Meru

It's been a while since I have updated my time spent in Kenya.  The last week or so I have not had any access to internet or a cell phone because I have been staying in a village called Meru- about a 5 hour drive from our compound in Karen. As I mentioned before Meru is an agricultural village that thrives on farming. The majority of this town does not have running water, electricity, or a kitchen with a gas stove. For the past week I have been living like the pilgrims did, and I survived. Coming to Meru I had no idea what to expect- whether I'd be sleeping in dirt with the bugs or I'd be in a shack made out of sticks or what. I was surprised to see that I was living in a house made of stones that had a TV, and a toilet inside but no running water, and the electricity was sketchy staying on for only a couple hours then shutting off. This family, the Gitonga's were part of the 1% that had these things. Our next door neighbors had ten people living in a shack put together by loose sticks, no water- they had to walk to the river a mile away to get it, and a latrine outside. Although Meru to our American standards is very poor, I saw alot of contrast.  Everybody in Meru relied on their farm for a source of income as well as the means for survival. They bought very few items at the store such as bread, butter, and salt. The rest was grown or killed. Every day for lunch and dinner we had beans, rice, stew, mashed potatoes, corn, and bananas or some variety of these items. Their traditional dish was githeri (beans and corn) that every house hold ate for at least one meal a day.  After about 2 days I was already sick of it, but when I asked my host sister what her favorite food is she said githeri...lolz.
        On my hosting sheet, our coordinator informed me that I would be living with a mom (Ester), a dad, and her three kids.  However when I got there I realized that the kids were all away at boarding school and the father was a police officer who didn't work at home, rather 5 hours away in Western Province. I then lived with Ester who is a teacher, and an orphan she adopted named Justice (about 16 years old). They both spoke English but everything I told them had to be restated in a couple different manners in order for them to fully understand- that got tiring after a while. Justice's parents both died when she was about 10 years old from AIDS.  Ester who went to the same church at Justice and her parents, noticed that she was obviously struggling after her parent's death and decided to take Justice under her wing. Lucky for me, while I stayed at the house I was able to follow Justice around because her school doesn't start until February. Meru values education highly, so the majority of kids after primary school, or after they complete 8th grade they are sent off to boarding school.  They have to apply to boarding school and the schools will accept those who scored well on the KCPE's (Kenyan equivalent to the SATs).  It was during this time that Justice was waiting to here back from these high schools.
           When I first got the house, I was not prepared for how uncomfortable I would feel. When my host mom picked me up from the Meru Nakumatt, I immediately went to the market to buy some cooking ingredients (this was a special case for my arrival). This day was a Friday and the most popular day to go to the market. I followed closely behind my host mom as I was pushed and shoved around this marked that was clustered with hundreds of people and hundreds of tiny stands. I was the only white person for days. Meru does not receive many white visitors.  Although it is situated by the base of Mt. Kenya, it is not a luxurious place to stay for those wanting to climb Mt. Kenya. Needless to say, for some Kenyans, it was their first time seeing a white person. All eyes were on me and I could sense it. People would blatantly stare and call out to me in Swahili. Many people I passed jostled me around a called me mzungu (white person/ European). I thought to myself that it would not be acceptable to openly call an African American "black person" as they walked by. Some were rude and indifferent, others looked at me with amazement and excitement. They'd say mzungu, anakuja! (White person has come!) One lady at the market tried to charge my host mom more money for the goods she bought because she say that I was with her, a white person and for them white skin means money. I quickly realized that people only saw the color of my skin and associated it with money. Someone at the market got pick pocketed and a huge mob ran after him, it was kinda scary and chaotic.
          The first couple days was basically me just observing the daily activities of Justice and the farm boys on the weekends.  Ester assumed that I was not used to such farm work and cooking (which I wasn't) so whenever they were doing chores she's pull up a chair for me to watch. I got frustrated because I didn't want to watch, I wanted to participate and actually be a part of the family which means doing the chores. There were times when I would be watching Ester, Justice, and the farm boy sorting through bad beans while I was sitting in a chair eating a mango. I didn't feel comfortable watching them do the work! After a bit of watching, the next days I requested to participate and be assigned jobs. From then on, I followed around Justice and helped her with the daily chores which included: washing the floors and tables of the house, cooking lunch, feeding the cows, pigs, chickens, and goat, collecting firewood, hand washing clothes, picking mangos, collecting ripe macadamia nuts, and milking the cows. I also had alot of down time that I spend reading in the sun- got a nice tan goin! The household also had a grandma who was about 80 who would spend her time sitting under the shade of a tree drinking chai and talking to whoever walked by. It was frustrating because most everyone talked in the local language KiMeru. Therefore, people usually spoke three languages: English, Swahili (the two national languages), and their mother tongue KiMeru. Around the household the grandma, Justice, and Ester spoke KiMeru so when my ears got tired of hearing them talk I'd read.
        I found the grandma hilarious. She was so old and literally did nothing all day. Whoever passed by her she'd accost them, distract them from their work, and tell them stories. Apparently she was very funny because everyone was laughing when they were around her. She'd constantly hack up spit, and everyday forgot that I didn't speak KiMeru, and little Swahili. She'd try to talk to me but I'd just laugh because she'd also forget my name. It went from Emily, to Emma, to Hamey, to finally wewe (you). When I'd walk by she'd yell at me wewe! (w-eh, w-eh) because she loved to talk. Families in Meru take good care of elder family.  Instead of putting them in nursing homes, they build a separate little house for them to live in.  Family is another one of Meru's values.
