PCV in Kenya: Weeks 58 & 59
Monday
I got to school ready to teach but we got a new teaching schedule for this term to account for there not being a Form 1 section of students and our loss of some teachers. The reason for this shift in students and staff is because of Kenya’s education shift to CBC – Competency Based Curriculum. They rolled this program out with the primary schools first and our would-be Form 1 students this year are remaining in their respective primary schools for one more year before CBC starts to enter the secondary classrooms next year. Because of our new teaching schedule that we didn’t receive until the afternoon, I didn’t teach any lessons today because my lessons were in the morning. So, I worked on Peace Corps paperwork and lesson planned all day. After work, I headed to the market where I picked up my weekly produce and dropped off some clothes to the tailor. Back at the house, I washed dishes and went on a walk before eating dinner and calling it a day.
Tuesday
I taught three lessons today on our new class schedule. In the afternoon, I worked on lesson plans. I also picked up the computers class because our computer teacher got poached by a bigger school, so my workload is at max capacity. When I got home, I started week two of couch to 5k training. It was another successful run 😊 Back at the house, I made avocado and egg toast before doing sudoku on my porch until it got dark.
Wednesday
I taught from 7:40-11:30 this morning then marked student books until school was over. After work, I biked to Elma’s office (my language tutor) so we could exchange Swahili resources. I then biked home to organize water to be delivered to my house. I waited for the people for hours and no one showed up which wasn’t great because I have 1/4 of a bucket left of water… I made dinner and used the rest of the water I had to shower before calling it a day.
Thursday
I wasn’t feeling well today, so I went home after my morning lessons. This did allow me time to organize water to come to my house. I also had an online meeting with Nick to organize some implementation of our grant. After dinner, I packed my overnight bag for tomorrow before heading to bed.
Friday
I taught my morning lessons and worked on some lesson plans before heading for Kisumu in the afternoon. My first stop was the movie theater so I could watch “Mufasa: The Lion King”. I really liked it 😊 I then did some grocery shopping and got my glasses tightened before going to Mama Gladys’ house. She and I each had our own girl dinners before going to sleep which was so nice.
Saturday
Mama Gladys and I had tea and bananas for breakfast before I headed out. My first stop was the NCBA bank so I could withdraw some cash. I then walked to the Peace Corps office where I had to wait outside for an hour for someone to let me in. Usually, the Volunteer Resource Center is accessible to the volunteers on the weekend with our key, but someone had deadbolted this room from the inside. This meant, they had to organize for someone to come who had access to the main building so they could let me in from inside. Once I got inside, I picked up the medicine I was supposed to collect then headed to Chandarana for some grocery shopping. I then headed upstairs to Java House to pick up my monthly bogo cake. This month it is passion white chocolate cake. After securing my cake, I headed to Tuffoam Mall to visit the Jumia pickup center. Jumia is Kenya’s version of Amazon. I had ordered a running vest, rice cooker, and memory foam mattress topper. I couldn’t walk and carry everything to lunch, so I got a tuktuk to take me to Lalu’s. Here, I met up with eighteen other volunteers and we chatted and enjoyed good Indian food. After lunch, a few of us headed to Java House to enjoy some ice cream before getting on the Peace Corps shuttle. This was my first time riding the shuttle and it was so nice! It took Jack and I all the way to Ndori where we then had to get off and take a 40-minute matatu to our sites. Back at my house, I put all my things away, showered, and set up my bed with the mattress topper. I’m hoping this helps my back.
Sunday
I had a fun and productive day today. I ate Java cake for breakfast and made new decorations for the wall in my living room. It is February and birthday themed 😊 I then washed some laundry before having egg toast for lunch. After lunch, I gave myself a mani/pedi. I made them Valentine’s Day themed 😊 I have hot pink chrome toes and sparkly pink nails with heart decorations. So fun! I then swept my house before going on my couch to 5k training run. Back at the house, I showered, ate dinner, and watched “Epic” to close out the week.
Monday
I woke up under the weather today so I did not go to school. Instead, I spent the day resting and taking medicine. I ate many snacks and watched all my feel good TV shows.
Tuesday
I was able to get back into work today. I still wasn’t feeling the best, so I left to go rest after I finished teaching all of my lessons. I took a nap after lunch and when I woke up I felt much better. I organized for water to get delivered to my house before doing the first workout of week three of 5k training. For dinner, I had tuna and buttered noodles and I watched “Veep” before going to bed.
Wednesday
Today I felt back to normal. My lessons went well and after school I headed to the market to pick up my clothes from the tailer and get vegetables. At home, I burned my trash, washed dishes, and made dinner. I tried out my new rice cooker for the first time and it worked great! After dinner, I showered and started watching “Spies in Disguise” which had such a great cast and was so cute. Nala came inside tonight because it was thankfully raining outside. We need water desperately. Nala even snuggled with me which has become a rarer occurrence as she gets older.
Thursday
Nothing crazy to report today. I had a great day at school and found a few clothing items in the market on the way home. I had another 5k training run today and it went great.
Friday
I started my day off by spending a few hours trying to clean Nala. She came into the house this morning covered in dirt and something sticky (possibly tree sap?). It was very unfortunate for her because her tongue would get stuck on her sticky fur and she couldn’t clean herself. This was unfortunate for me because I had to wash and brush her. Oh, and did I mention all of this dirt and stick was on her stomach? She hated me, but after about an hour, she was mostly clean and I could head to work. I definitely arrived to school late but just in time for my lessons. In the afternoon, the teachers headed out for our beginning of the school year get together. It was so much fun! We went to Palm Beah Uhendo, a lunch spot along Lake Victoria. It was beautiful and we spent all afternoon there. I got home late, fed Nala, and quickly called it a night.
Saturday
I started my day with breakfast then deep cleaned and organized my entire house. I even cleaned out cabinets and shelves. Nothing went untouched today. For lunch, I had egg sandwiches. After this, I cleaned dishes and did some laundry. In the afternoon, I posted my Cairo blog then prepared the filling and dough for my steamed dumplings. I tried out steaming them in the rice cooker and it worked so well! I am really happy I purchased this kitchen tool. It always takes me so much longer to make the dumplings than I prepare for, so by the time I finished eating dinner I was ready to go to sleep.
Sunday
I had another day around the house and it was lovely. I started the day off by making hummus and banana bread. I used the rice cooker to help me make the banana bread and it again turned out so well. I then spent some time doing dishes (I made quite the mess) before going on my final 5k training run of the week. I enjoyed today’s run more than others because I followed some new paths. When I got home, I ate a late lunch and early dinner then hopped in the shower. I was really tired today so I got to bed early. I did watch “We Live in Time” before calling it a night and I thoroughly enjoyed this movie 😊
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