The interview went well, I think. I'm relieved that the application process is now completely out of my hands, and I'll be fine with the outcome either way. The benefits of the scholarship are obvious, but getting it would make me have to leave my Kenya program a week early and would make my travel plans with Kyle in Tanzania after our programs really tough (possibly 3 round-trips to Kenya and back to the states in one semester). Plus, I wasn't even expecting to be a finalist and I'm grateful for the interview experience.
My body now has no idea where it is or what time it is, which makes preparing for my final oral exam in Kiswahili tomorrow fun (nevermind the 4-days I've just spent speaking only English and missing classes). I find myself getting sleepy in the middle of the day, then getting magical bursts of energy in the afternoon and night that leave me awake until the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, I've just discovered that my Nairobi family owns a water boiler and several cans of awesome Kenyan coffee...
Before I left for the states, I received a list of items from my fellow SIT students in Kenya that they'd like me to bring back from the states. Katie and I had a good time (probably her more than me, I get shopping headaches) at Target getting everything for everyone. This made yesterday quite fun, as I played Santa and distributed everything and watched everybody's face light up. Here's a sampler:
-Water bottles
-Sour patch kids
-Boston Globe Sports Pages
-NCAA tournament brackets (we have a 100-schilling per person pool going)
-Magazines
-Lipton Tea
-Gum
-A package for Emily that I received directly from her parents, whom I met in the airport holding a sign that said "Nathan Parker". I was pretty excited.
-"The Dice" (referring to the Sox' new pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka...a request by fellow fan Jon, who was elated when I produced a VHS tape of a Sox spring training game in which the Dice pitched)
-Jeans, khakis, and a shirt for my host dad, who works for an NPO in Sudan and whom I have yet to meet (requested by Mama)
-A book of Greek mythology for Colin's host family
-2 laptops that friends had sent to my house for me to bring back to Kenya
-Hershey's Easter bunnies for our Academic Directors and Kiswahili teachers
-Printed photos and frames for my host families in Nairobi and Bodo
The laptops made for some interesting experiences in airport security, forcing me to use FOUR of the gray bins where you put the loose items in your pockets to go through security and x-ray machines. Needless to say, there were some puzzled and impatient travelers and security guards in the busy Boston and London airports.
So now I'm happy to be back in Nairobi. But only for a short time...this weekend I'm traveling with others in my group to Kisumu, a city on Lake Victoria in western Kenya. It's where I hope to do my independent research for a month in April-May. Hopefully I'll be setting up research contacts and a host family in a village who will take me in for a while. I'm pumped to see western Kenya and to meet a new family. I'm only going to Kisumu for the extended weekend, then it's back to Nairobi for about two weeks until I leave for UGANDA for a week. I'm glad I have one last extended period to stay with my Nairobi family, as we've been traveling in and out of the city seemingly non-stop and I really enjoy staying with them. Plus, I've got Mama, Roy, and Susan all wearing Sox caps around the house (maybe just to please me, but maybe because they understand that they're now official members of Red Sox nation).
This morning there was a transformer fire in my Nairobi neighborhood, causing an entire telephone pole to burst into flames. It knocked power out in our neighborhood nearly all day but luckily didn't hurt anybody. It was crazy to watch as the pole just scorched with flames, people lining the streets at 6 am to watch it. I quickly grabbed my camera and went out onto the porch off of the room Roy and I share, only to see after taking some pictures that people on the street corner were looking up at me and laughing, wondering why this shirtless mzungu was so interested in an incident that, I learned later, happens quite often here. Sure enough, when I returned from jogging over an hour later, the pole was still burning and no city services had done anything about it. How's that for infrastructure? Crazy.
Hope everybody is having a good spring break! More to come when I get back from Kisumu.
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