From the back of my sub-conscience an infuriating beeping disrupted my dream. As I groggily opened my eyes to darkness I fumbled around for my glasses...race day. Last night around 8:30 pm Alex, Megan and I had the brilliant idea to compete in the Kasigau Marathon. We set out for the race a solid hour later than we had planned, in America this would have meant that we would probably have missed the race, in Kenya this means that not only are we on time but we have a couple hours to kill!
The race is set to start at 8 am, at 10:40 we mosey on over to the starting line, around 11 the race begins. The race is broken up into seven heats: professionals, men 40+, women 40+, men 28-39, women 28-39, men 14-27 and women 14-27. Although we registered for the women's 14-27 we decided to make our own bracket...white people. A race in Kenya is quite unique, no US race can parallel that of a rural race in the Kenyan back country. The streets are lined with cheering village people as they all gather to cheer on their fellow villagers. It is difficult to decipher racers from fans because everyone is dressed the same the only distinguisher is the bright colored numbers pinned to the competitors chest. The men are dressed in T-shirts and jeans the women wear a blouse and a kikoi (traditional Africa wrap) and of course everyone is barefoot or in sandals. As the rope drops everyone breaks into a sprint we coast out in a jog (don't want to overexert ourselves). As we pass through the streets cheers and jeers arise from the crowd "go wazunga (white girls)!" If you know anything about running you know that Kenyans are infamous for their fast paced barefoot running, this is absolutely NOT an exaggeration. As the cloud of dust in front of us begins to fade we all laugh, there is no way they can keep that up for 10 miles. Guess again...as we hit mile two we are feeling pretty good about ourselves as we rock out to Ke$ha and then in the distance that dust cloud appears again. Grant it they started before us but not that ahead of us. He was on the home stretch and we were just out of the gate...if I were to make excuses about our performance I would blame it on the altitude, the heat or the terrain but when it comes down to it were just three white girls competing against phenomenal athletes what can ya do?
Anyways back to the race. It was a 16 k (10 miles), in a race back home there would be water stops every mile or so, and they definitely had water stops at this race but if you take a sip you are tempting disaster (there is a high chance that you will get the Kenyan version of Montezuma's Revenge). As the racers fill there little cups I gawked in envy for our water comes randomly as we wait for Steve (Alex and Megan's father) to appear on the motorcycle with a water bottle. We never really knew when we would actually get water, and each time I was about ready to call it quits Steve would appear. Each sip of water propelled us to keep going, that and we really didn't have an excuse (or a means of transportation) not to finish the race. As we crossed the finish line I would like to say Alex, Megan and I were met with cheers and hugs from our friends and fellow racers bur in reality most of the competitors had finished long before and everyone's attention had been diverted to the relay races. Nonetheless we were ecstatic (or as excited as you can be after you run 10 miles in the blistering heat) endorphins and adrenaline were pumping as we desperately searched the crowd for Steve (aka our bottles of water). After we retrieved our water we retreated into the shade for some salt, carbs and water.
As we victoriously walked to our shaded benches ("the winners circle") we all congratulated each other for a job well done, this was my entrance back into the racing world. It has been seven months since I tore my ACL and six months since my surgery. Everyone picks some sort of feat to accomplish just after their sixth month mark, mine was a half marathon in Kenya...not too shabby.
In case you were wondering:
The winner ran 20 kilometers in 55 minutes (this was unofficial because he's a professional marathon racer he also went farther than everyone else).
The men ran 16.1 kilometers.
The women ran 14 kilometers.
We ran 16.1 kilometers ( we were misinformed about the turning point).
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Ponderings
Things that are interesting:
1) We saw a Black Mamba (not Kobe Bryant) sun bathing by the road next to a primary school. We made a pit stop to inform them, apparently a snake had killed a man earlier this week. A snake's venom can kill someone in 2 hours. A 4 foot snake has enough venom to kill at least 20 people.
2) We have taught at 4 of the 5 schools. Two of the villages were angels, I wouldn't mind if I never stepped foot in the other village again...sassy seventh graders are not my cup of tea.
