Vermonterlusting

TRAVHELL

2012-06-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

#TravHell

**DISCLAIMER - sorry there aren't pictures, may add some later, and I use the word sh** a lot**

So I’m here at Mombasa International Airport – and one more blunder or mishap away from bursting into pathetic, nerve-racked sobs. I know this is going to be a post dedicated to mostly whining and “misadventures” for my readers, but for me it’s a vent session to keep my mind sane at this moment. The morning started off with the regular 4:30 am call to prayer, which startled me so badly that I couldn’t get to sleep. So I decided to get up, and I found the staff house and volunteer house locked, meaning I had to wake up one of my poor friends who had been out with everyone last night to open the door for me before proper sunlight has even began to show. So that was my last goodbye, to a very disgruntled and sleepy-eyed Maasai named Benja. I wish he was here with me right now…I think he would make me laugh or at least share a coke for companionship. Traveling alone sucks.

Ok so after that, I sit in a matatu for an hour and a half before it leaves for Mombasa. We get to the end the end of the dirt road, and are on the tarmac for about 15 minutes when it breaks down, COMPLETELY. So I’m now standing on the side of the road (its like 8 am by now, my bus leaves at 10) and a tractor comes by, so of course we all jump on the trailer in the back. Which is kind of fun, but a little uncomfortable. The tractor brings us to Msambweni, when we are all put into an 11 seater matatu that already has over 15 people in it. The grand total is now 23 people, I’m on a man’s lap, and another man is on my lap. My head is bent in a very uncomfortable angle, and then I start to feel the guy I’m sitting on playing with the back of my dress. I can’t move to turn and yell at him, so I just suck it up. For once I just suck it up and keep quiet, and its humiliating (just to myself, but that’s enough). FINALLY we get to the ferry at Likoni, and I wait for two ferries to go back and forth before I get on one. By now its 10 am, and I’m definitely missing the bus. I begin to resign myself to the fact that I need to buy a plane ticket to Nairobi, meaning that I’ll miss saying goodbye to some of my friends unless they are saintly enough to come to the airport (still crossing my fingers…offered to buy drinks as incentive), and also that I’ll have to use my credit card that needs to be paid in one week and OH I don’t have any money in my bank account

Oh well. But then it gets better…or worse I’m not sure it depends on if you’re a sadist I guess. I called a tuk tuk (a convenient sort of go-cart that swarm Mombasa day and night) to come in an hour and pick me up to take me to the airport. I get a call that he’s arrived, 10 minutes earlier than expected, and I get my things and go. There are two gates to the gated community where the GVI Mombasa house is, and I go to the back gate (the gate I said I would be at). And there he is! A really nice, covered blue tuk tuk with its engine purring . I throw my bags on and I ignore the very subtle but visual twitch in his face as he looks puzzled for a minute, but then sheds it away and is the ever-friendly and helpful tuk tuk driver, getting the mzungu to the airport obviously, because why else would they be carrying everything they own on their backs? So off we go! I try, unsuccessfully, to get some cozipam at the local pharmacies (one of the downsides of being in a moderately developed country in African terms – white tourists can’t get their drugs for cheap anymore! Maybe this is why we’re trying to keep the poor poor…but I digress) And I keep getting calls from a random number saying “Where are you? What are you doing?” and I’m like “I’m on my way to the airport, I’m in a tuk tuk…” and these calls come intermittently for about 90 minutes. The last time the caller goes “Are you ready yet?? I’ve been waiting here for two hours for you!”. Then I realize. I got in the wrong tuk tuk, and this poor guy has been waiting for me and my 1000 KSH trip to the airport this whole time, and what I had been saying kind of sounded like I was on my way to the gate for the last 2 hours.

So I feel like shit, and at this point I’m waiting for the flight to Mombasa to leave. The theme of the next 24 hours is “I feel like SHIT. No really, this is the SHIT of the SHIT and I feel SHITTY”. I spent the night in the Nairobi Airport – I have a terrible pain in my knee and my neck, and oh yeah I got mugged and lost all the cash on me – and I’m exhausted. And my feet are really dirty. I think there was more for me to rant about but I can’t remember, I have like memory lapse of the past 12 hours. I did have a dream (what? I got to REM stage?) that I was swimming in a lake and got bitten by a black mamba, the most poisonous snake in the world, and no one around me would help me. In the dream, a tourist dhow came by and I was thrashing and weakly yelling for help and they all looked at me, and they were all fat old rich white people, and kept going on the dhow to try and find dolphins. I woke up to the check-in for a flight to Somalia, which even at 5 am is still a recipe for lots of yelling and pointing and shouting and more yelling. But it was cool, I met this really nice lady who works for a development NGO to empower women and give them alternative income skills (SOUND FAMILIAR!?!) So that was cool, and I got her card and I’m going to look into her group when I get back to the world of wi-fi.

After meeting the woman, who I know think was actually my guardian angel, everything started to get a little better. She also had a bright orange sarong covering her head that is my favorite shade of orange, and the color filled me with a warm glowy light. This could be a symptom of severe exhaustion and dehydration, but it’s better than feeling like a despondent, despairing, depressed lost child who is also really bloated and uncomfortable. But the light let me to a coffee house, which took my credit card, and I got some water and coffee and felt better. And I’m just 15 minutes away from boarding the plane. The feeling that I’m never going to get home is fading slowly…I think the worst part is over. Still 36 hours to go…

Kate's Second Coming Home

2012-06-18T01:04:00.000-07:00

I sit here in Shimoni, overlooking the beautiful Indian Ocean, and I’m feeling déjà vu. I have said goodbye to coastal Kenya once before, so the emotions and the anxiety comes as almost as a welcome familiar. The anxiety is different now though, because I’m expecting the counter-culture shock. I’m expecting the depression, the deflation, the isolation…so I hope that by pre-emanating the disaster it may be less intense. It’s like nuclear warfare game theory between my mind and soul.

OK looking back at the ocean/horizon and I’m feeling the calm come back over me. Maybe this is the problem for world politics, the major players in nuclear disaster is coming politics don’t have a view over the Indian Ocean. I could win the Nobel Peace Prize for this concept.

