FIRST MARRIAGE PROPOSAL!!!

Wednesday September 8, 2010

We started real school on Monday. Our first class, Swahili, starts at 9am - I leave my house at 8:30 or 8:45 to get there on time. We have class until 11 and then we have a "tea break" for half an hour. Our group has found two cafes to go to that are right across the street to buy tea (chai), coffee (kahawa), bananas (ndizi) and a sweet breaded treat called mandazi. That's generally what we are found munching on. Swahili begins again at 11:30 and goes until 1, when we have an hour for lunch. We've gone to different places every day - I really love the dish called pilau, which is rice, some sort of meat (I think beef) and a spicy red-brown sauce. It's delicious! Today I had my first legal drink in Kenya! (Don't worry Mom.) We went out and had pizza and each got a beer. It was VERY stereotypical American, but we decided we've been here for a week and deserve a little American treat! It was delicious. Usually in the afternoon we have a class called Geographies of Development, where we talk about the ways in which Kenya has developed as a country. But on Tuesdays and Wednesdays we don't have that class.

Today, in lieu of GoDev, we went to the American Embassy! It was kind of cool, but mostly they talked to us about boring stuff that we already knew. But Roseanne, one of our teachers/advisers, tells us it is mandatory. I took a few sneak pics there.

Afterwards, we drove to Saskia's house to drop her off because we were so near where she lived. She lives in a BEAUTIFUL BIG house. The epitome of a rich Kenyan. I took some pictures on the way to her house.

Aren't these flowers beautiful?

Next Monday we are going on our first excursion to Mombasa, which is about an eight hour drive Northeast of Nairobi. It's right on the Indian Ocean, and I hear we are staying in a hotel that literally sits next to the ocean. Our Swahili instructor, Mwalimu Francis, tells us that we can simply walk out of the hotel and the beach is right there! Beautiful. I hear that it is an absolutely wonderful place. I am excited to go and practice my Swahili.

Speaking of practicing my Swahili - I got to do a bit of that today when I was walking home from school. There's a park on the way, so I stopped to sit and read, relax for a bit. A man came up to me and told me that he didn't speak much English but wondered if I wanted to try and have a conversation anyway. I said sure - it was still very light out, and many people were about so it was completely safe. No worries. He told me about his life - jobless, houseless. I told him that I was a student at the University, studying to become a doctor. ("Mimi ni mwanafunzi katika chuo cho Nairobi University na ninajifundisha nina kuwa daktari.") He seemed very impressed. I asked if he had a family - he said no; no wife or kids. He asked if I had a boyfriend! I said "Hapana, sina mpenzi," which means "no, I don't have a boyfriend." He then said, "how do you say...I'm crazy about you?" I laughed outloud! Then said, "what?" And he said, "I'm crazy about you!" I thanked him and he said - in broken English - that I was very beautiful and smart, and asked if I would be his girlfriend!! Oh my goodness. That was funny. I laughed, and he did too. I told him no, I didn't want a boyfriend. He said, "But I'm crazy about you!" I smiled and said, "Pole, lakini hapana," which means, "sorry, but no." We talked a bit more and then I told him I had to go home and I left.

It was so awesome to be able to almost have a conversation with someone in Swahili! I felt proud of my progress - taking the class in the spring has definitely helped me. I told my friend, Megan, about his offer and she said, "Haha - as long as you don't accept!"

A fun day. I'm very tired and will probably be going to bed early tonight. I find I don't sleep well here yet. It's quite difficult to fall asleep - I toss and turn for half an hour or an hour before I finally drift off. And I've woken up every day at around 6:30 because the light begins to shine through my open curtains. I don't mind that, because it ensures that I will wake up when the time comes. I expect falling asleep will become easier as I grow more accustomed to my room and life here.

Miss you all and hope you are doing well!