PCV in Kenya: Week 17

Monday

I started my Monday off with pancakes for breakfast then worked on presentations that I am co-presenting with people during our Peace Corps training next week. After working on these for most of the morning, I washed all of my dishes. I then ate lunch and headed to the market. I took the shortcut to the market which was a MAJOR mistake. It had been raining most of the previous nights, but I didn’t think the mud would be as much as it was. Thankfully, one of my students was also headed to the market via the shortcut and he let me follow him through some back paths that had less mud. I arrived at the market covered in mud, but not nearly as much on me as I would’ve without the help of my student. At the market, my first stop was Irene, the tailor. Last week, I purchased two different kitenge fabrics and today I was taking them to Irene so she could help me make some items out of them. With one fabric, she measured me for a dress. For the other fabric, she created a design for a bag. For both fabrics, I should have fabric leftover that I can have turned into other things in the future which is nice. After this was done, I purchased vegetables for the week and found a white hat I can take on vacation with me in a few weeks 😊I ran into my co-workers Margaret and Laura in the market and then walked the long way home so I didn’t get caught in the mud again. When I got home, I immediately started making dumplings. I started with the dough then the filling. They honestly didn’t turn out too bad. They reminded me of my first attempt at egg rolls, but I like the outcome of the dough better on these because they were steam fried. To accompany my dumplings, I made avocado toast and it was such a fun dinner. I watched some shows and was quickly asleep.

Tuesday

I spent the morning reading my book then got ready to leave the house to go see Baba Charles. When I arrived at his house, I helped make lunch and they let me make mashed potatoes to go along with the other items 😊 I then helped all of the kids start new bracelets. Most of them remembered how to make them from the last time I was over. Around three, Glen came over to see Baba Charles. Glen is the son to Mary who helped start an orphanage in our community a few decades ago. The orphanage is called Doublejoy. He and I were able to chat for a while and it was nice to meet someone new. I went over to see Anne, the baby calf that was born in October when I was staying with Baba Charles, before I headed home. At home, I warmed up dinner and made popcorn. Nala came into the house later than usual and didn’t eat her food, so I knew something was up but couldn’t figure it out. After a bit of time, she rolled over on the couch and I noticed two spots of blood on the couch. I got out a flashlight and examined her and found many small and bleeding wounds on her legs. It appeared that she got into a cat fight. I cleaned all of her wounds, which she was very reluctant for me to do, and helped her get comfy on my bed with her favorite blanket. I felt so sad for her, but she slept soundly the rest of the night.

Wednesday

I again started my day with some pancakes. I then finished the Peace Corps presentations I was working on for next week’s training sessions. I spent my afternoon making a new friendship bracelet pattern and watching “Yellowstone”. For dinner, I had leftover dumplings with an egg and avocado sandwich. Today was a very chill day and I ended it early by reading my book before heading to bed.

Thursday

I woke up and organized my laundry for Jane. I had my last leftover pancake for breakfast and continued working on my friendship bracelet. When Jane finished, I headed to Doublejoy, the orphanage close to Baba Charles’ home. I met Glen and his wife Emma. They gave me a tour of the grounds and then I played with the children for a few hours. Glen and Emma live in the UK and were just visiting his mom for the week, so they brought the kids a bunch of new toys and games to play with. I headed home around lunchtime and spent my afternoon in the hammock, reading my book and working on my bracelet. I took in my laundry and made dinner before calling it a day.

Friday

I started my Friday by going to see Cosmas, a neighbor and board member at my school. It turns out Mama Gladys came home last night, so I stopped in to see her on my way out. It is about a 15-minute walk to Cosmas’ house. I had the best time at his home. We had chai with his wife and two granddaughters. After chai, Cosmas gave me a tour of his home and I gave him and his wife friendship bracelets as thank you gifts. Cosmas’ wife was driving into town, so she gave me a ride close to my house which was nice. At home, I packed everything for my trip that I leave for on Monday. I didn’t want to dirty any clothes I planned on bringing. I then made dinner of mashed potatoes and lentils and enjoyed this while watching “Sex and the City”.

Saturday

I spent the morning cleaning my house in preparation for Savannah to arrive. She arrived around noon and we made some popcorn and pancakes. In the process, a lizard fell into the skillet and so we had to throw it and the cooking pancake outside. We don’t think the lizard survived this event ☹ Savannah also cut her finger slicing oranges for us to have, so it was a chaotic 10-minute arrival for her. After this, she and I walked to my market and picked up the kitenge bag that Irene made this week. It is so spacious and has a zipper to close it. I love it! We then started to walk to Caroline’s house and got a ride with Charles which was awesome. It was even more awesome because it turned out Caroline wasn’t even home, so we saved ourselves a lot of walking. We still had to walk home, and once we arrived, we had leftovers from last night and watched “Emily the Criminal” to end the day. We really liked this movie.

Sunday

Savannah and I woke up and made café con leche this morning to go along with our leftover pancakes. We headed to the pool after this and stayed here until it started raining around 4PM. At home, we had ramen, mutter paneer, and watched The Masters while choosing which nail designs we would get done tomorrow until we fell asleep.

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