3) We are hosting a marathon this weekend. Each contestant must sign a waiver stating that they do not have malaria for a symptom of malaria is dehydration. People are willing to risk their lives in order to win the cash prize.
4) In the United States only creepers/pedophiles (or Mustache March participants) display this disgusting facial trend. The other night JJ decided he would show off this undesirable fashion to the children of Kasigua. Lucky them.
5) My parent's just celebrated their 24 Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations!
6) We leave the villages in 9 days and head to the coast for a tropical vacation before we head home. I'm in desperate need of a little bronzing/beach action.
1) We saw a Black Mamba (not Kobe Bryant) sun bathing by the road next to a primary school. We made a pit stop to inform them, apparently a snake had killed a man earlier this week. A snake's venom can kill someone in 2 hours. A 4 foot snake has enough venom to kill at least 20 people.
2) We have taught at 4 of the 5 schools. Two of the villages were angels, I wouldn't mind if I never stepped foot in the other village again...sassy seventh graders are not my cup of tea.
3) We are hosting a marathon this weekend. Each contestant must sign a waiver stating that they do not have malaria for a symptom of malaria is dehydration. People are willing to risk their lives in order to win the cash prize.
4) In the United States only creepers/pedophiles (or Mustache March participants) display this disgusting facial trend. The other night JJ decided he would show off this undesirable fashion to the children of Kasigua. Lucky them.
5) My parent's just celebrated their 24 Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations!
6) We leave the villages in 9 days and head to the coast for a tropical vacation before we head home. I'm in desperate need of a little bronzing/beach action.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Wild Life
This past month the club has hosted a soccer tournament between the villages. Last weekend we had the final game, it was the only game we attended...oh well. It was really interesting to watch, no only are the teams vying for the championship title and the pride and glory associated with such. The winners of the tournament are given a shiny trophy (what would a win be like without a giant trophy to bring home), new soccer balls and a pump, and cleats. Because our lesson was running a little behind, aka right on time because everything in Africa is anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours behind schedule, anyways as we make our way to the field the game is already underway. The field looks like a battlefield as bodies race back and forth, the motion churning the dirt into an aggravated state. As the muddle of weeds and dirt subsides the players begin to appear. One team is dressed head to toe in a proper soccer garb but the other team is wearing make shift jerseys (red shirts) and barefoot. Yes let that sink in, the team is barefoot, sprinting back and forth across a field of thistles. But they do not mind, they are there for the love of the game, and the blood and sweat are but a mere condiment in their battle for the title. We are not supposed to pick a side, but clearly everyone is cheering for the shoeless wonders...and after an hour and a half they emerge victories. The fans and team rush the field to congratulate the victors it is a glorious sight. Picture when you were young and you won your very first award, that undulated excitement pulsating from every inch of your body, as you are crowned champion! After the awards ceremony we headed home after a long days work, for another day of teaching lay ahead.
I wouldn't say teaching the high school students was a breeze but definitely better than I anticipated. Next we had primary school, oh boy. The day started a bit rocky as we forgot to bring Fern Gully, the children's entertainment. Luckily we found a replacement, The Chronicles of Narnia, this was my first time watching it, it was SO GOOD! JJ and I sat enthralled, the children were a bit confused considering it was in English with no subtitles, but that didn't matter, we liked it. However the children were entertained by the images, who doesn't like talking animals. Amazingly they all sat through the entire movie...it was great. Another successful day, awesome. The next day would be a bit trickier as we had grades 6-8 and it was our first time teaching the HIV/AIDS course to younger children.
