15/1 and 17/1: Tel Aviv

The place that I am staying is about half an hour in a car from Tel Aviv. I have been to Tel Aviv on my own two times. But before I tell more about that feel like ranting about Hebrew. Hebrew is a completely different alphabet than the Latin alphabet that we use in most of Europe and the rest of the world. But unlike languages like Mandarin or Hindi where the written word is beautiful, Hebrew seems like nothing more than lines (much like Latin really, but those lines I know!), lines that I can’t even begin to understand. Which is probably why it frustrates me so much, street signs and bus stops only in Hebrew doesn’t help me at all, even if I know how to say it. Luckily the street signs in Tel Aviv are also in English. The first time I went to Tel Aviv on my own I went to the Diaspora museum because a book I have called: a 1000 places to see before you die, mentions this one. It tells the story about Jews in the Diaspora by focusing on major aspects of Jewish life like family, community, faith, culture among the nations and the return to Zion. It has a lot of beautiful models of synagogues from all over the world, many of which were destroyed during World War II. After that I took a bike, Tel Aviv has a wonderful biking system with bikes practically everywhere in the city – you can borrow a bike from any station and leave it at any other station, and went to the waterfront. From there I biked down toward the kids’ father’s workplace as he would be giving me a lift back with him. On the way while I was enjoying the view a guy came over, he was older than my father, bald and kind of chubby, he started talking to me and I really didn’t want to talk to him so I stayed polite for a few moments until he saw my phone and asked if I wanted his number, then I just raced off. He yelled: “we could also make love!” after me, I just stepped on it a bit more. Today I also went to Tel Aviv this time through the city, but mostly the waterfront down to Jaffa, Yafo or whatever you want to call it. I also biked most of the way today, until I was in the old part of Jaffa from where I walked up and there I had an ice-cream and enjoyed the last of the sunshine. It is Friday today, which means that by sunset it will be the Shabbat, which in turn means that there won’t be any public transportation. I thought that it didn’t stop before sunset, but it stops at 2 pm. I didn’t go there before 1 pm, so I would have had to take a bus straight back. So they had to come and get me and I said that I thought there would be something later, but then the father was like: “no, I told you that they end early on Friday.” I just thought, well great, you saw me leaving a little before 1 pm, you could have figured out I wouldn’t have made it with a bus back at 2 pm! But never mind, I had a nice day. When I was waiting for him two people started conversations with me. The first scared away some pigeons and then he asked if it was his fault, we agreed that it was since I was standing still, after a little more talk we went on our way. A little while after another guy came up to me, he, like the other one, started off in Hebrew. “You don’t speak Hebrew?” I answered in the negative and then he asked me where I am from and went on to show me pictures of a trip he took to Denmark. But by then the father was there to pick me up.

10/1, 11/1 and 12/1: Bible Lands

This weekend I was in Jerusalem. I hadn’t planned to go, but the day before I decided to do it and booked a place to stay and then I was off, and all of a sudden I was there. I saw the church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives, Via Dolorosa and all those places in the old city that means so much to so many different religions.  Christianity, Islam and Judaism for all of them Jerusalem is sacred, especially the old city. The old city is divided into quarters: the Muslim quarter, the Christian quarter, the Jewish quarter and the Armenian quarter. It seemed incredible how all these religions appear to be working together in a small place like the old city because they all seem to understand that for the others it is also a holy place, not just for them. The place I stayed was a little hostel practically on the temple mount, or at least right next to it! Which also means that the Western Wall is really close. Because I am not a Muslim I can’t just go to the temple mount, but it was open on Sunday morning so I got to see it anyway and it is spectacular, like the rest of the old city. I meet some people at the hostel that I spent Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday morning with. It was really nice to have someone to share it all with, because it is rather overwhelming. Somehow, all of a sudden, it all wasn’t just stories that I’ve heard more times than I can count, you walk the same steps as history. We walked the old city, the armaments, to the top of the Mount of Olives. I heard of something called the Jerusalem syndrome, where people who come to Jerusalem all of a sudden think they are back in biblical times. Israel has Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem (Palestine), Jericho etc. all these places I have heard about since I was little. I understand why it gets too much for some, when so much of history, religion, becomes real.   

Thoughts on Israel, bilingualism etc.