But let’s focus on Kenya and community development – that’s the hardest part of leaving right now. I feel like I just got something going, and there is so much left to complete. I maybe overreacted and created a farewell packet, a 6-page detailed document outlining all of the future objectives that the Women’s’ Group and I had discussed, from how to open a bank account and write a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for partnerships, to ideas for marketing like using the new logo (designed by my super and beautiful and talented sister Alexa Barry) to make t-shirts to sell in the Curio shops around Kakamega.

In writing the packet however, I realized how much I wish I could stay and see it unfold. The Women’s Group started from nothing, and now they’re a registered group and more importantly MAKING MONEY. They’re organized and determined, and most importantly, they’re on it. They can’t be stopped! And that doesn’t come from me. That was in them and always has been, I am just a player who got a ball rolling.

So my dilemma is personal, it is some kind of psychological syndrome with some name like mama-letting-go-of-her-baby-so-it-can-walk, I don’t know. For the past 6 months I’ve had purpose, and I feel like I’m “making a difference” blugh I hate when people say that…but I say it meaning that it was making difference FOR MYSELF. I was developing myself professionally, and also I was spiritually in a beautiful place with calm and peace constantly around me. The stress level is very low, and I’ve come accustomed to this lifestyle. I don’t want to go back home and deal with the life that I left behind, and go back to hustling tables to make life work, and endlessly struggling with my school fees and incompetent advisors. I know I am being whiny and pestilent, but I don’t care.

I know this is the PROCESS blah blah blah. And I do have to admit there is a growing, albeit still tiny, ball of excitement growing in me to be home. There is soooo much I love about home. Most of those things are people, which can’t be replaced or reproduced in foreign countries. And that does wear on you. Loneliness and isolation does happen here, of course, but it’s about feeling a part of you that is inside and pushed aside, because it has no place here. That’s the very deep part of you, the original part that comes from your childhood and your fondest memories, when you came of-age and when your inner self emerged and you became you. But now, in Kenya, you have to push that all aside to and focus on the new and the exotic.

Now, I need to go home and reconcile these two parts of me, and reignite the deep part of my soul. And look towards the future, which is unknown, which is scary as hell, but that’s the next step for me. It’s what has to happen!! And the bus tomorrow night to Nairobi is booked, and the flight from Nairobi to London, and London to Newark, and then the train from Newark to Boston…and then my lovely mother will pick me at South Station and then 2 hours later I will be in my bed! After a long hot shower. And that is going to be what I have called #travelhell, but then I’ll be home, and with my friends and familiarity. And cheese. OOHH there will be cheese. So all in all, it’s not that bad.

Community Tourism - You're doing it right

2012-06-04T01:27:00.002-07:00

When you work in development, especially in the field (that field being an extremely remote, rural, under-resourced, marginalized county in a developing country) you apply yourself to the mantra that the work you are doing will take months, sometimes years to prove fruitful or sustainable. This way you stay positive when you hit the inevitable bumps in the road... and when you face seeming insurmountable hurtles. Doing something simple like printing can take days because of power outages, flooding, the inability to replace an ink cartridge, or that the office woman didn't show up. Because even simple things take time and frustration, your long-term goals must be as simple and achievable as possible (SMART taken to a whole other simplified level....)

Working in this environment takes saint-like patience and also out-of-the-box creativity to achieving your goals (not forgetting to make sure everything you start is able to continue without your presence when you leave). So when you reach your goal early, and not just early but with a flying rainbow of successful colors of beautiful awesomeness, you kind of go into a shock. Which is what I'm going through now...because I saw a vision come to fruition, and most of it by standing back and watching! The Isecheno Women Conservation Group, only a month old, with a 2 week constitution, successfully programmed, organized and facilitated a ecotour event in the form of a Community Village Tour. The tour was 3 hours long, and cost 900 KSH per person (approximately 11 USD). Our test-group was an amazing bunch of University of New England college students on a 3 week end of course tour through Kenya visiting health, environment and development based organizations. So the students were pretty useful test subjects, as they were coming into it with a very critical eye as well. They were vary wary of cultural exploitation and getting into something at "tourists" and not the serious students they were, many of them also majoring in gender and women's studies. They, and I, were delighted and showed just how community tourism really isn't tourism at all if its done right. If its done right, its immersion. Tourmersion? Maybe...but the tour was anything but a show, it was a sharing. The beautiful images below show some of the amazing experiences that were shared during the tour....

"Mama" Sandra earned a head wrapper when she mastered grinding the millet before the ugali cooking class. The Luhya grinding song and clapping energized everyone!

Chairwoman Beatrice Asudi introduces the women to the students, and shared an original poem about the group's goals "What Can I do?"

Women Tour Guides Rosalind, Christine and Beatrice explain the tea plantation's significance on the community and the rainforest.

Visitors try balancing a 20L jerrycan on their head just like the elder mama we met on our way to the river

Greeted into the home by the entire women's group with some song and dance


Making lifelong memories, connections and friends

Once through the village, the tour brought us to a home of one of the women, and we were greeted by the whole group of women (26 as of now) with singing and clapping. Once everyone was ushered into the house, we were served chai and mandazis. Everyone sat around and talked for a while, sharing stories and talked about our families. The women were very open to questions about their lives, and also continued to talk about the importance of their group and how it applies to conservation and community development. After tea, they put on a little “skit” to illustrate the role of medicine women in the village, and how to mix certain herbs, and how you usually bring a chicken with you to scare away evil spirits. Josephine (the woman of the house) speaks only Kiluhya but Beatrice did a great job with translations. After the herbal medicine, we learned how to grind millet to make the black ugali. Everyone got to try and it was a lot of fun…when the woman professor got going all the women began singing the song that goes with gridning the millet, and soon everyone was clapping and singing! It was such fun and all of the visitors had a really nice time…even when we moved into the kitchen and suffered through the smoke to learn how to cook ugali and mboga kienyeji. We stayed in the home and shared the food and chatted some more. The students had only been in Kenya for a week, and they had been staying in hotels in Nairobi and Kisumu. This was the first time they had really seen a Kenyan home and they had lots of questions, but the women handled them all with great aplomb and courtesy. You never would have guessed this was their first tour. The timing was amazing, everything was organized and planned out…you could tell all the women had practiced what they were going to say and worked together to make it a very very successful program.

