9/5 -9/6

note; typing on this keyboard is very difficult and i have little time...

today has been a very long day. i woke up at the standard six thirty a.m. for breakfast, then headed back to my room to pack. my roommate devin was very kind and lent me a very small duffel bag for my homestay, as it would be inconvenient for my family if i brought my full size duffel bag. we waited for about an hour after being briefed, and one by one, our families came to pick us up. it was very nerve wracking. eventaully my homestay mother came and brought me a gift- a kanga (beautiful) and we left in a taxi. driving to her house, i realized how upscale of an areai had been living in for the past few days. my family consists of a businessman, secretary, three yer old son, and house help, bt the area we went through and came into was bvery different-- much dust, pot holes in the narrow roads, goats walking the streets, small tin structers with signs for barbers and burchers, some very thin children playing n the sides. eveything was much more compact and tall wlals lined the road. this area was more like what i imagined from the movies .the house i am staying in is not, though. i think it is probably pretty nice, perhaps considered middle class. there is a living room, kitchen, toilet, and two bedrooms. the rooms are small, but the way i se it is taht they have just done away with the unnecessary emty spaces of large rooms. perhaps living in a dorm room taught me this. the television is always on, and is seen as the sole source of entertainment in the household (my homestay father even explained taht during the days when electricity is rationed away everyone leaves the house because there is no entertinment inside since the tv wont work). i watched more tv today than in the past three weeks combvined (not saying much, but still impressvie). when i first got to their house, i chatted with my homestay mother and father wahlie we watched remember the titans (in english! on regular tv! in kenya!) later, my homestay father and i watchd extreme home makeover, ripleys believe it or not, and heroes. this was very weird for me. all the shows were in english and there were almost no commercials. elly, another student on my trip, is styaing in the apartment next to me, as the husbands of our families are brothers. nelson is the three year old son of my homestay family, and he is very cute and very... energetic. perhaps some of you parents can relate to what i am saying. the child does not sit. we bonded over a toy car and mickey mouse doll. i showed him a small trick of twirling a plastic tube between two fingers, and he thought ths was the funniest thing ever. my homestay father (michael) has been very outspoken in his criticism of the kenyan government, which surprised me, because we were warned carefully not to be too inquisitive or opinionated about kenyan politics, especially corruption. we were also not supposed to mention the 2007 post election violence, because most of our homestay families are kikuyu, the tribe that won the election (via tainted means-- not that the other side didnt try this, too... its complicated) and was the consequent target of most of the violence. however, the 2007 election was one of the first things my homestay father brought up with me, and it was mentioned on tv as well.

hope you are all well.