leaving Kericho

7-11-10

Sitting in the sunshine, listening to the birds and thinking about passing the soccer ball back and forth. We chatter in Kalenjin, Swahili and English, enjoying our day of at the arboretum. Crude jokes are passed around by the younger boys and Anna reads under a tree. We are the only ones here except for a group of three traditionally dressed Kenyan women resting under a tree on the other side of the field. It is peaceful and beautiful and we are happy.

7-13-10

(Eddie and I on a household survey...only took an hour to hike here)

I am sitting in a house on a wooden couch with no cushions, balancing my toosh between the slats. Kids are babbling, sucking on batteries and wandering around with no pants on. There is a cat in the ceiling and I can hear her weight shifting on the reeds above our head. I am reminded of the time Mama Sandro brought me a wild kitten and locked him in my store room “so he would know his home”. He quickly climbed into the ceiling and hid next to the kitchen. I can still see the cat perched on the ceiling boards as I peeked over the walls that don’t reach the roof. He was scared and confused and I wanted to help. Mama Sandro brought me another wild cat and swiftly tossed her over the wall onto into the space between the roof and ceiling, “so she would bring the other one down”. It was such a funny, strange interaction that I can still remember it so clearly. I stood on the table in my kitchen, watching the cats for half a day before they both disappeared.

7-18-10

(our last night together in Kericho...we love serious photos now...don't judge our table, it was our going away party)

Friday (7-16) we packed up and left our home in Kericho after a month. We had some good memories in that town. Turry and one of the cars left for Naiorbi while the other car left with the 4 Emory students and the 3 remaining research assistants for a road trip. Before we parted, they gave the Emory kids presents- the greatest sandals ever made and a card that made me cry. We made a really good team. By lunch on Friday, we were on a boat on Lake Victoria in Kisumu, looking at hippos. We had lunch on the water- the greatest fish ever. I got some new earrings and then we headed to Kakamega. We stayed the night in town and played Kenyan poker, which is no poker I know and I’m pretty sure the boys kept making up the rules. The next morning, we drove to Kakamega forest, the only rainforest in Kenya. There were so many butterflies and birds and you could hear the monkeys jumping around above us. We didn’t walk for too long in the forest, but it was amazing. We made it to Eldoret that evening and visited the guys’ friends. The Emory team decided to cook dinner for our team as our last night together. Desmond’s brother is a doctor and he let us stay at his house and use his kitchen. As per Kenyan usual, about twice as many people came as we were planning for and cooking with one burner took longer than we expected, so we ate about 10 pm. Oops.

I’m also really bad at goodbyes, so I was super grouchy the whole night. Or, as our British English speaking Kenyans say, I had my cranky trousers on. Or my grumpy jumper. Except when they ask me if I have my cranky trousers on, it cracks me up and I get in a much better mood. We are supposed to see them in Nairobi later this week, but it’s still not the same. It’s the end of an era. I don’t want to be doing field work in Kericho anymore, but I don’t want to be in Nairobi. I feel like I have been here forever, but I still have almost a month left. I am at that crossroads again where something is going to change. I am ready. I just wish I knew how things were going to change. When I get home, I’ll have a new roommate, new job, new school. I’m excited about it all!

In Nairobi, we have been put up at a sweet guest house near ILRI and have been working hard at the office. My friend Sean from the Peace Corps has been here doing preliminary research for his PhD. We had dinner and caught up- it has been 3 years since I’ve seen him. I love seeing old friends!

Enough for now…I have to get more work done on the database for our household surveys. If I could write a letter to the makers of Microsoft Access, I would say bad, bad things. Think happy thoughts for data entry!!!

Love,

Amanda Jean