PCV in Kenya: Week 37

Monday

Nala woke me up before my alarm went off which I actually prefer 😊 I fed her then ate breakfast and got ready for school. No students were at school today, but we had a teacher meeting to discuss plans for this third and final term of the school year. I spent the first hour at school submitting the Water Quality Action Plan for our grant and that should be the last thing we need to do before the PCPP grant fundraising can begin. We then had a five-hour staff meeting in which most things were related to Form 4 students, so not relevant to me. On the way home, I stopped at the market to pick up vegetables for the week. When I got home, I did a workout and warmed up dinner before watching “The Office” to end my day.

Tuesday

Today was the first day of the teacher strike so I did not go to the school. The union is making many demands. These include promoting teachers, reinstating medical coverage, cancelling third party deductions, converting interns into permanent and pensionable positions, reviewing career guidance, confirming acting administrators, and giving teachers their municipality allowance which they have not received. So, instead of going to campus, I completed the Biology and Chemistry final exams before taking some of my clothes to the tailor. Since I am now completely planned for Term 3, I learned how to make two new friendship bracelet patterns when I got home. I ended my day with a workout before warming up dinner and watching “Woman in Gold” on Netflix. I really liked this movie 😊

Wednesday

Today was the second day of the teacher strike. Technically, the government has mandated the strike to be suspended until September 5th, but the union is carrying on. So, out of abundance of caution for safety, most teachers are staying away from school campuses in case a union bus shows up to check if the school is in alignment. That means, I again did not go to school. Instead, I had a relaxing morning and then went over to Sue’s house. I saw her before she headed out for a matanga (funeral) and her mom tried her hand at braiding my hair. The French braid was too hard for her (my hair is very slippery 😊) but we managed to get it into two low braids. She told me “my hair likes to dance” 😊 When I went back home, I set up my Eno and worked on my new bracelets, taking a break for lunch. I learned two more bracelet patterns before doing a workout and eating dinner. Today was my mom’s birthday, so I called her to end my day.

Thursday

Today was the third day of the teacher strike. I am now officially a bit stir crazy, but I learned three new bracelet patterns today (are you sensing a trend?). It was market day, so at lunchtime, I went to the market. I stopped and talked to every person I knew because I had more than enough time for it today 😊 When I eventually got home, it was time to exercise and make dinner. I made shakshuka for dinner and watched “Beetlejuice” to end the night. I wanted to watch the original before the new movie comes out so I can go and see it in a theater.

Friday

Today was the fourth day of the teacher strike. I spent my morning watching “Law and Order: S.V.U.” while finishing two of the new bracelet patterns I started this week. I then cleaned the house a bit and took out the trash before Sue came over to do her nails. She used my nail kit while I made pickles and worked on another bracelet. When Sue left, I did my workout then made potato soup for dinner. I don’t know why I don’t make this recipe more often. It is so simple and delicious. After dinner and a shower, I treated myself to a facemask 😊 Nala was going crazy tonight, so I brought out the catnip mouse toy for the first time for her to play with. It did just the trick 😊

Saturday

Sue and I headed to Kisumu today for FESTAC (Festival of African Arts and Culture). We had to take two different matatus to get there: one into Kisumu, and another to the stadium where FESTAC was being held. In an unlikely and unfortunate turn of events, I was vomited on during each of these matatu rides by different passengers. I’ll spare you the details but it was not a great start to the day. When we arrived at FESTAC, Sue’s friend showed us around and we spent a few hours seeing all of the different booths. I even ran into a jewelry maker from Siaya Town that remembered my name (we had only met one time before). She had all of her jewelry pieces today and I was able to find a very cute and colorful anklet from her. Sue and I then headed to United Mall for lunch at Java House. We split the loaded fries and it was a good lunch decision. We did some grocery shopping before getting on a matatu to go home. We arrived just after dark, but Sue’s brother came to walk us home which was great. Unfortunately, my flashlight did not reach far enough to show me the cow patty in front of me just as I was reaching my house, and I ended the day with cow poop all over my shoes. Quite a nasty day for me from start to finish really. The power also happened to be off when I returned home. So, it was a great middle of the day but a day bookmarked by not so great things.

Sunday

I started my Sunday off by trying my hand at making stove-top cinnamon rolls. For my first attempt at making them, they turned out pretty good! I then worked on making my mountain scene bracelet until the afternoon. After this, I headed over to Sue’s house to drop off a few things of hers that I had forgotten were in my bag yesterday. I also saw her mom who found it hilarious that she could see my shoe print in the cow patty when she passed it this morning 😊 When I got back home, I did a workout before warming up dinner and watching the first episode of “All The Light We Cannot See”.

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