Memo of my semester studying and traveling abroad!
Monday, June 4, 2012
African amazing two weeks in Kenya
DRUMROLL PLEASE.................................................... My trip to Africa!! FINALLY. Kenya believe it took so long? Delayed partly because there is so much to share and partly because I get overly nostalgic and risk crying every time I think back on my experiences... I’ll organize everything by topic so if you want to skip over the sentimental, life-altering epiphany sections and just read about LIONS, I’ll never know ;).
PRE-TRIP ANXIETY (understatement.):
Anyone who has briefly met me, or passed me in a grocery store… knows I suffer from severe decision-impairment. Every decision, no matter how trivial, becomes LIFE-CHANGING. Kenya was no exception. Traveling to Africa always sparks certain concerns (malaria, violent conflict, details, details..) If you can imagine the skype call with my parents......
"How’s Europe??”
“Great. Is it cool if I fly to Africa for two weeks??”
A bit of advice: googling "African diseases" before your trip is not the best approach...My final decision came down to a thought bubble of me sitting on the beach in Spain drinking a margarita vs. sleeping underneath a mosquito net surrounded by lions in Kenya. This was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone but I couldn't imagine passing up an opportunity that I most likely would never have again. After sitting on the fence, jumping over, jumping back, clinging onto the fence, ripping the fence down, building a new fence.... I decided this was an experience I could not possibly pass up. Looking back, I can’t IMAGINE not going.
****Lesson learned: step out of your comfort zone as often as possible!!
Confession: I was so nervous and unsure about my decision after purchasing my (not cheap) plane ticket I secretly emailed Ethiopian airlines to see if the tickets were refundable IN CASE I had a last minute meltdown. They responded with a short and blunt – No and I was finally able to get excited about the trip (knowing I had no option). THE TRIP BEGINS:
Things didn’t become real until our drive from the airport in Mombasa to Gede, where we were staying. Free-roaming cows waiting to cross the street like humans, little mud huts, women balancing giant fruit baskets on their heads (they have special hats that help.. a bit of a let down, I know). It’s clear right away that we stick out.. even more so than we do with our huge fold out maps and “Traveling through Europe” books in Italy. I had to
keep visualizing a little globe with a giant, red “you are here” circle over
KENYA, AFRICA to remember how far from home we actually were.
THE PEOPLE:
The people in Kenya
were some of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met. I felt like someone was slipping them money under the table to be nice to us!
MAMA EUNICE: “Head honcho” at Bambakofi school. Average bug chasing speed – 20 mph. Average walking to dinner speed – negative 2 mph. Unbelievably sweet and so hospitable. JACKIE:
Eunice’s daughter. SO kind, beautiful voice and inspiring woman.
SAIDI:
Our “tour guide”
for two weeks. SUCH A GEM. Kindest human I’ve ever met, to date. Took
us on the safari, showed us Milindi, Mombasa, the Masai tribe and insisted on
buying us little woven bracelets on each stop along the way.
JULIEN:
Our “fearless”
leader who earned his quotation marks after screaming like a 12 year old girl when his feet touched the seaweed at the beach haha. Nonetheless, he had 9 of our lives quite literally in
his hands and we love him/can’t thank him enough for making this trip happen. THE NINE OF US:
Could not have been with a better group of people...Brought closely together by lack of internet and monster spiders.I was convinced by day 8 someone would snap
and lash out but we all held it together BAMBAKOFI SCHOOL AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Bambakofi is a primary
school in Kenya located in the Milindi district. It was created by a Swiss,
nonprofit organization called ATKYE. The school has an excellent reputation and
most of the students sleep there overnight. It is crazy how quickly things become “home.” Two days at Bombakofi and I had that comforting “home” feeling walking into our small, bug infested, 150 degree guest house. When we talked about Switzerland to the kids we would talk about it like home even though just three month ago it was just as foreign and overwhelming. "Home" is most definitely who you are with, not where you are.
A few of our beds were in
the Bambakofi school guest house. I (naturally) chose the geico/bug infested back
corner bed........ We each had a mosquito net that closely resembled the “princess
canopy” I dreamt of as a child. Everynight there was a
little surprise creature waiting for us outside of the guest house. One night
it was a giant scorpion spider. I tried to play it cool, mostly to compensate
for my over dramatic fear of lizards.... Eunice came out and I QUOTE
“This is one we want dead.” “We don’t have the medicine for that one.”.......Cue to
PANIC… Eunice grabbed bug-killing spray and chased it at tornado, cartoon character speed. KENYAN CULTURE: The one rule of the roads in Kenya is “stay left”. There would be cars coming straight at us on the road and all it took was a casual swerve to the left....
It was difficult to ask
the questions we wanted to without sounding ignorant or unintentionally
offensive ("Where are all the zebras?!") We wanted to learn as much as possible from Eunice and Jackie but it
was important to be culturally sensitive. On that note… I did find out that the
Bachelor plays in Kenya and Jackie watches it! Making it multi-cultural and
acceptable to watch back in the states.... Shopping was an eye
opening experience. TRUMPED the leather markets in Florence. If you so much as
looked at a necklace you were throwing yourself to the sharks. Imagine a mix of NYC chinatown, the little kiosks selling junk at the mall and a flock of vultures.
Our second day we were lucky enough to go to a nearby community to see how most Kenyans in the Gede area actually live. I’ve always felt grateful for what I have but you really don’t have a true sense of how fortunate you are until you see people living this way. To them food, shelter, water is all that is necessary. They live in mud huts, eat one meal a day, sleep on the floor but they are friendlier and happier than anyone I've ever met. I don’t think American or developed culture is superior in anyway, it’s just different. When these people need something they make it with the resources available, they don’t run to the nearest target…… (guilty.)
