PCV in Kenya: Weeks 56 & 57

Monday

I slept in and enjoyed a peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwich for breakfast. I then sent out a thank you email to our grant donors and worked on some other Peace Corps paperwork. I then suited up to go to the market. We were supposed to have our first day of school today, but our school pushed our start date to tomorrow. At the market, I did some clothes shopping and got vegetables for the week. Back at my house, I wrote my Cairo blog before warming up shakshuka from last night for dinner. I ended the night with a full body shower to reset before school tomorrow.

Tuesday

Today was my first day back at school. I was able to enjoy a slow start to the day with a coffee and breakfast before heading out. It was great to see all of my coworkers at school again. Surprisingly, almost all of my students were at school which was great. In the afternoon, I had a meeting with my supervisor and counterparts to make sure we were on the same page about my primary assignment workload and our secondary project timelines. I then did a lot of lesson preparation. We were served chicken for lunch today which was such a nice surprise. This is not on our usual lunch schedule 😊 I rode my bike home shortly after lunch and did a CrossFit style workout. While I was working out, Nala came running toward the house with something in her mouth. Thankfully, I was able to shut my front door before she ran inside with the still alive bird she had caught. She was not happy with me that I wouldn’t let her play with her new toy inside, so she ran back into the field shortly after. When I finished my workout, I made potato and vegetable stew for dinner. I then watched “Law and Order: S.V.U.” to end the night.

Wednesday

Today’s work schedule was very similar to yesterday’s. The main difference was that there were no students at school because they collected school fees today. Kids who have not paid their school fees are sent home until they come back with the necessary amount. Because of this, lunch was on our own, so Phanuel got everyone soda and chips with kachumbari, so it was another great day of school lunch. When I got home, I did a workout before warming up dinner and calling it a day.

Thursday

Today was another planning day. It was a high energy day though because the KCSE exams were released for last year’s Form 4 students. The KCSE exam is the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam. It is offered to Form 4 students at the end of their secondary school education. It determines their ability to go to university. I headed home after lunch and did some yoga before making shakshuka for dinner. I ended the night by watching “Carry On”.

Friday

I hired my neighbor to help me with my laundry this morning before I went to school. I worked until 5PM when engineer Nick arrived to help me with some of our initial steps with our grant implementation. I updated him on our meeting earlier in the week and he was able to provide actionable next steps. I got home late, so I immediately ate dinner and talked to my parents because they had a snow day in Georgia. I watched “Veep” to end the night.

Saturday

I began my day by making hummus and carrots for breakfast. I was then informed by Sammy that our compound ran out of water, so I quickly organized for all of my possible water vessels to be filled with water from the local well. Once that was organized, I deep cleaned my house before my guests arrived in the afternoon. Jack, Mary, and Lauren came over and it was so nice to hang out with people. We made red curry pasta and mac and cheese for dinner. Both turned out delicious 😊 After dinner, Mary taught us how to play mahjong! I bought a mahjong game set while I was in Singapore and have been wanting to learn how to play. It was so great that Mary was able to teach us. We played for a few hours and it is a lot of fun to play. I was so proud of Nala while everyone was over because she sat near everyone and even let Lauren pet her 😊

Sunday

We had a slow morning today which I was very appreciative of. I made us cinnamon rolls for breakfast and they turned out even better than my previous cinnamon rolls because I have instant yeast now! Everyone left my house around noon. When they left, I fixed one of my nails that had chipped, answered all of Laura and my questions from our December trip, and finished off the humus and carrots to close out the weekend.

Monday

School went well today. I spent the morning marking student books and taught one biology and one chemistry lesson in the afternoon. Before going home, I did my shopping in the market. Back at the house, I did stretches for my lower back because it is killing me (I am getting old lol). I then made cabbage stir fry with rice and it was delicious 😊 I watched some of “Law and Order: S.V.U.” before calling some of my friends.

Tuesday

I had another good day at school. I spent the morning finishing some future assessments for biology and chemistry as well as making more lesson plans. In the afternoon, I taught one chemistry and one biology lesson. Back at my house, I organized for all my water storage buckets to be filled. To do this, I call a pikipiki (a guy on a motorcycle). He comes to the house and takes 4 large empty jugs of water to the water well at the local church. He pays the fee to collect the water, brings the full jugs back to my house, and helps me fill my storage containers. I then pay this guy for the transport and water fee. This is the second time I’ve had to do this since our water storage ran out on my compound. After the water was organized, I did day one of couch to 5k training. It went much better than expected. I don’t like running but I actually enjoyed the program I had to do today. When I got back to the house, I did my dishes from yesterday before warming up and eating my dinner. I ended the night by boiling enough water that I can pour into my water filter tomorrow. Since my water is coming from a different source, I am boiling it before I put it in my water filter to really be sure my drinking water is safe.

Wednesday

Nothing crazy to report today. School was normal and the only thing I did when I got home was make shakshuka for dinner (I know, a shocker 😊).

Thursday

The school day went well. The best part of the day was Phanuel delivered my letters from our school P.O. box. I went to the market after work to purchase veggies. When I came home, I did the second couch to 5k training before eating dinner.

Friday

When I got to work today, they had fully finished setting up for the funeral that is being hosted at my school and the primary school next door. The funeral is for a prominent human rights activist from our area and well-known over Kenya as well. They had to use the school grounds to host the funeral because thousands of people were anticipated to start arriving today for the funeral tomorrow. There were three massive tents that covered the fields of the primary and secondary schools. My classes went well today and I spent most of the afternoon marking student books. At home, I washed dishes and packed for my pool day tomorrow before warming up dinner and calling it a day.

Saturday

Today was a quality Saturday. I woke up early so I had enough time to eat breakfast before leaving my house to be at the matatu stage by 8AM. Jack met me here and the bus picked us up shortly after. We got dropped in Bondo around 9AM and headed to the supermarket to do our shopping before meeting up with Luke to head to the pool. We were in the water by 11AM and spent the next five hours swimming and yapping. It was delightful. For lunch, we had Fanta passion and pizza which was delicious. On our walk back to the road to catch a matatu, we saw two bulls fighting which was just the right entertainment while we waited for a car. When we got back to Bondo, we stopped for an ice cream before getting on our bus back home. I got to my market around 6:30PM which gave me just enough time to walk home without it being dark. On my walk, I ran into a Form 3 student from my school and they carried my shopping bag home which was so nice. His older brother owns the duka in the market where I buy most of my groceries from, so I had a good laugh to myself when he asked me how much juice I actually drink (I buy A LOT of juice from his brother lol). At the house, I said my hellos to Gladys, Archer, and Linet because they had come into town for the funeral. I then unpacked all the goodies I found in Bondo. My favorite finds were two bowls and plates, eggless mayo, tuna, and whiteboard markers. One of my classrooms has a whiteboard and I am so excited to use it since I’ve been writing on a blackboard for a year.

Sunday

I had a very productive day around the house. I started the day with a couch to 5k training run then ate breakfast. I then did my dishes and worked on organizing water to be delivered to my house again. I then had avocado toast for lunch and took a much needed nap. When I woke up, I prepared dinner for tonight. I made pasta salad with boiled eggs, tuna, and veggies and I wanted it to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before I ate it. Around 4PM, I called a friend to plan some things for their visit in August. I’m so happy people are coming to see me! After, I posted my Marrakech & Sahara Desert blog and ate dinner while watching “Law and Order: S.V.U.”. I ended the night by boiling enough water to put into my water filter in the morning.

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