Well, overall it has been an uneventful week, so this will be short and sweet.
Monday it was back to class- Swahili was a little rough after a whole week off! We spent most of the day reviewing everything, because we covered a lot in Shirazi and we had forgotten a remarkable amount. Anyway, Tuesday was actually pretty interesting. We went to Gikombo, or the informal sector here in Nairobi. The informal sector is a huge area where people make and sell all sorts of things: pots and pans, clothes (SO MANY SECONDHAND CLOTHES), trunks, food, shoes... and on and on. Walking through Gikombo is nearly indescribable. The ground is mud, trash, food, and waste, all mashed together into a very soft and slippery surface that you have navigate very quickly because the pathways are very narrow and you are in everyones way no matter how fast you try and move. On either side of you there are haphazardly made tables which are making and selling items (very aggressively, I might add). And this goes on forever. I can't quite describe the feeling in this area, it is much more hurried and frantic than any of the slums we have walked through, and I think we all felt much more out of place. We went on this walk without any previous information, but in the afternoon we had a lecture about the informal sector (80% of employed Kenyans work in the informal sector...unbelievable) which was very informational and made a lot of what we saw make a lot more sense.
On Wednesday and Thursday we had development lectures all day, and while it is tricky to focus on one subject from 8:30-4, they were interesting lectures. Thursday quickly turned into a frustrating day for me though, when I was told that my idea for my independent study project (ISP- which we all do for the last month of our time in Kenya) probably wasn't going to work. Next weekend we are all supposed to go to the location where we'll be spending our ISP time and make our contacts so that when we return during the second week of November we can hit the ground running. So it was a little frustrating when I was told a week before that that what I have been planning all semester isn't going to work. So I left the office pretty darn ticked off and bought some chips and an avocado on the way home and sat in my room with my homemade guacamole and pouted for a while, and then got to work.
The next morning (after skyping with Wooster friends-one of my favorite things ever), I was in a much better and more productive mood and did some work and sent some emails that I think helped make my ISP idea do-able. Nothing is set yet, but it is looking like its going to work. When I know for sure, I'll specify what it is I'm planning on doing. Other than that, on Friday I just had Swahili again and our last development lecture, mailed in my absentee ballot (ahhh- I voted in my first presidential election!) and then went home for the night.
This morning I didn't set an alarm, but I didn't really need to because I slept so horribly that I was up most of the night anyway. I felt like I was going to throw up in the middle of the night, but because my room is outside of the main house and the house (and therefore the bathroom) are locked and therefore off limits to me during the night, I just laid in my bed feeling crappy until I finally fell back asleep at who knows what time. So, when I finally got up, I showered and got dressed and came down to Java, a coffee place with free wifi. As of now, I've been sitting here for about 6 hours writing all of the papers that are due next week before our ISP preparation period begins.
So for now, I'm just focusing on getting everything done for this next week (we have several papers and our Swahili final this week, so its a busy time!) and then next weekend its off to my ISP site. I'm sure after that little adventure I'll have much more exciting things to say- so, until then, I hope you are all doing well, too!!
Monday it was back to class- Swahili was a little rough after a whole week off! We spent most of the day reviewing everything, because we covered a lot in Shirazi and we had forgotten a remarkable amount. Anyway, Tuesday was actually pretty interesting. We went to Gikombo, or the informal sector here in Nairobi. The informal sector is a huge area where people make and sell all sorts of things: pots and pans, clothes (SO MANY SECONDHAND CLOTHES), trunks, food, shoes... and on and on. Walking through Gikombo is nearly indescribable. The ground is mud, trash, food, and waste, all mashed together into a very soft and slippery surface that you have navigate very quickly because the pathways are very narrow and you are in everyones way no matter how fast you try and move. On either side of you there are haphazardly made tables which are making and selling items (very aggressively, I might add). And this goes on forever. I can't quite describe the feeling in this area, it is much more hurried and frantic than any of the slums we have walked through, and I think we all felt much more out of place. We went on this walk without any previous information, but in the afternoon we had a lecture about the informal sector (80% of employed Kenyans work in the informal sector...unbelievable) which was very informational and made a lot of what we saw make a lot more sense.
On Wednesday and Thursday we had development lectures all day, and while it is tricky to focus on one subject from 8:30-4, they were interesting lectures. Thursday quickly turned into a frustrating day for me though, when I was told that my idea for my independent study project (ISP- which we all do for the last month of our time in Kenya) probably wasn't going to work. Next weekend we are all supposed to go to the location where we'll be spending our ISP time and make our contacts so that when we return during the second week of November we can hit the ground running. So it was a little frustrating when I was told a week before that that what I have been planning all semester isn't going to work. So I left the office pretty darn ticked off and bought some chips and an avocado on the way home and sat in my room with my homemade guacamole and pouted for a while, and then got to work.
The next morning (after skyping with Wooster friends-one of my favorite things ever), I was in a much better and more productive mood and did some work and sent some emails that I think helped make my ISP idea do-able. Nothing is set yet, but it is looking like its going to work. When I know for sure, I'll specify what it is I'm planning on doing. Other than that, on Friday I just had Swahili again and our last development lecture, mailed in my absentee ballot (ahhh- I voted in my first presidential election!) and then went home for the night.
This morning I didn't set an alarm, but I didn't really need to because I slept so horribly that I was up most of the night anyway. I felt like I was going to throw up in the middle of the night, but because my room is outside of the main house and the house (and therefore the bathroom) are locked and therefore off limits to me during the night, I just laid in my bed feeling crappy until I finally fell back asleep at who knows what time. So, when I finally got up, I showered and got dressed and came down to Java, a coffee place with free wifi. As of now, I've been sitting here for about 6 hours writing all of the papers that are due next week before our ISP preparation period begins.
So for now, I'm just focusing on getting everything done for this next week (we have several papers and our Swahili final this week, so its a busy time!) and then next weekend its off to my ISP site. I'm sure after that little adventure I'll have much more exciting things to say- so, until then, I hope you are all doing well, too!!
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