The women described the event as fun and successful...they remarked on how helpful the workshops we had done the last few weeks on customer care, leadership and tour guiding principles were. The whole event left me feeling excited, proud and humbled at the same time. I felt like I had witnessed a very genuine moment in both parties' lives, it was more than a tour ever could be because we understood more about each other and ourselves...which is what ecotourism should be. And now the women have quite a chunk of change to become officially registered, open a bank account, and to decide what they want to invest in! The tour has gotten the attention of Honey Care Africa, which will be coming to visit the group and donate some hives if they want to learn how to start producing their own honey. The new possibilities of empowerment and entrepreneurship are endless for them, and I am so humbled to have been a part of it.

Women and Awesomeness Part II

2012-05-22T03:40:00.002-07:00

Chairman Benjamin Okalo addressing the women's group

The following is part of the weekly update I wrote, to keep everyone involved about the progress of the group. We also had a VERY successful Customer Care workshop yesterday! The women learned from the banda manager Solomon and a KEEP Nature Walk guide Enosh, I provided the role playing scenarios. Tomorrow we have a Tour Guide workshop, and on Friday we're doing a jiko installation practical! (see below) Very awesome and exciting things going on at KEEP this week :-)

Last week started off really positively. There was another meeting with the womens’ group on Monday, and this time Chairman sat in and gave his input about the group and the community tours. He is REALLY excited about this initiative and had a lot of ideas!! I was so happy to have such positive support and participation from the executive board for this new program. Chairman thought it would also be a great opportunity to involve the women in more of KEEP’s outreaches, like the jiko stoves and running workshops. Enosh is going to run a workshop next week on how to install the jikos, and the women are going to be going around the village advocating for the jikos. Every installation they complete will get them 400 shillings!! So it would be a great opportunity for some income generation for them, and it will help get rid of the three-stone hearth that uses a lot of firewood and also produces a lot of unhealthy smoke.

Enosh leading a workshop on Customer Care

So next week we have a Customer Care workshop planned for Monday, and I’m also having Adult English class sign up. I’m expecting a lot of women to sign up, I want to have a class on Wednesdays and Fridays for anyone interested, and I will hopefully be able to split up the group into two skill levels. We are also doing a guacamole making class on Tuesday! The women requested it, because they want to know how to make it for visitors who maybe don’t like traditional food (this kind of forward-planning shows how excited the women are for the village tours – I really hope we can do some runs in the next few weeks!

Women and Awesomeness

2012-05-10T07:15:00.001-07:00

So I have spent about a month total here in Kakamega Rainforest, and I have been really overwhelmed with projects connected to KEEP and the EcoLodge bandas, but overwhelmed in a good way. Every day there is a new challenge! Even challenges that supersede things like rainy seasons, flooded streets, power outages...I have felt some personal challenges the past few weeks. It is hard to find your place of use when you're brand new, and also very different from the people. It takes time to gain trust, in those you work with and in the community. It also takes time to gain confidence, and that has been my main struggle. Its hard to learn everything about an organization in only 10 weeks, let alone create some projects that may actually be beneficial. There have been days when I even question my own worth...what was all of that studying and investment in this education for? What do I ACTUALLY have to offer?? But today I found some use for myself. The past few weeks I have been thinking really hard about what I can do to connect the people in the community to the tourism part of KEEP. I wanted to model what I had seen from other GVI projects with the implementation of a community/village tour, something that will be organized and implemented by a local group of people, where tourists can actually walk through the village and learn about how people LIVE. How they cook their food, where they sleep, how they farm, what their children are like...I wanted to make this connection because its something that I crave myself. I want to know everything, and I want to be accepted by the community. I want to feel at home, not like an outsider...I want to really know how people here live, and so I can live like them too. And I thought, if I want to know these things, maybe other people do too...and it can give both parties an opportunity to learn from and about the other. So, I created an advertisement for such a tour, came up with the basic plan, and asked to meet with the women's group.

And that is what happened today, and at 2:00 I sat anxiously at the conference table at the bandas with my proposal and advertisement, with a sign in sheet and waited. Then, it started to rain. POUR actually, and my heart sank. It would be really hard to travel in the rain, and lets face it, who wants to dredge across town to speak to a mzungu they don't even know. But I stayed anyways, and slowly by slowly (polepole) women showed up, although they sat as far away from me as possible at the other ends of the table...and we had VERY awkward conversations about the weather (which here...is just rain...so its not even that deep of a subject). But after about 30 minutes, there were 15 women seated around the table, and all talking excitedly among themselves. I took a deep breath and told myself to be confident, I had something to share, and it was positive. So I started talking, and in some very shaky and certainly broken KiSwahili, told them who I was and where I came from, and what I wanted to offer as a project. One of the women next to me, whose name is Beatrice, was clearly the leader of the group and helped me to translate. Just after the first few sentences, I saw women's eyes light up, and lean forward and whisper to each other. I gained confidence, and started to talk about the income-generating opportunities this would bring, the ability to learn more English and customer service skills, and the sharing of knowledge of their culture and their history. Suddenly, everyone started clapping! Beatrice told me they were really happy with the idea, and that it was really exciting and they all wanted to be involved. From that moment on, they took the meeting by storm! They started to form committees and set up the program, all had ideas to share and everyone was talking excitedly. I just had to sit back while they hashed out ideas, elected team leaders, and started brainstorming roles and responsibilities. They started to talk about how the income earned would be divided, they want to use it as a group and divide it to the registered members, to help send the children in the community to school.

It was AMAZING. I felt pure elation. I FEEL pure elation. At the end of the meeting, there was chapati and beans that we all shared. Everyone was smiling and clapping and shaking my hand...I felt like I belonged. I felt like I had done something positive, and I felt like I was a part of something really cool...I was doing development, I was doing what I had always dreamed of doing. I walked home with a great feeling in my heart. Some of the women walked home with me, and we were all talking excitedly and as I turned onto my road to go home, they shook my hand and gave me a big smile. I felt so accepted and happy...and productive and everything that had been a struggle was all worth it for that moment.

