I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about Kenyan culture, poverty, and many other macro-topics. But you may be asking yourself, why does someone do on a daily basis when living in Lusui, Kenya and working in a rural secondary school? I hope the following blog assuages your curiosity.
Kenyan Daily Schedule
6:05 am- Early Wake Up Call
Not much to talk about here. Only difference is that here I have to tie up my malaria net and fold my sheets before leaving bed.
6:05am- 6:30am-Active Exercise
Something that I love in Kenya is that I actually have time to run and keep a solid exercise routine. Two or three times a week I go on a 20 minute run, and the rest of the days I do push-ups and sit-ups on the floor in my room. My runs are usually on the nearby highway. One direction is straight downhill for ten minutes, which is great and easy, and then struggle uphill to return home. It’s terrible, but offers morning views of the sunrise (below). The other is a more balanced run, with bland scenery. Either way, it’s an active start to the day, and it leaves me feeling great.
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| This is the sunrise that greets me on the downhill/uphill run. Worth it. |
6:30-6:45am- Bucket Showers, Hygiene, and Laundry
After exercising I head into the shower room (pictured below) and mix boiled water with the cold water from our water tank. I bring my toothbrush to the bucket shower, and brush my teeth before starting the shower. Cupping my hands, I then splash water on myself from the basin/bucket, add some soap, and then rinse everything off. Sometimes this routine involves shaving, which is done with soap as shaving cream and without a mirror. It’s an adventure. Every other day I also wash my socks and underwear that I’ve used over the past two days by hand. It’s a very productive bucket shower.
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| Bucket Shower Room! It's missing the blue plastic washing basin, but other than that its the same every morning. |
6:45-7:05 am – Breakfast & Chai
Best part of the morning. After dressing and getting the books I need for school, I head out to enjoy the breakfast that my host mother has prepared. This includes tea, toast, eggs, and sometimes peanuts, small cookies, or other various additions. It’s an amazing breakfast, and I always make sure to thank my mother for the meal.
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| Mmmm, just looking at this uploaded picture makes me grave my delicious morning breakfasts. |
7:05 am-7:25- Walk to School, Talk to People 5000 miles away.
Twice a week I add talking to my parents and Alissa to my daily walk to school, but the rest of the days is a quiet walk of greeting villagers and taking in the early morning-African experience.
(dirt road to school)
7:25am-8:00am Library, Lesson Preparations
Each morning I open up the small library that we’ve started at the school, meet with the student library prefect Lymmer (pronounced Lie-ma), and then give books out to the students that come to the library. If I have time, I also prepare my morning lessons.
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| It's not much, but its a start. It's only been open for a week and a half now, so we have time to improve. |
8:00-5:00pm Teaching, Tea, More Teaching, Lunch, and finally, Teaching
This part of the day actually goes by rather quickly, and I’ve already talked about it in other blogs. I teach about 4 or 5 classes a day, out of the eleven that occur. In between classes I plan lessons, help students with problems, and read. The day also consists of an early morning tea break (clutch), and the daily lunch of Ugali and Skumawiki (fried lettuce),and nyama (beef). Lunch is the same every day, which gets a bit old. But its good food, and its free, so I’m not complaining.
5:00-6:30pm- Walking, Work Time, Reading
After school I walk home with my brother, and then take some personal time. This consists of reading, researching things on the internet or writing blogs, and working on things for the school or things for back in the US. So basically just some relaxing work/down time in my room.
6:30-8:00pm- Cattle, Conversation, and Cooking
Usually around 6:30pm I find my host brother and together we walk the cattle that have been feeding in our compound back to the shed/barn for the evening and tie them to the correct posts. Then together we make the dinner for the evening, which usually takes around an hour or more. I’m not really trusted with the important part of the meal (cooking Ugali or meat), but I usually help by frying Chapati, slicing fruit or vegetables, filtering water, and setting the table. We have general conversation about the day, Kenya, and I learn Kiswahili words for the foods that we are cooking. This is part of why I love my host family. I learn about Kenya, we have fun together, and then we eat delicious food.
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| This is my host brother, Shikoli, preparing the Chapati for frying. |
8:00pm-9:15pm- Eating Food, Soy Tu Duena, News, and Nighttime Goodbyes
After a prayer, dinner commences. This is about a 20 minute meal, where taking heaping loads of seconds is all but required. The food is usually delicious though, and supremely satisfying. During the meal we watch the drama of Mexican Soap Opera Soy Tu Duena unfold on the television screen, followed by Kenya news. This routine is broken when we lose power during dinner, which happens a couple of time a week. At about 9 or 9:15, my Mama says “Joseph, as for me, I shall go to rest.” Two things. First, I’m called Joseph mostly because Kurt is difficult to pronounce. And second, I love the way that she says goodnight. It’s Yoda-esque, and I’ve started to copy it if I go to bed first.
9:15pm-10:00pm- Reading, Internet, Lala (Sleep)
After saying goodnight I go in my room to read, journal, listen to music on my headphone, and then sleep. I’m usually in bed by ten. Before sleep I make sure to secure my mosquito net and set my morning alarm.
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| Room sweet room. The blue mosquito net is nice, although I've had to tie a few holes with dental floss. |
All in all it’s a healthy, consistent existence. I think that’s an important point to make. Before leaving for Africa many people warned me of violence, rape, and expressed concerns for my safety. In reality, life in Africa is relatively safe and normal. I think sometimes we try to distance ourselves from places like Africa by thinking that it is very different, foreign, removed from our own lives. But if you read the above day, I’m a normal person, living a normal life in a place that is all too often labeled as a haven of violence and poverty. There is a need to replace the image of Africa in our minds as a giant continent of suffering and poverty, with the image of normal people living their lives and trying to make the best of their situation.
So, I wanted to talk about the Safari’s that I’ve been going on, but I’ll save that for a later blog. Basically it’s a 3 weekend series of increasingly awesome places. Last weekend we spent 2 days at Lake Nakuru National Park, this weekend we are on midterm retreat at Hells Gate National Park, and next weekend we have a 3-day safari in the Masaai Mara National Reserve. I’ll give a broad update on these in a later blog entry.
So what’s coming up in this blog during my last five weeks in Kenya? Well, fundraising for electricity for the school where I’m working (don’t worry, I’ll let you know when I get the go-ahead. I’m going to try and raise about $1200 in a week. We can do it.) And part 2 of Hope for the Disillusioned World Changer, as well as a report on Kenyan Safaris. Should be an adventure.
Much love from Kenya,
Kurt