Three Months

It's hard to believe I've been here for three months - it feels like so much longer, to be honest. I've adjusted to Kisumu very quickly. The city is small, so anything I do, someone sees and reports it to someone else. But Kisumu has almost everything I need, an Italian restaurant, a coffee shop with wireless internet, a large supermarket, even some pools! The only thing it really lacks is a decent clothing store, which would be handy, seeing as I have gained a solid 15 pounds. All the pants I brought with me no longer fit. But that is neither here nor there. I like the city and I'm comfortable here, as I should be since I still have another long semester ahead of me.

Weekends in Kisumu are especially satisfying. A group of Americans has been established, including current MSID students Andre, Ashley, Sarah, and Joey. We also spend time with Jen and Tosha, two past students who now have a sweet apartment here with their husband and financee, respectively. On Fridays after work, we usually go to the Sports Grounds, a big park, for beers to wind down the week. We are the stereotypically loud Americans, laughing and complaining about our work weeks. After that, we go for an all-you-can-eat Indian food buffet that I think I've mentioned before. It's such an awesome way to close up a week! Later on in the weekend we often eat pizza and swim somewhere. It's fun and relaxing, although I have to admit I burn up a lot of money.

My internship is finally taking direction, although with a bit of assertiveness from me. Before I wasn't given enough work, but I think next semester I will be completely in the field, doing home visits and supervising the community health workers' orphans and vulnerable children.

But with these troubles at the internship came my first real homesickness. When things get tough abroad (like when I was in Germany), I've always had an inclination to think "I wouldn't feel this bad at home!" (Not necessarily true.) That, of course, leads me to want to be at home. And when you're grumpy about one thing, other things seem worse. For example, constantly being called mzungu, anytime I walk anywhere, gets exhausting. It's not considered rude here though, and people mean no harm. But when I'm grumpy, I want everyone to just shut up. It can also be hard to live with a family that simply is not your own, in addition to losing a great deal of independence. But all temporary difficulties aside, I'm doing fairly well and I intend to finish out the year.

The month of December will be a stressful one but also a good one. I have exams and about 40 pages of writing due by December 12th, so I am and will be stressed about that until it's finished and over. But after that, my mom comes on the 14th until 28th. We're taking a simple tour of Kenya including a couple of days in Nairobi, a few here in Kisumu, a safari in one of Kenya's amazing national parks, and a time on the coast, relaxing and soaking up the Equator sun. She'll meet and stay with my host families and see my internship site. Not only will this be fun for me, but I also think it will be important that when I come home, someone understands on some level where I was, what I saw, and what I experienced during my time here in Kenya.