This week

Hello Everyone!

Quite a busy and somewhat tiring week here in Nairobi! I have a lot of studying to do as our cumulative Swahili proficiency exam is fast approaching, as well as other work for classes as well as for the beginning of my project in Kibera…I have a meeting there tomorrow afternoon!

So the first update is that, thanks to Bodo, I (along with 12 other students) have giardhia! The good news is that I got the medication and am feeling much better. There is, however, a really funny story as to how I discovered I have giardhia in the first place. A quick disclaimer: if you are easily grossed out by bodily functions—skip the rest of this story. It’s amazing how, after being in a third world country like Africa, daily discussions about bowel movements are just as normal as talking about what you ate for breakfast…and how long it stays in… (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Okay I am going to now tell you what I think is the hysterical story of how I found out I have giardhia. I apologize if this is somewhat graphic and gross, but deal or don’t read this… as I am telling this story to illustrate a point. The woman who teachers our Field Study Seminar class, a woman who used to teach at Columbia, named Donna, also an American ex-patriate who also happens to be Odoch’s wife (and also one of the funniest, most caustic people I’ve ever met. So sarcastic and hysterical. One of her great lines from today’s lecture: “watch out for MBA’s, they are the enemy tribe.” Which is probably a lot funnier within the context of Kenya’s intense tribalism. But still, funny.) Anyhow, today Donna said it best: “Nothing. I repeat, Nothing works in Africa. Nothing is the same from town to town. Nothing is reliable. Nothing works in Africa. Sometimes this is impossible to understand. I’ve been here 40 years, and let me tell you, that is just the way it is.” She was explaining how sometimes it is impossible for us to understand this phonemenon (you all have to read this book called “Distorted Reality,” so interesting). But it’s really true. Nothing works here. The water is never on, toilets never flush, the cell network is always down, matatus always break down, the power is always out or short circuiting, restaurants don’t have food, time and timeliness do not exist (most people, even in Nairobi tell time by the sun. Donna was saying she has this women’s group that meets once a month at 9 am, and one month, no one showed, and she wondered why…and looked outside and saw it was cloudy…so they thought it was still 7 am. I am serious) nothing ever, ever goes the way you plan. You just get used to this. SO my giardhia story illustrates this pretty perfectly. So first of all—giardhia is a water bourne illness/parasite that unless treated never goes away and results in bad diarriah (sorry I can’t spell), gas, rotten egg tasting burps (I warned y’all) alternating with constipation. Lovely I know. So the other day a few people went to the doctor for various maladies (there is practically a daily excursion to the hospital), and Katie (one of the kids) comes back and makes an announcement to the group saying, “so guys, the doctor says I have giardhia, and that if I have it, most of you probably do too.” So he says that anyone who has diahria (like all of us since Bodo) need to take a stool sample, and GIVE IT to Odoch, who will take it to the clinic so they can do the test, and then we will go get meds. And there is this stunned moment that we’re all just talking about this. And then we’re all like, um, seriously? We collect our own shit and just like…hand it over to Odoch??? WHAT??…so after a moment, when I recover from my lady like shock I go, “um…what are we supposed to put it in?” and we all just burst out laughing, because it’s just so funny that Katie is here making this general announcement about diahria, and that we are seriously supposed to just um…figure it out. Like no collection tube, nothing. So okay…we all go to Naqumat (the grocery store) and all we can find are clear tuppaware round containers. So we get them. And go back to school and (oh my god I cannot believe I am posting this this story in such detail. But I think it’s so funny that a) we just have to talk about this stuff all the time b) its just really absurd and c) welcome to Africa) anyhow…we go back, do our business into our respective tuppoware containers, label them with medical tape, as that’s all we can find, put them into plastic baggies (also clear by the way…can’t find anything else) and pile 12 of us into Odoch’s Isuzu trooper, which by the way breaks down half way to the hospital, go to the clinic, where it takes about 3 hours to run our tests, although we are the only people there…get the confirmation that we all have giardhia and make another trip to the pharmacy, which takes another 2.5 hours. That is really how everything goes.


A better highlight from this week thus far:

This week The Kenya International Film Festival is taking place here in Nairobi, and as a part of the festival the paper advertised nightly outdoor neighborhood showings in “Kibera, Kanguame and Huruma.” However, there are no specifics given as to the location beyond “Kibera,” a big area. This is typical Kenya. Information is VERY difficult to find. Happenings are not listed in the newspaper, or online, and ads almost never have something say like, a phone number that you could call to ask WHERE in Kibera one might go to see the films… Anyhow, as Gabi is visiting I made it my mission to figure out where the Kibera showing was taking place so we could go. Kennedy and I both spent all day calling people, trying to figure out where this was going on…I asked Alice (my friend, who I met because she does my house’s laundry, but she’s great and lives in Kibera), Mary, Odoch, Mama Rose, the Toms…everyone…nothing. Finally, I’m talking to Peter (my favorite Swahili teacher) during a class break about my SHOFCO project (to which he replies, “you’re a cool girl Jessica.” Cool is his word. And believe me, he is Cool (he always wears this swanky black hat…and he’s so funny). So I bring up this mystery screening location and he says, “you know what. I live in Kibera. I’ll take you. We’ll find it.” To which my reaction is “COOL!” So I go and pick up Gabi, and then she, Matt and I meet Peter in Kibera (and he brings a friend of his who started this amazing community organizing center) and we FIND the film. It was so cool to watch this Kenyan film, in this field in Kibera, with Matt, Gabi, Peter and Kennedy who joined us. The film was funny…very baliwood/Nigerian film soap-operaesque. But it was great to see all these kids watching it, and to just be there with such great people. After Peter took us to his house in Fort Jesus Kibera for chai, and then walked us home. Gabi slept over and got to meet Mama, the Toms etc. It was a really good day. Then today after Swahili Odoch took me to The Go Down—the largest arts center in East Africa that houses visual and performing arts (like theatre, dance, music etc.) Turns out, Odoch was one of the founding members of Kuona—the visual arts part. I had a really good talk with Joyce and Judy, the heads of the Go Down, who want me to bring the piece I create with Kennedy and SHOFCO to perform there, assuming the timing works out. That was pretty sweet.

Okay…off to work it is… hope you’re all well, and as always, I really love hearing from you about what’s going on, as well as your responses to all my posts!

Love,
Jess