The next steps are: getting some tours done!! We need visitors and tourists...so if you're in the area and want to experience and contribute to some community development...please stop by ;-) For the time being, I will be going on the tours, giving feedback, and running some customer relation workshops (aka, how to deal with white people).

In the words of Pam Beasley from the office from the Beach Day episode "yeah...its a good day"

Another New Life

2012-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

My first week here in kakmega has been incredible…I honestly could write at least 10 blogs about everything that I’ve seen and learned about in just a few days. That is probably why its so hard for me to actually write a blog…its just completely overhwleming. I come home from the day exhausted, although that might be the change in altitude (we’re at 1500ft, as opposed to the balmy below sea-level life I was living the past 3 months). Overall, I have to say I’m ecstatic about the work that I will be able to do here. There is a LOT to be done, and thinking about it all at once is actually really intimidating. Also thinking about how little time I have left…9 weeks really sounds like the shortest amount of time in the world. Especially because I could live here…the surrounding s are beyond beautiful. The rainforest is beyond words…which is why I have these lovely pictures!

The best part of the experience right now is the homestay. I have a lovely mama and baba who treat me so well!!! I feel completely over-taken care of, but its really nice. For example, today I went on a nature walk into Kakamega, and got completely drenched by the rain. The rain is like nothing I’ve ever seen before…huge buckets of water come onto your face and you are practically choked and blinded by all the water coming onto you at once. So I was soaked, and freezing, because it actually is kind of chilly here (75 degrees when its raining…but compared to t 100+ I had been living in, its absolutely frigid) I came home barefoot (my forest boots too soaked to walk in) and felt like I was going to die. My maa ma brings me a jiko, which is basically a portable woodstove, to me in my house (yes, my own house) in my living room (yes, I’m on my own little couch now J), and she also brings me piping hot chai and some mandazis too, because I do look pretty pathetic right now.

The work is hard, the work takes a long time and can sometimes be frustrating, but the work is invigorating and I am never just sitting on my thumbs. There is so much to do here, and it gives me seemingly endless energy. I have an objective plan that is 5 pages long, and its only covering 5 weeks. My long-term objectives for the project are:

- Get the KEEP bandas Eco Tourism Kenya certified

- Create a business management plan for the KEEP bandas, to develop proposals to make it more sustainable and also more appealing for tourists

- Vamp up the Curio shop with locally produced and manufactured products such as crafts and jewelry, and also basic necessities for the tourists

- Put KEEP onto the internet through their website, creating profiles for various tourism/hotel search engines

- Create one-page flyers for each KEEP activity to put into a visitor catalog for tourists to look through and create a program

- Encourage more community development with alternative lifestyles associated with eco-tourism, such as cooking classes, traditional dances, traditional story-telling, and village tours.

I’m here for only 9 more weeks, and I feel so overwhelmed by the schedule I’ve set for myself. I have to remember that in this time, I also have to do my MASTERS THESIS WHAT!?

Oh boy, remember to breathe…and also to not try and get it all done in one week. I’ve decided to take this weekend and focus on some tangibles that I can get done. The next two weeks are my own personal observations and getting my hands into some real work, and then the following weeks I’ll hopefully have enough of a routine that I’ll be able to work in my own surveys, interviews and questionnaires, etc. I’ve got Bon Iver going, and I’m letting this vibe ride.

The real work has begun. Wish me luck!

Workplace/Workspace

2012-03-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

So, this is me on vacation! Please disregard the bags under my eyes...I'm not sure where those are from...actually they may be from the most uncomfortable 10 hour bus ride of my life. The night bus from Mombasa, which left at 10 pm and was SUPPOSED to arrive in Nairobi at 6 am, but actually arrived at 9 am, was an absolute nightmare. My legs couldn't fit in the seat, so I guess it didn't matter that I was sitting next to the most overweight and cologned man on the bus. And no, this is a 'high class bus', so the windows don't open, you are forced to suffocate. I guess I need to move on from it though, because these past few days have been heaven on earth, I've gotten work done, and I've gotten some serious me-time alone.

Me-time alone is mostly listening to NPR, drinking lots of instant coffee, taking hot showers, and taking impromptu excursions into Nairobi (mostly to find fruit...or explore Nakumatts). The time off has enabled me to read halfway through Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, which is a liberal from Vermont's philosophical nightmare, and is also one of the most brilliant pieces of literature I've ever read. I've finished one Reflective Practice Question (RPQ) for my Capstone portfolio, and I have an outline for the second one! The 2nd RPQ is little broader, and the third, I can't even get into, because there is no structure at all. I want to write about my social identity crisis in Kenya...I'm a relatively poor, grundged out liberal working-class masters student back in the states. Here I'm an ignorant, rich, Godless, kanga-donning phony! Well not to everyone, but to those locals are the most vocal. Vocal locals, phrase coined.

I'm digressing, because that is a whole new blog that I don't want to get into right now, I'm in a nice workspace and my mind is clear. Which leads me to the topic of this piece...how strange it is to work in the field and also work in the Western bubble-space my mind "needs" in order to function.

I love living in the village I work in, I love to "rough it" and think I can take on anything, or in my case nothing. No electricity, no fresh running water, no meat, no laundry, no showers, no chocolate, no cheese, no leaving your head uncovered...no communication with friends and family in the states. However, when it comes down to me needing to write a 30 page thesis, complete with three 5-7 page RPQs, biographies, learning plans, proposals, Human Subject reviews...somehow I fall short of being able to take on the nothing. I need this environment:

I need music, I need coffee with NPR in the background, I need linoleum floors, I need unlimited free wireless internet. I need everything, or I produce nothing. What does this say about my line of work? It says its freaking hard to try and do something academic when you're working in the field, practicing the theory you spent so long learning about. It makes me wonder how people like Jane Goodall could do what she did. I'm whining aren't I? Maybe its just easier to say its easier to work in this environment. The productivity test is beginning, I'll see how much I can do now, when I have all the comforts at hand, and what I can produce in the next 10 weeks while I'm living an isolated and remote lifestyle in Kakamega forest.