As the children shuffled into the Library we broke them up by classes and selected a tutor for each of us. I was assigned grade 7, I am not going to lie, this was my first solo mission and I was nervous luckily awkward doesn't translate to seventh graders. To them I appeared calm and collected. We started with a game entitled "Cross the Line" it is an ice breaker to gauge how much the children know about HIV/AIDS and to get them comfortable with the program. We draw a line on the floor and the students stand to one side, if they answer yes to the question they step across if the answer is no, they stay...super simple. But able to answer difficult questions in front of judgmental classmates is always difficult but they were doing SO WELL! Everyone was answering honestly, this gave me more courage and assurance for the rest of the class. After we did a fact and question period and then gathered all the classes and jumped into the animation. After the animation we broke up into grades again. This time we had a quiz to test their knowledge, this was difficult because the quiz was in English and they didn't speak English. A pang of panic began to strike, then I remembered the bag of chocolate in my bag. I quickly scooped up the tests and told the kids we were going to do something else.
"Who likes chocolate?"
Grins filled the room.
"Awesome, I am going to read the questions one at a time, raise your hand if you know the answer, if its right you get chocolate."
Chocolate reads well in any culture, they were hooked. After we finished the questions I still had extra chocolate so I passed some to the shy kids. After the candy was gone I told them they were free but anyone that had questions could ask me after. One boy stayed seated, he meekly raised his had to ask me a couple of questions. After we had finished talking he asked if he could read my Stanford booklet. I gladly gave it to him and told him to return it to the library after he was done. As cheesy as it sounds, it was such an amazing feeling knowing that I had sparked an interest for him and that I could supply him with the material and knowledge to better educate himself.
Another.Great.Day.
I wouldn't say teaching the high school students was a breeze but definitely better than I anticipated. Next we had primary school, oh boy. The day started a bit rocky as we forgot to bring Fern Gully, the children's entertainment. Luckily we found a replacement, The Chronicles of Narnia, this was my first time watching it, it was SO GOOD! JJ and I sat enthralled, the children were a bit confused considering it was in English with no subtitles, but that didn't matter, we liked it. However the children were entertained by the images, who doesn't like talking animals. Amazingly they all sat through the entire movie...it was great. Another successful day, awesome. The next day would be a bit trickier as we had grades 6-8 and it was our first time teaching the HIV/AIDS course to younger children.
As the children shuffled into the Library we broke them up by classes and selected a tutor for each of us. I was assigned grade 7, I am not going to lie, this was my first solo mission and I was nervous luckily awkward doesn't translate to seventh graders. To them I appeared calm and collected. We started with a game entitled "Cross the Line" it is an ice breaker to gauge how much the children know about HIV/AIDS and to get them comfortable with the program. We draw a line on the floor and the students stand to one side, if they answer yes to the question they step across if the answer is no, they stay...super simple. But able to answer difficult questions in front of judgmental classmates is always difficult but they were doing SO WELL! Everyone was answering honestly, this gave me more courage and assurance for the rest of the class. After we did a fact and question period and then gathered all the classes and jumped into the animation. After the animation we broke up into grades again. This time we had a quiz to test their knowledge, this was difficult because the quiz was in English and they didn't speak English. A pang of panic began to strike, then I remembered the bag of chocolate in my bag. I quickly scooped up the tests and told the kids we were going to do something else.
"Who likes chocolate?"
Grins filled the room.
"Awesome, I am going to read the questions one at a time, raise your hand if you know the answer, if its right you get chocolate."
Chocolate reads well in any culture, they were hooked. After we finished the questions I still had extra chocolate so I passed some to the shy kids. After the candy was gone I told them they were free but anyone that had questions could ask me after. One boy stayed seated, he meekly raised his had to ask me a couple of questions. After we had finished talking he asked if he could read my Stanford booklet. I gladly gave it to him and told him to return it to the library after he was done. As cheesy as it sounds, it was such an amazing feeling knowing that I had sparked an interest for him and that I could supply him with the material and knowledge to better educate himself.
Another.Great.Day.
Friday, July 22, 2011
And Then I Went Back to High School
Do you remember how awkward you were in high school...acne, the introduction to puberty and of course that need and desire to be popular. You are lying to yourself if you try to say that you didn't try to be or act cool (unless you were a brown noser because then no on liked you or cared about how you acted in class...you were just irritating), no matter what culture you interact with teenagers are a pain especially with a substitute teacher. And so begins our entrance back into high school.
