Kweherni na Jambo (Goodbye and hello)

Today i must say goodbye to Kenya and everyone in it. Forgive me if i didn't get in touch with you personally, i had so much to do last minute, and i do really hate saying goodbye. I really hate goodbyes, it is especially hard when i don't know what the future holds. I might be back in a few months or maybe a few years, i just really don't know. I need to go home and really take some good time to decided what my future will be.

A few days ago i found a quote by Dr. Seuss, "Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened." . this has really touched me, and i am trying hard to view this ending in this way. So many awesome things have happened these past two years, and i am so much the better for it. I love Kenya so much, and i will be leaving a part of myself here when i board the plane tonight. I must say thank you again to everyone for their support, both in Kenya and the States. it would not have been possible to be here if it wasn't for the support and love of all my friends and family, especially my mom, dad, sister and brother, i love you all so much and i am so appreciative of you!  thanks again, and see you soon!

xoxo suzanne

Oh Kenya

There are these little monkeys called bush babies that live in our trees. they are nocturnal, and very small, so i rarely hear them, and have only seen them once. but two nights ago the stars aligned and there were bush babies squeaking in the trees and elephants stomping around the compound. You can't actually hear the elephants, but the dogs can, and they bark their heads off all night. the bush babies make the funniest sounds, and at first i didn't know what they were. they sound exactly like squeaky toys coming from the trees. last year we had a problem with them jumping on the electric cables. the trees were growing around the cables, so the monkeys would jump on the cables and our electricity would go out. but we finally cut the trees away and haven't had that problem since. The elephant fence is still in disrepair, and no date has been set to fix it. it needs constant maintenance to prevent the trees and bushes from growing up around the fence and disrupting the power source. lately though, as i said last time, the elephants have figured out that if they step on the poles they can knock down the fence without touching the electricity.

Last week a group of us from meru hotel association went to Meru National Park to promote business between hotels in meru, and the game park. Meru National Park is only 1 hour from here, and it is one of the few parks that has remained fairly untouched. You have to search a bit more to find the animals, but it is worth it. You don't see a bunch of other white people driving around, and the animals are a bit more wild. I really enjoy it. when we arrived at the park and were just beginning our drive, we got a puncture. we all had to get out and fix the tire, and of course wander around. but no worries, it was the middle of the day and very hot, so all the animals were having a siesta. i went along to see some animals, and just spend some time with some good friends. we got to meet all the game wardens and hear a bit about the park, it has some interesting history. we stayed till late and on the way back a bunch of us had to pee so we got out to do so. it was dark and we couldn't really see where we were going, and unfortunately we stopped in the middle of a stinging nettle area. we all peed on the stinging nettles. i mostly got it on my thigh and arms, very uncomfortable.

Well my days here are coming to an end. i leave for the states in exactly one week. it is incredibly hard to contemplate. I love this place and these people so much. I so hope that i will return next summer. i have never lived somewhere that i have considered another home, and i don't know how i will say goodbye to all of these wonderful people. I must say thank you to all of you who have made this possible. For supporting me in thoughts, prayers, messages, phone calls. it has meant so much to know that people wish the best for me and want to see me successful in what i do. God is so good and i thank him so much for this opportunity.

thank you again,
love to you all!
suzanne 

Mantu Nja Kurigarania (something funny)

Mantu Nja Kurigarania is Kimeru for "something funny." I began thinking about these yesterday when i complemented someone on their vest. Turns out that a vest is really an undershirt, and they were confused why i was complimenting them on something i couldn't see. a half coat is what we would think of as a vest. who would have thought.

1. What we would call a vest, they call a half coat. a vest is a wife-beater, or undershirt. 
2. I have mentioned before that they eat only unsweet, white corn. Almost all corn they grow becomes corn flour for ugali, a staple in a Kenyan diet. so when it is time for harvest they let the plant completely dry out before they take the corn, so they don't have to dry it so much once it is harvested. because of this, if you ever do eat corn on the cob, it will be very tough and juice less. 
3. i have also kind of mentioned this before, and to people not from an agricultural area this might not be so strange. all planting, harvesting, and plowing is done by hand. In the states it is planting season right now, and it would be beyond impossible to do all of that by hand. this is hard, back breaking work that is usually done by women. Often you will see a group of mamas (older ladies) out in a field plowing and planting. 
4. actually women do a lot of the hard labor. every Wednesday the forest is open to people to go and get firewood. they walk to the forest, chop up wood that is already dead (they aren't allowed to take anything that is living), and then walk back home with huge loads of wood on their backs. often you see them going home in the evening, because this is an all day process. 
5. I have learned so much about African hair. when Ruth goes to the salon, i usually go with her so i can get a pedicure. It is so interesting to me to sit and watch all the goings on! being at a salon i have seen many weaves put in. a weave is when they braid their own hair and then sew in different hair that is straighter and more like white people hair. I don't understand this. i would love to have hair that i could braid, and forget about for 2 weeks. that sounds so lovely. but they think i am very strange for saying this. they would love to have my hair, which takes so much maintenance. 
6. Women change their hair every 2-6 weeks depending on what kind of style they get done. This is so hard for me. I am used to people having the same hair style for long periods of time, and i then associate the hair with the person. i have had to really look at people's faces in order to recognize them. sometimes this is embarrassing when i have met a person more then once.
7. African fabrics. most Kenyans did not traditionally wear fabrics, they wore animal skins. I am not sure of all the history behind it, but it partly has to do with it being so hot, and then so cold at night. when they needed covering it needed to be a warm covering. most of the fabrics that are now worn are from Tanzania. Some of the very old people, from very interior, still wear the animal skins underneath their clothes. 
8. Vaseline is used like lotion. at the supermarket there are rows and rows of all different kinds of petroleum jelly. hand lotion is available as well, but not in the variety that is available in the states. 
9. All milk is whole milk. When i came back to the states last year, i brought Cadbury's drinking chocolate because i thought it was so good. it turns out that when you add any drinking chocolate to whole milk it tastes so much better!
10. you can always tell a Kenyan by the inoculation scar on the upper side of their forearm. Older people have a second one higher up, but everyone has one on their forearm. i am not quite sure what it is, but it is something like a MMR. i have no idea why it leaves a scar. 

