Finally in Kisumu

I’ve got so much to report, but just not sure where to start or what to include.

I finally reached Kisumu to begin doing what I came here to do. With some trepidation, I bought a ticket on Easycoach for the 9pm bus from Nairobi, which meant I would be travelling through the night to arrive to Kisumu at 4am in hopes of encountering my home-stay coordinator (Jamine—the chairman of IFP) in the waiting room. I have found Kenyans poor planners in terms of exact details, so with little more than “we’ll find each other,” I, the only white person, boarded the bus headed west. After leaving far behind schedule and enduring a looonnnng and BUMPY 7 hours through the dark, the bus pulled into Kisumu station. Several people stayed aboard and I, being convinced that we could surely not have arrived on time, was prepared to stay on with them. Good thing I finally got up the courage to ask the half-asleep man behind me where we were, or I would have missed Kisumu completely. My nerves were calmed when I found Jamine no problem and we returned to his Kisumu home at 5am.

Before actually getting to meet my host family, and after only 2 hours of rest and no shower, I was shuttled off with Jamine’s family and the other American intern to a funeral in the country-side for the son-in-law’s grandfather. SUCH A LONG DAY! Several hours shoved in the middle of the back seat of a small Toyota over rutted and pot-holed roads to the village. A very long African Catholic service in the hot sun in a local language even our hosts could not understand sometimes (thank God we white people are embarrassingly treated as royalty and given “VIP” seats on sofas!). I was shocked by the attendance at this ceremony. Partly because this man had 2 wives, 67 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren, and partly because everybody and their 3rd cousin turns up for events like these, there were easily over 300 people there. Even the Minister of Parliament (MP) for the area showed up. We left after a traditional Kenyan lunch, stopping in Jamine’s old town for a few drinks, and back to Kisumu by 9pm.

Finally, today I have arrived at my home-stay. My host father is the brother of Jamine. They live outside of Kisumu, just past the town of Mamboleo. Their plot is very big and nice—basically like living on a farm. We have 3 cows for milking, some land for growing cattle feed and veggies, chickens, turkeys, and ducks. Prepared for throw showers and no electricity, I was pleased to find a gorgeous home, my own room with comfortable bed, a flush toilet, a full stove with an oven, and satellite TV! Martin, the dad, works for the UN Development Program as well as teaching a few classes at the university and owning a restaurant. The mom, Lucy, works for the CDC at a hospital a bit far from Kisumu. I feel quite comfortable here already and am looking forward to getting settled in even more and starting my work for the next 3 months.

I "started" work today, but in the usual Kenyan fashion, plans have been a bit delayed. I was supposed to meet with my boss, Nyang'ori, but he is out of town. I've made the trek into Kisumu town expecting at least some documents in my email inbox to get started on, but Nyang'ori has not sent them yet. The good news is that I bought this nifty little modem thing that allows me to connect to the internet wirelessly wherever there is cell service...skype me!