As the students shuffled into the classroom the room is instantly disheveled as the students automatically rearrange the room so they are able to sit with their cliques. The more ambitious students hustle to the front of the classroom so that they may position themselves in front of the video screen. The angsty teens clamor to the corner by the exit so they can sneak out when they get bored. As our program begins there is no sign that the student's conversations are coming to a close, but as the translator makes her way to the front of the class the voices come to a halt and the lesson begins. We begin with a simple fact and question session as an ice breaker, nervous students raise their hands to spout off knowledge or questions about HIV/AIDS. A majority of the students are taking the exercise serious but some continue to talk, as we try to quite the students regaining the groups attention JJ singles out a talkative boy and asks him a question. The stunned and embarrassed boy instantly adjusts his attitude. JJ then continues to tell the students that he is volunteering his time and if the students don't want to be here they can leave, it makes no difference to him. His nonchalant but authoritative attitude seems to really have an effect on the students, they shut up...real quick.
After the fact and answer section we dive right into the "animation," this program was created by Stanford. It is not only educational but it seems to hold the children's interest. The program is very useful for they created different programs for different countries. We show the students the program in English and Swahili, with intermittent question and answer times in order to see that the students are digesting the information. After the animation we ask the students for feedback regarding our teaching methods, this is useful for they give us strategies in order that we can make the program more age appropriate for the younger primary schools that we will visit next week. Overall the students display a real interest in the material and are well behaved (by the end of the lecture the rowdy kids have snuck out anyways).
Teaching is always an interesting phenomenon, (anyone that knows me knows that I am impatient and a bit awkward aka this will be a learning experience for myself and the students) anyone that steps up in front of a classroom to mold the minds of willing leathers has quite the task, no matter the age or subject matter. What is said has a profound impact on someone, obviously not everyone is listening but someone is. It is a strange feeling knowing that my time here will have a lasting impact on someone, even if it was an indirect interaction.
As the students shuffled into the classroom the room is instantly disheveled as the students automatically rearrange the room so they are able to sit with their cliques. The more ambitious students hustle to the front of the classroom so that they may position themselves in front of the video screen. The angsty teens clamor to the corner by the exit so they can sneak out when they get bored. As our program begins there is no sign that the student's conversations are coming to a close, but as the translator makes her way to the front of the class the voices come to a halt and the lesson begins. We begin with a simple fact and question session as an ice breaker, nervous students raise their hands to spout off knowledge or questions about HIV/AIDS. A majority of the students are taking the exercise serious but some continue to talk, as we try to quite the students regaining the groups attention JJ singles out a talkative boy and asks him a question. The stunned and embarrassed boy instantly adjusts his attitude. JJ then continues to tell the students that he is volunteering his time and if the students don't want to be here they can leave, it makes no difference to him. His nonchalant but authoritative attitude seems to really have an effect on the students, they shut up...real quick.
After the fact and answer section we dive right into the "animation," this program was created by Stanford. It is not only educational but it seems to hold the children's interest. The program is very useful for they created different programs for different countries. We show the students the program in English and Swahili, with intermittent question and answer times in order to see that the students are digesting the information. After the animation we ask the students for feedback regarding our teaching methods, this is useful for they give us strategies in order that we can make the program more age appropriate for the younger primary schools that we will visit next week. Overall the students display a real interest in the material and are well behaved (by the end of the lecture the rowdy kids have snuck out anyways).
Teaching is always an interesting phenomenon, (anyone that knows me knows that I am impatient and a bit awkward aka this will be a learning experience for myself and the students) anyone that steps up in front of a classroom to mold the minds of willing leathers has quite the task, no matter the age or subject matter. What is said has a profound impact on someone, obviously not everyone is listening but someone is. It is a strange feeling knowing that my time here will have a lasting impact on someone, even if it was an indirect interaction.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Thanks Disney
Fact: sunrises in Africa are one of the most breathtaking visions you will ever come across.
