guess who got a modem! here's some from the past week

so this is a pic of me, izzy and andrea on the day we swore in.

This is my new home for the next 2 years! Its absolutly beautiful. The land around it is even better!

I just thought this looked really african :) its me and andrea with a bunch of kids in Taveta

this is a picture of a monkey in Kakamega forest. I know everyone is curious about the wild animals! haha 

heres a few updates

September 9, 2011

So Yesterday was international literacy day in my village. The chief invited me to come and introduce myself to the community as well as speak a little on health. It's kind of funny, everyone always ask me to say a little something about health. How can you say a LITTLE about health!? Maybe one topic, but they never give me a topic! hahaha so I chose water sanitation. Having safe water is important to help protect from water borne disease. There are 3 methods that we suggest; boiling water, using water guard, or using PUR. I went up to speak in front of, oh around 200 people plus the District Officer! I had prepared everything in Kiswahili, I started my speech. My counterpart/ friend Anastasia ran up giggling. "They can't understand you, so I will translate" Well at least I tried, they said it was too slow, well now I have a goal! First attempt, almost painless. 

The mama that works on the farm, said my puppy won't be ready to leave it's mother unitl October! I'm going through serious dog withdraws. My friend Andrea, another volunteer, has a puppy and I'm soooo jealous! I will have to wait until October. Atleast I have rats to keep me company. Hahaha just kidding, well kind of. I do have rats, but they're in my ceiling, so I've never seen them, just heard them. I'm considering putting one of the farm cats up in the ceiling and letting it get them. I just don't want to poison them and have them die in my ceiling then smell up my house. Dilemma 

September 5 2011

 I just want to write a quick note on traveling in Kenya. Its NOT easy, to say the least. One of the first things we were taught is that in Kenya, you hurry up to wait.  This can be said for many things. You hurry up to a meeting that starts at 11:00, to wait for everyone to show up by 12:30. You hurry up to get on a matatu or bus to get somewhere, then wait as that matatu "takes its time".  For those who know me, I am a very punctual on time or early person, so this has been a challenge for me.  Well I am proud to say now, I am Kenyan, not in a hurry, and not mad when I have to wait. Surprising I know, It is actually something I am becoming to get used to and not mind, I just have to laugh about it. And for those of you planning to visit, you will get to experience first hand because we will be traveling as the Kenyans do! That's all for now!

August 31 2011

Hey everyone! So I'm on week 3! I had a great weekend at Kakamega forest this past weekend. Had a blast! I stayed with my friend Lindsay (another volunteer). We went to Kakamega forest and hiked for a bit. We saw 2 different kinds of monkeys! Unfortunately that was the only wild animal we got to see, but still had a good time.  I did however have horrible luck with the matatu situation. A matatu is public means of transportation here. They are basically an old school mini van that has 14 passenger seats, however they fill the matatus up! I was on one with 18 people, and our bags (if not other passengers) our in our laps, so I have learned to pack light.

I have been meeting with small and large women's groups that are part of my organization JOYWO (Joyful Women Organization: www.joywo.org). Soon I will start teaching them about health; malaria prevention, hygiene, sanitation, HIV/AIDS, and basically anything I can think of. Also I will hopefully be aloud to teach an hour or so a week at the local schools. I will teach the girls about personal hygiene.  So far I like my job, but it has only been a week.  I am meeting with smaller women's groups this week, near my community. I met with one group the other day. I want to teach them about things they have interests in. I opened the floor for questions, and didn't expect the questions I got. They're concerns consist of dental hygiene, breast and cervical cancer, and other bodily functions. uh HELLO, peace corps training prepared us for home and water sanitation, malaria, and HIV/AIDS! These questions through me for a spin! I was able to answer some, but I am meeting with them next month and am planning on finding the answers to all of their questions.

I absolutely LOVE my house! The only downside is the bee problem. I already got stung once! But hopefully this next gas job does the trick. My house is on a beautiful farm. With many cows, chickens, corn, kale, pumpkin, and milk.  The people that work on the farm are so friendly and welcoming, they feel like family already. I'm about a 45 min matatu ride from Eldoret, which is the closest city to me. I am excited to have visitors! (hint hint) Let me know if you want to come visit It has everything that I might need and can't get in my town.  Right now it's the rainy season, so I have to wear my rain boots almost everyday. Mom, THANK YOU for the raincoat! hahahah definitely a necessity here.