Alright, blog time over, back to work time! Cheers everyone!

KEEP and the last day of my life as a Volunteer!

2012-03-23T00:22:00.000-07:00

Hello!!! I know its been a few weeks since posting, but I have moved from Tsavo to Wasini island, both places with absolutely NO electricity, therefore no ability for me to be able to post my wonderful thoughts on the interwebs! I am back, for a few hours, before leaving again, so I would love to bring everyone up to do date on whats been going on for the past month, and also to announce a very exciting new venture for me!

So, Tsavo - was incredible. We worked in two different villages in Tsavo West National Park, Kidong and Lekole Lepolosi. Both were absolutely incredible experiences that I will never forget, and I also gained a lot of professional skills in working with CBOs (Community based organizations). Both groups embody a joint organization called "Poachers to Protectors", and we got to hear their amazing stories about beginning alternative lifestyles to poaching bush animals in the national park. Their lives were extremely hard before, and very dangerous. Rangers in the parks are licensed to shoot on site if they see poachers in the parks, and they also had to fight for their lives every day with lions, elephants, hunger and the type of poverty that comes with a 'easy come, easy go' lucrative business. They gave it all up, and with the help from organizations like GVI are working towards creating alternative, sustainable, and eco-friendly livelihoods. They have a website going up soon, which I will be sure to post as soon as its ready. Here is a picture of us working in Lepolosi with some Maasai community members on crafts making projects:

We also got to feast on roast goat and roast shoat!!! Which was absolutely delicious...all in all two of the best weeks of my life.

Actually, the last two weeks were equally as incredibe...I spent them on a boat doing marine research in Kisite National Park!!You can read all about that here: http://www.kws.org/parks/parks_reserves/KMNP.html

and see all the beautiful pictures of where I got to snorkel :-) Here is a picture of my absolutely favorite fish, the Emperor Angelfish

Now onto the great news...my internship placement!!! I will be working for KEEP (Kakamega
Environmental Education Program) in Kakamega rainforest!!! The site is here if you want to read more, please do!! I'll be doing work with their eco-tourism program development!! It is absolutely perfect for my Capstone, and I'm so excited to be working on my own. I cannot wait to post pictures of the site here, it looks like I"ll be headed up there in a few weeks. For now, just peruse these random google images:

Fluffy Colobus Monkeys!!

Continuing on the whole covering up thing...

2012-02-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

SO, I was going to write a blog today about a phenomenon called ‘community feet’, which turns out isn’t that much of a blog, because it can be described in a PICTURE (oh, technology, what you do for me), which you can see below:

The mind blowing part is that I had washed my feet twice the day this picture was taken. But when your schedule takes you to four different schools in one village, all about a 20 minute walk from each other, on dirty roads, and you have impromptu games of football with children (the football is actually a bunch of plastic bags wrapped with duct tape…I should get a picture of one to share…) and you also work with Shimoni Environmental Agency making alternative charcoal out of coconut shells (again, this would be a great time for another picture…)

OK, you get the point, and I guess there actually is a pretty interesting story that goes along with the dirt on my feet. However, I really want to expand upon what I was writing about yesterday. After some great discussion with my fellow GVI members and some private contemplation on the matter of women covering their heads and bodies to respect their religious beliefs, I feel that I have a lot more to say. DISCLAIMER : What I’m saying in no way reflects Islam as a religion, or Muslim people as a culture, in general. I am merely reflecting how I view the women of Shimoni village, a village that relies mostly on fishing as a means of making a living, a village that can be described as conservative (albeit a relative term), and a village of which the majority of its inhabitants identify as Muslim.

This is how I walk into the village everyday, I think I look pretty cool...

Moving on. So the question that I’m after, and that what people who have read this seem to want an answer to, is “Is the empowerment of women hindered or helped by the fact that they have to cover their heads, shoulders and knees?” I have to admit I don’t have an answer to that in ANY WAY. Because, I have seen a lot of un-empowered women in the free world, let me tell you. For example, is this an empowered woman? Is this?

These are two very obvious extremes, but they illustrate my point. How can we tell how strong, how smart, how worldly, how creative, how beautiful, how hard-working, how loving a woman is by just looking at her? I know a few women in the village, a few very strong and smart and beautiful women, and they inspire me more than any ‘regular’ woman I have ever met in the states. They have next to nothing. I mean, they are the people you hear about living on less than $2 a day. They have children, husbands, homes to care for…and yet they volunteer teach, they come to GVI’s outreach programs, they come to the women’s group to learn. A woman came to our adult environmental education course out of her own time and she was at first shy, but then she was taking notes and even said to me she would love to use this knowledge to become a community facilitator. It gave me chills to hear her say that, it took a good amount of teeth clenching not to yell “You go girl!!!!”

I remained professional, but just thinking about it now makes me giddy. Women are fucking awesome. I’m sorry, but they are. And they are here in Shimoni. When I see a woman here, she is carrying 15 gallons of water on her head, nursing a child, washing clothes, and she stands tall. She looks at me in the eyes and dares me to say hello first. She welcomes me into her home and offers me chai and asks me about my life in America. She is my friend, and she is my equal. I guess I have my answer after all.

The whole covering up thing...

2012-02-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

The whole covering up thing

So, everyday I wake up and climb completely naked out of bed. I have your attention now, right? Well, at least for a minute. Not long after that I am getting dressed to go out into the village. Mind you, Shimoni is much more modern than Mkwiro. You only have to make sure your shoulders and knees are covered. Only! In Mkwiro (the island village) you have to have your head covered as well. Or they will stone you. Literally.

Ok, maybe they would only stone you if you were in Zanzibar. But it would be pretty close. My headscarf slipped once in class and a 7 year old chastised me harshly enough that I made sure it never happened again. I was also brought back to the days of my first visit to a rural coastal village in Kenya, about three years ago. My homestay mother, an ancient woman who spoke not a lick of English, ripped my kanga off of my body because I wasn’t wearing second one underneath it. A SECOND kanga??! In 100 degree heat…with 100% humidity…I had literally passed out because of dehydration and I still wasn’t getting it right.

