One week to go!

One final week to PST. One more, excruciating, stress-filled, semi-fun, bittersweet week before we swear in and actually begin life as Peace Corps volunteers.

Today has been fairly easy. I attempted to use my leadership skills on my technical group - 10 other adults - only to meet massive resistance. It was awesome. We need to be given 5500 /= before too late on Thursday (ha!!) so we can afford to go to market. There, we must buy food and such for a party we have to throw for our host families on Saturday. All organized, coordinated and executed by us. Friday will be occupied by a semi-PC-planned sleep-over at Thome. But, again, they want us to do most of the organizing. I mean, we have plenty of time to group up and discuss, right? Did I mention the 3 reports/presentations due Friday morning? I may have forgotten that...

Seriously, though, if you disregard PC, things have been good here. I had a couple of infections and currently have an odd-looking rash, but life is good. Mama and fam are well. Friends are about the same as me. Weather has been nice, but, we are in the dry season, so it's not like rainy days are even an issue.

After site visit, when I last wrote, we have had more time for our community projects. The choo we were digging is without funds, so that came to a halt. My women's group is still real active, though, so that's great. We taught them to make salsa and soap, both as income-generating activities. I've no idea about IGAs, but I guess it is good to practice now for when I get to site. That seemed to be number 1 request there.

Us PCTs organized another all-night party at a local hotel. Cheeseburgers, onion petals, salsa, guacamole, chapati crisps, ugali crisps, and sangria. Damn good selection of food! We are really good cooks when we put our minds to it, and we know how to have fun.

As I had said, there is one more week. We will leave next Wed. for Nairobi and swear in on Thursday. Pretty exciting, eh? Hope so. Then, we are on our own to get to site. I guess the other Westerners are planning to sleep Friday in Nairobi, take the night train on Saturday, sleep in Kisumu Sunday and be at site on Monday. I like the idea, but will need to let my supervisor know. I think he honestly believes I can make it there on Friday. He also believes PC is taking me, despite my attempts to explain otherwise.

Gonna run out of time... More from Nairobi!!

Future Site Visits

I'm in Nairobi today, on my way back home from my future site. I've been placed in Western province, near Kakamega, Kisumu, Butere, etc. Try to find that area on the map. It's north of Lake Victoria, beautiful and green, hilly, and nice. The weather felt humid, but somewhat cool. Because it is north of the equator, I'm suddenly coming in to summer instead of winter, which feels totally random. The people are of the Luhya tribe and speak Luhya. They are made up of a million clans, each with their own dialect. Sounds like learning mother tongue will be a challenge.

I meant to have my address with me when I used internet, but this kind of came up suddenly. It may take a little longer. Sorry, ya'll. I'll be sharing with my supervisor, who runs the Alpha Support Development Programme. Maybe you can find out that way? It's a PO Box in Kilingili.

Umm... It sounds really great, but super overwhelming. I met 3 groups on Friday and was introduced as being one step below 'messiah'. Uh.. me? Yikes! It sounds like I will have a wealth of things to do, so if I get bored I either really am a messiah or else I'm a moron.

My house is nice. A 2 bedroom place, living room, indoor kitchen and indoor bafu (washroom). My bafu is in desperate need of a curtain, as I discovered my neighbor watching me the other morning. Nice. Thanks. The choo is a double, out back, and full of giant jumpy spiders. We are getting a lesson on Doom this week, so we can be prepared for moving in. I want to just gut it out, scrub everything and repaint, then rearrange the furniture in a me-friendly way. I'm lucky to have a big table, chairs, a couch, and a bed. Not too much will be needed in furniture then.

We are going back to Kitui this afternoon for our last month of training. Hopefully all will go well, then we are back to Nairobi for swearing in on the 3rd and leaving for site on the 4th. Oooh, baby!

Wild for Kenya

Hey hey hey!! I just read all the notes you've been leaving - Thank you!!! It's so great to see!! Business - mum, dad, I have been trying to email you, but haven't been able to get it sent. Please don't be mad and don't think I'm being evil!

Life here is still good. Hot, but cold, all at once. The nights are quite chilly and the morning bath is getting fast! But then, but midday, it's hot as hell all over again. It's alright - I think I am getting used to it all.

