Habari everyone! I have finally regained the
internet (kinda)! The Catholic radio station in Marsabit allows the sisters to
use their Wifi whenever they need, so sometimes they’ll be able to drop me off
here to use the internet while they run other errands. It also means they can
update their computers and let me watch over them so that they don’t have to
sit around and wait. Benefits for everyone!
Karare has been pretty awesome so far. I’ve been
here for three weeks now, and in that time I’ve led a career guidance seminar,
supervised study time for the students, done a ton of arts and crafts, and also
taken the Form One through Form Three girls home for their Christmas holidays.
All that are left are the Form Fours, who are in the process of taking the
KCSE, also known as the horrible and life-destroying national exam.
Here, have a lot of pictures so you can see what
I’ve been doing!
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| So this is my house at the edge of the compound |
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| And these are the water tanks |
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| The girls go to get their water for cleaning and washing each day |
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| Gotta wash the clothes, it's super dusty here |
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| And they also do seminars here sometimes! |
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| These are the younger kids |
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| And they also gave the puberty talk because someone has to |
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| It's a sunset! |
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| I've also been learning some cooking |
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| Though I eat dinner in the dining hall kitchen |
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| There's also lots of arts and crafts! |
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| I was particularly proud of the New Zealand crown |
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| It was all for World Mission Sunday |
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| Which was a feast day! |
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| And then we had my career guidance seminar |
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| Which went surprisingly not horribly |
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| And Sr. Cecilia taught the girls some dancing! |
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| We do a lot of dancing here |
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| The girls also really like candy |
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| More sunset! |
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| Plus this cool looking tree! |
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| So the Form Fours have their big exam and got blessed by the bishop |
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| And the rest of the girls went home for break |
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| Which means everything has gotten really quiet |
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| I miss them :( |
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| We also had the staff Christmas party! |
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| Lots of good food |
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| Also, we did skits (I was John leaping for joy in Elizabeth's womb) |
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| This is Ohkolam, who walks me to my house every night |
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| The dancing went...poorly this time |
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| AND I DID IN FACT SEE ELEPHANTS |
Another fun fact is that the rainy season is
beginning, which means that all the little and big insects are crawling out of
the ground to welcome us. I have removed a gnarly-looking grasshopper, a fairly
adorable frog, a quarter-sized spider, and a multitude of beetles from my
house. This removal occurred at night each time. I actually don’t mind the
spiders so much because they’re pretty quiet and I have a mosquito net (which I
thank God for every night).
The freakin’ beetles
though. Those jerks are so loud and they’ll just suddenly buzz and it freaks me
out and makes me super paranoid. I have since turned off the security light
outside and gotten a doorblock thing which will hopefully limit the number of
insects getting into my house. I also may have a small animal friend living in
my attic crawlspace, but I’m ignoring that possibility for the sake of my
mental health.
Anyway, the sisters go to town a little
sporadically, so I’m not sure when I’ll next be able to check in.
Kiswahili Phrase of the Month
Naenda nyumba – I’m going to the house (the phrase I
say to Ohkolam, the watchman who escorts me to my house every night with a gun
because hyenas)
Kwaheri!!