But that’s another story. This is the story about Shimoni, a village that is ‘modern’, however, when you walk around in nothing but bangs and a long sleeve shirt, you still get dirty looks. Compared to when I walk into the village with a headscarf, tied up as shown below, and I get many more welcome greetings.

When I dress like this, I am told “Umependeza!”, which means, “You look smart!”, which means, “You look dern good woman!” I feel like a crazy person, and when you are wearing three different pieces of fabric, a strong gust of wind can almost undress you completely (remember the stones) and freak out accordingly.

However, I am welcomed into people’s homes, someone even bought me LUNCH the other day. I am called Fatuma by people, and asked if I’m a real Mzungu Muslim. I reply truthfully, no, I am not Muslim. To which they answer “Ohhh you’re Christian.” It’s a statement, you are either one or the other. Trying to explain that you are ‘spiritual’ is sometimes interpreted as ‘I’m into witchcraft and devilwork’. So, I usually just try to speak KiSwahili and people laugh at me and then I go along with my day.

I’m actually really glad I’ve never been fervently religious or fervently agnostic, because this would be really hard either way. I like to think I’m coasting the line between being culturally sensitive and ignorantly religious. I have to say I haven’t gotten anything negative by dressing the part, except very sweaty, and only good things from trying to fit in. I even once had a man come up to me and say thank you. He was genuinely impressed at my effort. I felt really good. I feel really good, I have a lot of friends in the village now.

And I also can’t say I feel oppressed. I feel the exact opposite of oppressed. When I dress like a Mzungu, I get snide, even disgusting remarks from men. Now I am treated as an equal. My mind screams that this is wrong, I should be empowering myself! But I realize now empowerment isn’t forcing society to look at your skin. Empowerment is trying, its putting yourself out there, testing the limits. I would be oppressed if I stayed in my room naked all day, I would be alone, I wouldn’t have a voice. I’m still working it out, but for now I say it’s a good fit.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacckkk (and in Kenya!!!)

2012-02-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

So! Hello. This is a little awkward for me, because I feel really guilty about abandoning my Vermonter blog after only a few months. The truth is that the novelty wore off, and I really thought I had embraced Vermont culture so much that I didn't have time for blogs, because I was too busy tubing down rivers, smoking all natural tobacco, drinking out of paper bags and attending free music festivals at farmhouses (see below)

I truly fell in love with Vermont. And I miss it. Which leads me to the reason of re-vamping the Vermonterlusting blog...I've moved to Kenya!! I am currently working for the most kickass organization evah , which you can real all about here. I have been doing the most amazing things ever...and as of now I'm still in the 'volunteer intern phase', so I get to move around to the different projects going on in Kenya. We do 6 weeks of community work, 2 weeks on Forest, and 2 weeks on Marine (which I am MOST excited for...we snorkel and look for dolphins all day long). As I write, I am in Shimoni Village, which you can see in the little location thing. There really are only those two main roads, with forests on each side, full of Angolan Black and White Colobus monkeys!!!

Needless to say, there is just tooo much going on to NOT write about. I already have six weeks worth of adventure that I should have been sharing with the world. So please, stay tuned...I am going to regiment myself to write ONE BLOG every DAY this WEEK. Yes, its happening. I promise.

Winter Vermonterland

2011-02-25T13:56:00.000-08:00

So this winter has been pretty rough. By pretty I mean really, and by really I mean, I have been in an near depression state of mind for the past 3 months. It just snowed another 12 inches atop of 5 feet that has been accumulating since December. See picture below:

That is my door. It's really nothing compared to when 4 feet of solid ice fell off my roof in front of my garage, blocking my car and my freedom for an entire day. I did however burn an approximate 1500 calories from shoveling it all away. It also apparently isn't going to stop there, another 3-4 inches tonight is coming and again tomorrow night. Here are some pictures of my adorable chinchilla to warm your heart if not your hearth.

#100 Drinking Wine and Taking a Bath

2011-01-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

One of the best discoveries that I have made in my life to date: drinking (almost) an entire bottle of wine and then taking a bath. The trick: drink only 3/4 of the bottle while cleaning or watching a movie, then save one glass for the bath. Get the water really hot, get some really nice shower gel and your favorite conditioner and get ready for a good solid hour of hanging out in the bathtub with your glass of wine.

I recommend Pinot Grigio, the ultimate relaxing wine. You can also drink the whole bottle without feeling sick because it tastes so good :-)

You'll feel tingly and amazing and totally relaxed....this activity is HIGHLY recommended by KTB

Recommended for 2011 List!

2011-01-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all!! So I'm going to start a countdown of things that I highly recommend doing during the 2011 year. I'm gonna try and get up to 100 things that you should do this year, according to me. Follow and see what amazing things could be in store for you :-)

My backyard

2010-12-05T06:59:00.001-08:00

This is from almost a month ago, but I thought I'd share what my backyard looked like when the leaves were at their peak :-)

Death and Re-Birth with Valentino

2010-12-04T20:39:00.001-08:00

December 4, 2010

Wow, it’s really been two months since I wrote anything? You all must be wondering if it’s because I have such an interesting life I don’t have the time or energy to blog about it…the truth is I don’t have the will or resolve to sit down and re-live what has been happening to me every day because it has literally been a shit hole. Yes, I said it. SHITHOLE. School is the worst and so is my “love” life with extra quotes.

But…the semester is only a few weeks away from ending, and I can’t wait because I feel like I’m about to snap. Emotionally, physically, psychologically….spiritually? There are very few things that are keeping me afloat right now. But every time I felt knocked down and kicked again and again, I remembered that I had a really cute ball of white adorable-ness coming my way.

And that’s when things got really bad.