I've put in a request for a cooler site. We find out on Monday the 3rd. We go to Nairobi this weekend, which has been dramatic, but I'll fill in on that once I have some real info to share. Monday is a mtg with supervisors, then Wed we leave for our future sites. I am SO excited!!! Maybe Western province, Rift Valley, Nyanza... Those will all be cool.

When we get there we have to find out about mailboxes. As soon as I know my future address I will be sure to post it here for all y'all. Don't be afraid to keep using the other address, though!!

Lotsa love to you all. I'm working on letters for everyone. If you think there's a chance I don't have you mailing address, PLEASE EMAIL IT TO ME!! I want to write letters, but I know I'm missing a few folks.

End of Week 3

...Not like we are counting the weeks or anything... Umm.. it's the end of week 3 and all is well. We are still in good spirits, getting almost handy with the language, and just starting some community service.

Wednesday morning, we woke early to walk an hour over to a new dispensary. 11 of us were there to build a choo (the others were digging a well, I think). For this, they marked out a 3' x 4' area where we are now digging down to 20' depth. In the 4 hours of work, we got to about 5'. Nice, eh? It's gonna get freakier as we go, and we need a ladder to get in and out, and buckets to remove the dirt. I guess after it is dug and cemented, we will build the surrounding structure to make it complete.

My family is still quite nice. The little people are getting on my nerves, though. It seems all they do is cry!! I've threatened to strangle them, but the mama's just think I'm kidding and laugh. Right.

Hey, my time is about to expire so, sorry to be so short! I gots to go!!

WRITE ME!!

Hamjambo kwa Kitui!

Very quickly!! I am in Kitui, Kenya, a small city about 3 hrs from Nairobi. Cute, smallish, dirty, HOT AS HELL and nice. Language is progressing. People are great. 39 of us now, having lost 2 in staging.

I have a mobile. If you want it, email me and I'll let you know. Or, call my mum.

I am at the post office with a line behind me and 5 minutes left on my card. Love to you all. I hope you enjoy your summers!!

WRITE TO ME!! I want a letter!!

Get the hell outta here!!

It's 12:30am, the morning of my departure for the City of Brotherly Love. I finally packed, having only been gathering this last week. Oops. Turns out, I should have done this a few days ago and then pruned, repacked, and pruned some more. I got a lot of crap.

The problem isn't weight. There's 30 lbs in the backpack, 30 lbs in the duffel bag. I'm 20 lbs under PC's limit, which almost makes me want to find 20 more pounds of stuff, just to meet my limit. But where, oh where, would I stick it? I'm sure I have too much clothing and not enough "stuff". I just have NO IDEA.

PC never sent me the packing list, as promised. Jerks. I took... 6 skirts, 6 shirts, skivvies (lots), socks, jammies, bikini, comfies, . . . . books, journals, film, eyeball stuff, shit - I haven't even packed any shoes yet, a wind-up flashlight, suntan lotion, binoculars, um..

Really, I think it will all be fine. I just want to get there, get settled and not think about it again. Or, at least, get there, get settled and actually be able to assess the situation and appreciate what was brought, rue what was left, and find peace in between.

Contact info... I believe I'll be keeping this blog, as is. I will most certainly post a new site if I change my mind. Mail shall be sent to: (me), Peace Corps Trainee / PO Box 30518 / Nairobi, Kenya / AFRICA I encourage a regimine of 1 letter per week for best results.

Thanks!!

Return to the Great White North

I quit my job at the end of April (!!!!) and immediately celebrated with a trip north. Lucky me had gotten a plane ticket from the bosses for Winter Solstice and I didn't have to drive. What a relief!

I stayed with Jess D. and partied like a college kid. It was GREAT! Drinking every day, dancing, hugging cute boys, all without the weight of finals or classes or any of that crap. Being out and about like that let me see all the people I missed but couldn't contact or was just more 'acquainted' with. Man...

I met a lot of famous people, too. Jess's new beau, the hunk I want her to marry; Katie, my buddy's lil sis; Jess's lil bro's, who are on their way to fame; and a couple of foreigners, including a Kenyan gal.

