Habari Family and Friends. First of all THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE BIRTHDAY WISHES! I am so grateful for all of the love and support! I wish I could have seen you all for my birthday. Now.... Sorry for the delay on updates, I have been moving in and getting settled into my new digs. I am now living in Turbo, well actually just outside of Turbo. I moved in on Thursday after swear in. Swear in was at the ambassadors house. It was a beautiful ceremony and we lucked out with no rain. (pictures to come) Now I originally moved in with another Business volunteer. We were both supposed to be working for the same womens organization, Joyful Women. Well as of Wednesday she quit, and yesterday morning she moved out. This leaves me to my own peace corps experience that I was originally expecting. This also means I have a ton of extra space for many visitors (hint hint.) I live on a beautiful piece of land. There is a farm on my compound. I get fresh milk everyday, to make chai ( I LOVE CHAI) I pretty much make better chai lattes than Starbucks! (if this doesn't entice you to visit....) than consider this I live in the greenest part of Africa. The climate is perfect! Not to hot (yet) right now is the long rains, so it rains, but still beautiful! Monday was my first day of work. I met everyone in the office, however the office is in Eldoret (about a 45 min matatu ride) I will mostly be working directly with the women's groups (there are over 400 in the surrounding areas) I obviously will not be able to get to them all, but the ones I do get to meet with, I will be educating them on personal hygiene, home sanitation, water sanitation, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and much more. I also (hopefully) will be working with the local schools.
The latest on the local eats. Right before swear in we still had a day left of training in Nairobi. Here we learned that 1 chapati (all of gods goodness fried into 1 beautiful flat bread) each has over 500 calories and over 300 fat cal! Yes I usually ate 2 or 3 when my family in Loitockitock would make them! Then 2 for breakfast the next day! This explains the weight gain. Along with almost daily mandazi, (fried doughnuts.) Yes Kenyans have a bit of an oil/fry obsession, that is contributing to my poor eating habits! Now that i am on my own hopefully I will eat better. I did however attempt to make chapati for my birthday present to myself. Not a failed attempt but the next batch will go better.
The latest on local wear. Yes I still am wearing skirts (below the knee) this is actually more convenient when using the choo (squat pot.) I now prefer skirts and even wear them on my day off!
For those of you wanting to send me packages (greatly appreciated, would prefer them hand delivered by you) here is my new address: PO Box 32, Turbo, Kenya 30106. And here is a revised list of wish list items: American candy (m&m's, reese pieces, etc) Mayo and relish packets or tuna salad kits, cute cheap clothes/sunglasses (keep me in American style) magazines ( to read and then make jewelry, if you send one you get a bracelet) instant coffee/cappuccino, pictures of you and your families, mac and cheese/ velveeta shells and cheese. (honestly anything I receive is a surprise and I love everything!)
I miss everyone at home, but am still having the time and experience of a lifetime! I love you all! xoxoxoxo
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