So I started my day with a very wonderful lap swim at the pool, followed by an extremely relaxing sauna session, then finished with a beyond-amazing brie omelet made by yours truly. I left to go get Valentino, a one-month old pink white chinchilla kit that was to be both the new man in my life, and a bundle of fluffy distraction to my downward-spiraling life. I had a huge stupid grin for the entire 2 ½ hour ride to Salem, Massachusetts. Then I knocked on the door the apartment where he was, only to hear heavy metal blasting in the background…and some really weird grunting noises. I was mortified and ran out the door…didn’t know what to do so I just drove around Salem for 30 minutes. When I came back, music was off and no more grunting…so I felt it was safe to try again.

Valentino was put in my arms, he is sniffing my hand and tries to crawl up my arm. He is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

Anyways, I get him into his little cage, and I put him in the front seat of my car. He wanted so badly to get out…he was scratching at the corners of the box and making little peeping noises. So I figured, “Hey, what could happen? I’ll just let him run around the car! He’ll be so happy, and I’ll be happy and it’ll just be great”.

So, without going into too much detail, but getting into what happens next without sounding completely obtuse…Valentino got lost in the car. He climbed behind the radio, and started to explore a bit. I pull the car over to try and find him…and then he disappears for real. I can’t find him at all, I start to really freak out. Did he fall into the engine? Did he escape somehow? Did he get stuck and is now either freezing or heating to death? I thought I killed my first baby chinchilla, in less than 2 hours of having him. My whole world crumbled in my own hands…I can’t control anything around me, not even getting a baby chinchilla from one place to another.

I searched everywhere. I ripped out the carpets of my car, dug out the radio…today my hands are a scratched and bloody mess from reaching so far into the wires. I drove home with insanity. My head was spinning and my stomach was lurching, I had no idea what had happened…how could something so simple go so horribly wrong? I drove to my house, every minute seemed like an hour. Every minute the most horrible hour of my life.

We got to the house and my mom and sister weren’t there. I called their phones frantically, and they said they were on their way. I paced my living room for 30 minutes, feeling dizzy and nauseous. My mom came back and consoled me…we looked some more but without any luck. We decide to drive back to where I stopped at the exit…in case he somehow jumped out. I knew it was hopeless though. Meg stayed behind, and I got in the car to drive an hour back to where we were.

45 minutes later, Meg calls. She says, “I found him. I see him”. She had our dog Kaiser sniff him out.

The rush of relief was overwhelming; I still don’t think I’ve realized what has happened. All I know is that Valentino is safe, a little dirty around his ears, but otherwise ok. He’s scared and skittish, but I think it is because he is in a very new place and he probably misses his mother and sister. He’s eating the food and treats I give him, but he is still too afraid to take a dust bath…will try to do that before I go to work. They are nocturnal animals; I think that he must be exhausted. I am also exhausted, and I woke up to find giant bruises all over my knees and elbows from throwing myself around my car for 4 hours.

On the way home, I stopped at the brewery to refill my growler with some Münich Dünkel, a malty brown ale, to wash down the remnants of today’s anguish and trauma.

Today, I’m drinking tea and playing the Single Man soundtrack, because it’s pretty soothing and calming. I chin-proofed my room, and opened the door to the cage, but Valentino is still just hanging out inside of it. Hopefully he will come out so I can get a better picture…but this is what I have so far. He really is the fricken cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

PIEYAHHHHH

2010-10-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

that was a play on "heeyah" and "pie"

either way

here's the picture!

The Great Apple Cheese Pie Experiment

2010-10-12T18:15:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend we had a wonderful New England experience apple picking and hay riding through corn fields and pumpkin patches...I'm not sure how many more fall words I can fit into that sentence, but I'm sure you all get the picture.

Anyways, I went a little overboard and picked a 1/3 bushel of apples, also known as two ppecks. This equivalent to the amount of apples it would take a month for one person to eat. Being a good Vermonter, I felt really bad about wasting apples, so I decided to bake a pie.

Not just any pie...I decided to be a little creative....Also, I had a pound of Extra Sharp Cabot Cheddar in my fridge that I have been trying to get rid of...and I also felt like being a little dicey so I made my own pie crust!! Lots of butter, improvising plastic bags to roll it out, and 24 hours later I had a great pie crust.

But I didn't have enough for the TOP. I completely forgot about the top of the darn pie...

So I made some dough last second to put on top...and I put some butter in it? Because?? Still not sure.

Also, the only dish I had was a 3 inch deep 10 inch across cake tin...so it's also something of a Chicago-style Apple Cheddar pie

Anyways, the Great Apple Cheese Pie Experiment is under way and I'm starting to smell something that could turn into something appetizing. I'm watching Manhattan Murder Mystery, so even if this pie is a disaster the night is not for a total loss. Pictures of the finished project to come, along with some culinary critiques...

Con-Sign me up!

2010-10-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have discovered the greatest thing about Vermont and New Hampshire. Consignment shops. People's old things that are re-sold...really cheaply. It's like what IKEA was supposed to be before yuppies ruined it.

Consignment shops are the embodiment of my new home. Awesome things that people either haven't discovered yet or have brushed aside...wonderful because yuppie assholes haven't ruined it. Like the quiet dirt road that I live on, or the fact that THIS is literally around the corner from me (watch the video, the amount of adorable-ness almost chokes you)

"We have got fresh baked cookies as big as your face"

This is the greatest place in the world to be right now.

Here is my new printer table, because my former printer table was the floor underneath my bed. And it was only $30! Living in Vermont is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. :-)

Top 10 Tips on How to NOT be an obnoxious asshole when you go out to eat.