I just... love it. I love it so much.

Keep Marching for Choice

I got an email from Planned Parenthood today, asking me to post a blog with a story about women who are baited into visiting "fake" clinics when seeking help for an unwanted pregnancy. (This wasn't an unsolicited request, so you know) The story was good, truthful, and evocative, but it doesn't feel right to post someone else's words in my blog. I'll give you my version, instead.

Basically, the Anti's (as in Anti-choice) have taken a new strategy to their war on choice. They are buying up properties next door to Planned Parenthoods, real clinics and abortion providers. They call themselves things like, "Crisis Pregnancy Center" or "Pregnancy Services", and lead you to believe they'll help you make the best choice. They also skirt laws about harassing women on their way into these clinics, as they can do whatever they like on their own lawn.

Once inside, the women are told lies about abortions. They are told lies about what is inside them. They are made to feel awful, sinful, murderous for even considering an abortion.

The New York Times has a good column on these places. One thing that stood out for me was the comments by the women they interviewed. It seems all those who were having the most difficulty with the abortion were those who didn't make their own choice. Their mom, their dad, their boyfriend all wanted it to happen, but never them. They behaved in a way they thought would get the most approval. No wonder they feel like shit now. If a woman is going to choose to abort, it has to be her own decision, and she must be given all the options, with real facts regarding each choice. That's what this whole fight for choice is all about -safe, honest, informed choices.

I will give these fake clinics one morsel of credit: when a woman really wants to keep the baby, or at least not terminate, they are great for assistance. These places can connect a woman to adoption services and will provide clothing, diapers, and formula to a mother in need. I just don't see why they can't be straightforward about this.

My Shitty Day

Today qualifies as the shittiest day I've had in a while. Which, really I know has a silver lining, but we can look at that later. Don't let it distract you.

So this day sucked, right from the very-ery beginning. By that, I mean 12am. At 12am, I was beginning to regret my choice of onion rings while debating religion with a Frenchman who only halfway speaks English. An hour later I realized what time it was, a whole 6 hours before I had to start my day. Yay.

Homeward bound! I hopped right into bed in a desperate attempt to squeeze 8 hours of sleep into 6 hours of time. Too bad my body hates me, and I laid (i.e., thrashed) around for at least an hour before dozing off. At 5:50am, the cat from hell - who's name is Lola, as if that wasn't indication enough - started scrabbling and yowling at my door. She does this EVERY morning when L goes to work out. It continues until I let her in or the door pops open and she lets herself in. It popped at 6:20am.

I go to work, as good girls do, totally fried, but on-time and full of breakfast. I had a lot of coffee and was feeling good, so I took a jaunt down the street for better coffee and to pick up my podner's omelet. Cool, right? The weather was fab, it was sunny, yahoo! Add a diet coke, subtract a bag with handles, and you have me balancing an ice-cold beverage and a steamy-hot coffee on top of a styrofoam container. Push a door, push a door, trot down the street, puullll a door !!carefully!!, down the stairs, and twi-wis-twist the knob and **ka-blash!** The coke falls and shatters on the floor, the coffee tips and spills its scalding goodness on my arm, hand, and abdomen, and I stood stunned.

The upside? The ice from the coke felt nice on my brand new burn.

Oh, and P said the omelette was really tasty.

Writing, typing, dialing, and generally existing, all suck really bad once you toss a burn into the mix. My work is based on writing, typing and, especially, dialing. hoo-rah.

I took a long lunch to see the cute boy at the shoe store (who my parents already dislike, sight unseen, and without the threat of marriage or babies) who was too busy to talk, wander aimlessly, and finally get into a long chat with an odd fella who told me which colors of squirrel taste best and how to get the 'game' out of my recently deceased meat.

It seamed only right to GO HOME, curl up on the couch and eat cookies. Hibernation is a defense mechanism I'm not too proud to use.

39 Steps Backwards for Humanity

Went over to the bookstore today, for a quick look at what was new and interesting. Ended passing by a book entitled, "39 Uses for your Wife." Honestly. I think it was supposed to be funny, as the illustrations were all very cartoony. In reality, it was an offensive waste of paper and ink.

