Short post. Hopefully I'll have lots of internet when I get to Nairobi and can read lots of emails and write long blog posts and so forth. For now, I'll keep dreaming about next week when I will finally eat cheese again.
Anyway, we have lost one more volunteer (a common theme in these posts). But I don't think we'll lose any more before we go to Nairobi next week (knock on wood).
I have to get back to studying for my Kiswahili Proficiency Examination on Thursday (what a way to ring in the New Year...)
Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.
I'm also secretly disappointed that no one took up my proposed debate on my blog :(
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
First big post (unless this is accidentally the 2nd time it posts)
I have to begin this post by thanking Emily for letting me use her laptop, and I am thanking Nick for letting both of us use his electricity. I don't have internet as I write this, but I am going to save it to my flash drive, which I will hopefully be able to finagle on a regular basis once I get to site.
This is long overdue, but I want to thank Amanda Shing (or A Man Dashing) for coming out to meet me in Philly before I left. Once I get to site, I will see about some kind of mobile pedal-powered peanut sheller...
This is my paragraph about food. We have a lot of corn (mahindi) and kidney beans (maharagwe). If you combine mahindi and maharagwe, you get a dish called githeri (not quite my favorite food). The staple food is called ugali, and it consists of mixing corn flour (unga wa mahindi) with boiling water and stirring until the water boils off. It's pretty tasteless, but it goes well with kales (sukumawiki) and carrots (karoti). There is also a dish with potatoes (viazi), onions (vitunguu) and unripe bananas (ndizi bichi). There is also a delicious meal with lentils that we've had a couple of times (we haven't learned how to say lentils in Kiswahili yet). We also get some of the dishes mixed with goat or beef. It's always something of a surprise. The cuts aren't very lean, but starting next month, when I am cooking for myself, I will probably become nearly vegetarian. The other staples are chapati (unleavened bread) and rice (wali, though a lot of people say mchele, which is the name for rice before it's cooked). Breakfast is always exciting. Some days, my Mama will make pancakes or French toast, other days it will be boiled sweet potatoes (not quite my idea or breakfast). Most days, it is eggs or chapati made with a dollop of kimbo (basically, concentrated trans fat). I am rather looking forward to cooking for myself and will probably have a diet heavy in fruits.
The volunteers usually meet in town to bond, since we will be pretty spread out soon. I am learning Kenya Sign Language (KSL) from the Deaf Ed volunteers (especially a really cool guy named Lapu Lapu). Some days we sit in a restaurant and play some Liar's Poker (shout out to 3w).
I have had a lot of time to read. I won't offer reviews of the manuals supplied by the Peace Corps or the language books. I read Ant Farm by Simon Rich, which I really liked (a collection of funny short stories). I discovered that having an almanac (from 2001) is like having a somewhat incomplete and outdated wikipedia, but I still like it. I got 50 pages into Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, but I couldn't get into it, so I gave it up. I have also been reading a book with old Supreme Court rulings; most interesting part was when Wallace Mendelson (sp?) submitted the argument that Taney was a much better justice than Marshall (this would be a good issue to debate on the comment section of this post).
In charcoal news, still no oil drum. If anyone knows about some other kiln I could use, I would love to hear. The people in town are probably growing tired of hearing me talk about it, but hopefully it will pay off soon. The deforestation is really bad here, so I will try to make a tree nursery once I get to site.
Also, I know that I wanted to avoid going on diatribes, but I think that this one is merited. On p. 40 of the Daily Nation (the local newspaper I see in town) I got to read about Rod Blagojevich getting arrested. Kinda embarrassing to have consecutive governors in jail. I really hope that this will be some kind of catalyst for reform in Illinois politics. Although as some Kenyans point out, at least our officials get prosecuted..
Lastly, sometimes the internet stops loading when I try to send emails, which is making it kinda frustrating. I hope to get better about replying soon, but I always give up after the 2nd attempt.
CYOTFS
This is long overdue, but I want to thank Amanda Shing (or A Man Dashing) for coming out to meet me in Philly before I left. Once I get to site, I will see about some kind of mobile pedal-powered peanut sheller...
