Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody! And boy has
it been a ride. Once December 15th came around, everybody was on
their summer vacation. The schools and centers were closed. I assumed that I
would have a little bit of time to travel and relax but things do not always go
the way that I planned them to. I was recruited to help cook for Christmas for
the sisters next door. Help was probably not the most appropriate word since I
was the one in charge of nearly everything. I spent quite a few days in the
kitchen making different types of cookies which included gingerbread, jam,
peppermint, chocolate chip, and sugar cookies. Since most of the cookies made
were going to be Christmas presents to the dispensary patients, I had a lot of
make. I ended up making a little over 700 cookies!!! And boy were they
delicious. I then spent Christmas morning cooking lunch and dinner. I prepared
homemade sriracha fried chicken, rosemary and lemon baked chicken, and three
large – nay, gigantic – bowls of lasagna. Everything turned out well and
Christmas lunch was a party. Instead of exchanging gifts, there was African
music playing on the stereo outisde and everyone was dancing and having a great
time. An African Christmas was fun though it was odd not to be bundled in
blankets and unwrapping presents with my family. The day after, I went to Karen
to celebrate Christmas with the two other volunteers. We spent the evening at
another party. It was more of a cultural party since there were dances and
songs from the different tribes represented in the convent (including the
German, American, and Korean “tribes”). It was nice to see the sisters out of
their habits to be dressed in their tribal attire. After four months of working
in Kenya, I was finally able to glimpse at the tribal cultures. It is just
another reason to love Kenya.
My holiday
was nice but it is time to get back to work. I just arrived in Eldoret, a town
in the Great Rift Valley which is about 6 hours northwest of Nairobi, and will
be helping deliver and grade exams at a school nearby for about a week. Two
new-hire teachers did not show up on the first day of classes and exams so,
needless to say, temporary help is needed. The students are joyful and smart.
One student in the St. Scholastica school (it is kind of like a chain
restaurant but for schools run by Benedictine nuns) received extremely high marks
on his 8th grade exams and was ranked number 9 in the nation on the
test. Over 800,000 students took that test. It was a very proud moment for the
school and I am pleased to say that I have been spent time working there. Once
my job is done in Eldoret, I will head another 6 hours north to the Kerio
Valley, which is deep into the Rift Valley. I should be working at a dispensary
there while still seeing the truly rural part of Kenya. It is supposed to be
hot and dry in Kerio Valley but have the most wonderful night sky as well as
mangoes, papayas, and custard apples year round. I cannot wait to spend a
couple of weeks there. I have only a little over 3 months left in my African
Adventure. Where has the time gone?