Options include: Diva, Lingerie model, Tailor (with an image of a woman, prone, at her husband's feet), Chauffer, and Trophy.

I have to wonder, as a publisher, what the hell are you thinking when you approve this book?? Who's your intended audience? What's your message? How is someone getting paid for this?

Welcome to Collinwood

Mum and I caught this one, Welcome to Collinwood, on inDemand last weekend. Holy Funny As Hell, Batman!

It's about this guy who gets tipped off to a Bollini (which, it seems, it slang for a really hot heist) and goes in hot pursuit. There's a lot of familiar faces, but seen in a way that doesn't make the movie all about the actors. Well.. maybe there's one exception to that, but his role is brief so you can get past it.

I about fell off the couch laughing So Hard at this movie -I swear I did! It's just good physical comedy, done with a real old-school style that is hardly seen anymore.

Put this on your must-see list and SEE IT!!

Tips from a Resume Reader

I have been meaning to add on to this sector of my blog. In fact, I had sort of planned to make it at least a monthly entry. I think I'm just so used to shitty resumes, I hardly notice they're shitty! But - have no fear - I have found a few more beefs to share!

1. I thought the proper spelling issue would be obvious. It isn't. Let's now rephrase it to say 'Spell your job, your employer, your skills and your education/training properly'. There's far too many technitions out there without enginiring degrees, let alone a clue to spelling.

2. Leave your personal life out of it!! You might be 32, dating, with a son and love windsurfing and leading the cub scout troup, but we don't need to know.

3. Resumes are awesome when they explain your job history. One could make a strong argument, in fact, that that is their entire purpose. Do NOT list your employers and job titles without a few bullets (preferred) or a short paragraph (okay) underneath. Do NOT have a big glob of experiences followed by a short list of employer - title - dates. Connect the two, would ya?

3b. My boss, who really seems to be an expert on this whole resume / employment thing, has a rule for job descriptions. Start with 3 bullets and then add on one more for every year with a company. Now, if you've been somewhere for 30 years, doing the same thing, 33 bullets might be a tad much. Use your brain.

Diversion: it's my last month with the company. We've gotta get damn close to our quota before I leave, in order for me to be happy. So: anyone out there in the robot business, shout my way! I wanna get you hired!

Couple of movies..

CRASH:

I had no idea what this movie was about before I watched it. "Crash" brought images of cars, so I was prepped for an action flick. Nope, not so much.

Don't get me wrong -the movie was reall good. It's supposed to be a critique of the racism still rampant in L.A., and has offended a great number of people. The movie makes it seem like everyone is racist, or will become that way soon enough. Hopefully, those with rational logic will see that it is just focused on one topic and aimed to project a message.

What I really enjoyed was the connections between the characters, and how smoothly they transitioned from group to group. That was where the crafty creativity came in, and that is what helped the movie to not just be a dramatization of a situation.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN:

Saw this one at the cheap show. I'd been wanting to see it for a while, from interest, as a show of support, curiousity, the like. Somehow, in all the reviews, I missed picking up that this was a romance. As in love story. As in the type of movie I generally avoid. I remembered this somewhere in the middle, and was rather disappointed to realize we'd be approaching a sad ending.

Overall, it was very good. Well acted by all. There wasn't as much time spent with the sheep as I expected there to be. For the squeemish in the crowd, you only need to close your eyes for one "love" scene. Other than that, it was just fine and not at all the gay porn some people would like to make you think it is.

THE STATION AGENT:

Had you ever heard of this movie? I hadn't, until my roomie started playing it off the DVR. Its center character is a dwarf who's obsessed with trains. He works as a model train painter/assembler, and goes to monthly meetings to watch movies about trains. Then, after a death, he inherits a train depot in the middle of nowhere, and is befriended (rather aggressively, to be honest) by some locals.

Things were gong well until it was over. Just, ... over. The storyline really had some good beginnings, some good development, of our main character and the supports, but it went nowhere. It really felt unfulfilling and pointless. What was the meaning? The purpose? The message?? Meh.

Happy Pi Day!

