Dreaming hard..

Dreams come like a flood as if they were dammed for many years. (they probabl were by something within Apt 101) Each night, I surrender to Morpheus’ power at 9:30 and each morning at about 3am, my bowels awaken me from my deep slumber. (I curse the late night dinners here we usually have dinner at 8pm and even that is late by Kenyan standards. People here, traditionally, go to sleep completely full so that they may become ‘more fat’. More on this later.) I take a piss into the choo and return to my slumber. It’s most likely that in the time between my piss and 6:30am, I dream the most. Last night, I dreamed that Haley was 8 months pregnant by the time I returned to the States. The previous night, I dreamed that my hairline was rapidly receding and ugly boils were sprouting all over my forehead. Yes, not all my dreams are pleasant.

Food. Kenyans treat food here as if it were fuel. Nothing more. Spices are just not used in cooking. I miss the most basic of spices like garlic and pepper. Hot peppers even! Last night’s dinner is what I would call a typical meal: maize and beans with potato, eggplant, and tomato stew. The dinners do vary from day to day, but there is only so much room to shift around with. When I brought up the use of spices with my host family, they shunned it straightaways saying that there is no point in using spices. I actually enjoy the food I am eating but there are some days where I just want a sprinkling of cumin.

Coffee is native to Kenya. There are even wild plants growing in the areas north of Meru, and I regularly see coffee plantations when walking into Machakos. Ironically enough, or maybe not since this IS a British colony after all, Kenyans worship their chai. It’s such a delicious mixture of tea leaves, milk, and water. Kenyans have it an average of 5 to 7 times a day – too much even for a tea lover like myself. Don’t get me started on the 3 heaping spoonfuls of sugar they load their teas with. In short, coffee lovers, Kenya hapana coffee, pole! (Kenya has no coffee, sorry!)

Eating etiquettes are very different here: we usually just sit on the couch, some slouching, and eat wherever we are. The utensil is a spoon. Knives and forks? No. The spoons are used for everything from spreading the butter and cutting the yams. A serving order exists, and it is quite rigid. The man and woman of the house get the food first, then it falls onto the guests, the sons and then the other men, the daughters and then the other women and then finally the one who cooked. \

I posted on Facebook that I believe plastic manufacturing should be banned – here’s why. I was walking along the stream (or creek or river, whatever it is called – your fault Haley for making me question the name. It was so much easier then when I called them all rivers ) and every step I took, I stepped into something plastic. There is no routine trash collection method here. Generally, the trash is flung off the side of a hill or cliff, or collected into one area and then burned to give way to a toxic circle. Another difference is that the family lets the animals into the house at night. Most of the time, it’s chickens or goats to prevent them from being stolen by robbers that may come around at night. It’s so surreal sometimes walking out of my room to be greeted by a squawking mama hen surrounded by her 9 chicks. Those are the days I truly know I’m in Kenya. I swear, some mornings when I wake up I feel like I’m back in my room in Woodland Hills.

Religion. Everyone in Kenya has a religion. People do not understand what it means to not have a religion. I have tried explaining to the family that I do not practice any religions, but they wouldn’t accept that as an answer. I am asked to lead prayer every other week or so, and I respectfully decline every time much to my family’s dismay. The nice thing about their views on religion is that they do not judge you for whatever religion you choose to follow, which is starkly different than how religion is handled in America. When I go to Meru, I am going to declare myself as a Jew. I’ve had two people ask me if I was a Jew here, so I might as well be that since there are no Jewish temples in Meru Yes, today I went to church but only for an hour. I was told that one of the people leading the sermon had raped a woman. ‘What consequences did he get?’ I asked. ‘Oh, the woman and the church forgave him so all is well.’ I smell male superiority.

Yesterday is the first time that I have actually noticed the absence of my long hair. I miss it but I won’t be growing it out again here for hygiene reasons as well as for cultural reasons. Damn the prenatal vitamins for making my hair and nails growing so fast. Yes, I’m taking prenatal vitamins per Peace Corps Medical orders

I watched I Love You, Man with the other trainees. (Noelle, Alan, Alli, Jenny, Vicky, Karl, Katy, and Anna) Boy, that movie made me miss home a lot. It didn’t help an ounce that the movie was set in beautiful, beautiful Los Angeles. Since I’ve left LA, it’s been easy for me to remember the good things about LA, and it’s been becoming gradually more difficult for me to recall the things I disliked about LA. (like the slow MTA system ) I now understand why many people consider USA to be the ‘land of the free’ even though we Americans don’t feel like it is sometimes. In general, if you follow the laws that the US government has put down, you’re free to do whatever else you wish. You are free to express your own personal style, you are free to marry however you wish nd celebrate it in whatever way, you are free to divorce at your own perogrative, abortions are okay, and you are free to practice whatever form of sexuality you prefer. To sum it up, you are your own person in America. In Kenya, it is better to be one of the masses. To stick out, or to be different, is not exactly favorable. Weddings have specific traditions involving a dowry, goats and a white wedding dress. To deviate is to be shamed. Homosexuality is illegal here. Men are above women, for the most part, in this country as well as most of Africa.

In general, everything is going well. I cannot wait to pass the LPI (Language Proficiency I = something) in Kenyan Sign Language and start learning KiSwahili. Above all else, I look forward to going to my site in Meru and having my own house and cooking my own food. Missing you all back home!