haha so I am going to be co-hosting the saturday afternoon show on the biggest radio station in Mombasa tomorrow.... haha soo random! I went and met with the radio station today and managed to arrange two shows to promote the talent show we are throwing next weekend. So I will be on air hosting a live phone in show where we will promote the event, recruite artists and have them phone in and give a preview of their talents... anyways hopefully it is a big success, and then next friday we will be on the morning show talking the event up. Seems random how easy it was to get them to support us. Its not like its a small radio station I mean mombasa is almost 1 million people... but ya they were super supportive of our idea and how I pitched it so thats exciting.
Anyways that also means that my only free day of the week is also a write off... again.. so that sucks but oh well. This coming week is going to be insanely busy. I am doing alot with the boys for change group this week and the following so tons of planning to do.
Ok well just throught id give a quick post. Hope everyone is doing well!!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
a little of this and a little of that
well I thought it was time for another blog entry so here goes. I have spent the last 40 or so hours in bed.... not sure what I ate but wow it did not go well. I honestly dont think that food poisoning or whatever this is is as bad in canada.... I have been sick twice now since arriving and it is terrible. Anyways I am starting to feel better so thats at least good.
So I thought I should say a thank you to Tessa and everyone who wrote messages and put pictures into my photo album. I was in need of a laugh / smile and it helped today.
So as of tomorrow I will have been here for one month... weird it has gone very fast now only 4 and a bit months left. Anyways I am sure it wll fly by!
Maybe I will just make a list of all the things that I have forgot to mention in the last while....
1) little children here... most of them dont know very much english but if they know some they usually know how to say "how are you" which they all yell as you walk along the street... continuously... if they know any other phrases it is often... "give me your money" or just "money" with their hands out reached..... enough said.
2) Michelle and Julie... the other two volunteers I am working with have been great so far. We have a blast and it is usually constant sarcasm. The two of them have not quite acclimatized to the heat as I have and I enjoy reminding them as the sweat runs down their faces haha.
3) Driving... I know I mentioned it before but wow I do not know how there are not soo many more accidents. The other day i was walking along the side of the road and a matatu swerved off the road to come around the far side of the telephone pole... where the sidewalk would be... it didnt even pause for me to literally dive out of the way. On top of that... they often have far more people than can actually fit inside so people just hang out the door or onto the side... safety is clearly not paramount here.
4) Getting ripped off. Oh the joys of being a muzungo (european or white person). Prices pretty much just double or triple for you and even if you know the correct price half the time it doesnt matter. Taking a matatu to town should cost 25 shillings the guy the other day wanted something absurd like 70... I laughed.. handed him the 25 and got out.. which was lucky tho because half the time they wont let you out till they have had the chance to overcharge u.
5) Dancing and singing. I sat in amazement on an outreach the other day. We brought along a PA system and were blasting music to attract people to come watch... within minutes there was around 200 children age 3-10 all dancing. I suppose this isnt anything amazing but almost every kid out there was dancing as if they were in a club and with more skill than any adult white person. So different how dancing and singing are encouraged at all points down here. Totally different than in our culture.
ok I am feeling like I may die again.. so I am going to go home. Hope everyone is doing well! miss you all lots
Jessie
So I thought I should say a thank you to Tessa and everyone who wrote messages and put pictures into my photo album. I was in need of a laugh / smile and it helped today.
So as of tomorrow I will have been here for one month... weird it has gone very fast now only 4 and a bit months left. Anyways I am sure it wll fly by!
Maybe I will just make a list of all the things that I have forgot to mention in the last while....
1) little children here... most of them dont know very much english but if they know some they usually know how to say "how are you" which they all yell as you walk along the street... continuously... if they know any other phrases it is often... "give me your money" or just "money" with their hands out reached..... enough said.
2) Michelle and Julie... the other two volunteers I am working with have been great so far. We have a blast and it is usually constant sarcasm. The two of them have not quite acclimatized to the heat as I have and I enjoy reminding them as the sweat runs down their faces haha.
3) Driving... I know I mentioned it before but wow I do not know how there are not soo many more accidents. The other day i was walking along the side of the road and a matatu swerved off the road to come around the far side of the telephone pole... where the sidewalk would be... it didnt even pause for me to literally dive out of the way. On top of that... they often have far more people than can actually fit inside so people just hang out the door or onto the side... safety is clearly not paramount here.
