A New Month to Celebrate!

It’s a new month and I am totally ready for it! February was a strange month for me. I let boredom, cultural differences, and homesickness take control of my thoughts and emotions. Honestly, I feel really good about March. This all might sound a little silly but I feel inspired and excited for everything that life has to offer me. There are days that I wake up and my first thoughts are, ‘Wow, I am incredibly blessed and lucky! Life is good!’ It’s a great feeling to reflect, realize what might have been bringing you down, and then make the changes to better your life—especially when you’re blessed enough to spend time in a beautiful country like Kenya!

I started teaching and introducing myself to the new Form One (Freshman) students this past week. The girls have similar questions to those that the Form Two had when I first arrived. Some questions include: When did you get here/when are you leaving?, Do you cook/clean in Kenya?, Do you eat Kenyan food and what is your favorite?, What is the staple dish in America?, Is your hair real/do you use chemicals?, How old are you?, Are you married?, Do you have any siblings?, What are your talents/hobbies?, etc., etc., etc. I cannot express how much I truly enjoy meeting and talking with these girls. It’s important for me to introduce myself and give them a genuine understanding of who I am. Also, I want to make sure that they do not fear me and that they feel free to salute me in the hallways and talk to me if they ever need or want. My hope is that they feel as comfortable with me as the rest of the students do. So far, they appear to fit in very well and after I introduced myself and joked with them they seem to feel very comfortable and open.

The girls had their midterm exams early last week which was then followed by a five day break for them to all go home to rest and relax with their family. While the students went home, I too left Mitahato and spent the week in Banana. Mary’s fiancée’s guka (grandfather) has passed away the week before we arrived; therefore, most of the time we were in Banana we were at guka and cucu’s house helping prepare meals for the visitors and for the funeral. It felt good to be able to help out a family in a time of need. The last few days of the break I spent relaxing and doing nothing much more than watching movies and waiting for school to resume again. It was a pleasant break and as always I enjoyed spending time with everyone in Banana—which after writing this blog posting I am off to spend the weekend there again. 

As far as being at home in Mitahato, I am officially helping with every part of the housework. The last task that I finally learned and am starting to do on my own is hand washing my clothes.  I now get to clean the house, cook the meals, help clean the outside compound, and clean clothes. This all might seem like unimportant or simple things but to finally be handed over these tasks from Mary makes me feel important and like I’m a part of the family and am doing my part to help. It was only yesterday that I did all of my laundry on my own for the first time. I was proud of my accomplishment and it made me excited to be able to help clean the kids clothes in Banana the next time I’m there. Another ‘plus’ in all of this is it reduces idleness while at the same time making my family’s life easier. 

I have had one huge realization in the past few weeks. It is not something that I was unaware of but recently it has been emphasized a great amount in my thoughts and reflections. This realization is how blessed and lucky I am to have the parents I have. There have been too many time growing up that I took advantage of or didn’t thank my parents. Not only this, but there have been several times growing up that my parents asked me to do a simple task and not only did I often refuse but I whined about it too. It’s embarrassing to think back about some of these things and realize what I wish I would have done differently. 

While in Kenya, I have observed and seen how family dynamic works in the Kikuyu culture. The children in the family, from a very young age, begin to help their parents with almost everything. Not only this, but they never have to be asked to do anything. If someone sees that the cow needs to be fed he/she goes to the samba (garden), cuts some nipia grass, and does the necessary work to feed the cow. If someone sees the house needs to be washed he/she will fetch water and clean the entire house before going on with their day. If the laundry needs to be done—whether it is his/hers or another member of the family—he/she will buy soap, fetch water, and clean everyone’s clothes. This goes on and on with any small or large task that needs to be done on the compound. I see Morris wake up extra early because the evening before he saw that his mom and cucu’s drum was not completely full of water. I see Mary wake up early to make sure that everyone will have warm water to shower with and breakfast to eat when they wake up. I see brother John stop what he is doing to run home to milk and feed the cow several times throughout the day. I see Cousin John all around the compound helping his cucu, his aunts, his mom, and the kids in any way that he sees necessary. It has been a great lesson to be a part of this environment and to witness how well this family dynamic works—no one fights or argues…everyone helps one another. I have learned a lot and I know that when I return home I will be helping out much more.

Another connected realization I have had is how lucky I am to have the relationship that I have with my parents. I have always been able to confide and talk to both my parents about anything and everything. I tell this to my students in connection to some of the Life Skills lessons. The girls are very surprised about this and they often don’t understand how I am able to hug and get hugged, how I am able to tell and be told I love you, and how I am able to express myself to my parents.

While talking to the Form One girls yesterday, one of the students asked me, “Who is your hero?” Oddly enough, I had not received that question before and had not previously thought of a response. The first thought that came to my head was my dad. I told them my dad is my hero/role model and they were all shocked. Now thinking about it, my dad has been my hero since forever. He is the person I learned from as I was growing up, the person I go to for advice about everything, and the kind of person I want to be like as I grow older. He is confident in himself in all aspects of life, he inspires others with his words, he believes in everyone and their potential, he lives the life God called him to, when he struggles he does everything he can to fight and succeed, and he cares about his family more than anything. My dad is one of my best friends and I am really thankful, lucky and blessed to have such a caring father in my life. Thanks Dad—I love you!

This posting consisted of a lot of analysis and reflection within my life. The time I spend in Kenya provides moments like this when I get to reflect, learn, and become very thankful for everything I have received in my life. Sorry if you didn’t “sign up” for all of this self-analysis but it is all a part of the process and journey that I am on. I am learning about myself personally and professionally in connection to a new culture and environment.  It’s definitely quite a journey and I am enjoying every bit of it!