love to everyone!

Suzanne 

Elephants in the backyard

This last week there have been elephants in the compound almost every night. I live in house surrounded by a farm, and because the forest is dry right now, the elephants leave the forest to look for food. Elephants are very intelligent. The electric fence that is between us and the forest, is held up by wooden poles. The elephants have figured out that if they step on these poles, they can knock the fence over without touching the electric fence, so right now they are roaming free. They only come to our farm at night, so i haven't actually seen them, we only hear the dogs barking their heads off at the elephants. When you shine lights out in the fields, the elephants appear black so they are very hard to see, and it is not wise to go looking for them. to shew them away we light fires around the compound, and this usually works. They really love the potatoes, tomatoes, melons, and when they are full, they like to just be destructive. uprooting everything and playing with it. They aren't dangerous though, they are only looking for food, not to hurt anyone. sometimes there are elephants that are very aggressive and charge/ trample anyone they see, these elephants aren't like this, they are just hungry. 

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Since i have been back, the public school teachers have been on strike. they want a 300% pay raise, and the government is refusing to give it to them. This is the end of the second week of the strike, and so far there is no end date in sight. It is true that they aren't payed anything, but they also don't work very hard. i think both sides of the struggle need to be held accountable for their actions in order for the education system to get any better. The people most effected by this are the poor, (private school students went back to school), and they have the weakest voice amongst politicians. To be honest, i think the best answer would be to get rid of all the MPs (members of parliament). they are paid ridiculous amounts of money, and meanwhile all government run organizations have no money to do anything. Over 200 MPs went to the Olympics, all expenses paid by the government. what, was that really necessary?! This last week doctors, employed by the government, also went on strike. So pretty much poor people are screwed. They can't get an education, and they can't get sick. There are private hospitals, where doctors are not on strike, and although $15 sounds extremely cheap to me for a doctors visit, it is completely out of the reach for people who only make $50 a month.

that is it for now! i haven't been up to much, which is how i want to spend that last couple of weeks here. I have just been hanging out, talking a lot, sewing a lots, cooking a lot. making good memories.

love to you all!
suz

Kushengaza Zaidi (more amazing stuff!)

i have thought of a few more funny differences between the States and Kenya. Just in case anyone didn't know this, i am writing these things about people in rural Kenya, not Nairobi or other big cities. Of course differences occur in big cities as well, but they are much more westernized then the rest of Kenya, and the majority of my experiences have been in rural settings. enjoy!

1. cocoa is drinking chocolate.
2. They put very little drinking chocolate in milk, and then add sugar. 
3. always call plastic bags, paper bags. I have no idea why. probably has to do with paper bags being around first, and then when plastic came along, they just kept calling them paper. 
4. Clean, pretty feet are a big deal. they are kind of a status symbol. if you have time to keep them clean and toes painted, then you probably don't work in the fields or do manual labor. some even grow their toe nails out, way gross. 
5. like i have said before, Kenyans are very intent on relationships. when you enter someones sitting room it is usually crowded wall to wall with seating to accommodate many visitors. 
6. most bicycles are one speed.
7. most bicycles are used to haul things. of course people ride them, but many people load stuff on the back and push them around like a wheel barrow. 
8. being gentle is not in very many peoples vocabulary. they grow up being quite rough, sometimes they get beatings from their parents and when they go heard the livestock they need to be rough to get them to go where they want. For example, the primary school i teach at has a library of donated, pristine condition, books. the students, very rarely, are allowed to use them, because they often destroy them. of course this changes as you go up the wealth ladder.
9. women always wear some kind of heal. little girls, just learning to walk, to grandmas. it makes it impossible to find comfortable, girly shoes. 
10. yesterday i went to get a dress made. the seamstress had three machines, all of which were foot powered. last year i had to use a cheap singer, and i got soo frustrated changing from a computer run machine to a purely no frills, one. 
11. drinking is a big problem here. once people begin drinking, they usually don't stop until they are drunk. they don't just drink a beer with a meal, it is almost always drunk to accomplish being drunk. 
12. bribery is also a very big problem here. even at places that you wouldn't expect to pay "extra", especially being white, you will probably have to pay something. 
13. babies are passed from person to person. everyone takes care of them, and because of this they don't develop much "stranger danger." it seems like an awesome way to raise kids. 
14. even though there isn't much "stranger danger" any kid between the ages of 9 months, and maybe 5 or 6 will scream their head off if they don't have very much experience with white people, and then i try and hold them, or even talk to them. i don't know, maybe they think i am a ghost? 