This is my paragraph about food. We have a lot of corn (mahindi) and kidney beans (maharagwe). If you combine mahindi and maharagwe, you get a dish called githeri (not quite my favorite food). The staple food is called ugali, and it consists of mixing corn flour (unga wa mahindi) with boiling water and stirring until the water boils off. It's pretty tasteless, but it goes well with kales (sukumawiki) and carrots (karoti). There is also a dish with potatoes (viazi), onions (vitunguu) and unripe bananas (ndizi bichi). There is also a delicious meal with lentils that we've had a couple of times (we haven't learned how to say lentils in Kiswahili yet). We also get some of the dishes mixed with goat or beef. It's always something of a surprise. The cuts aren't very lean, but starting next month, when I am cooking for myself, I will probably become nearly vegetarian. The other staples are chapati (unleavened bread) and rice (wali, though a lot of people say mchele, which is the name for rice before it's cooked). Breakfast is always exciting. Some days, my Mama will make pancakes or French toast, other days it will be boiled sweet potatoes (not quite my idea or breakfast). Most days, it is eggs or chapati made with a dollop of kimbo (basically, concentrated trans fat). I am rather looking forward to cooking for myself and will probably have a diet heavy in fruits.
The volunteers usually meet in town to bond, since we will be pretty spread out soon. I am learning Kenya Sign Language (KSL) from the Deaf Ed volunteers (especially a really cool guy named Lapu Lapu). Some days we sit in a restaurant and play some Liar's Poker (shout out to 3w).
I have had a lot of time to read. I won't offer reviews of the manuals supplied by the Peace Corps or the language books. I read Ant Farm by Simon Rich, which I really liked (a collection of funny short stories). I discovered that having an almanac (from 2001) is like having a somewhat incomplete and outdated wikipedia, but I still like it. I got 50 pages into Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, but I couldn't get into it, so I gave it up. I have also been reading a book with old Supreme Court rulings; most interesting part was when Wallace Mendelson (sp?) submitted the argument that Taney was a much better justice than Marshall (this would be a good issue to debate on the comment section of this post).
In charcoal news, still no oil drum. If anyone knows about some other kiln I could use, I would love to hear. The people in town are probably growing tired of hearing me talk about it, but hopefully it will pay off soon. The deforestation is really bad here, so I will try to make a tree nursery once I get to site.
Also, I know that I wanted to avoid going on diatribes, but I think that this one is merited. On p. 40 of the Daily Nation (the local newspaper I see in town) I got to read about Rod Blagojevich getting arrested. Kinda embarrassing to have consecutive governors in jail. I really hope that this will be some kind of catalyst for reform in Illinois politics. Although as some Kenyans point out, at least our officials get prosecuted..
Lastly, sometimes the internet stops loading when I try to send emails, which is making it kinda frustrating. I hope to get better about replying soon, but I always give up after the 2nd attempt.
CYOTFS
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Short Note
I wanted to put up a quick post, but it is on a sad note. :(
Our group has dwindled to 40. One of our science teachers has returned to the U.S. I hope that Sarah is safely back in Minnesota and that she will recover quickly. With any luck she will be able to rejoin our group next year.
Anyway, I'll be at a permanent site in about a month or so, at which point, I will have a (very modest) income and a regular site to access the internet, which will hopefully allow me to deal with the approximately 200 emails that I should look at. Also, at that point I will have much more comprehensive blog posts. Don't lose heart, I will tell you about my adventures soon.
As a taste, I recently visited an amazing site that they call Area 51. Pictures will come soon...
Our group has dwindled to 40. One of our science teachers has returned to the U.S. I hope that Sarah is safely back in Minnesota and that she will recover quickly. With any luck she will be able to rejoin our group next year.
Anyway, I'll be at a permanent site in about a month or so, at which point, I will have a (very modest) income and a regular site to access the internet, which will hopefully allow me to deal with the approximately 200 emails that I should look at. Also, at that point I will have much more comprehensive blog posts. Don't lose heart, I will tell you about my adventures soon.
As a taste, I recently visited an amazing site that they call Area 51. Pictures will come soon...
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Alive and well, more to come when I can
So far, Kenya has been amazing. It has just been a bit difficult to find internet access.
We arrived in Kenya as 42 volunteers. 15 Small enterprise and development volunteers, 6 Information and Communication Technology volunteers, 13 Secondary Level Math/Science teachers, and 8 Deaf Education Teachers. Sadly, one of our SED volunteers was the victim of one bad thing after another, so she traveled home. Sue, if you ever find my blog, I hope that all is well now.
