day fourteen

This week I've learnt that the best thing to do when a passenger in Kenya is to close your eyes and hold on for dear life. Or just look left out the window and ignore what is the scariest live-action game of car/matatu/piki-piki chicken ever.

Going for a drive with Shida

I've started a page of all the Kiswahili terms I'm learning and use in this blog, so that if you wonder "what is a piki-piki?" you can click on that page and learn some new vocabulary.

Two weeks ago today I was landing in Kisumu. Whilst it doesn't exactly feel like I've been here for ages, it's hard to remember what a cup of coffee and bagel for breakfast was like. There are definitely things I wish I had packed, and there are things that I've come to love in Kenya, but most of all I miss the ability to actually speak Australian English at a normal speed. Life is slow here, even when they talk English (but not when they talk Swahili).

Chilin' on the front porch

One thing I love about where I live now is the incredible sunsets. I wish my photographs did them justice. Unfortunately most evenings I don't have my camera with me.

Does not do justice to the beauty that is Ikumu village.
This was taken with my Blackberry Q10

It gets dark here at around 7pm, and it is very dark. Last night we were sitting on the porch taking chai and the power went out - I literally could not see my hand in front of me it was that dark. Thank goodness for torches and mobile phones.

Baby Tashley playing with the lantern when the umeme is out

Everyone over here, no matter who they are, has a mobile phone, and they are constantly ringing. Often I'll be in the middle of a sentence and the person I'm speaking to will just answer their phone, talk, and then once finished start talking to me as if it was no big deal. The first few times it happened it was rather shocking, but I've gotten used to it.

The other thing I am getting used to is the fact that no matter how many times you wash, there will always be more dirt to wash off. Sometimes I think "ooh, I'm getting nice and tan" and then I wash my arms and I'm back to being very white... hahaha

On my way home from work... most roads are unsealed and as the rains have not come yet EVERYTHING gets covered in a fine layer of dirt. Tip: Keep your mouth closed when a car goes past...

So two weeks down, fifty more to go. Not that I'm counting time until I can get out of here, because right now there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be.