PCV in Kenya: Week 11

Monday

I started the day off with two double lessons, one in chemistry and one in biology. I spent the rest of the day doing lesson plans. When school ended, I went to the market for my typical vegetables and was home shortly after. I made dinner and purchased a few things on Amazon to send to my parents so that they can put them in a letter and mail to me. I was playing with Nala on my lap and she went to swipe at the string I was holding and missed and scratched up my leg good. I called it a day shortly after because this Monday tired me out.

Tuesday            

Today was Chase’s funeral back at home. I got to work and stayed for about an hour and couldn’t keep it together longer than that so I went home. I took some work home with me that I was able to do at my house and I was also able to clean. I watched Chase’s funeral service online from 6PM-8PM. It was a very good service and I am thankful I could participate, even if from a distance. After the service, I made some dinner and started watching “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” to end the day because animated movies usually make me feel better.

Wednesday

I taught all of my classes today and finished all of my one-on-one meetings with my students. I left school after lunch because today was the start of the mid-term break so the school was beginning to shut down. I stopped in the market on the way home. When I got home, I packed for my trip tomorrow and cleaned up my house. I also made my first embroidery flower on one of my dresses. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad, so next time it will hopefully look a bit better. I ended the day with dinner and finished watching “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken”.

Thursday ~ Happy Leap Day

I got up early so I could wash my dishes and throw out the trash before leaving for my trip. I gave Nala all my love and headed out. Sammy will be taking care of Nala while I am gone which I am very thankful for. I took a matatu to Luanda Kotieno at 9AM and arrived in Luanda Kotieno at 9:40AM. The ride was very smooth and the views were so good. Most of the rest of the group (Savannah, Sophie, Marissa, and Laura) were only a few minutes behind me. We got on the ferry at 10:30AM and took the 40-minute ferry ride to Mbita where we met up with Rikki. The ferry is called the Waterbus, it costs 150 KSH to go from Luanda Kotieno to Mbita, and it was on time every time we had to use it on this trip. From here, we walked 15 minutes to what we thought was the correct dock to take the next boat ride to Mfangano Island, but we walked to the wrong place. We turned around and went back to where we started then walked another 15 minutes to the correct dock. On this walk, I got the cutest brown straw sun hat from a street vendor.

Boarding this Waterbus was much more chaotic than the first one and we almost didn’t make it on because there were so many people trying to get on. Thankfully, we did get on, and in an hour, we were on Mfangano Island. This ride cost 200 KSH. We walked about 30 minutes to our resort and this was a very hot walk with little to no shade. When we arrived at Siambi Resort, we filled out some paperwork and ordered lunch. While lunch was being prepared, we settled into our rooms. For lunch, we had chips masala and then we went for a walk. When we came back, we settled in and just talked the rest of the night. It was so nice to catch up with each other. For dinner, I had some of the best chapati and lentils I’ve had since being here. After dinner, we watched a gorgeous sunset and it was the perfect end to the day.

Friday

I was up, dressed, and ready for the day by 9AM. We all met up for breakfast and had lentils, chapati, sausage, bread, honey, coffee, and tea. The breakfast was included in the cost of the rooms, so we cleared our plates. When we were done with breakfast, we got on the Siambi boat to ride to Victoria Sands Resort on Takawiri Island. The ride cost 6,000 KSH roundtrip, so 1,000 KSH each. We quickly determined it was worth it because the ride on this speedboat was so fun. When we arrived at the resort, we each paid 500 KSH to use the pool for the entire day and it was so worth it. It was the prettiest and cleanest pool I’ve seen and been in since being in Kenya.

We spent all day in and beside the pool. For lunch, I got fruit and chips masala. We went home around 7PM so we could ride back at sunset and it was beautiful. The waves were choppier on this ride back which made it even more fun. Back at the resort, we ordered dinner and showered while it was being prepared. We chatted all night again. I got chapati and lentils again because it was so good last night. When Savannah and I got back to our room, we discovered we had colorful lights above the bed which entertained us for longer than it should have 😊We watched some shows before calling it a day.

Saturday

We all got up at 6:30AM to watch the sun rise. I was skeptical, but it was very worth the early wakeup. After the sunrise, we packed up and got ready for our day of travel. We met up for breakfast at 8AM and we had sausage, eggs, bread, honey, and some other new items today. They kept a running tally of our charges over our stay, so it was easy to split our expenses knowing what each of us got each day. After paying our balance, we walked the 30 minutes back to the ferry. It was so hot on this walk today. The ferry was on time and we were soon on our way back to Mbita. On this ride, I started working on a new friendship bracelet because I haven’t made one in a while. When we got to Mbita, we quickly walked to the next ferry spot and said our goodbyes to Rikki. The next ferry back to Luanda Kotieno left on time and we were soon back in Siaya County. When we landed, I got a matatu immediately and was back home within 40 minutes which was awesome. There wasn’t any power at home, but Nala was so happy to see me and me her. I swept and mopped the house then made an egg sandwich with a pre-made dinner called “Muttar Paneer” and it was delicious. I washed dishes, showered, and then Archer called me to help get the power back on. It worked 😊 I made a shared album of photos from our trip for all the girls and watched “Downton Abbey” before going to bed.

Sunday

Jane came over at 6AM so she could do my laundry. Jane is one of my neighbors and I can pay her to do my laundry if I don’t have time during a week and need it to be done. I got dressed and packed Nala up to go to Kisumu. I paid Jane when she finished and was then on my way to the matatu stage with Nala. Nala had another good matatu trip and we arrived in Kisumu at 12. I rode a tuktuk to Aniworld and Nala had her second round of shots. I rode a tuktuk back to United Mall and ate lunch at Java House with Nala. I ran into Josh at Java House and it was good to catch up. I went into Carrefour for some groceries and found most of what I needed. I left Kisumu out of a new matatu loading area this time and got out of Kisumu quicker than from main stage which was nice. I did have to change matatus at Ndori, but the matatu conductors organized everything so it was very simple. I got home around 5:30PM and Nala was happy to be able to run around again. She really does a good job when we travel. I collected my now dry laundry from the lines and put everything away before having Kenyan girl dinner. Tonight I had a mango, some pringles, and some coconut cookies (super healthy lol). I rented and started watching “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”. I read the book last month and have been looking for an opportunity to watch it. The power was out again tonight, so I took a cold shower and journaled before ending the week.

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