This December a few weeks after I got back from Kenya a grandmother asked if I would like to go to Israel to help with her two grandchildren. I didn’t get a lot of consideration time, but decided to go, she would be paying the ticket and I would see some of Israel, so I didn’t see why I shouldn’t. I have now been here over a week and I have under a week left. The day after I got here it was the Shabbat, though I didn’t see much proof of that in the park by the water that I was in. everybody was running, fishing, cycling, nobody seemed to be able to hold still on their one day off from work. Apparently everybody who lives in Israel (and are Jews) has to join the military. Men for three years and women for two years, which means that it seems no matter where you look there will be soldiers. Eighteen year olds running around with guns like it can’t kill. The two grandchildren have a Danish mother and an Israeli father. Their mother speaks Danish with them and their father Hebrew, so they are bilingual. The oldest is four and when the other children in the kindergarten started to speak he was annoyed that he couldn’t form words as easily as they could. The youngest is one and a half and the few words he has are mostly Hebrew, but it is amazing to see how he understand each language equally well. The boys also communicate in Hebrew when they are playing and are annoyed at one another. The two words the youngest says the most are “dig” and something that sounds like “mig”. In Danish the first one means you and the second me, but in Hebrew the first one is said as a sort of insult meaning something like stop it, but they use it mostly to annoy one another. The other means water, though as I have heard it more it sounds more like “mein.”  But it is funny how the two things mean different things in the languages, so when the eldest says “dig” when he is speaking Danish, even if he means it in Hebrew, it doesn’t seem like such an insult. I really have to get used to the whole Shabbat thing, Saturday is like Sunday and Sunday is like any other normal day!

29/11: Going home

Everything went well going home, a lot of airports, airplanes, talking, I saw a few movies, slept, put pepper in my tea and drank it anyway, in Istanbul a guy who had called me ten times or something the previous night, whom I had met at the Blue Post before going to the fourteen falls, he had wanted my number I didn’t want to give it, but relented since I wouldn’t use it much longer, called me again and I agreed to send him a text with my name and Danish number before hanging up – I just turned off my phone straight away, afraid he might call back when he realized I never intended to send him that text. I meet some volunteers I know from Tanzania also going home to Denmark, talked to a Swedish guy who wanted to know if he was the right place and got on my flight home. There I got my bag and said goodbye to the others before going to meet my family who were waiting for me just past a set of doors.

28/11: Fourteen falls

I got up this morning and had some breakfast before going for a walk to look at the waterfalls and around the hotel. Then I wanted to go to the fourteen falls, the receptionist remembered and asked me before I had a change to say anything and she arranged transport for me. Both to the falls and to Nairobi. It was quite incredible, though I ended up paying way too much, the guide really ripped me off. But it seemed like it would go to a good cause. So I let him. We started by going over in a boat to get closer to the falls, it was kind of like a little island, without being an island. There was so much trash it is crazy, I hope some of my money goes to cleaning this place up, but I doubt it. Then we went up to the river above/before the falls to look at it from that side and to get across. At first I thought we would just jump from stone to stone lie I have tried before, but no. we had to get into the water as well and the only reason I didn’t fall was that I had two strong guys holding my hands to keep me steady. It was really fun, but would probably be more fun if there had been less water. I am glad I did it before going home tomorrow. Afterwards we drove to Nairobi where the driver dropped me, I then had lunch before Peter came and took me to the guesthouse. I am still here just waiting to go to the airport at 1 am. So excited!

27/11: Plan in Tharaka

The breakfast more than made up for this place’s price, if I come here again I won’t eat dinner to have more room for breakfast. My Plan driver, Bedan, was only half an hour late in picking me up from the hotel. Then we started our journey with a quick, though nothing is quick in Nairobi, visit to the Plan office to drop off some papers. After 4.5 hours we were in Marimanti, Tharaka, by then it was 12.30 pm. The program was planned to start at 10 am. How they thought I could make that I don’t know. On the turn-off to Marimanti we had picked up a Peace Corps guy working in the area who wanted to know more about Plan’s work in the area. At first they thought he was with me, but we quickly straightened it out – though he was referred to as my friend for the rest of the day.  I met a few of the staff before I set off with Bedan, Vincent and Kendy. We had two school visits planned for the day. By the time we got to the first one we were three hours late. I could have told them that if they knew it takes 4.5 hours and even if we left on time we still would not have made it there at 10. At the first school there is more than 300 students normally, but as it is a vacation now, I had counted on it being next week, only 30 had shown up for me from class 6 and 7. The school has some nice buildings that Plan has made and also some water tanks because there is no river nearby so they are completely dependent on rainwater. The 30 girls that were there were patiently waiting for me to come and talk with them, but they were painstakingly shy – laughing when I said something, I apparently spoke too fast for them so they needed time to digest. A small group of nine wanted to speak with me more personally. Before I could really speak with them like I wanted to we had to go to the other school. We drove an hour to get there and they had gone home. So I took some pictures and we drove the hour and a half back to Marimanti where we got some late lunch/early dinner. Back at the office they had to clear a few policy issues before we could go as we would be travelling at night. We left there at 6 pm, me with lots of things to tell, but I have to tell them right so wait a little while and wait for them at plan-future.blogspot.com. A little after 9 pm I was at the Blue Post Hotel in Thika, my lodgings for the night. I picked it because it is situated between two falls – Thika fall and Chania fall. I want to go to the fourteen falls which is a little outside of Thika tomorrow. It was nice to go to sleep listening to the sound of the waterfalls.