Today, in America, is 3/14, the day when nerds across the country celebrate Pi Day. I know this, not because I'm a nerd, but because my home page is hosted by them (Google, I thank you).

Fun things to do today...

1.) Find your name in Pi!

2.) Eat Pi! (like the fruity, tarted kind. Not the numbers)

3.) Find your Pi age - "Simply use 3.14 as a unit of measure. Instead of being 31 years old, you are 9pi years old (approaching your 10th birthday). With this same approach, you can find out your next pi birthday (don't forget to celebrate it when it comes!)." {source: WikiHow}

3.14) Get more tips and explanations right from (my) source.

A Weekend in the Windy City

I can't remember a time in my life when I enjoyed St. Patty's day as much as I did this year. Which, ... when you stop and realize St. Patty's isn't until this Friday, is pretty damn cool.

Jenn and I were planning to meet in Chicago for a playdate, but she got distracted by a job interview and couldn't make it, so I went on my own. My buddy Sam lives there and since we haven't seen each other in ages, he invited me to crash at his place, which was just killer. Sam lives in the Ukranian village in this beautiful flat with a view of a Ukranian cathedral. His 2 roommates are great guys -friends from NMU, and that really made sleeping at their place way more comfortable.

I took the train into Union Station (a gorgeous building!) and came out to find a carful of sexy men waiting to take me home. A perfect beginning to my adventure! We went out, walked around the town a bit, drank some beer, got caught up on life, and eventually made it back to the flat to crash.

Next morning was the downtown parade, so we woke about 9a, had a carbomb to get the engines running, poured our 'cokes', and bussed our way into the city center. We met up with some gal-pals and made it to the river in time to see it turn green. Really. GREEN. It was so bad tho - we were standing along this construction site, watching, and we weren't all that impressed. I mean, yea, the river was green, but c'mon, I live along the Detroit river -I've seen a green river before! Then Sam comes over and tells us to move, shifting our view a bit further downstream. HolyMoly! It was crazy, crazy green, just unbelievable.

The parade itself was fun. There were curly-haired ninjas, giant kilted Irishmen, candy, flying bottles of OJ and milk (seriously- who thought that was a good idea??), and of course, beer. The weather was INCREDIBLY sunny, warm, and clear. Afterward was naptime, a fondu party, and more incredible beer at a brewery, then a pub.

Sunday morning was similar, though things started a titch later. Bill drove us down to the southside parade. One of the boys made the observation that, despite the city's intentions, this was not about a parade. It was a massive street fiesta, with WAY too much green-coated, drunk-ass white kids. Beer was EVERYWHERE. It was sad though- the real Irish must just be sobbing in pain. I mean, the Irish were good drinkers, they new good beer. And all these kiddies, out there under the guise of celebrating St. Pat, and they are drinking High Life, PBR, and tons of other shitty ass beer.

We walked around, talking, meeting people, drinking, enjoying the weather. I think we saw enough of the parade to notice the ninjas, and then backed away. I guess there were men in little cars and on flying carpets. I missed that part, though. That neighborhood must just stink to high hell the day after. There's tons of spilt beer and broken bottles, some contained potties (or Drop Zones, as they are called there), but mostly people were just whizzing wherever they could.

We had time for a late lunch of damn good pancakes at the OHOP (yea, you saw right), and then it was time for me to get back to the station and on out of town. *sigh* Here I am.

Week, In Review

I had a *delightful* end-of-week and weekend. It certainly started off shaky -not feeling well, visiting the doctor, etc. But then things made a turn-around. !!

Thursday was the first of the month, so we had a Feminist Meetup at SweetWaters. It was odd, at first, with everyone arriving late. But then people came, and came, and suddenly there were 12 women gathered about. 12! That's the most we've had, since I joined on! No matter our topics, I always leave feeling so good. Spending over an hour having intelligent discussions with smart, strong women is just so uplifting.

At the end, I spent some time talking with M about how to initiate conversation with my oh-so-quiet roommate/landlady. She left, and then I sat talking with A and C. Wow. It was great, like part 2 of the discussion. Such smart women that I really connected with. Another hour or so later, we wrapped up with a plan for ice-skating the following day.