4) Getting ripped off. Oh the joys of being a muzungo (european or white person). Prices pretty much just double or triple for you and even if you know the correct price half the time it doesnt matter. Taking a matatu to town should cost 25 shillings the guy the other day wanted something absurd like 70... I laughed.. handed him the 25 and got out.. which was lucky tho because half the time they wont let you out till they have had the chance to overcharge u.
5) Dancing and singing. I sat in amazement on an outreach the other day. We brought along a PA system and were blasting music to attract people to come watch... within minutes there was around 200 children age 3-10 all dancing. I suppose this isnt anything amazing but almost every kid out there was dancing as if they were in a club and with more skill than any adult white person. So different how dancing and singing are encouraged at all points down here. Totally different than in our culture.
ok I am feeling like I may die again.. so I am going to go home. Hope everyone is doing well! miss you all lots
Jessie
Saturday, February 21, 2009
mixed reviews
well the last few days have been filled with some ups and downs. I am not even sure what I want to write on here.
First off some things are going well! Emmy our field officer is turning out better than we could have hoped. We have a ton of freedom to be able to develop things as we like and really take control of our projects. So that is good... on that note we are organizing a talent show... hopeful attendance of around 600-1000 i would think... so a pretty large event! I am also spending alot of time working with the group called boys for change! we are doing lots of outreaches and some great learning activities with locals.
anyways we have had some issues with volunteers and being taken advantage of which have been discouraging, but whatever we move on...
also we visited an orphanage in the outskirts of mombasa and it was the first time I have felt very overwhelmed down here. The actual orphange is undetoging some upgrades... which is good but at the time the kids are sleeping in one room of a school... about 115 kids in like one class room... very sad. Anyways it was overwhelming because as much as we cheared up their day and brought them some food and drinks... the problems they face are soo big it felt impossible to do anything.
But happily I have been able to schedule an entire day for the boys club to go to the orphanage and we are gunna use the time to do lots of teaching and entertaining and try and make some difference in their day.
Ok well I am going to go I am metling this cafe is so hot
Jessie
First off some things are going well! Emmy our field officer is turning out better than we could have hoped. We have a ton of freedom to be able to develop things as we like and really take control of our projects. So that is good... on that note we are organizing a talent show... hopeful attendance of around 600-1000 i would think... so a pretty large event! I am also spending alot of time working with the group called boys for change! we are doing lots of outreaches and some great learning activities with locals.
anyways we have had some issues with volunteers and being taken advantage of which have been discouraging, but whatever we move on...
also we visited an orphanage in the outskirts of mombasa and it was the first time I have felt very overwhelmed down here. The actual orphange is undetoging some upgrades... which is good but at the time the kids are sleeping in one room of a school... about 115 kids in like one class room... very sad. Anyways it was overwhelming because as much as we cheared up their day and brought them some food and drinks... the problems they face are soo big it felt impossible to do anything.
But happily I have been able to schedule an entire day for the boys club to go to the orphanage and we are gunna use the time to do lots of teaching and entertaining and try and make some difference in their day.
Ok well I am going to go I am metling this cafe is so hot
Jessie
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Obama!
So I see Obama was in ottawa the other day... or maybe as I am speaking cause I am ahead by a bit.. anyways its funny to think how things have changed. One of the first things people say when you tell them your from canada is something in regards to Obama. People love him down here most matatus have obama quotes or pictures or flags posted in them! Funny to think that just a short time ago people hated the states here... as they did in alot of countries!
anyways thats my two cents of the day... off to work!
anyways thats my two cents of the day... off to work!
Monday, February 16, 2009
The meaning of Time!!
Well not much to report lately. Have not been too overly busy in the past week. We have a busy week coming up tho so I suppose it all balances out.
