special.  We will have our shopping spree on Saturday.

So, Erico and I headed off to Zam Zam for a Pear Alfaro (the non alcoholic beverage of choice.)  This is where I was schooled on dating and relationships in Kenya and I acted like an expert on how it works in the US for his benefit.  I've had similar conversations with Rapho.  It seems that none of these guys feel they can trust Kenyan girls.  They all have 5 boyfriends.  Hmmmm...works the same in the US except the guys all have 5 girlfriends.  These poor guys would do the same, but they couldn't afford that many financially.  I'm just lucky that they don't have any girlfriends right now cause that means I get a few lunches paid for every once in a while!

Dinner tonight?  Ugali and skuma.  Very surprised that Alice made something very Kenyan for dinner.  I have had nothing but Americanized food for the last 2 weeks.  But, had nothing but ugali and skuma for the 4 weeks previous.  Will my stomache be able to handle it?  Yes, but not my taste buds.  I knew that I would get spoiled.  When I had no other choice, it was fine.  Food is just something to keep your body running.  I don't need good tasting food.  Smile and chew.  Smile and chew.

Gotta Get Out of Hia!

It hit me.  I woke up and suddenly felt like it was time to leave this place.  Could be lots of factors.  Having a curfew and no nightlife.  Rent is due tomorrow.  Mama Elizabeth is still in Kisumu, so I have made no progress on my key project during the last few weeks.  Other appointments always seem to get postponed.  I have no mzungu roommate to gossip with anymore.  My Kenyan friends tell me to watch my back even with them.  My good friends, Christine and Andrew, who left home at the same time as I did to China and Brazil are now back home.  I am getting messages from friends and family updating me on all the things I am missing back home.  (Please keep them coming as I really need to still feel connected to all you guys!)

Rapho could sense my frustration and boredom watching  Snoop Dogg videos when we should be drilling a well or something.  I told him that I am going to the cyber to research buses and planes to Kampala, Uganda.  I have the go-ahead from Kids Worldwide www.ugandaruralfund.org to stay with a family and volunteer with them in Masaka for a month whenever I am ready.  I like that I might be able to help with leadership workshops for disadvantaged young adults.  Keeps me a little connected to my job in the real world.  I also like what they stand for.  They say... Go to the People.  Live Among the People.  Learn from Them.  Start with What They Know.  Build on What they Have.  But, of the Best Leaders When the Task is Accomplished, Their Work Is Done. And The People Will Say...We Have Done It Ourselves.  They are perfect for me!  Except they don't have consistent electricity, running water, or toilets. Am I ready for this again?!

I stopped at home to eat a banana before heading over to the cyber.  From my window I hear some guys outside say "blah blah blah Muzungu blah blah blah Mama Tunza blah blah blah."  Another sign that it might be time to leave.  I did not recognize the voices or most of their Kswahili.  So, I peaked through the curtain down at them.  Did not recognize them either.  A few minutes later the doorbell rang.  I did not answer it.  Who are these guys and what do they want?  Don't trust anyone here.  Maybe they heard I lived here and was the one walking around with thousands of shillings paying school fees this week.  Maybe they want info about the post election violence video footage.  Then a text message comes in.  The usual "please call me" from Erico. He says he heard I was at the cyber down the street and he was there with Tom's cousin , Ken, to talk to with me.  This is just 30 minutes after I left Rapho's that Erico is at the cyber looking for me.  News really does travel fast.  CIA intelligence tells us that you are planning to leave us.   Our lives will be boring when you leave. I assure them that I will come back after Uganda and stay at least another month when Mama Elizabeth is around.  So, Erico volunteers to go with me into the big crazy city of Nairobi the next day to shop bus companies.  He says he wants to take me to the Bomas of Kenya (touristy cultural dance shows) in the afternoon so I won't be so bored.   When?  Kesho!  You know what that means!  Not holding my breath!

I spend all night on the internet and in my Lonely Planet (yes, I got one! LOL) researching.  The bus is definitely the cheaper way to go.  There are 12 hour buses direct to Kampala (including border crossing) and then I need to catch another one for 3 hours to Masaka.  Then I thought, maybe I need a little break from roughing it and volunteering.  Maybe I need a little vacation in between the work.  Marrakesh, Morrocco looks interesting.  There are few couchsurfers headed that way.   So, I send a few messages to see if I can find a good travel partner some time in the next week.  But, what about Zanzibar, Tanzania?  It's closer.  Could do it by bus instead of plane. It's pretty cheap. Didn't look like  there were any compatible TBs or CSers to meet up with in the next week there. Think one of my Kenyan friends would want to come?  Let me think about that one.  Rapho would be hurt if I ask Erico and vice versa.  Ask anyone other than those two and they will both be hurt.  Ask both and neither will come if the other is. 

The next morning, I get a call from Rapho at 8am.  Says that Mama Elizabeth is back in town as of 6am this morning.  I am just sure that he called her yesterday after alerting the CIA that if she didn't get back here tomorrow that I would be long gone.  I will believe that she is here when I see her.  I will let her sleep today and go by tomorrow.  No harm going to research the buses in the meantime.  I will eventually need them.  I have been to Erico's house a few times.  Not sure why I got lost this morning.  He calls me to find out where I am at and I don't hear it ring.  He gets worried and starts calling around to see if anyone knows where I am at.  How do you not trust when people seem to care so much for your wellbeing?  He's even alerted Tom in Sweden.  What did he think I jumped on a plane in the middle of the night?!

As we shop 3 bus companies (Akamba, Kampala, and Falcon), Erico tells me that he has just learned that someone has withdrawn 5,000 ksh from his bank account.  Lots of money to a Kenyan!  It happened right after we got home from Kisumu.  The last time he used his ATM card was the day before we left on the trip.  Who would have had access to his card?  My mind immediately goes to Rapho who shared a room with him there.  This is what this place does to you!  Then I think about how when I was drained of all liquid and brain activity in the hospital handing my ATM card over to Tom to handle all the paperwork for me.  Totally trusting.  These guys are saving my life right now.  Then Rapho taking over the paperwork for Tom.  hmmm.  Just checked my account.  All is well.  Whew!

Anyway, we decide that Akamba is the bus I will take.  It costs 1900 ksh while the others cost 1800 ksh.  But, it has several departures which means that if yours breaks down they will pick you up soon on the next one.  Gotta think about these things in these places.  Also, Erico's brother happens to drive for this one on that route.  He said this means he will continue his CIA watch on me and verify with his brother that I made it.  By the way, Zanibar requires a bus to Dar Es Salaam for 3,000 ksh and then a ferry.

We stopped in town at the Kenya School of Journalism  for some quick KAMDEC business then home for lunch at the usual place.  Ran into Atie (Rapho's brother) and Papa ( Tom's brother.)  Then I bought an avocado, cilantro, lemon, and tomatoes from a local stand outside my house.  It cost 38 ksh or 50 US cents for all that.  Made some guacamole.  Hope Alice likes it.  If she doesn't, she will know how I feel about skuma! 

Unbelievable the shirt I saw on a guy today.  I am telling you people...please stop giving your old embarrassing t-shirts to Goodwill.  Poor unsuspecting people end up wearing them here.  This tough guy was wearing a baby pink shirt.  That caused a double take.  The triple take happened when I read what it said.  " I have a (fill in female body part), so I make all the rules."  OMG!  He noticed my triple and quadruple take as I read it again to make sure it said what I thought it said.  No laugh or smile from him.  Still the same tough guy look.  He has no clue what his shirt means.  LOL!

The next day started off good enough.  Chatted with Charles the hunky Chemist down the street who cured me of my cough about anti-malarials.  His Malarones