26/11: The beginning of the end

Today I finished packing and relaxed until lunch. After lunch some of the PA employees and the father/taxi driver who had been worried about me the other day came. One of them is going all the way to Nairobi with me. I didn’t know what to do about my computer and I started telling the other employee about it when she exclaimed: “oh, thank you!” and just like that I had given it to her. I started to explain that it is broken, to that she said that if she can’t get it to work she would use it as wall decoration. So I am sure it will be put to good use either way. Then I was on my way to Nairobi, a trip that went as well as usual. In Nairobi Peter, the PA taxi driver of Nairobi, was waiting for us. He took me to Silver Springs Hotel where I will be staying one night on Plan. Though it turns out they haven’t been able to pay the bill, so I have to pay myself and then they will send me the money later. It is a very nice room, but they could have saved themselves a lot of money on something just as nice, but less luxurious. I watched some tv and then I went down to the buffet to get some dinner. It was really good. Then I watched some TPF6 and two and a half men before I went to sleep.

25/11: The last things

Today I started packing all of my stuff. The things I want to give, the things I want to keep and the things I need before Friday as my big bag will stay back in Nairobi when I go to Marimanti, Tharaka with Plan to visit some school projects. Then I went to the market to buy the last few things, though I still need one because the one I wanted to buy had been bought already. Then I went to write the last emails and things and to the office to make sure everything is arranged. Then I went to Sisima to arrange where I am going to stay from Wednesday to Thursday and what I will do Thursday before my flight. It seems to almost all be in order. It is only the Plan thing I am unsure about but we will have three-four hours in a car there to talk about it, so that will solve itself hopefully.

 

24/11: Lake Naivasha

Today my dad and I had a bit of time before he had to get back to Nairobi for his flight to Kampala. So we had decided to take a boat ride on Lake Naivasha since we were already so close, but hadn’t been down to the water. We took a boat out with Joel our new captain. Joel knew the names of all the birds we saw and we saw a lot. We were out on the lake an hour and it was really beautiful and amazing to see hippos, pelicans and all of the other kinds of birds in their natural surroundings. We were stuck in the mud a few times, but Joel was always able to get us out, even if he had to jump unto the lake. Afterwards we went back to relax and have lunch before we had to get going one of the other guests: Alex, who is driving to Nairobi today has promised to take my dad some of the way and then he has arranged for a taxi to come and pick him up and take him the rest of the way to the airport. He dropped me off in Naivasha so that I could take a matatu the rest of the way. It was weird to say goodbye to my dad after only two days, but I will see him again in two weeks when he comes back from Uganda. After I got back I washed some more clothes so that everything, almost, is clean when I pack it tomorrow.

23/11: Hell’s Gate

Today I am going to meet my dad in Naivasha town before we head over to our accommodation at Dea’s Gardens and then onwards to Hell’s Gate for the day.  I took the matatu there, there was this guy sitting next to me who kept speaking to me about what I should do when I get back home to support Africa. I tried to tell him that it is not as easy as he made it sound, but he didn’t really believe me. Once in Naivasha I went to our meeting place at La Belle Inn and waited a little while as my dad’s taxi driver didn’t know where it was, but then I heard the sound of a car horn and looked up to find a taxi with my dad in it. It was really good to see him again. We then hurried on to Dea’s Gardens though it was a bit hard to find because it is not signposted. We were welcomed with a tree tomato welcome drink and shown to our accommodation. It is a cabin with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a pretty big living room. With our picnic in hand which they had prepared for us, we went on to Hell’s Gate. On the way we rented bicycles, Hell’s Gate is the only national park where they actively encourage people to bike. Once there we paid the entrance fee and went on our way. Our first stop was at Fischer’s Tower where you can climb. I climbed one route, I had one difficult spot, and they kept telling me to do something that didn’t work, so I found my own way. It was really fun, but I could feel it is a long time since I have been wearing climbing shoes. Then we biked on in the park. We didn’t see so many animals before we reached the gorge. The gorge is very beautiful, but there was a lot of water. Apparently some of Tomb Raider 2 was shot here. Then it started to rain a lot, we could see the individual rain drops, they were that big. Then we went up from the gorge again and had lunch before we moved on. We wanted to do the Buffalo circuit because there were supposed to be more animals, though the guidebook said it was fairly strenuous. It was! We ended up having to drag our bicycles up with us because it was too steep and too bad a road. And there was so far up, it just continued. But it was really nice in the way down, not only could we see Mt. Longonot in all its glory, there was also a lot of animals. We saw so many zebras and they were all really close to us. Then we continued down towards the gate. No taxi driver seems to know where Dea’s Gardens is, but ti think she likes it that way. There I had the best shower I have ever had, forget about whatever else I have said, this way the best. That evening we had an incredible meal, first an appetizer, then a soup, main course of duck and a dessert. All the guests and Dea had it around the dining room table. I slept peacefully that night.