Imagine a blood orange hue rising over a barren savanna, as it peaks over the horizon it radiates off of all it touches. As it climbs through the purple cotton candy clouds tiny images begin to move all around and shapes become forms. Animals begin to appear at the watering hole behind our camp sight, a heard of elephants slowly slink into the clearing so that they can establish their territory. It is a phenomenal sight, sitting with a cup of tea on the patio gazing at these docile creatures only a couple yards from me!
Because our teaching schedule was thrown off we decided to go on a safari, as we approached the park my excitement grew. About a month ago, I had ventured into the San Diego wildlife park, and had my first close encounters with "wild" animals, but being in a safari park in the middle of Kenya is a little different. First, we hired a driver, this brave man, Khan, picked us up bright and early in his pop top van for a unique excursion...into the bush. We sailed through the savanna in search of animals, apparently there is a "top five" list of animals to see in parks: lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants and rhino. Obviously I had my own list...lions and hippos. I was told lions might be tricky and we mint have to go to a different place to see hippos...this didn't deter me desire to see either. Within 10 minutes of entering the park we saw two lioness basking in the afternoon sun. Well that was easy. (btw we saw at least eight lions, even a male, on five different occasions). We continued to scour the land in search of animals, and I fulfilling my Asian stereotype took pictures of everything (later to come don't worry). As we continued on our way Khan and Cathy called our different animals hiding in the brush, apparently I had a very vacant expression at each sighting, then the Disney references began. Let's see I saw mufasa, simba, raffiki, zazu, ed (hyena), pumba, timon and wildebeest (caused the stampede that killed mufasa)...I know I butchered the names but I know you know who I am talking about. Thank you Disney, you have not only instilled in me an incredibly high standard for guys but you have also educated me in different cultures and animals across the globe...awesome.
After a short lunch break we headed back out into the park for an evening ride. The Lighting was beautiful soft pastels streaked across the plains as large black figures lumbered across the land in search of watering holes. Jackpot, we paused at the watering hole as hundreds of elephants gathered to take their last sips as the sun quickly sank down into the sand. The last light radiating off the figures as they splashed around in their little oasis. This. Was. Breathtaking. And just as we began to pull away I spotted it. A giant blob lounging amidst the bathing ellys. My hippo. It was beautiful. Don't ask me why I am obsessed with hippos they are dangerous and awkward, but I think they are adorable. Mission accomplished, my list was complete. We headed back to camp for a late dinner and story time, by story time I mean JJ reading excepts from his book, "Assholes Finish First," by Tucker Max. This could be one of the most disturbingly addicting reads I have ever come across, I'm not going to recommend it by any means but I'm not going to tell you not to read it. This narrsasstic prick is somehow able to weave riveting stories about his "play"/frat boy lifestyle that are so inappropriate but you just can't quite get enough...
We woke up at 6 to grab a quick breakfast and head back to the park, we had to be out be noon. Khan determined to find a hyena, through static chatter on the radio we discovered one was nearby. They are creepy, let me tell ya. After the hyena we drove around until our checkout at noon. The safari ended like any other safari with a trip to a cheesy merchandise store to purchase "local" crafts. After a short courtesy visit we were back on our way home.
Imagine a blood orange hue rising over a barren savanna, as it peaks over the horizon it radiates off of all it touches. As it climbs through the purple cotton candy clouds tiny images begin to move all around and shapes become forms. Animals begin to appear at the watering hole behind our camp sight, a heard of elephants slowly slink into the clearing so that they can establish their territory. It is a phenomenal sight, sitting with a cup of tea on the patio gazing at these docile creatures only a couple yards from me!
