Kenya: Week 5 Pre-Service Training
Last Day of School
October 26th was the last day of school for Term 3 and students are on break until January. If you want more information on school details, you can find them in this blog post from Week 2 of Pre-Service Training. The school schedule for the day was the same, but other schools had an assembly at the end of the school day to go over how the year went and how students did on their exams. Sophie’s sister’s birthday was yesterday, so Sophie made her family a cake. In our community, ovens are not very common, but there’s a way you can create an oven that sits on a fire. First, sand is warmed then is placed in the bottom of a large bowl. Next, you need one small bowl that can fit within the larger bowl. Put the cake batter in the small bowl and cover this with a lid. Next, place the small bowl in the large bowl. Finally, fill the rest of the large bowl with the rest of the warm sand so it falls around the small bowl and place this on the heat source.
The batter takes a lot longer to heat in this way compared to a traditional oven. It takes about an hour and a half. Since Sophie made this cake last night, she brought each of us a piece to try today which was fitting because it was the last day of school. The cake was not a traditional cake texture, it was a bit denser, similar to flan. The flavor, however, was delicious. Sophie also added cinnamon sugar to the outside of the cake and it made the cake even better. It was a very impressive feat by Sophie and we were all happy to have this sweat treat to help celebrate the last day of school.
Before the end of the school day, we took some end of school pictures which was a lot of fun and quite the challenge to fit everyone in the picture. I was able to leave early because Dan (my brother) had his graduation party / prayer day for grade 8 of primary school. Even though today is the last day of school, grade 6 and grade 8 of primary school, and form 4 of secondary school have their exams next week. These exams are very important for these grade levels because they can impact where a student can go to secondary school and/or college. Because these exams are very important, and religion is heavily tied to education here, there is a prayer day for the students that are getting ready to take their exams.
Dan is in grade 8 which is why there was a prayer day held for his class. This was held at the church building beside his school. I arrived late because I was coming from my school, and the church was packed. Mama Margaret came outside to bring me into the church and then I was immediately brought to the front to speak. I said who I am, where I am from, and what I am doing, all in Kiswahili. Then, Mama Margaret took the microphone from me to explain in more detail who I am and why I am here and to explain I am here today to give Dan his flower necklace. He was so happy I was there and it was also a core memory for me as well. After the time in the church, the group of students, staff, and family members moved to the school to have lunch. The school provided lunch to everyone and then everyone continued to socialize. There was a photo booth and a photographer and I was able to get printed photos of Dan and I and Mama Margaret.
After the graduation party / prayer day, I had to go to the dentist (my teeth and I are fine 😊). A Peace Corps car came and picked me up from my village to take me into Kisumu to go to the dentist. There was a Peace Corps driver and a Peace Corps Medical officer with me. It felt very official. The dentist office was within a mall which was a new experience for me. At home, my doctor and dentist have their own buildings that are attached to other medical offices, but not a mall. The dentist room was the biggest one I’d ever seen and everyone was very professional and nice.
This Weekend at the Hub
We had an exciting weekend at the hub this week. We started day one of two with quick morning meetings and yoga (led by CiCi and Savannah). After chai time, it was time to find out our site placements for the next two years. All of us were so nervous and excited. To make this a fun experience for us and to calm our nerves before finding out our sites, they organized some events for us before the grand reveal. There was a local music group playing music followed by some of my fellow trainees singing songs and reading poetry. During this time, Andy brought out a cake that he had purchased for CiCi’s birthday because her birthday was today. The cake was delicious and it’s always fun to sing the “cut the caki” song after singing “happy birthday”.
When it was time to reveal each of our sites, they handed out masks for us to use as blindfolds. They did this because on the lawn, they had used chalk to outline the Kenyan counties we would be working in. They then took us, blindfolded, to the spot on the lawn where our site would be. On the reveal, we could then see who we were going to be living by and then we could read all the details about our site and home for the next two years. I’ll be working in a county in Western Kenya and there’s already a few things I’m excited about. First, Savannah is in the same county. Second, my school and house is very close to the lake. Third, my house has electricity. Fourth, I am relatively close to the city and other Peace Corps Volunteer. I get to go see my house, meet my co-workers / see the school I’ll be working at, and get to know the community next week.
Since finding out our future site is a lot to process, we had the rest of the day to learn more about our sites and hang out with each other. A lot of people went into town, but I stayed back with some other Peace Corps Trainees and we played cards. Sophie taught us how to play kent and it’s a very quick and fun game. It’s also a good game to play if you need your cards sorted quickly. The second chai time of the day was the best chai time I’ve had since arriving. There were fried potatoes (not French fries, fried small potatoes) and donuts in addition to chai and coffee. There was also hot sauce that was amazing with the fried potatoes. Savannah and I had time to hangout and watch “Cheaper by the Dozen 2” (the superior movie in the sequence).
Kisumu Travel Safety Test
On day two of two at the hub this weekend, we had some meetings in the morning. After chai, we completed our Kisumu travel safety test. We completed this in separate groups of 4-5 people. Our task was to walk to the nearest matatu stage (about a 30-minute walk) and board a matatu to the main stage of Kisumu. This cost about 50 KSH and we were in Kisumu within 20 minutes. Main stage is extremely busy because it’s the central place for all matatus arriving and leaving the city. From here we walked about 15 minutes to West End Mall to see what was available at this place compared to United Mall (where I went a few weeks ago). We ate lunch at Java House. I am happy to report that Java House has a halloumi and avocado wrap which is delicious. I tried their strawberry lemonade and they have a ton of deserts that I decided I will try at a later time. We walked around the various stores in the mall. These include shoe stores, clothing stores, beauty salons, etc. There are also two vendors out front that sell traditional clothing and accessories. We visited a new grocery store called Chandarana to see what products they sold in comparison to Naivas and Carrefour at United Mall. When we were done exploring at West End Mall, we walked back to the matatu stage across from United Mall so that we didn’t have to try and find the correct matatu in the main stage area. From here, we were able to get back home easily.
Halloween
Halloween was not this week, but we decided to celebrate it this weekend because during the week would be too difficult to coordinate. Dan couldn’t make it to the party because he was studying all weekend for his grade 8 exams, but he still wanted to make a costume with me. Our plan was for me to be the Statue of Liberty and for him to be a New York City tourist. We made everything by hand and it was so fun. Mama Margaret also enjoyed seeing our progress throughout the week. Because Dan couldn’t go to the party Sunday afternoon, CiCi decided to dress up as my tourist 😊
Savannah was Tinkerbell and her brother was a prince. Margaret was a pirate and her brother was Captain America. Laura was a strawberry. Marissa and her sister were M&Ms. Andy and his brother were ninja turtles. Erika and her family hosted us and it was so fun. The snack selection was incredible. There was popcorn, Oreos, cookies, candy, crackers, and gouda cheese. Inside the house there was music playing and a coloring station. Outside, we played games. We also started a fire and roasted marshmallows which was a first for most of our kids. It was such a fun end to the week and a great way to get to know other host family siblings.
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