22/11: Last day of work

I wanted to bring the children something because it is my last day there, but when I spoke to Prisca about she “spoke freely” and made it clear she only thought money was good enough. Yesterday she wanted it for a classroom, today she wanted that and some to buy flour for Christmas for the children, so that every child could have a bag of flour. I already paid so much to just be here and some of that must have gone to them. But nobody here seems to get the fact that we (wazungu) don’t have unlimited funds. I am sure one bag of flour doesn’t cost so much, but fifty? I helped the children with their work and played with them for the last time. It was kind of sad, but I look forward to getting home again, it is time. Only a week left now. In town I went on the computers to write and answer emails, before I went to the office to arrange the last details. Then I went back to do some laundry and get everything ready for the next week.

21/11: Souvenirs, gifts

Today after I got off my second matatu in the morning and walked the rest of the way there was a man. He wanted to know my name, he looked alright, I have just been stopped so many times there that I thought he would be like the rest. But then he continued by saying he was a taxi driver for PA and that he has a daughter in the pre-school I work in. he then escorted me the rest of the way because it is apparently not the best or safest way that I am taking, I couldn’t say anything other than that it is the way that I was shown. I have only two days left at the work, so I doubt anything will happen. The children have also been escorting me some of the way after school the last couple of days and I don’t think anyone will do anything when they are with me. The rest of the day in school was just like the last two days. I really like when it is break time and I can make them laugh – they deserve a little laugher after all that work. Afterwards I went to town to the souvenir market to try and get the last of the gifts that I need. I got almost all of them and I have ideas for most of the last ones. I got so many of the vendor’s names that it is quite incredible and next time I will go almost all of them will know mine. The most noticeable of the names being Spear and Zebra. It was a lot of fun, but I am sure they all cheated me. They used the same phrases as they did on the Mt. Meru market like: “looking is free,” “touching is free,” “special price for you,” and some new ones like: “I am no hustler,” and “please promote me,” which basically means “please buy something from me.” The hardest to buy for is my dad, but as he will come this weekend maybe he can give me some ideas himself. After I went all around the market I went back home. For tea I met the new volunteer who will be staying at the same place as me. She is the French girl that Charlene has been waiting for. Florine is from the capital of perfumes in the south of France and she will be staying for three months at least. She has come here to learn more English, but I am afraid she will end up speaking more French with Charlene as her roommate and working the same place as her. Today after work Prisca asked me to donate some money for a new classroom for the baby class and I just don’t know. I don’t have money enough myself, but I will ask my dad when he comes if he wants to help. But I don’t like the idea of giving them money, money they can spend on other things without me knowing. My dad is coming to Kenya tomorrow and I will see him the day after.    

 

20/11: Third social (again)

Went to work this morning and everything was pretty much like yesterday: they did work for some two-three hours, played, had their snack and went home. After work I went to the cyber café to answer some of the emails I got back from yesterday and send some new ones. Then it was social time. This time it was pool at Gilani’s. I have never really tried pool before, so I wasn’t planning to play but they got me in the end. The only reason I won was because she put the black one in the wrong hole. There wasn’t so many people because many have gone to Mombasa for the week, including Charlene, and it seems many of their good friends who are still here didn’t want to come without them. But we did have a really nice time. I finally met Tom. I have heard so much about him from Camilla and the others, but hadn’t met him before. He is here volunteering all on his own, with no organization like Project Abroad to have his back. I had to go a little after he came but not before I saw his excellent pool skills. It was kind of funny because when I shook his hand he said something like: “the mysterious Maria, I have heard a lot about you,” nobody has ever said something like that to me before. At the matatu stand going home it was utter chaos, there was no matatus going in my direction and tons of people waiting like vultures for the next one. We finally got into one though and on we went. I am sure you can’t guess I relaxed the rest of the evening!

19/11: Just children

Back to work again. There were very few children present, about ten and only one from top class. They started doing work and did that for some two hours straight before it was break time. Then it was snack time and then they went home at 12, so I got off early. There was one new guy who kept hitting me, I got really mad, but what could I do? Hit him back? That would undermine everything I have worked for, so I made it quite clear that what he was doing is wrong. On the way to the matatu a woman came walking with a toddler trailing behind her. She pointed to the toddler and said: “you can have this one,” then she touched her obviously pregnant belly and said: “I have another one.” I didn’t know what to say so I just said: “no, thank you.” Then I went to the cyber café and spend some two hours answering emails. After that I went home again. There is something I have noticed here a lot as I think I mentioned, there is a lot of street children here in Nakuru. Many of them has a bottle permanently held up to their nose, sniffing it. Prisca says it is something to clean shoes with and that of you give them money that is what they will buy. They are just children.