I forgot to mention this in the earlier post, but for those of you planning to send me anything, please put a bible quote on the package. I know this sounds odd, but most Kenyans are religious and superstitious, so my chances are higher of getting my package, and I probably won't have to pay a high duty.

That is all for now! xoxoxoxo

Also for my future visitors, please keep this in mind: you will need to get your yellow fever shot and be able to prove it with the yellow card they give you. You will also need to get on Malaria prophylaxis and take them when you get here. You can apply for a visa before, or get one at the airport in Nairobi.  It is also advised to be up to date on you Hep B series and tetanus.  Sound like alot? Well it's NOT! Get it done and get out here already! xoxoxoxo 

First update from Turbo!

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     

a few pictures from africa

This was a picture taken at a mobil clinic that we worked at for the day. We were checking school children for malnutrition and giving them vitamins and de worming pills. By far the best experience yet!

This picuture was taken at the top of a mountain in Mbale. From left to right Elise, Me, Matthew, and Aaron. Here we stayed with a current volunteer, and had an awesome experience. 

This picture was taken in Taveta, we had an HIV/AIDS retreat, we learned almost nothing about AIDS, but still had a great time! These kids were watching some of the volunteers play football. 

This is me after slaughtering a chicken! I honestly didnt think I would be able to do it. But I did, then after de feathering and gutting, we fried it!

My cow finally had its baby! Its a baby girl, absolutly beautiful. The named her Joy. We can now get milk from Mama Jane. This is me attempting to milk her. Its a lot harder than it looks. 

At host family appreciation day! Andrea, Lindsay and me. Dressed in our African best. To see more awesome photos check out my facebook! 

I LOVE KENYA

Wednesday we swear in as official Volunteers! Can't wait! xoxoxo

yep....... i did it!

For everyone who is wondering..... I PASSED!!! i passed the language exam! That made the start of the weekend awesome! Basically a 3 day weekend for us! Friday we all hung out and celebrated, than on Saturday we celebrated some more!
Sunday was an adventure on its own...... I killed a chicken.....then cooked it!. My family says i have the courage of a Kenyan. My friend, another volunteer had me over for lunch. Her mom held the chicken while I cut its head off. Now some you may think that this is barbarian, but in Kenyan if you want chicken, this is how you do it. Atleast you know where it is coming from and how it was treated before its death. I did not throw up or pass out for those of you who are wondering. After the slaughtering, we de feathered it than gutted it. YES I HAVE PICTURES, which i will post as soon as possible. We ended up frying it, it was delicious! I than went home after lunch and continued to bake brownies for my family in a jiko oven. For those who don't know, we don't have an american oven. So to bake things we make an over by placing a huge sufria (pot) on the stove, than putting sand in the bottom. than place the smaller sufria inside to bake. Put a lid on top and you got yourself an oven. My family loved them! Especially my 4 year old nephew! Ok this will be my last post until next week when we get to Nairobi! Hope everyone has a great week!

Kenyan time flies

Habari friends and family
We have 1 week left in training, time has just flown by! this time next week we will be saying good by to our homestay families and leaving for Nairobi. Swear in is on Wednesday the 17th.  For those of you who are dying to know, my cow has not had a baby yet, im beginning to wonder if she really is pregnant, or just fat? hehehe We took our final language exam today! We won't get the results until monday, so everybody pray that I passed and that you wont be seeing me sooner than we all expected.

I have compiled a list of items that would be glorious to have from home: (ofcourse no expectations, I will love anything that is sent to me :)
      Poptarts: brownsugar or smores
      MnM's Nutella, italian seasoning and garlic salt, little debby oatmeal pies, instant oatmeal, dark chocolate, PICTURES off everyone, oatmeal cliff bars, almonds, mayo mustard and relish packets (to make tuna salad) tuna in packs too!, cute tops and jewlery from anywhere! i miss new clothes lol, cheez its, magazines, raisins, and anything else!!
These items are not necessities but just some things that we dont have here and are sometimes missed. I plan on finally uploading photos when i get to Nairobi! soo keep a look out for a new post. I will also post my new address as soon as I know it, so you can get those goodies in the mail!!! Ill update soon! xoxoxoxo