The ice-skating didn't happen -the girls were delayed at dinner- but I got to spend some time watching 12 year olds play hockey. (damn entertaining, if you didn't know!) They came to get me so we could go to C's house. I met a bunch more people, all of whom were very friendly and quite interesting. C's dad was awesome -the kind of dad who takes in "strays", and is so friendly. At the end of the night (about 3am), he cooked up grilled cheese 'appetizers'. It was great.

Saturday was a lazy day; just relaxing. And today, I did my usual. I cruised up to Caribou for coffee and crosswords. I got an extra one, too, from the Wall Street Journal. The nice guy next to me saw me working the New York Times and offered the one from his paper. How cool was that?

I don't know about you, but I think this is a good lead-in to a Monday!

At a loss.

Went home this last weekend to see the folks, drink some beer, and give a pint of myself to my community. The pint-giving went quite well, despite the criticisms of my good mood and overall chattiness. I get to give one more before Kenya, and then it will be 3 years without. That's a disappointment, but I have a feeling it will be worth it. ;)

I had a really good conversation with mum, too. I feel now that I've done my share and, while I'm not happy with the results, I at least have come to terms with it. Life is all about change -that's what makes it interesting.

Future plans include some trips to Chicago and a final visit to MQT. Time to stop procrastinating and realize, I'll be sorry once I'm gone. And on that note.. I'd better get back to studying.

Better in Theory

Idea:

Unite Pod-Power to babysit two adorable infants (2-months and 3-months) for a few hours on a Saturday night. Drink some wine, eat some food, dress up the babes to take silly pictures, etc. Maybe get some cuddle action from these tiny little people.

Reality:

3:2 is the minimum ratio of grown-ups to babies for attending to infants. 4:2 might be better. It was a cute idea to heat up food that would only be eaten cold. Turns out, infants don't like for grown-ups to be seated and comfortable. You must be standing, moving, bopping, dancing, and otherwise jostling the child at all times.

They may not speak, but these babies had the power to communicate and quickly devised an evil plan: 'I'll scream for a while, so you can eat/sleep/relax. Then, we switch! You scream and let me get some time to eat/sleep/relax.' I was amazed at the teamwork!

Seriously, though, it was a good adventure. A nice reminder that I don't want a baby of my own, a chance to 'bond' with my podners, and ... well, did I mention how adorable those babies are?

I don't go to sleep to dream

Nothing to report, which is why there's been nothing... Sorry. Life's gotten boring this past few weeks.

Hugo has a new website, which looks pretty damn good. It's almost perfect -well, is IS perfect for the ultra-hip that have Mozilla's FireFox browser. (like me!) And almost perfect for everyone else. I especially dig the DTE skyline up at the top. Good use of cropping, amigo! See him at www.mattplusplus.com

Work is lame. It's almost the end of our quarter and we're hoping like hell to hit a mere 80% of our number. I really don't get into this commission thing, this -wait, no. That was a lie. I like the commission, which is business language for extra money (surprise money, to me, as no one said I'd be getting any!). What I don't like, is having to make a pre-determined amount of money in a pre-determined amount of time. I'm just not the salesman type. At all.

My car has been acting up. First, she was lurching and jolting at stops, so I paid a guy 90 buck to tighten by battery cables. When that didn't work, I got my spark plug wires changed by another guy who only charged 30 bucks. Then, just last Saturday, my serpentine belt split and wedged on to the tensioner, which had welded itself stuck. We had to cut the damn thing off just so we could drive to the shop. It was a nice reminder that the guys who developed power steering deserve a big, fat smooch-a-roonie for the ease they have offered modern drivers.

Mostly, these days, I'm just consumed with the urge to nap and the freakish realization that my Kenya departure day is getting close. I have a ton of shit to get done before then, and all I want to do is sleep.

Oh me, oh my!

o Walked through Pooh's Blustery Day to the post office so I could take photos for my new passport and visa. I'm sure you are all smart enough to realize how those turned out.

o Saw Donal Trump relaxing at Starbucks, above our office today.

o Royal Oak smelled like grilled cheese sandwiches.

o Found out the Marathon on the corner also sells "Shish kabob * Hommus * Tabbouleh * Grape Leaves"