Chili, poison, or a lot of extra hair: which would you rather have on your nipples?

Time for blog post number two. Before reading, though, do me a favor, and pick one of the options provided in this post's title.

I'm a month into my trip to Kenya, and two weeks into my study abroad program. As would seem appropriate for any program with "study" in its descriptive title, I have been learning quite a lot. As you might assume, the majority of this learning has centered around Kenyan geography, culture, language, politics, etc, though you might also be surprised the multitude of topics that can be covered within those themes. As part of our orientation, for example, the boys in our group were warned against prostitutes' nipples. Yes, specifically their nipples. As our academic directors put it, sometimes you're going to be tempted to do certain things, and that is each person's individual choice. But, responsible for our general well-being while we kids are here, our academic directors wanted to make sure that, in the event that the males on our program just couldn't restrain themselves against all the persuasive pretty ladies in the clubs, they should just make sure to avoid any close contact with the womens' nipples, which are likely to be laced with poison. So boys, if you ever come to Nairobi, watch out.

We (a bunch of white folk from the program plus a few local friends) did actually have the chance to go out this past weekend, and everyone got back safe and sound. We learned how/when/where to buy whatever alcohol we wanted for the evening (this, of course, we learned the hard way), and we also learned all the best places to go, at least in Westlands (one of the whiter areas, especially popular among expats). After being warned profusely against late night matatus (minibuses), we ended up taking them, and found them to be much safer than any of the matatus any of us had experienced during the day. Why is this, you ask? Well, you should understand that Nairobi has a lot of traffic. And by "a lot" I mean A LOT. Think L.A., and now take away about 15 of the highways in the area, and increase the number of people trying to get somewhere by 10. Then, take away any meaning you ever associated with traffic lights, and imagine half of the remaining roads without pavement, and add in a lot of potholes everywhere. Sounds like fun, right? And just think... rainy season started a few days ago... (but we'll come back to that later). So anyway, in all of this traffic madness, people have places to go, and matatu drivers have money to collect, so everyone is trying to get everywhere ASAP. Since I've been here, I've heard about probably 20 traffic accidents. As you can imagine, driving around Nairobi at 4 in the morning is a lot more doable than it is during the day. The drivers can actually race around, as opposed to just trying to race around when they can't because of the traffic.

In other news, we learned today very briefly about Islam, Swahili/Costal culture(s), and things that we're bound to experience when we go to Mombasa tomorrow. While learning about midwifery and baby things, we came to understand that it's pretty popular along the coast to breast-feed your baby until it reaches 2 or 3 years of age, at which point it is acceptable to turn your baby off to breast milk by coating the mother's nipples in a)chili or b)hair. Your pick (that is, if you're the mother).

So. back to rainy season. First of all, 3 days into rainy season, I've already nearly fallen on my bum twice on my way to school, waded knee-deep through puddles that I thought would only cover my ankles (I heard multiple stories about friends that made the same mistake, but ended up going in up to their wastes). Overall, I'm happy to have arrived at school each day with only moderately muddy feet/splatter marks all over the backs of my legs, though I'm wondering when the sewers are finally going to clear...

All that being said, I'm still thrilled that there are ways to get places despite the rain. True, crossing traffic is waaaay hard (now that there are rivers to navigate in addition the various lanes of cars that you inevitably get stuck between if you try to get anywhere), BUT I'd much rather have to cross one lane at a time than be stuck in some of the slums that we've been visiting, where you're better off holding yourself up on the walls of the shacks than trying to navigate the alleys between them. This past week we visited Kibera (the largest slum in East Africa, and second largest in Africa, complete with 11 villages inside it) and Muthare, another of Nairobi's 3 slums, and had the chance to take a few walks around with some local NGOs. Luckily, we visited them before the rains had started, making it possible to navigate our way around the streams/puddles of sewage/garbage in the tiny alleyways, though I really have absolutely no idea how people get around with all the rain. Even when the alleys turn from rivers to mud after drying a little, I still can't imagine getting down the steep slopes without sliding your way to your destination.

The NGOs we visited and got to know were really pretty amazing, and seem to be the kinds of organizations that make the best impact possible, given the circumstances under which they're working (Sidenote: if you know anyone that might be interested in working with any sort of NGO or research organization in Kenya and/or Uganda, I can likely help provide pretty great contacts) In Muthare, we visited MYSA, an organization that combines a soccer league with libraries and other youth organizations around Nairobi. It sounds sketchy, but it's impacted thousands of kids in various slums, it provides a safe haven for kids both with and without access to formal education, and after only 11 years, it has sent multiple teams from its league all over the world (Europe, South America) for football (soccer) tournaments, which they have won. Pretty great. There were a bunch of other amazing NGOs, all started either by, or in partnership with locals that grew up in the slums, which seems to be a pretty apparent trend across all of the successful projects and/or organizations that we've encountered so far. Surprise? Hardly. Still good to see though, as it seems to be a reminder that there is, indeed, a way to facilitate development along with community respect and sustainability, which can otherwise seem like a pretty impossible goal.