Because our teaching schedule was thrown off we decided to go on a safari, as we approached the park my excitement grew. About a month ago, I had ventured into the San Diego wildlife park, and had my first close encounters with "wild" animals, but being in a safari park in the middle of Kenya is a little different. First, we hired a driver, this brave man, Khan, picked us up bright and early in his pop top van for a unique excursion...into the bush. We sailed through the savanna in search of animals, apparently there is a "top five" list of animals to see in parks: lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants and rhino. Obviously I had my own list...lions and hippos. I was told lions might be tricky and we mint have to go to a different place to see hippos...this didn't deter me desire to see either. Within 10 minutes of entering the park we saw two lioness basking in the afternoon sun. Well that was easy. (btw we saw at least eight lions, even a male, on five different occasions). We continued to scour the land in search of animals, and I fulfilling my Asian stereotype took pictures of everything (later to come don't worry). As we continued on our way Khan and Cathy called our different animals hiding in the brush, apparently I had a very vacant expression at each sighting, then the Disney references began. Let's see I saw mufasa, simba, raffiki, zazu, ed (hyena), pumba, timon and wildebeest (caused the stampede that killed mufasa)...I know I butchered the names but I know you know who I am talking about. Thank you Disney, you have not only instilled in me an incredibly high standard for guys but you have also educated me in different cultures and animals across the globe...awesome.
After a short lunch break we headed back out into the park for an evening ride. The Lighting was beautiful soft pastels streaked across the plains as large black figures lumbered across the land in search of watering holes. Jackpot, we paused at the watering hole as hundreds of elephants gathered to take their last sips as the sun quickly sank down into the sand. The last light radiating off the figures as they splashed around in their little oasis. This. Was. Breathtaking. And just as we began to pull away I spotted it. A giant blob lounging amidst the bathing ellys. My hippo. It was beautiful. Don't ask me why I am obsessed with hippos they are dangerous and awkward, but I think they are adorable. Mission accomplished, my list was complete. We headed back to camp for a late dinner and story time, by story time I mean JJ reading excepts from his book, "Assholes Finish First," by Tucker Max. This could be one of the most disturbingly addicting reads I have ever come across, I'm not going to recommend it by any means but I'm not going to tell you not to read it. This narrsasstic prick is somehow able to weave riveting stories about his "play"/frat boy lifestyle that are so inappropriate but you just can't quite get enough...
We woke up at 6 to grab a quick breakfast and head back to the park, we had to be out be noon. Khan determined to find a hyena, through static chatter on the radio we discovered one was nearby. They are creepy, let me tell ya. After the hyena we drove around until our checkout at noon. The safari ended like any other safari with a trip to a cheesy merchandise store to purchase "local" crafts. After a short courtesy visit we were back on our way home.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Thank you, come again.
So I find myself in Africa. After a short visit to London I headed down to Kenya for a month. This trip began on July 10, and shall end on August 14. In between I will be traveling around Kenya, the main purpose of my trip is to teach an HIV/AIDS awareness course to five villages surrounding the Kasigua area. However, the group I am with is also trying to begin a biofuel project in the area to stop the use of coal in the villages.
The first two days of my trip were in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. We shopped around for supplies and picked up two presses (this is the biofuel tool, it creates briquettes out of old materials, like saw dust).
On the 15, we traveled down (or which ever direction Kasigua is to Nairobi) to Kasigua, the drive is normally a seven hour drive, but with all the random roadway stops it turned into an all day trek across Kenya. Stops ranged from selecting produce from roadside vendors to purchasing hand crafted statues and tables. Now driving in different countries is always a terrifying activity, (the South of Italy knows no speed limits, Tokyo drifting, does Mexico even have road laws? ) but Africa is another another thing, not only are there wild animals (giraffes, gazelles, and elephants) running along the highway, if the highway is not a dirt path with millions of potholes, it is a narrow two lane road where there is no such thing as two sides of the road, everyone passes everyone at their own discretion, as if that wasn't enough it is also common to bribe the police in order to pass barriers, if the drive isn't excitement enough I don't know what is.
The next couple of days were spent traveling around the villages setting up for the classes and purchasing baskets from the local women's weaver clubs. The group I am with purchases a number of baskets from each village, brings the baskets back and sells them at their local farmers market to make money for the club.
We have a bit of a delay on the teaching because the schools schedules keep changing. Due to the budget they are ending a week early, this poses a problem because now instead of a couple of weeks to teach we have one...whoops. on the upside we have a lot of free time, so now we are on our way to my first safari!!
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