Kenya: Week 12 Pre-Service Training

Monday

We started off the week by revisiting Jebrock to teach life skills for the last time. It was a good last session, but it was so hard to say goodbye to Dan. I will miss him greatly. Back at the training center, we received our LPI exam results and I passed! To celebrate, Savannah and I went to Wigot Gardens Hotel to swim and have pizza and cake. It was so nice to relax with a beautiful view of Kisumu all afternoon. Back at the training center, I opened Dan’s gift. He made me promise to open it after we said our goodbyes. He had written me a letter and I will treasure it forever. To end the day, Sophie and I started watching “The Lion King”, but I couldn’t hang and fell asleep before it finished 😊

Tuesday

When the teaching trainees arrived at the training center today, we were informed that there were no teaching meetings for today. This allowed me time to work on some paperwork for Peace Corps. I then walked to Mamboleo Market for market day. I found 6 dresses and Savannah and I found fabric for our patchwork pants we want to make. I then walked back to the training center for lunch and was able to take an afternoon nap. I watched the new movie “Leo” and the “Bad Surgeon: Love Under the Knife” documentary series while doing my nails to end the day.

Wednesday

Today, the education trainees met with our counterparts for the first time. We mainly did activities to get to know each other better and we were done with today’s activities at lunch. It poured down rain for the rest of today, so instead of going anywhere, I started watching “Suits” for the first time (I am hooked!).  

Thursday

We met with our counterparts all day today to create an action plan for the first three months at our site. I think this was a very successful meeting for my counterpart and I and I am looking forward to working with my school. The day ended with Peace Corps admin meetings and we received our Peace Corps ID badges (so exciting 😊). We got chocolate bars at the completion of this meeting (also very exciting) and then rested for a little before having dinner. At dinner, there was a dance group and pizza to celebrate us swearing in tomorrow. It was a lot of fun. Before the night ended, we filled out thank you cards for staff and signed pictures for each other to take with us when we move. This was a great idea by some of our cohort and I look forward to hanging up my picture when I get to site.  

Friday

The girls dorms got up earlier than usual to do hair and makeup for the swearing in ceremony today. Peace Corps cars picked us up at 8:30 to take us to Peace Corps headquarters for the first time. We got to use our badges to get in and we received a tour of the grounds followed by photography time. The ceremony went well and all the speakers did a great job (shoutout Liz B and Savannah). Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is something I’ve dreamed of for a long time, so to officially swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer was such an amazing feeling.

At lunch, there was traditional Kenyan food. The rice was made with a twist though. It looked like rice Funfetti and we found out they put food coloring in it to make it more special for the party. There was cake to end the party and Mama Margaret and I got to feed each other cake. It is a tradition that the party host feed their guests cake, so I fed Mama Margaret and then she did the same. When all the mamas were leaving to be taken back home, I yelled out “bye, Mama” and she was the only one who turned around because she knew my voice. I will remember that for a long time.

Once the festivities ended, we went to Locco Beach and I had my first margarita since arriving in Kenya. We snacked on fries and pizza and had a nice time along the shore of Lake Victoria for a few hours. When we were about to leave, we saw a hippo which was incredible and my second favorite part of today. Back at the training center, we did paper plate awards for each other and I won “most likely to get kidnapped for a bag of gummy bears” which is so accurate (thank you Caroline for organizing this).

Saturday

Today, we moved to our individual sites. We took private matatus to our sites because we had to transport all of our belongings. I was in a matatu with Savannah, Bramara, and Caroline because we were all going the same direction. The matatu stopped at a large market so that we could purchase cleaning supplies and snacks. We dropped off Savannah, Bramara, Caroline, then me. It was fun to see where everyone lives. I arrived at my compound around 3 and the compound family (Baba Archer and Mama Gladys) and my supervisor (Principal Richard) were there to greet me. We put everything inside my house then ate and chatted for a few hours. This family is awesome. It was my first time meeting them because Archer works out of Nairobi and Gladys works out of Kisumu. I am very lucky to have them as contacts while I am here. In my house, Gladys helped me set up my mosquito net and bed and the rest I will get to organize tomorrow.

Sunday

Today started nice and slow. We ate breakfast as a family and Archer introduced me to an egg and chapati burrito (delicious). I helped make the eggs for breakfast and it was the first time I’d cracked eggs from a local chicken. Their shells are much thicker than the egg shells I buy from the store at home. I then collected laundry to do with the family and Archer took me to Bondo to see his farm and to buy a mirror. We ate lunch at his favorite spot in Bondo and I had some delicious chicken stew, ugali, and orange Fanta. We ate papaya at the farm before heading home. On the way home, we stopped at a grocery store for a list of items for Gladys and I found green frills to make a Christmas tree on one of the walls of my home. I cleaned all my floors and rearranged furniture once I got back to the house. The power was out today, so I showered while it was still daylight then watched a show before going to bed. I had to call the Peace Corps doctor about a pain in my leg and I will need to travel to Kisumu tomorrow to get it checked, so a bit of an uneasy way to end the week.

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