Most of my sessions are with the other 12 math/sci teachers. We have been in a school for this week and last week. We spent 2 days observing teachers and then we started teaching. The students are coming in on their break, so we are mostly doing review work, but it is good practice. Today, we had a lab session, but no one brought the keys for the lab, so it was not the most productive day, but we did come up with a creative lesson. I have been working as a chemistry teacher, because there is a shortage of them in the group. It sounds like I will be doing chem and physics when I get to my site.
We also have Kiswahili language group meetings. My language group has Nick from Minnesota, Will from California/Colorado and Jennifer from Indiana. We are all science teachers. Our language teacher, Abbas, has done good work, so we are getting to the point where we can function when we go to town.
I found a welder named David Kamau, and he made me a charcoal briquetter. I had my instructions, and I wound up paying about $6.25 (it should be about $2), but it is a good start. I am working with a man called Fire to procure an oil drum from Nairobi. Hopefully we will be making charcoal in the next week or two. He is also working on constructing a windmill to use as a water pump (seems similar to the D-Lab Honduras design), so I may talk to him about applying for IDDS. In kiswahili the word mahindi can refer to maize or maize cobs, so I have distressed some people when I talk about making charcoal from mahindi, since there is currently a maize shortage in Kenya. Still, I have found myself giving Amy Smith's charcoal spiel a few times, so it may become a big project in Peace Corps Kenya.
In order to experience the culture, we are all living with families around town. My family is Kikuyu and they have 3 sons (15, 14 and 10). They are very nice people, although I have not enjoyed the Pentecostal church services as enjoyable as they do. This Sunday was a shorter service. Only 3 hrs 20 mins. My mama katika Kenya (Kenyan mother) is a very good cook, and she makes sure that I eat several plates every day. Everyone is very nice, and it is glorious to wake up to a beautiful view of Mt. Kilimanjaro every morning.
I am currently working on a means to update this more comprehensively and regularly, so please be patient. I will have more to say soon. Also, I will try to reply to communications soon, but internet is rather sparse, so I only ask for patience.
Finally, I just read The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier, which I really liked, and strongly recommend. I think it is a good answer to Jeff Sachs' take on poverty.
Hope everything is going well, my friends-
Daniel
We arrived in Kenya as 42 volunteers. 15 Small enterprise and development volunteers, 6 Information and Communication Technology volunteers, 13 Secondary Level Math/Science teachers, and 8 Deaf Education Teachers. Sadly, one of our SED volunteers was the victim of one bad thing after another, so she traveled home. Sue, if you ever find my blog, I hope that all is well now.
Most of my sessions are with the other 12 math/sci teachers. We have been in a school for this week and last week. We spent 2 days observing teachers and then we started teaching. The students are coming in on their break, so we are mostly doing review work, but it is good practice. Today, we had a lab session, but no one brought the keys for the lab, so it was not the most productive day, but we did come up with a creative lesson. I have been working as a chemistry teacher, because there is a shortage of them in the group. It sounds like I will be doing chem and physics when I get to my site.
We also have Kiswahili language group meetings. My language group has Nick from Minnesota, Will from California/Colorado and Jennifer from Indiana. We are all science teachers. Our language teacher, Abbas, has done good work, so we are getting to the point where we can function when we go to town.
I found a welder named David Kamau, and he made me a charcoal briquetter. I had my instructions, and I wound up paying about $6.25 (it should be about $2), but it is a good start. I am working with a man called Fire to procure an oil drum from Nairobi. Hopefully we will be making charcoal in the next week or two. He is also working on constructing a windmill to use as a water pump (seems similar to the D-Lab Honduras design), so I may talk to him about applying for IDDS. In kiswahili the word mahindi can refer to maize or maize cobs, so I have distressed some people when I talk about making charcoal from mahindi, since there is currently a maize shortage in Kenya. Still, I have found myself giving Amy Smith's charcoal spiel a few times, so it may become a big project in Peace Corps Kenya.
In order to experience the culture, we are all living with families around town. My family is Kikuyu and they have 3 sons (15, 14 and 10). They are very nice people, although I have not enjoyed the Pentecostal church services as enjoyable as they do. This Sunday was a shorter service. Only 3 hrs 20 mins. My mama katika Kenya (Kenyan mother) is a very good cook, and she makes sure that I eat several plates every day. Everyone is very nice, and it is glorious to wake up to a beautiful view of Mt. Kilimanjaro every morning.
