9/2/09 9:30 am

we are given 500 shillings (about 7 dollars) for each meal that we do not eat at the hotel. this is more than enough. the first day that we were here (tuesday) i bought six oranges, a notebook, and a large stack of notecards for 288 shillings (200 of which was the oranges!). then i spent 40 shillings in the internet cafe for twenty minutes. then we walked down a backstreet, trying to find our student leader's favorite chapati cart, but all of the street vendors' carts had been destroyed by the government (as we were told by one of two groups who were still there) in an effort to "beautify" the city (to which one asks, for whom?). we were offered food by one of the groups (2 women and two teenage girls working over a fire and under no shelter on the side of the dirt road) and accepted. we sat tightly together on their two facing benches and were given steaming hot bowls of potato/beef/carrot/lentils/corn mashed together. it tasted delicious and burned my tongue, which was a pretty good sign, since if you are going to eat street food, it better be piping hot (for sanitation reasons). we were also given large pieces of flat bread (chipati). each bowl fed two people and cost 50 shillings (75 cents)-- meaning i had a meal for THIRTY FIVE CENTS. the flat bread was passed around and cost a total 20 shillings (es than 30 cents). we were offered tea, but delicned. the two women and the other man who was eating there, as well, were incredibly friendly and talked to us about local ongoings and swahili tps. they were absolutely lovely people. i spent another fifty shillings on internet today. so, with one meal's allowance (7 dollars), i have 6 oranges, one notebook, lots of notecards, 2 days of internet, lunch, and about 100 shillings pocketed for later. not bad (si mbaya).

i have been trying to keep in shape by having my own personal dance party (hosted by my ipod) in my room when my roommate goes downstairs for breakfast (i eat before her). today when i was getting jiggy to "tonight" by the black eyed peas, i saw that i had an audience outside, and decided to call it a day...

schedule (ish)
3:30 a.m. wake up involuntarily. fall in and out of sleep for three hours.
6:30 a.m. get dressed. eat breakfast downstairs.
7:30 a.m. journal and review swahili for class (and dance..)
8:30 a.m. swahili class (it just occurred to me how early this is... funny.. it seemed late)
10:30 a.m. chai and cookies
10:45 a.m. swahili class
12:30 a.m. lunch
2:00 p.m. african history class (was swahili first day)
4:30 p.m. free time
6:00 p.m. dinner
7:00 - 9:00 ish work on homework
9:00 - 10:00 pm fall asleep

it is very cold today, and our chai break was quite welcome. i crushed an orange into my tea, which was delicious and much healthier than the usual milk/sugar combo. we had our first history lesson today, adn i must admit that i prefer swahili (note one day later: today's lecture on presidential history and corruption was much more interesting).

there is a seemingly tangible difference between being a tourist or foreigner here and being one of those in any other place i have ever been. i do not know how much of this has to do with the nature of us being an academic group consciously seeking connections with the kenyan people, but i will say that such connections and personal interactions woudl be bizarre in the u.s. for example, i go to the guest house's front desk to pick up my room key, but first am asked by the attendant how my day is going (hujambo?) and my reply is the standard cordial response (sijambo!), as it is important to stay positive in conversation. if anything is not going well, then you are "good, but..". what we are learning right now in swahili classes are all the different parts of small talk that are important when you at first meet with someone. so, i do not yet know how to ask for a glass of water, but i can tell anybody about the members of my family and friends, where we live and were each person comes from originally, whether they are tall/short/beautiful/clean/dirty/young/old/smart, what kind of jobs they have, what they read/speak/do/like, what all of our names are, how we are doing, and then ask the same questions back. i think the most frustrating thing right now is not knowing how to count. not even the number one! but i understand that this is the most important, because when you greet someone, it is usually through quite a bit of conversation, not just "hello" and "goodbye." as they say... haraka haraka haina baraka... but, i digress. the interactions with the staff here are unline those of any place i've ever been. the guards help us with ur swahili homework and explain various things about the language-- for instance, a few minutes ago i was walking through the courtyard and the guard greeted me with 'habari' to which i slowly responded 'nzuri, nawewe?'. he then explained that 'nawewe' (meaning "and you?") is actually not the most common way to reciprocate the greeting, because although it is proper swahili, most people on the streets are speaking a more broken swahili, as it is not their native language (rather they speak origianlly a different tribal dialect, and are now translating their thoughts into swahili).

somewhat paradoxical is the fact taht although the hospitality here is unmatched, i feel very much like an outsider. it is not just the color of my skin that inspires stares from all sides on the street, but also how i dress, speak, move, and what i carry with me. i wish, for example, that i had brought more than one pair of pants, because i feel odd walking the streets in shorts, as non of the civilians do this. wearing a watch or backpack has similar effect. in fact, i generally walk the streets with a few dolars in my pocket, and nothing more on me.

that is it for now. hopefully i will get the chance to write about politics in kenya, as the lecture today was wonderful. i go to my homestay tomorrow (for two weeks) and am very nervous, though i have been told that we will have a constant fresh water supply and are allowed to go out and buy any food we like (such as fruits and vegetables to keep us "regular" (general health reference)). i am trying to memorize "i am very full", because it will be a very important phrase over the next few weeks.

hope you are all safe and healthy.