18/11: Goodbye for now

As Camille wasn’t doing too well this morning she stayed back while we went to Kazuri bead and pottery and got a tour of the factory before we went into the shop. The factory employs some 350 disadvantaged women from the surrounding area. It is incredible how they can turn clay into these beautiful beads. I bought a few things in the shop and then we went to Utamaduni which is basically a really fancy masai market indoors and with rooms for the different things. After that we had not used as long as we had planned, but we went to get Camille and then to the hotel that their bus to Arusha would arrive at. There we had lunch and waited until the bus came. We then said goodbye and promised to meet up in Rungsted at the Danish Karen Blixen museum. I then took a taxi to the matatu stand, from there I got into a matatu to Nakuru pretty fast. We had a quite drunk guy with us and at some point we stopped and he got out – his pants were soaked through, he had peed himself. Once in Nakuru I got a matatu home and relaxed for the rest of the day.

17/11: Nairobi

Today we slept a bit longer and then we went with matatu to the national museum. It is a very good museum and I think much better than the others had thought after the museum in Dar. They had a really good permanent exhibition, but it was one of their temporary ones that really caught my eye. It was paintings by a guy who won the 4^th place on some competition last year with a painting called: kazi ni kazi (work is work), showing a guy pulling a wagon with the text next to it that said: as long as you do honest work, you do respectable work. He won one month of exhibition in the museum. His exhibition is called: Wanamke ni Effort, meaning it is an effort to be a women, or takes an effort. He had painted a lot of pictures of women and they had kangas on. Real kangas on the paintings so that they were sticking out like it was a real thing. I was really cool and though he doesn’t understand women all that well, he really made an effort of his own. Afterwards we wanted to eat lunch at the Savanna coffee lounge which we had read about in the guidebook, but it had closed. But something else had opened instead and we ate there. Then we went to the Norfolk Hotel because we wanted to eat a dessert at Lord Delamere Terrace and bar. We had a really expensive dessert and then we went to the Kenyatta Conference center to enjoy the view over Nairobi. It was a really amazing view, but we didn’t have long to enjoy it because we had to be back at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust at five. Since Camille and Freja had adopted an elephant they are allowed to come then and see the elephants be put to bed. We also got to see the two black rhinos, which means that I have seen all the big five. Two of the elephants were just two months and they were so small – just imagine how small it is at two weeks. I got two elephant kisses before we had to go at six. Then we had Ethiopian for dinner. Which was nice, but there was too much food.  Then we went back and got to sleep early.

 

16/11: Karen

We started out the day with breakfast as usual, but today I had muesli and it was wonderful! Then we talked to Jessi, the owner, about our plan – she was really helpful. The taxi driver was half an hour late, but when he came, he came honking and driving really fast. Jessi said something like: “he is acting like we are the ones who are late” and, with a little smile, “he has gotten me out of jail a couple of times.” In the car we drove to the Giraffe center. There we could feed the giraffes, though there was only one three year old. I think her name is Stacy or something. She is still there because they want to breed her. I can tell you she had a very long tongue, we had to put the food on her tongue. Then we went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for their one hour opening they have each day. They have around 34 elephants and two rhinos. Thirty of the elephants came to be fed and play a little bit. The small elephants has to be fed every three hours. Many of them have been victims of poaching, which basically means that most of their mothers have been killed when they were very small. The guy in charge could tell us all their names and the reason that they are there. I couldn’t even really tell them apart, but I don’t have years of practice. One of them’s mother was killed when it was two weeks old, I don’t get how poachers can do that. Though of course the obvious answer is money, but is it really worth it? The mother carries the babies for two years and two weeks after it is born she is killed? Then how many is killed while carrying the baby? It is a very endearing sight to see them get fed by their keepers and run around playing. Afterwards both Freja and Camille adopted an albino baby elephant that had farted on them called Faraja. After that we went to the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden to have lunch, it was pretty expensive, but a nice quiet place and I had a salad with salmon which weights up for everything. Then we went to the Karen Blixen museum. It is her old house here where everything happened. We had a guided tour and it was very nice to hear all about her life here. Afterwards we had a soda in her garden. I had a soda in Karen Blixen’s garden, isn’t that kind of cool? After that we went to Carnivore for dinner. We were carnivores for sure that night: chicken, beef, lamb, crocodile, ostrich, and pork… a real meat feast. Maybe a bit too much meat after so long without all that much. But it was a really nice end to a really good day.