Anyways I was trying to think of what I could write on here that wouldnt be completely boring... soo I thought I would write about the one thing that is driving me mental dispite it being my number one goal while being down here. When I set out from Canada I determined that possibly my biggest challenge would be learning to not have such rigid time lines for everything as I do in Canada... well needless to say I am being forced to accept that but it is driving me insane at points. ( dad and nana... you could never survive down here haha)
A prime example of how time means nothing was this sunday. We attended a play put on by Kwach Afrika. It was scheduled to start at 4:00 which was widley advertised on all posters and on the tickets themselves. So I as usual arrived at 3:30 to be early and to help if they needed anyone. Well 4:00 rolls around and there werent even any cast members present. It was not until 5:30 that the hole cast arrived and then not until around 6:15 that the show started at which poiunt I had been there for almost three hours!!!! haha anyways it just amazes me how anything gets done, but dispite my confusion and frustration things do happen so I guess I will just continue to keep quiet and maybe start arriving 30 mins late instad of early!!
Hope all is well at home! Love you all!
Jessie
P.S. - Evan andConnor- Yesterday I was sitting in the park reading my book and a lizard about 1 foot long ran up the tree beside me.... I almost fell out of me seat.. but it was quite cool!! They seem to be everywhere down here and the bright green ones jump crazy distances.... so when you try and catch them you have to position yourself so they dont jump at you!! haha
Anyways I was trying to think of what I could write on here that wouldnt be completely boring... soo I thought I would write about the one thing that is driving me mental dispite it being my number one goal while being down here. When I set out from Canada I determined that possibly my biggest challenge would be learning to not have such rigid time lines for everything as I do in Canada... well needless to say I am being forced to accept that but it is driving me insane at points. ( dad and nana... you could never survive down here haha)
A prime example of how time means nothing was this sunday. We attended a play put on by Kwach Afrika. It was scheduled to start at 4:00 which was widley advertised on all posters and on the tickets themselves. So I as usual arrived at 3:30 to be early and to help if they needed anyone. Well 4:00 rolls around and there werent even any cast members present. It was not until 5:30 that the hole cast arrived and then not until around 6:15 that the show started at which poiunt I had been there for almost three hours!!!! haha anyways it just amazes me how anything gets done, but dispite my confusion and frustration things do happen so I guess I will just continue to keep quiet and maybe start arriving 30 mins late instad of early!!
Hope all is well at home! Love you all!
Jessie
P.S. - Evan andConnor- Yesterday I was sitting in the park reading my book and a lizard about 1 foot long ran up the tree beside me.... I almost fell out of me seat.. but it was quite cool!! They seem to be everywhere down here and the bright green ones jump crazy distances.... so when you try and catch them you have to position yourself so they dont jump at you!! haha
Friday, February 13, 2009
Im still alive!!
well I thought it was time to blog again, but its going to be a short one! So yesterday me and michelle had a day off so we decided to go on a little adventure. We went to a place called Watamu up north of mombasa. We went via matatu... which was umm exciting.. picture flying along a 1.5 lane road at around 100km an hr with 14 people wedged into a van the size of a mini van... haha anyways it was pretty fun / funny and then after and hr and a half we arived in the town. It was amazing. Its a small town very quite and amazing beaches. we wandered around the beach and were soon followed by two locals showing us everything from urchins, star fish, jumping fish, moray eals and all sorts of crabs. They left us alone eventually but cam back later and insisted we either buy something or pay for the tour .... kind of a pain but whatever it was worth the like dollar we payed them.
anyways the sights were amazing, the reef comes right in to shore there so you can see eveything and there are a number of island u can walk to when the tide is down. We had some funny moments when the tide was coming in and submerged some of our stuff at one point.. woops but all was fine.
We then wandered around and discovered the power was out so we couldnt get dinner and instead went to the grocery store and bought yogurt and sat and ate it... dairy products are a novelty down here so it was actually quite good!
ok well got to run but just wanted to say hello! hope all is going well!
Jessie
PS- happy birthday uncle devin.... how old are u now?? ancient im sure!! haha
anyways the sights were amazing, the reef comes right in to shore there so you can see eveything and there are a number of island u can walk to when the tide is down. We had some funny moments when the tide was coming in and submerged some of our stuff at one point.. woops but all was fine.
We then wandered around and discovered the power was out so we couldnt get dinner and instead went to the grocery store and bought yogurt and sat and ate it... dairy products are a novelty down here so it was actually quite good!
ok well got to run but just wanted to say hello! hope all is going well!
