Weekly Wrap Up #7

General Observations – I think I’m out of Witty Remarks 
1. This post is a day early because tonight I’ll be departing for MASAI MARA on an amazing SAFARI adventure! Besides the 24 hours total that I’ll be on a bus or in a car to get there, I’m really looking forward to seeing the big game animals – lion, cheetahs, zebras, elephants, rhinos, antelopes, etc. Expect  pictures next week! I’m just hoping that it doesn’t rain too much – it looks like the rainy season may have finally moved in!
2. Evidently, I look really young in Kenya. I had a guy on the street on Monday morning ask me if I was headed to schule (school) -” hapana, kazi” (no, work) was my reply. And my coworker said she though I was 16. Yikes.
3. Turn signals are kind of a joke in Kenya. It’s like – “Look guys! Flashy lights!”  Not actually used for signaling which makes the dangerous task of crossing the street that much more exciting.
4. I think the fact that I’m white and yet have no money REALLY confuses Africans.
5. Side note: someone on the street below me is playing Shakira… it’s REALLY WEIRD to hear Spanish.. in Kenya
6. There’s a sort of obelisk pedestal on a central road in town and on to, complete with spotlights, is a … Chicken. That’s right. Chicken (or rooster, couldn’t tell). No famous leaders or great thinkers. Chicken.
7. Convoy of NALEP – National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme trucks – all white and shiny – fresh government money going to fund people driving around pretending to look productive.
8. There was a red and yellow VW bug parked by the bank today. It was evidently called “Chumvi” according to the windscreen. Yep, I too want to name my car “Salt”.
9. These mefloquine induced nightmares are starting to get old. I dreamed last night that I had to go back to high school and march in a show I didn’t know again!
10. As of Thursday, over 250 Kiswahili words learned and 7 verb tenses! (and counting!)
11. I should never have read “The Constant Gardener”. It’s about a white woman who gets murdered in Northern Kenya and how her British secret service husband searches for the truth about her murder… then snuffs it in the final two pages with the bad crooks getting away with it. Argh. Well written and intriguing, but too close to my home in Kenya.
12. Mini Matatus! So cute, like cardboard boxes on wheels, stuffed with people!
13. I had misplaced my cell phone in the FSD office, and for a good 15 hours, I felt completely naked without  it!
14. On Tuesday, I had the lovely experience of listening to chickens being slaughtered… and then – what do you know! 2 hours later I was having chicken for lunch.
15. Speaking of chicken (and meat in general) – they eat everything here. Yes, I have seen my 9 year old host sister crack open a chicken’s skull and eat its brain. Shudder.  
16. My AMAZING sister sent me a package — all the way to Kenya! (I suspect the postage cost was murder – yikes.) It contained all of the most delicious things from America in it -mini-strawberry hostess cakes, marshmallow peeps, chex mix, crystal light, anti-diarrheal medicine (I suspect for when I’ve gobbled up all the food in the package!!), candy, power bars, a map so I can so everyone where I’m from, and a coloring book for my host kids. I was so happy I cried – this might also be partly due to a general lack of sleep and food but STILL. It’s not everyday you get to see love in a tangible form. Of course, in less than an hour, I managed to spill red crystal light deliciousness on my light blue shirt. I think it matches the mud splatters on my skirt quite well!