 

15/11: Kiswahili in Kenyan

Today I am going to Nairobi to spend the weekend there with Camille, Freja and Laura.  They won’t be there before 7 pm at the earliest so I could sleep in. then I got everything packed and ready so that I could leave right after lunch. I had been hoping it would be ready at 12. But when I got down there, a bit before nothing was ready, so I needed to wait a little bit longer. But it turned out that after five minutes later it was ready. A little while later I was on my way to town to catch a matatu for Nairobi. In the first matatu I heard a classic example of the way Kenyans speak Swahili: a lady sitting next to me was speaking on the phone she started out with a lot of Swahili, then all of a sudden she said: “no, I have not changed my phone number,” Swahili Swahili “good” Swahili Swahili “yes, he is performing very well in school” Swahili Swahili (something about being happy) “his grades are very good” Swahili Swahili “I imagine” Swahili Swahili. That is how most conversations go, all of a sudden they use English words like they have forgotten or don’t know the Swahili word for it. Tanzanians would never do that: they always have to speak perfect or near perfect Swahili to each other. If two Tanzanians speak English to each other it is considered strange and like they are trying to be better than the others. It was Victoria who told me that Swahili was born in Tanzania, got sick in Kenya and died in Uganda. I got to Nairobi without much trouble. Once I was at the matatu stand in Nairobi I was at a bit of a loss. I wanted to take a taxi to Upper Hill Campsite and Backpackers, where we will be staying, but I couldn’t see any. I just had to walk ten steps and there was one. Once there I got our key to the cabin with two bunk beds so that all four of us can be there at once. It is a very nice place, but as Freja pointed out later there are rules everywhere. I waited a couple of hours and then they acme. I could just hear them out front. It was really good to see them all again. We ate dinner there and talked until we were politely told to move elsewhere. We continued talking after we were all in bed, but we were so tired that we soon fell asleep.

14/11: Mt. Longonot

Today it is my grandmother’s birthday and I wanted to do something to celebrate it. I had two things I wanted to do: go to Mt. Longonot or eat pancakes. The last one seems the easiest choice, but I was quite sure that only eating my grandmother’s own pancakes would feel like a celebration. So I was left with one option: Mt. Longonot. I have wanted to climb up there ever since came here, but I was a little scared of getting there and back and doing it all by myself. I haven’t done anything by myself other than wandering the streets of Arusha and Nakuru and taking the bus from Moshi. So you can say that it was time I did something for me. Though I wouldn’t mind doing it with someone. But it is Thursday and I am the only one with the day off. After a little stalling in my room, I went. It was surprisingly easy to find and get into a car going to Naivasha which was my first stop. In Naivasha I knew there was a matatu going most of the way to Mt. Longonot, but I decided to take a piki-piki so that I could get all the way. I was also a bit late because of my stalling earlier so I didn’t want to waste time finding the matatu and then wait until it was full. I had read that the entire hike would take 5-6 hours, but I started at 11.30 am and was down again 3.30 pm. So it took me just 4 hours. But what amazing hours that was. I had hired a guide: Peter, to show me the way even though I knew that you can do it by yourself, but I wanted someone to keep me company and if something happened, someone to know about it. It took us an hour to get to the crater rim. Mt. Longonot is a dormant volcano and the view was simply spectacular. We then went all around the crater rim, some seven kilometers, and it didn’t get any less spectacular after another hour we were at the summit. Then we went the rest of the way and down again. I think it is rather cool to have circumnavigated a volcano’s crater rim and I can tell you; it wasn’t flat, but had lots of small hills. I didn’t really want to go down again straight away, but I was rather keen to reach Nakuru before nightfall, so down I went. At the gate my piki-piki driver was waiting for me, John. Then we drove to Naivasha again and once there I jumped into a matatu heading for Nakuru. Half an hour later we were still there wasting day light. But eventually we left. I was in Nakuru exactly at 6.30 pm – nightfall. I had decided I would take the matatu if I came before this time, but I ended up having to take another piki-piki – I think that is enough piki-pikis for me. I was so tired when I came back, but also really happy about what I had accomplished and I didn’t even get hurt.

13/11: Second social (again)

I have the rest of the week off because of the graduation yesterday so today I just took it slow. I had a nice long shower, cleaned some more clothes, some of the things I won’t take back with me, and relaxed before lunch. Today is Wednesday which means social time here, so after lunch I went to the office, before we went to the social I was trying to book a hotel for my dad and my for when he comes, but it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. The social was what it was supposed to be my first social here. Sitting down volley ball. I didn’t participate, but it was fun to watch. We talked about a lot of different things and then we went back to town when the clouds started looking too threatening. On the way back home I was walking with my namesake: Maria, whom I haven’t met before, but she has been here for two weeks, I think this is because of the two groups there are here. She just happens to be in the other group. I was in the other one day and decided it wasn’t for me. She doesn’t really want to play groups, but be with everyone. But I don’t know how realistic that is. The funny thing is that she lives really close to where I live, but we have never seen each other before.  