         Everyday the two neighbors, Sharon 5 and Mwenda 11 would come over to play. The first time they saw me they were very shy and excited.  They'd hide around the huge water bin dumpster that collected water, and spy on me. They finally got used to my presence after a couple days when I brought them crayons to draw with- they've never seen them before. Even Ester who is a teacher has never seen crayons before. The kids loved to draw and they'd copy whatever I would draw. It was difficult to communicate with them, so we had fun drawing pictures of the things around the farm. Both Sharon and Mwenda were too young to know much English we we conversed in my broken Swahili. It was a great way to learn Swahili by acting things out with the kids and they'd tell me what the word is in Swahili. Other times I brought them jump rope and little Sharon was so good at it! We'd also play in the Shamba by climbing banana trees, jumping over piles of sticks, and playing with the old banana tree leaves that turned into what looked like confetti after a few weeks. It was so much fun to play with them because they would find so much joy in the simple things such as playing with the shell of a macadamia nut, and playing with the string of woven bean satchels.
         On Sunday I went to church for 3 hours. Other kids said they went to church for as much as 6. The church I went to was a Methodist church about a 20 minute walk away. The church community seemed very close and they all had their respective spots that they sat in during church. The women sat in one spot and sung together, and so did the men and children. This church was so much different than the one at home: they had political debates, and an auction at the end. The church secretary would bring out rabbits, live chicken, eggs, and milk that would be up for auction, and the money would go toward helping to pay for some children's schooling. During the songs an old grandma would pound on this drum, and everyone would clap their hands and whistle- they were very enthusiastic about singing. However I couldn't understand a word they were saying since it was all in KiMeru. At one point during the mass I was asked to introduce myself, tell where I'm from, why I am in Kenya, and what I am doing in Kenya- all in Swahili! I was super nervous but my mom said she was so proud of me after, and the church members thought I have been living here for years because I was so confident....haha not true.
        At the end of my stay I went took some trips to Ester's school, her other farms, and to waterfalls. This waterfall was gorgeous surrounded by tons of banana trees, and a awesome view of Mt. Kenya in the background. The ride to KiMeru was incredible. I was so tired but I refused to sleep on the bus because the landscape was breathtaking. We passed by fields of purple pineapple, huge farms, rock formations, and spotted some gazelles.  At one point we had to stop the bus because monkey's were crossing the road! The monkey's were so intrigued by our bus that they stopped and one was right next to my window standing on it's hind legs! Next to Mt. Kenya is one of East Africa's largest forests that is home to many elephants, monkeys, and giraffes. It just so happened that Ester's school called Katheruine was located on the edge of this forest and during lunch hour we were able to see monkey's hiding in the tree. Their long tail gave them away, and they'd peak through the branches to see what all the commotion as about down below.
         We saw the poor side of Kenya and the rich as well. Kenya has many contrasts so after staying in the poor community of Meru, we stayed in a luxurious hotel by the equator that had peacocks running around, a squash court, swimming pool, tavern/bar, and a snooker room. I enjoyed my stay at Meru, it was a humbling experience, and it was a huge eye opener to their values, and adherence to a patriarchal society. The women had specific jobs, and the men had their receptive jobs that included being the head of the household. Although I did not have a dad at my host home, I learned alot from the conversations I had, and from what I observed in other families. When the father's phone would ring it was the mother's responsibility to get the phone and bring it to him. Also, when the father needed more food, the mother would have to get more for him. The men never cooked, or cleaned and they were astonished to learn that my dad cooked. I asked the farm boy, Francis, if he ever washed is clothes and dishes and he just laughed and said never. Every family had a farm boy that would work the farm while the parents were at work. Francis was funny and was always carrying a machete, chewing Khat (MIRRA), a drug that Kenyan's chew that gets you high. Many families actually grew it in their own farms and sold it while other chewed it every day.
       I was definitely ready to leave at the end of the week and ready to join the rest of the group. We all had alot to share about our families and we all learned a ton about ourselves, and how to be patient, accepting, and open. There were many times when I was uncomfortable, and there were other times that I had a ton of fun. I will definitely not miss the people- kids and adults alike all staring at me in wonder. I made babies cry, herds of students stop dead in their tracks, and old ladies sing welcome songs to me. All in all, it was a very very very interesting experience. I will write more later about the education in Kenya- it's a very interesting topic. I also think I gained 2 pounds this week because as a guest they would feed me so much food! They did not listen when I told them I was full- they kept on piling on the food! Additionally my host mom asked me if I like Chipati (oily flat bread), I said I did so she proceeded to make me it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole week! I found ways to give it to the farm boy (shamba boy), the grandma, and Justice. I was also relieved to get away from all the chai they gave me. We would have chai breaks at least 4 times a day. The chai was made with milk from the cows and boiled with tea leaves so it was pretty strong. My mom at school said she would have chai 10 times a day!
       TODAY I had my first day of actual classes. We go to Hekima (language center) for a 8 AM Swahili class and from there Jau takes us to Nairobi for regular classes. I am taking biodiversity, and critical issues in modern Kenya, and the whole group has a culture, and development class every Friday at the compound.  Depending on class schedule we have at least an hour for lunch where we find cheap places to eat, and go to the market. Still continuing to run every day although I couldn't run while I was in Meru- there were so many farms and orange dirt roads that every road looked the same and I would often get lost walking because the crops were so high I couldn't see any of the houses!