2010-09-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Don’t leave your newspapers and magazines for us to clean up. Throw your own trash in your own trash; it’s not my job to dispose of your Esquires and Teen Peoples.
Order what you want when I ask you what you want. If when you get all of your food you decide you want 10 different sides, I’m going to give you a dirty look, because I’m damn busy and if you just told me in the first place I wouldn’t have to make another trip to the hot nasty kitchen and annoy the cooks even more asking for your damn side of barbecue sauce.
If you want separate checks, tell me BEFORE you all decide you can’t do math when the whole bill comes and you can’t remember how many fruity bitch drinks you had.
If the list of beers we have on tap does not list the beer you ask for, we still don’t have it on tap, then we DON'T have it on tap
The beers that are still brewing are unavailable because THEY’RE STILL BREWING.
If you order a grilled cheese sandwich, don’t be upset when you get a grilled cheese goddamn fucking sandwich.
15% is standard people, you should EXPECT to ALWAYS pay 15% on a tip, no matter what. 18% if your server is good, 20% if they are excellent. If you have a problem, don’t express it by leaving a shitty tip. Talk to the manager so at least I don’t feel like an asshole for trying my fucking best to keep you happy, and it turns out your just an ignorant fuck.
Yeah, it is a trouble to get you your 5^th water that I won’t be tipped on. Fuck you and drink something real.
When I come to your table to take your order, stop your goddamn conversation. If you continue to talk for more than 12 seconds, I will leave and not come back to bring you food…which is the whole reason you’re at a restaurant in the first place, isn’t it?
If you ask me a dumb question or are rude to me because you don't view me as an equal human being, don’t be surprised if I’m rude back to you. I’m a person who will respond as a person to ignorance and rudeness respectively. For example, if I ask “How is your food?” and you make a face and say “Eh, I’ve had better”, I will NOT apologize for your own dumb choice nor say something like “Oh, that’s too bad”. I will however, walk away and come back when you’re ready to pay me.

Breakfast Mojo

2010-09-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

I think my new "thing" is getting into lame trends 5 years too late. I made myself a smoothie this morning and finally found out why everyone was so gaga about that Jamba Juice half a decade ago.

It's my own recipe, thinking about trademarking a name

5 oz Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
Half Banana
1 cup Unsweetened Soy Milk
Half cup of blueberries
one big ol' scool of Vanilla Whey Protein
2 Tablespoons of Agave Nectar - maple (or maple syrup)

I'm thinking - "Whey Awesome" or "Yummerberry"...any thoughts?

Fall Sense/Sensation

2010-09-13T08:14:00.003-07:00

First moments of Fall Sense

Definition of fall sense – nostalgia of cold wind, heavy sweaters and crisp colors in the crisp air. The smell of burning wood mixed with the first feeling of a true cold in your lungs. Flannel is not only cool but it’s practical, it’s the standard as opposed to a kind of lame fashion statement. Realizing how stupid it is to even think about making fashion statements because everyone is too cold to care about what you’re wearing, and you’re too cold to care how baggy your sweater is or how boringly gray your coat is.

My fall sense-ness springs from the change of my own scenery. The drive from Brattleboro to Keene changes every day. The scenery is like a moving picture in my eyes. Trees bloom overnight into vibrant fall colors…The drive is long and cathartic and I’m actually ecstatic about going to work this afternoon, despite being extremely sleep deprived.

I never thought that I could feel so homesick at home. It has been 4 years since my last fall experience, and memories flood back to me about my childhood. Walking to the bus stop, Halloween and trick or treating, running with friends in the cold air.

Also, the prospect of ECB’s Oktoberfest, Magic Hat’s Ourtoberfest “Hex” and other Fall brews is more than enough prospect to make Fall my favorite season.

I drank Hex (a malty amber ale, medium body with toffee and caramel flavor hints with a smoky finish) the other day (see awesome animation here) and it really invoked spooky demons in my soul. Spookiness and cold dreariness is overwhelming my persona these days. The other night I was awoken by a pack of coyotes howling at the moon. I can’t wait to wander the woods of my backyard and come upon a ghost or a monster, an abandoned tomb or a dilapidated castle.

My imagination is wandering today, sparked by an overwhelmed heart, an overtired body and a malfunctioning brain in the academic sense (note how that sentence makes no sense). Class is droning, discussions too long and too disparate about obscure topics like “culture” and “conflict” is leaving me itching for some trouble.

Maybe nothing will happen, but something is going to change. I feel it in the air.

These Green Mountains...

2010-09-09T18:06:00.001-07:00

See, she gets it

Airport Gloom

2010-09-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

I'm hungry...but I don't want Starbucks. And it's NOT because I've become a holier than thou extremist leftist hippie know it all...it's because I'm sick of wanting a turkey sandwich and then paying TEN DOLLARS for it, and then finding out its half soaked with water! A ten dollar soggy sandwich. And a Water called "Vasa" which makes me think of the German word for water, "Vasser" but with an annoying German accent. I have about 20 minutes until boarding...and I'm just irritated now. Why are we forced into buying products that suck and are overpriced? I say this as I take off not one but two layers of plastic around my water bottle, twist off the top and then realize there is a plastic peel thing UNDERNEATH the cap. Finally I get to the water...it tastes like turkey.

So I have water that tastes like turkey and a turkey sandwich soaked in water. All for ten American dollars.

I miss Vermont already :-(

Orienting the Disoriented

2010-08-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

First day of the SIT Grad Program orientation was completed today, by me, and it was great! Except for the fact that it was literally 95 degrees and I didn't want to make friends because I was so sweaty and nasty, as it turns out, I did end up making some friends because it turns out everyone here is extremely nice.

Life has been mostly the same up until now, I'm sensing a big change in my life. I'm mostly excited about taking Kiswahili courses again!! So now its indisputable, I'm a huge dork and SIT is more than the place for me.

On to the EXCITING NEWS!!!!!!!!!

I will be re-venturing back to my Washingtonian roots (by DC standards, I lived there a long time, as its such a transitive city) and I can't wait to reconnect with my lovely friends.

AKA showing DC what a REAL hurricane is like (so back down, Earl, I got this). Pictures and some great stories involving trannies and frozen margaritas are sure to follow, stay tuned!

As for my Vermonterlusting, I have had some run-ins with the "diverse locals"

My favorites include so far: "Man who walks around outside the Catholic Church on Main Street wearing Caution tape and holding a sign that says 'Vote No to say No!"

Voting for what, I still haven't figured out.

Second favorite goes to the couple having the really loud and awkward conversation about whether or not they should "dumpster dump this baby, I can't keep off the crack for another 2 weeks"

I'm holding out for the nude people though, I have a feeling they don't come out until the temperature drops below 50 degrees.