New Experiences at the End of a Decade

Christmas and New Year's are over now. The holiday season has passed. A new decade is beginning, and I had a great time, though it was strange to be so far away from home.

One highlight of the holiday for me was Christmas Eve when my YAV group gathered at our friend Grace's house where we had stayed for our orientation month when we first arrived in Kenya. Being together next to a crackling fire in the fire place, listening to old 1950's-60's Christmas albums, and eating a huge feast that Grace had prepared really brought the spirit of the holiday to us in Kenya.

Christmas day spent at Phyllis' house was also a highlight, where we ate turkey, baked macaroni and cheese, and apple pie for dinner.

Christmas Eve dinner with the YAV group at Grace's house.

And finally, I just got back from a New Year's trip to visit a friend's home village in Western Kenya. That area of the country is gorgeous. The terrain is characterized by the countless tea plantations on rolling green hills, lush from the high amount of rainfall that Kenya's Western Province gets during the year. I enjoyed riding through these tea plantations with the cool wind in my hair on the back of motorcycles, which is the main mode of transportation in and out of the village. Fun!

Life in the village itself moves at a slow pace compared to crazy Nairobi. It's a pretty small community and my friend knows most of the people living there, including the owner of the village's 'hotel' (or restaurant) where we would go to eat fresh baked chapatis every morning. Because there were not many other Wazungu (white people) in the area, my presence in the village was quickly discovered. Everyone on the road or in their homes would call out inviting me in for tea or lunch as I passed.

An old woman who was picking tea.

Some kids collecting water at the village's water source.

Me climbing around some rocks on a hillside near Kigama.

Tea Leaves- One of Western Kenya's main crops.

A little boy in the village.

On one of the days I was there, my friend and I took a day trip to Kisumu, a city in the neighboring Nyanza Province, yet still not far from the village where I was staying. The city sits right on the shores of Lake Victoria, the body of water that borders on Kenya and Uganda. We spent some time on the lake shore and then in the town, where we ate lunch at a restaurant with the best chips (fries) I've had since coming to Kenya. Delightful! I enjoyed getting to explore a new city, and of course seeing the lake as well, which is one of Africa's major landmarks.

Kisumu, Nyanza Province

Me at Lake Victoria.

Now I am back in Nairobi, in the office at OAIC, getting ready for the 2010 new year. Already I have more travel plans for the near future... I'm headed to Tanzania next week for a retreat with my YAV group. We'll be in Dar-es-Salaam and then on the island of Zanzibar, just to have a relaxing get-away. So I'm not complaining at all :)

Happy and prosperous 2010!