While we're turning negative things into positive ones, I'd like to share with you the highlight of the other day... (we're going back to the rainy season theme, now, FYI). I had gone to a nearby market, and had gotten so sucked into my efforts to haggle for a one-piece swimsuit (in my attempts to me a little more conservative while on the coast) that I didn't notice the odd yellow color that the sky had turned as a warning of the impending rainstorm (this would be the first day of rainy season, which had otherwise seemed impossible in such a dry climate). So, in the time that it took me to realize that it was going to rain, and get myself part of the way home, it had started to drizzle, which quickly turned into a full-fledged storm, and then nothing short of a downpour. After running home (yes, literally running), I was swimming-pool wet, and dripping all over the place. After peeling off my jeans, my little sister and I decided to go out and play in the rain, and ended up dancing, racing, running around, and generally acting like a couple of semi-obnoxious hooligans in the street (wazimu chizi in swahili). After about an hour of that, we had Jess, the house help, throw us down some money from the balcony, which we then used to buy the squishiest mangoes we could find, and ended up having the most delicious and messy mango fight I have ever had (though I suppose I haven't really had many others). All-in-all, it was a pretty great finale to the day, even if I didn't end up buying the swimsuit (the stupid vendor wouldn't haggle after his first price reduction, and I got stubborn).

On that note, I'm going to go pack now. I started this blog a few days ago and only just finished, so I'm a little over the novelty of all of it, though hopefully I've at least held your attention for this one. I'm off to Mombasa tonight (hopefully I sleep an hour or two on the bus), then to Shirazi (a rural village near-ish to Mombasa) so I'm going to be without internet for the next few weeks. SO, by all means, send me lots of things, though please don't expect immediate response. I will, however, say that I will do my best to think happy thoughts in your general direction (aka the Western hemisphere).

Have a nice few weeks, and as you feel sorry for yourself as you put on your third sweater, you can just think of me sweating through the clothing that'll be covering all of me except for my face and hands. And when I say sweating, I mean SWEATING. Just look up the temp/humidity there...

I am here, AND I have internet. What more could I want?

So, hopefully this will be the first blog post of many. So far, I've been in Kenya for about three weeks, and been with the program for about three days, maybe four. Not able to bear the thought of leaving their little precious, Mom and Dad escorted me across the world, and spent the first two weeks helping me acclimate to everything with a nice safari, after which they left me with the head of anNGO with whom I may end up working after my semester here. The safari was great, and included countless species of animals at all points of life and death. Checkfacebook soon for pics (photo credit: mom).

Then, I went and visited Kinyatta Village and one of Nairobi's outskirts, Mlolongo, where I had my first bucket shower and poop in a hole. It was pretty cool to go to Kinyatta, where I was welcomed by about half of the village that had prepared a dance for me, and then we had this great big ceremony where I handed out stuff that I had brought with me like secondhand clothes and school supplies. It was great to be able to help people, and pretty cool to see my things being used the next day, but I was pretty disillusioned by the position that they put me in (I felt like they thought I was royalty) and that in which they put themselves, portraying their need above all else. as someone trying to work against fostering dependency, this was hardly how I was hoping everything would go.

After the stay at the village, I returned to Nairobi for the start of my SIT study abroad program on health and community development. So far, the orientation's been great, and I've been really impressed with the staff and academic directors! They all have a wealth of information for the rest of us, and are incredibly approachable. Mykiswahili's getting much better very quickly (which isn't hard, considering I started not knowing anything) (turns out, hakuna matata really does mean "no worries").

In other news, I recently got set up with my homestay for my time here. I'm in Kibera (the area, not the slum, though it's only a 5 minute walk away) in a neighborhood called Woodley, which is really fairly nice. The apartment itself isn't anything too luxurious, but we do get water in the bathroom, and have fairly consistent plumming. Aaaaand, yesterday when everyone's power went out, we got ours back after an hour or so, while everyone else in the program apparently had to wait something like 7 hours. I live with my host mom, Mama Anna, and her daughter Velma, along with the househelp, Jess. Velma and Jess and I all share a room in the small flat, and we are occasionally joined by the husband/father when he isn't traveling for business or staying with his second wife/family, who apparently live in the same compound.

We don't have too much time to explore the city, and I'm still scheming ways to meet people my age and/or people I can play soccer with, but in general school's great, home's good, and most meals involve a substantial amount of mango, and tea (some of which even has relatively normal amounts of sugar). So, all-in-all, things are pretty great. ALSO, there is an abundance of indian food here, and I have learned to make a mean chapati.

In the meantime, ANY COMMUNICATION is greatly appreciated! Email, sms, facebook, even snail mail would be super, since I'll be here until Aug.

If you have gmail, you can send me texts for free, and I might even be able to respond! here's a link to show you how: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en_ke/sms.html#utm_campaign=en_ke&utm_source=bubble_ke&utm_medium=et&dc=bubble_ke
Also, if you send me your phone number, I can send you texts the same way...

Here's all the contact info you could want:

cell phone: +254726899540 (it's with safaricom)

email: tasharussman@gmail.com

snail mail: Tasha Russman c/o SIT Box 21752 Nairobi, 00505 Kenya

skype: Tasha.Russman

msn messenger: Tasha.Russman@hotmail.com


Tutaonana!
Tasha