12/11: Graduation

Today was the much anticipated graduation. I find it a bit weird to call it a graduation as the children graduating are around six years old. It was a big party, there was a band and we started by marching around the streets, the band attracted so many kids it was quite incredible. Then there was speeches and the kids finally got to perform. They did splendidly, though with a bit more mistakes than in the rehearsals yesterday. My top class got their diplomas and the best from each class got a gift. There was cake, loads of food, a photographer, all in all everybody had a really good time. I stuck around afterwards to help with the cleaning and things like that. As it had gotten a bit late after that I went straight home. Though the children were singing about things such as dreaming about becoming a doctor, a pilot, a driver and so on I really hope they will achieve their own dreams, instead of dreams forced upon them by others.

11/11: Faith

Today was work again. But not school. They were practicing all day for the graduation tomorrow. I had a long talk with Prisca about living here, her life, faith and all kinds of things. She lives in a little house with her youngest son of sixteen. Her and her husband has been separated for a long time and he hasn’t got a job. Neither does any of her children, the oldest being around thirty. So she is the breadwinner in the family. But every time she talked about something bad that had happened she always continued with something like God will provide or he will make sure everything goes as it should. I have always admired people with this kind of faith, when even their darkest hour won’t be so dark, because they believe that God will make sure that everything goes as it should. When there is always someone you can pray to or blame if anything goes wrong. I would like to be able to believe that there is someone out there that takes care of us, but I am just too scientific – I need proof, and people that really believe doesn’t need a silly thing like proof. If I believe in something I believe wholeheartedly. At twelve the children were sent home, so I could go earlier than usual. I went home to wash clothes and relaxed the rest of the day with a good book that I just couldn’t put down.

10/11: Thomson’s falls

Today we are finally going to Thomson’s falls, we planned to go last weekend, but my sickness got in the way and the others were nice enough to wait. We met and bought some lunch before trying to find the right matatu. It was more difficult than you would think, a lot of hassle and lies later we were finally on the right matatu leaving Nakuru for Nyahururu the town closest to the falls. There was also a lot of problems there with people who wanted to guide us and things like that. We got rid of them though and found out way there. It was really beautiful, but no where near as clean as I am used to from Iceland. We went all the way down to the bottom of the falls. It was a bit difficult for some because it was very steep. At the bottom it felt like it was raining because there was so much mist coming from the fall. It was nice, but not for long after the novelty had gone we were really just standing there getting really wet. With me were Sara, Camilla, Katarina, Ea and a German girl I don’t remember the name of. We then had lunch and returned to the matatu stand to get a ride back again. After we returned to Nakuru we went straight home as most of us were tired. It had been a really fun day to spend with the other volunteers and I doubt that I will have much time for another because next weekend I am going to Nairobi to meet the girls that I went to Zanzibar with (expect Sofie who went home) and the weekend after that, my last weekend, my dad is coming! We will go to Hell’s Gate together before he continues to Kampala to work.

9/11: Skype

Today I got up late, it being Saturday and all, but it is difficult to get up really late when you go to bed at 10 pm – at the latest. I read in my book, took a long shower, planning to go to town after lunch. Then I got a text from Camilla inviting me for lunch. So I went and we had a really good lunch at Java, I never really understood why they were always eating there, but after having eaten there myself I can see the draw. After lunch I went with Sara and her new roommate Ea, from Denmark, to the souvenir market in town. It was nothing special and much smaller than the market in Arusha. Then I rushed off to Skype with my sister. It was the best quality Skype call I have had since I first came to Tanzania. We could both have video on and everything. It was really good to see her and talk to her. But I had to cut it short in the end so that I could get home before dark. I had then been planning to see the TPF6 eviction show, but the power wasn’t with me and went out at 8 and didn’t come back before an hour later when it was all over.