Jessie
PS- happy birthday uncle devin.... how old are u now?? ancient im sure!! haha
Sunday, February 8, 2009
mcheesy (crazy)
So I am sitting here sweeting as usual... its a constant thing down here which is just accepted by the locals... but for us we still cant get over the fact that it looks like we are running a marathon while we eat breakfast.. ugh
anyways last night we went out clubbing... it was a blast. We cought the matatu around 9:30 to the club. its all open air so like roof but no real walls... and u arrive and the place that you think is the whole club is actually just the small like entry area.. then you pass through like 3 security points- metal detectors and all and proceed down this huge ramp into a valley... literally! So the bar is actually down in the bottom of this valley which on one side is jungle and the other is a rock face. So cool anyways we had a blast but we also learned alot.
We arrived early because its not safe to take the matatu later than 9:30ish and there were very few people in the club. As the night went on the crowds filled... with what we realized were mostly escorts. We talked with mike about it alot. Mombasa has a large influx of basically older men and women from Europe who come down and get long or short term escorts. So by 11:00 the bar was packed with 60-75 year old white men and 18-25 year old african women. There was also some older white women and younger african men. It was quite the eye opener and we have decided that we are actually going to do one of our club nights (where we give out info, condoms counselling services etc at a night club) at the club we attended.
Anyways kind of an odd blog I know but it was a very eye opening experience to see it that obviously. Ok well hope everyone at home is doing well... and enjoying the snow / cold... haha you will all be happy to know my skin is in a constant state of peeling.. its impossible to stop it from getting exposed to the sun but its so hot it just cooks it haha, im not burning but I sure am peeling haha
Talk soon
anyways last night we went out clubbing... it was a blast. We cought the matatu around 9:30 to the club. its all open air so like roof but no real walls... and u arrive and the place that you think is the whole club is actually just the small like entry area.. then you pass through like 3 security points- metal detectors and all and proceed down this huge ramp into a valley... literally! So the bar is actually down in the bottom of this valley which on one side is jungle and the other is a rock face. So cool anyways we had a blast but we also learned alot.
We arrived early because its not safe to take the matatu later than 9:30ish and there were very few people in the club. As the night went on the crowds filled... with what we realized were mostly escorts. We talked with mike about it alot. Mombasa has a large influx of basically older men and women from Europe who come down and get long or short term escorts. So by 11:00 the bar was packed with 60-75 year old white men and 18-25 year old african women. There was also some older white women and younger african men. It was quite the eye opener and we have decided that we are actually going to do one of our club nights (where we give out info, condoms counselling services etc at a night club) at the club we attended.
Anyways kind of an odd blog I know but it was a very eye opening experience to see it that obviously. Ok well hope everyone at home is doing well... and enjoying the snow / cold... haha you will all be happy to know my skin is in a constant state of peeling.. its impossible to stop it from getting exposed to the sun but its so hot it just cooks it haha, im not burning but I sure am peeling haha
Talk soon
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Oddities of Kenya
so I thought I would put together a list of some odd things down here in Kenya... not sure if I have time to hit them all but Ill start cause I need to get to work soon
1) Garbage- there is literally garbage everywhere... on the roads in the yards on the lawn even at the beach and in the water.... make shift dumps happen all over the place and then dump truck come and get the garbage loaded until its spilling over and then drive away and the stuff on top blows back onto the street... efficient!
at home there isnt really a garbage inside so you just take whatever you have and throw it out the window......
2) Time of day- the time of day can basically be measured by the sun or the constant sound of call to prayer.... the sun rises and sets at the same time every day of the year give or tak like 2 minutes... and every day at 5am 4pm 6pm 8pm and 10pm call to prayer takes place.... which sounds like chanting over a loud speaker often coming from mutiple directions becaue there are so many mosques... michelle was unsure of the time of day the other afternoon and asked if that was call to prayer we were hearing or a cow hahahaha terrible!!
3) Cat Fights- it is a common occurance to wake up at night to the sound of cats fighting... there are cats everywhere mostly malnourished and very skinny (its sad and we dont really pet them cause they are very dirty)
4) Electric shock- everything here has a charge... we are sure why... like the faucets in the shower if you hold on to them for more than a breif second you get electrocuted haha same with the computer screens... its alittle odd
5) Goats- goats roam freely here... we asked mike the other day how people keep track of them, whether they brand them or tag them or what... he explained that people put magical protection on them so they are free to wander where they want without being taken... me and michelle exchanged confused looks over this!
