Rainy, busy days...

Manure, rain, tea fields and sweat

The smell of unadulterated earth

Roadside stands with chickens, potatoes and sheets for sale

The smells are sometimes powerful

Cows graze next to the road and children wave with unabashed excitement

This is my Africa

This is my home

Thursday we spent the morning getting ready for the women and I went to greet the nurse I met the day before at her house. Anna and Shreyas came with me and we chatted for a while about her family and local customs (read: circumcision). We ate oranges and fell in love. It was baby day at the clinic. Another younger nurse said her favorite thing was the children. Her least favorite was when you tried your hardest to treat someone and they pass, despite everything you know how to do. Before we left, Josephine, the older nurse, prayed the most beautiful prayer over us and we went on our way to work.

Friday night we went to a bar near the hotel to watch the World Cup and get out of our little compound. It was fun- we ended up dancing to Kalengen (the local tribe) music and being silly. We met a random Kenyan who lives in Atlanta. He even showed me the driver’s license when I didn’t believe him. I used the “I have a boyfriend” line quite a few times and moved my ring to my left hand to fake a wedding band. It’s tough being so sought after.

Last night, Amanda, Anna, Turry (one of the research assistants) and I sat on my bed, watched a chick flick on my 10 inch computer, ate popcorn and rum raisin chocolate while the other research assistants and Shreyas went to a bar to try Napoleon brandy. We think we had the better night. It was nice just to have a girls night in. We are supposed to play a soccer match- Emory versus Egerton University (were 3 of the RAs, one consultant and the field supervisor are from). The mornings are beautiful, but the afternoons are so rainy and cold. Makes it hard to get in the mood to run around on the wet grass.

Today in Kericho Town, we went to an Anglican church- half in English, half in Swahili. It was the fanciest church I have ever been to in Africa. There were stained glass windows and yards of apricot colored satin draped across the front. My favorite was the REAL sound system that you could understand what was being said. There were bulletins and visitor cards and plastic lawn chairs. It blew my mind. A little girl crawled up into Amanda’s lap soon after the service started and stayed throughout. I could still see cows grazing from the windows, so I wasn’t too far removed from where I was.

After church, we decided to stop by the Sikh temple- the largest in Africa. Strangely, it is located in this little town in Western Kenya. It is so beautiful there. In keeping with their religion, they are required to feed us and offer us a place to stay. We ate an amazing lunch and had to promise to come back to listen to the groundskeeper play his music.

The Kenyan constitution is up for revision and will be voted on August 4th. It hasn’t been changed since Kenya gained independence from England. It has begun to divide the country, with many people making this a religious battle because of the controversy over abortion. A large rally held in Nairobi was bombed last Sunday. Someone threw a stun grenade on one side of the crowd and then when everyone rushed to the other side, they threw real grenades into the already panicking crowd. Almost 10 people died and many, many more were injured. At church this morning, the pastor read Matthew 7:1-7 and encouraged people not to judge people who are pro-abortion. You have to love them to show them the love of God. You will never win anyone with hate and judgement.

We have been so lucky to have so many blessings with our project. We have 2 drivers, 4 amazing research assistants, our hotel paid for and a per diem of almost $20. Our meals cost $5 if we splurge. We never expected any of this! Many other groups from the school have to find their own research assistants, drivers and don’t have the backing of a place like ILRI to help get contracts for everyone. We even have a field supervisor! There are 2 professors from Kenya that are consulting and running the focus group discussions. Despite all of this, I am trying not to feel like our project has been hijacked. It is all going really well, but after devoting so much time and effort to a project and then having someone else take over is frustrating at times. This has been every waking moment of my life for the past 3 weeks and a huge part of what I have worked on since April. I can’t decide if I am getting older or just more stubborn.

I have found two new favorite Kenyan foods- Mokimo and Githerei. Mokimo is mashed potatoes that have been prepared with pumpkin leaves mixed with corn and formed into a softball sized green blob. It is so good! Githeri is similar to the kande we ate in Tanzania- beans, corn, carrots and onions boiled together in a thick stew. Yummy!