Recently, when i was in Rwanda, i met an awesome opera singer from Spokane. she was visiting her sister, who was in the peace corp, and also had planned a visit with a girl she sponsored through compassion international. she had prepared for the trip, bringing special little treats for the 4 year old girl and her family. when she finally met them, the girl freaked out, and cried for the next several hours that the women was there. she was quite perplexed by this, until i shared my own experiences with her.

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I am heading back to the states October 2. It is so hard to think of leaving this place and all the people that have become my second family. this has truly become another home. i will miss it so much. i am planning on coming back maybe next summer, just for a visit. it is too hard to think of leaving a place i love so much without a plan to come back. if anyone is interested in coming, let me know! love to you all and can't wait to see everyone! 

suzanne  

unbelievably greatful

Wow. Yesterday at this time I was almost in panic mode. I was furious (and still am) with MasterCard, and didn't know how I would pay my hotel bill or get out of this country. After much prayer and support from friends and family, I now have everything worked out. I have a flight to Kenya tomorrow, and from there will continue to battle with the credit card people. Thankful beyond words to everyone that reached out and let me know that I was in your thoughts and prayers! And for my wonderful family for helping me get through this. I don't know how people survive without a supportive family. Thank you everyone! (especially my papa!)

I am disappointed that I haven't gotten to see much of Rwanda. like I have said before it is very hilly and things are quite spread out, so I haven't been able to walk around very much of the town. The people are very warm and friendly, and I would have loved getting to know some of them better. I would also liked to have learned more about the genocide. You can do all the reading you want, but first hand accounts are always a bit more eye opening, and the politics of the situation don't always cover all the reasons a situation happens. Again you can't just stumble up to any old person, that's rude, the people are not here for my entertainment. Something that many tourists often forget!

Rwanda is one of the few places with gorillas! Unfortunately it is not possible for poor tourists to see them. There is a $500 permit to view them, then you have to hire a guide and pay a park fee. The $500 permit accounts for 90% of the foreign revenue that comes into the country, or at least that is what I read.

From the outside, this trip sounds like a failure. I didn't go south to malawi and zambia like I originally planned to do, and my trip was cut short in Rwanda. but I have to say it has been such an awesome experience. Traveling is so great, i was able to learn and experience all sorts of new things, and I feel so much better and confident for it. If I can navigate, and communicate well enough in east Africa, then I can do anything. There have been a few snafus along the way, but has only taught me to trust God and to have confidence in my ability to work through it. I am sad to see this journey ending, but I know there will be many others. Next I am thinking eastern Europe, or maybe southern Asia, anybody want to join me??:)

Again, thanks for all the support! I feel so blessed!

xox Suzanne

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Location:Avenue de la Republique,Kigali,Rwanda

Stuck in Rwanda

Today I am stuck in Rwanda. A few days ago I noticed my credit card stopped working, so I called them up and they asked if I had any plans to go to France. I said no. Someone had stolen my card information and tried to buy a train ticket in France. They then told me that they were going to go ahead and cancel my card. My heart sunk. But then he assured me that they could overnight my card to Rwanda. So I have just been relaxing and reading some books for the past few days. But then today I got a call from my dad telling me they sent my card to the local bank branch in the states. So I called the credit card people again, and was pretty much told sorry, not our problem. I told them, yes this is your problem, but they don't seem to think so. Not entirely sure what the next step will be. I am hoping that the local branch in the states can maybe mail it to Rwanda? If not there is always western union, but that still only solves the short term problem.

But there is reason to be thankful. All of the places I stayed in Tanzania were very cheap. Like pay in advance, in cash, kind of cheap. That makes it sound like I was staying at ladies-of-the-night kind of places, they weren't, just cheap hostels. (but very safe mom and sue). The place I am at now isn't super nice, but nice enough that I pay when I check out.

I am hopeful that everything will work out, but I would really appreciate some prayers!

xo suzanne


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Location:Rue Depute Kamuzinzi,Kigali,Rwanda