8/11: Learn without fear

I was back at work today. Last week I had planned to give Prisca, the supervisor, an article I had found about one of Plan’s campaigns: Learn Without Fear. The article was from a project in Kenya and I thought that was good since that could make it more personal for them. That was naïve, it in no way achieved what I wanted. The article starts out by saying explaining forms of violence which occurs in Kenyan schools and had been going on previously on the project the article was about. Before going on to explain the method they used to combat the violence. The violence which occurs when a child does something he or she is not supposed to do. It was simple really, they introduced a system of yellow and red cards much like in football/soccer. But Prisca and all the other teachers who were by now reading as well could not look past the beginning and see the solution. They kept saying: “this is child abuse, we don’t abuse the children, we just discipline them,” ‘ken’ them. I kept saying that I wasn’t accusing them of abusing the children, it’s like they don’t notice the reaction of the child that they are ‘kenning.’ Some cry even before they are hit, some sit quietly but their eyes betrays them, blinking madly, mostly they try to get as far away as possible. I was so mad that they can’t even what they are doing, sure, they don’t cause any long lasting physical scars, but psychological? Emotional? I know it is not as bad here as some places and they do realize that corporal punishment in schools in Kenya is illegal, but still they do not believe that is what they are doing. I will never forget the look in those children’s eyes. The rest of the day went by quietly the children were practicing for the graduation ceremony on Tuesday. After work I went to the cybercafé and then back to sleep and relax a little bit.  

 

1/11 to 7/11: Sick again

On Friday I went to work though I did not remember a lot of what happened as I was feeling rather unwell. They had a test on ‘environment’ though why it was called that I don’t know. One of the questions was: who is the head of the family? There was two possible answers given: mother or father. Father was the correct answer. It’s like when the teacher ask: who created us? And the answer, all at the same time: God! Because that is what the have been taught is the correct answer. Like knowing the alphabet, but not knowing the difference between ‘s’ and ‘n’. When I got home I slept and I pretty much just slept through the week. With one stop at the hospital to make sure it was nothing serious on Sunday. A throat infection and a viral infections (a flu). I got some antibiotics and something against the flu and was sent on my way, with the message that I should take up to four days off. I took all of them, though I wanted to come back to work sooner. I slept and I read and just like that one week out of the four I have on my placement here in Kenya was gone. I did accomplish one thing though, as I have figured out how to use internet on my phone. I moved my plane ticket to the 29^th of November, I’ll be leaving around five in the morning and back in Denmark also around five, but in the afternoon of the same day. I am very happy to finally know when I will be back! 

31/10: Exams

Today the students had exams, but it wasn’t that serious so that was good. I helped a bit with that and did what I have been doing the last couple of days. I have some days after the graduation where I don’t have to come to work, so I think I can do most of what I want to do and still go home around the 28^th. After work I wanted to go directly home to wash some clothes, but I had to wait awhile because of rain and thunder. One the way home the matatu was stopped by the police. I didn’t understand at first because they stopped a bit away from them to let a man out, he said something about just walking the rest of the way, but he wasn’t happy about it. Then we stopped again and that was when I first noticed the police. I had just seen the door opener/money collector give something to the driver and as I had the seat right behind the driver I could see everything. When the policeman opened the driver’s license I was there was some money in it while they were talking the policeman elegantly took the money out so that no one would notice, but I did. He had a book in his hand and took it with that hand so he could hide it behind it. Back home I got to wash my clothes with a little help from the housemaid whom I keep forgetting the name of. It stated raining again as I was washing the clothes. I washed in cold water so I am a bit sceptic about the cleanness afterwards, but we did change the water a lot of times. 

30/10: First social (again)

Today work went pretty much like yesterday other than the lesson was Swahili, so I had to have an answer sheet to be sure of the correct answers. At one point the children went completely out of hand, pretending they were finished when they weren’t. So I got the other teacher to come and tell them to do it properly. I should have guessed the outcome. The teacher started hitting left and right with her stick thing. Hitting both the ones that had done bad and good. Not going to do that again for sure. After work we had a social: sitting down volley ball with a disabled team. But it was cancelled due to rain. It has been raining every afternoon since I came so they could have figured it out beforehand. But then Sara, Camilla, Katarina (both from Denmark) and I went to Sisima where I ate lunch on Monday, to eat some cake and have a smoothie. We talked a lot and I can tell you there is a lot of drama amongst the volunteers here. Camilla’s roommate Jessica is staying here for seven or eight months and she is the worst person I have ever meet when it comes to speaking behind people’s backs. I heard her say a lot of bad stuff about Camilla on Sunday and of me she has said: she wore a lot of clothes, no make-up and had a Kenya guidebook. That is a correct assessment, but she makes it sound so bad. I wear a lot of clothes out of respect and self-preservation, I didn’t bring any make-up on this trip because I didn’t think I would need it and I haven’t, I read in my guidebook because they were complete bores. Jessica is the prom queen of PA in Kenya with all the things that comes with it. Camilla hasn’t been happy being her roommate and decided she will speak with her tonight. I really hope it goes well. Another thing I heard was that Charlene was really disappointed that I wasn’t French. What does she want me to do about it? I would have preferred someone who could speak English. We agreed to go to Thompson’s falls this Saturday, so that will be fun. By then it was getting late so we went home and the ritual from the other days was pretty much repeated: matatu, hot chocolate, nap, read, dinner, TPF6.