6) Bugs- there are bugs everywhere literally... there is a little trail of bugs continually moving through our room... not sure where they are going but they seem pretty content to stick to themselves so we dont bother them... its also common t be eating dinner and have a lizard run up the wall bhind you!
7) fire fighters- so the big news story right now is that one of the nakumats in nairobi burned down (its like a superstore) and killed 30 some people.... ben was explaining to us that people dont like fire fighters because often they will get called and then arrive on the scene and realize that they have forgotten the water... we clarifiec whether they had forgotten it or they didnt have any water... ben reassured us they usually just forget.... hmm comforting!
8) matatus- matatus are like taxis but take the form of the public transit here so they are cheap and everyone rides them, they stuff them soo full its insane you often wonder whos sweat is running down ur arm.. yum... they also continuously fight over customers... two matatu drivers actually scrapped the other day as they tried to persuad us into either of their vehicles!
9) Water and electricty- our house is equiped with both but often the power goes out.. as does the water... atthe moment we have no water... ugh
10) cell phones- everyone has a cell phone here and there is little to no ettiquet involved... in the middle of buisness meetings peoples phones ring and they just answer them as if its no big deal... our presenter the other day answered her phone mid presentation... haha oh my!
ok well that is all the time I have for today... it was raining when we arrived its back to sun now... joy another hot one im sure...!!
ok miss you all talk soon!
1) Garbage- there is literally garbage everywhere... on the roads in the yards on the lawn even at the beach and in the water.... make shift dumps happen all over the place and then dump truck come and get the garbage loaded until its spilling over and then drive away and the stuff on top blows back onto the street... efficient!
at home there isnt really a garbage inside so you just take whatever you have and throw it out the window......
2) Time of day- the time of day can basically be measured by the sun or the constant sound of call to prayer.... the sun rises and sets at the same time every day of the year give or tak like 2 minutes... and every day at 5am 4pm 6pm 8pm and 10pm call to prayer takes place.... which sounds like chanting over a loud speaker often coming from mutiple directions becaue there are so many mosques... michelle was unsure of the time of day the other afternoon and asked if that was call to prayer we were hearing or a cow hahahaha terrible!!
3) Cat Fights- it is a common occurance to wake up at night to the sound of cats fighting... there are cats everywhere mostly malnourished and very skinny (its sad and we dont really pet them cause they are very dirty)
4) Electric shock- everything here has a charge... we are sure why... like the faucets in the shower if you hold on to them for more than a breif second you get electrocuted haha same with the computer screens... its alittle odd
5) Goats- goats roam freely here... we asked mike the other day how people keep track of them, whether they brand them or tag them or what... he explained that people put magical protection on them so they are free to wander where they want without being taken... me and michelle exchanged confused looks over this!
6) Bugs- there are bugs everywhere literally... there is a little trail of bugs continually moving through our room... not sure where they are going but they seem pretty content to stick to themselves so we dont bother them... its also common t be eating dinner and have a lizard run up the wall bhind you!
7) fire fighters- so the big news story right now is that one of the nakumats in nairobi burned down (its like a superstore) and killed 30 some people.... ben was explaining to us that people dont like fire fighters because often they will get called and then arrive on the scene and realize that they have forgotten the water... we clarifiec whether they had forgotten it or they didnt have any water... ben reassured us they usually just forget.... hmm comforting!
8) matatus- matatus are like taxis but take the form of the public transit here so they are cheap and everyone rides them, they stuff them soo full its insane you often wonder whos sweat is running down ur arm.. yum... they also continuously fight over customers... two matatu drivers actually scrapped the other day as they tried to persuad us into either of their vehicles!
9) Water and electricty- our house is equiped with both but often the power goes out.. as does the water... atthe moment we have no water... ugh
10) cell phones- everyone has a cell phone here and there is little to no ettiquet involved... in the middle of buisness meetings peoples phones ring and they just answer them as if its no big deal... our presenter the other day answered her phone mid presentation... haha oh my!
ok well that is all the time I have for today... it was raining when we arrived its back to sun now... joy another hot one im sure...!!
ok miss you all talk soon!
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