I am currently working on a means to update this more comprehensively and regularly, so please be patient. I will have more to say soon. Also, I will try to reply to communications soon, but internet is rather sparse, so I only ask for patience.
Finally, I just read The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier, which I really liked, and strongly recommend. I think it is a good answer to Jeff Sachs' take on poverty.
Hope everything is going well, my friends-
Daniel
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Hello from Kenya
I have safely arrived in Kenya. Everything is going well so far, and I just want to remind everyone that I am not getting internet access often, so as they say "no news is good news".
Training is great (there are 41 other volunteers in my training class). My small group for language is great, and I will talk more about them when I have the chance. Also, I have mutual friends with a few of the volunteers here (Jackie, you may have to visit Emily Baker while you're in Kenya).
In other news, my health and sanity are fine (at least they are at normal levels for me), so with that, I will sign off for now, and once I am more settled, expect a loooooong post.
Take Care!
Training is great (there are 41 other volunteers in my training class). My small group for language is great, and I will talk more about them when I have the chance. Also, I have mutual friends with a few of the volunteers here (Jackie, you may have to visit Emily Baker while you're in Kenya).
In other news, my health and sanity are fine (at least they are at normal levels for me), so with that, I will sign off for now, and once I am more settled, expect a loooooong post.
Take Care!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Last Days in the USA
I've gotten several notes from people who are surprised that I'm not in Kenya yet. Actually, on Tuesday morning, I am going to Philadelphia for a quick orientation (I meet the other 45 volunteers or so who will be in my training class). Then, on Wednesday, I fly to Nairobi (7.5 hour flight to Amsterdam, 2.5 hour lay-over and 8 hour flight to Nairobi). I will spend one night in Nairobi and from there, I will travel about 7.5 hours to a town near Mt. Kilimanjaro for 8 weeks of training. Apparently, we'll be there during the rainy season :).
Anyway, it sounds like I won't be near a computer very much over the next two months, but I will do my best to put up interesting posts as the excitement gets under way!
Right now, I'm nearly packed, but I still need to buy a few essentials (e.g. duct tape and sandals) and compile my photo album.
cyotfs
P.S. I'm actually really sad that I didn't have any links to go with this post, so I will suggest some interesting videos and some fun videos.
Anyway, it sounds like I won't be near a computer very much over the next two months, but I will do my best to put up interesting posts as the excitement gets under way!
Right now, I'm nearly packed, but I still need to buy a few essentials (e.g. duct tape and sandals) and compile my photo album.
cyotfs
P.S. I'm actually really sad that I didn't have any links to go with this post, so I will suggest some interesting videos and some fun videos.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Introduction
First off, I want to announce that I will not use this to wander off on any of my diatribes; in fact, I will try to leave my opinions on politics out (although I hope that if you are eligible, you will register to vote before October 7). I have no idea how often I will be able to post, but I intend to use this to keep everyone updated on my adventures. I'm also sad that my posts will be only in English, which I know will make it more difficult for some of my friends to know what I am doing.
I have my Peace Corps assignment, and I should be heading to Kenya on 13 November. My assignment is teaching secondary level math. The plan is to be in the classroom from 9 January, 2009 to 9 January, 2011. I won't know where in Kenya until I'm there, so stay tuned for a later post about my site. All of this is subject to change, and I will be sure to update if it does. I don't have any kind of plan for 10 January, 2011 onward, but I have the next 27 months to figure that out.
In the meantime, I have a lot to take care of. This will be quite a transition, so I need to make sure that I'm ready (especially learning some Kiswahili). Once I'm there, I hope that I will be able to continue my work on some of my projects from recent years. In particular, I hope that I will be able to stay involved with the International Development Design Summit. If possible, I would like to introduce corn cob charcoal, peanut shellers, corn shellers, Spirulina, and lots of other projects that I have learned about and been lucky enough to participate in during my time at MIT.
Finally, for those of you who don't know the meaning of the title, it stands for "catch you on the flip side". I know that it will be a while before I see many of my friends and family again, but I will be sure to keep everyone close to me.
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