Visiting the students
around Bambakofi was one of the few/only experiences I’ve had this semester
that could truly not be imitated by Vegas or Disney. Kinda sad, but true! They
do an excellent job.
We got to stop at a little
store outside of the safari with wild monkeys and crocodiles (casual.)
One of our safari vans
got stuck in the sand an uncomfortable 50 feet from a half-eaten gazelle carcass… no one
else seemed to be the least bit concerned but I couldn’t help but wonder if
anyone has been mauled mid-safari. We stayed at the Red
Elephant Lodge. Super nice, huge pools, buffets, etc. etc. Kinda crazy how
there are massive five star resorts and then just 5 miles down the road people
are living with literally nothing. Our blue safari the following day was unbelievable. We saw dolphins, held starfish went snorkeling and had an amazing lobster lunch.We got to watch and participate in a tribal dance after lunch! There was a dance-off of sorts. Ofcourse all I could come up with under pressure was the shopping cart. Next time I’m having a dance-off with a Kenyan tribe member I’ll plan ahead...…........ BAMBAKOFI STUDENTS: The first day I asked Eunice if the students were ever rewarded with candy during class. She stared at me blankly for a few seconds and then for the first time in my life I legitimately think I heard crickets.
Coming to Bambakofi is a priviledge for these students and an honor. They stay motivated from 8am until 10pm everyday, their incentive is education, not candy pieces... The games the kids play are just like what we used to play pre-iphone, laptop, facebook days. Fun little games where you take turns dancing or clapping your hands together (is there an app for that??)The students are so polite. They stand up when they talk and are so soft spoken. They we’re very quiet at first. A mixture of blank stare responses and “was that just English?” We went on “nature walks” with the kids which they were unusually excited about. We later realized that it was "take advantage of the sub teacher" time and they weren't usually allowed to walk outside of school grounds. They knew exactly what each tree grew and was used for. I was imagining a “nature walk” in America. "And to your left you have your GREEN tree." The kids are extremely smart and knew everything there was to know about Kenya. Our first day teaching they asked me what America’s biggest export is.. I had no idea what to say... I felt like I was on some kind of game show. "Are you smarter than a 5th grade Kenyan student??"
FOOD: The food we ate was by NO MEANS torturous. A standard lunch was rice, palenta, beans, cabbage, weird green stuff and a giant plate of fresh fruit. Our very first breakfast we started spreading the sugar (for our tea) on our bread. American’s expect everything to have a topping. Eunice whispered to Julien “would they like butter or jam tomorrow?” No response needed.. However, by about day two I came to the realization that I have a legitimate chocolate addiction.. Louise, a professor from Tech who was visiting, offered us her trail mix one day. To be honest I'm not too sure if it was actually offered or just mentioned... we accepted regardless.
We decided to ration the m&ms and I felt like we were one m&m away from a Mean Girl’s "animal world" scene. I SWEAR this trail mix had a less than average m&m count....
INTERNET/CELL PHONE DEPRIVATION:
It occured to me a few days in that we are so dependent on
the internet we have completely forgotten how to
entertain ourselves. It’s refreshing to have real, non-cellphone-interrupted conversations with people. Crazy what
you can learn about people when you’re not facebook stalking or drooling over
pinterest food..
You take so much more
in without a cellphone. Think of all the things you miss out on when you are
staring down at your phone reading Kim Kays tweets!! Shooting stars,
cute babys, animals, famous celebs, fire breathing dragons.. ya never know.
Internet deprived
activites: Day 4 Whitney started
playing “name that tune” with a water bottle and tree seed and I couldn’t help
but laugh. We came up with all kinds of games and I felt myself resorting back to the things I used to do at sleep away camp as a kid.
On our way home we
realized we had free wifi connection at the Mombasa airport. No one could hide
their lit up faces. Conversation immediately died… I ran into at least three chairs and we almost waited for our plane at the wrong gate.... Our generation is DONE FOR...
BEACH:
Literally indescribably. Crystal blue waters, completely
empty. American beaches = Miley Cyrus Walmart BrandKenyan beaches = Vera Wang wedding gowns. NIGHT LIFE:
Our second to last night we went out with Saidi’s nephew. The drive there I was in full-fledged (silent) panic mode. Here we were a group of 8 girls (and one Ashvin) with two Kenyans we've never met about to go CLUBBING in Africa. I could hear my mom and Kelly in my head yelling and waving red flags.
The night ended up being a success! Julien danced like a dad, Val danced with an 80 year old man in marijuana leaf printed pants and I struggled to get "Say My Name" played.
SWAHILI 101:
Jambo – hello
Asanti – thank you
Caribou – your welcome (not actually spelled like the coffee
shop but I like it better)
Rafiki – friend
Nakupenda – I love youUsinipige – Don’t bite me
Kenya was thick, delicious, gourmet icing on my four month
European vacation. Truly the experience of a lifetime that I’ll never forget.
NOW WHAT??
As cliche as it sounds, the nine of us came home and really wanted to make a difference. We fell in love with the students at Bambakofi and Kenya in general. The students at Bambakofi are more driven then my entire high school graduating class combined... they deserve the opportunity that most of us have to attend universities and earn degrees. To most it is unattainable. Students graduate from Bambakofi and more often than not cannot pay to continue their education. Our goal is to take these students "Beyond Bambakofi" and help fund their secondary and university educations. We are calling this THE TAALUMA PROJECT. :) We are working on creating a nonprofit organization with help from Brinberg. More to come !!!
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