TravelStream™ news feed for member mochabocha on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mochabocha en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 09 May 2007 14:27:04 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1178735100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1178735100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1178735100/tpod.html Wed, 09 May 2007 14:27:04 -0400 Student teaching in Kenya....and learning to live without electricity or running water :-)

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Noblesville, Indiana, United States

Hello!
I have created an album with many of my pictures. I hope you enjoy all of them.
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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

Hello!
I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be leaving the farm tomorrow morning, so I will not be able to check my emails until I get home Sunday. When I get home I am going to upload all of my photos to this blog and add my videos I have taken over the last few weeks. They are unbelievable.

Lindsey, I received your letter, card and bridal shower invitation last night. Thank you so much!

Debbie and Taylor, thank you for all of the inspirational emails and blog messages. Taylor you always make me laugh. You think I cried a lot in your classroom, you should have seen me the last couple of days. It's ridiculous!

I will be at commencement Tuesday, so I can't wait to see all of my classmates. Congrats on finishing up your student teaching.


I love all of you and cannot wait to see you!

Jacquie
XOXO
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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

Hello Everyone,

Sorry it has been awhile since I wrote an entry, but I've been soaking up my last days here. I have just been relaxing and playing with the children. I am really going to miss this place. This past Friday we had a farewell party at the school. It was one of the saddest days of my life. We each had to give a little farewell speech. As I was telling the students how much of an inspiration they are to me, I could hardly stand to see the tears in all of their eyes. They will never fully understand how much they have touched my heart and have made me a better person. I told them that I wish I could take all of them home and share them with my family and friends. There will not be a day that goes by that I will not think of them or dream about them. They are amazing!

This past Thursday we went out for my 25th birthday. It was so much fun! I will tell you about that another time :-) I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes and cards. Maryann thank you for my card. It was hilarious. Missy, thank you for sending me the birthday cards and pictures. It was a great idea of you to print my pictures from my travel blog and send them to me. The students loved them!

I cannot believe I am leaving in two days. The first few days of my journey I could not wait for it to end. Now that I am comfortable and having the time of my life, I am not ready to leave. I am leaving the farm Thursday morning and heading to Nairobi. I will be staying in Nairobi until my plane leaves Saturday night. I am staying at the Hilton in Nairobi, so I will be able to take a real shower. I cannot wait. My plane arrives in the states on Sunday. I am spending the night at my grandparent's Sunday night, and will be in Indiana Monday.


I have met so many wonderful friends during my stay in Kenya. I have learned more in the last nine weeks than I have my entire life. I promised I will be back to visit within the next two years.

Well I hope everyone is doing well. I can't wait to see all of you. I have over 1, 000 pictures so get ready to be bored. Have a great week!

Nakupenda,
Jacquie
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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

Hello!
I hope everyone is doing well. I am still having a blast here in Kenya.
We returned home from the coast on Monday. We were supposed to be home Sunday, but we missed our bus. The coast is so amazing. The Indian Ocean was extremely warm. The water was as clear as can be, and the sand was as white as snow. I loved it! The bus ride was a long, ridiculous, seventeen hours. I think our driver hit every pothole imaginable. I have a few funny stories that happened to me while in Mombasa. When we got to where we were staying, we put our bags in our huts and went out to eat. When we returned from dinner the office lady told us that there was some, "serious baboon action going on near our huts." The lady was a little upset because I threw some crackers and cookies outside of my hut before we left for dinner. Oops...There were a bunch of giant baboons running around our yard. I thought it would be a great idea to try to pet one. I ran up to one and it turned around and started chasing me. I started to cry and then I screamed as loud as I could. I scared the baboon so it stopped running and just stood there looking at me. I asked my friends what I should do and they told me not to run near them. The baboon kept moving closer and closer to me, but then it just ran away. I have never been so scared in my life.

The next day while in Mombasa, we went to Haller Park. Haller Park is the animal sanctuary where Owen and Mzee live. I don't know if any of you know who they are, buy there are several children's books about them. Owen is a hippo that lost his entire family in the tsunami a couple of years ago. They brought him to Kenya to live in Haller Park. As soon as he arrived, he met a one hundred year old tortoise named Mzee. The tortoise hated everyone, but he soon fell in love with Owen the hippo. They became inseparable. Mzee acted like Owen's mother. Okay, now for my funny story....I really really really wanted to see Owen and Mzee, so we (all five of us) decided to go to the animal sanctuary. When we showed up, the park was closing so they wouldn't let us in. Let me mention that as I got off the bus to go to Haller Park my sandal broke so I was limping around. Okay, since they would not let us in, I thought it would be a great idea to ask to use their restroom and then investigate the park when no one was looking. The bathrooms were down these stone steps. I took my sandals off so I wouldn't slip, and of course I slipped anyway. I fell down the flight of stairs. I twisted my ankle, bruised my elbow, and broke my new purse I had just bought that day :-( The rest of the day I was unable to walk, so we ended up going to see a movie. We went to see, The Last King of Scotland. It was a wonderful movie. I would like everyone to see it. It was great being able to watch the movie and understand the culture and actually living and being part of their culture and traditions. Oh by the way, we went back to Haller Park the next day and I was able to see them :-)
The last day we were there, we went to Fort Jesus. It is a small town in Mombasa. I have some amazing pictures that I will add later. I don't remember too much about the tour because I was dehydrated and basically passing out and hallucinating. But I am fine now...no worries.
I think the most exciting part of that trip was being able to eat at a Chinese Restaurant. I was like a kid in the candy store.

My professor from Indiana University will be arriving today. YEAH!!! She will be here for five days. We are all so excited to see her.

Tomorrow we are going to Kissumu, Kenya to boat on Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. There is also tons of shops. I can't wait.

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will try to upload some pictures this weekend.

Kara, congrats on the baby! I am so happy for you and Paul.


I love you all! Can't wait to see all of you in a few weeks.


Nakupenda,
(I love you)
Jacquie
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1176205020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1176205020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1176205020/tpod.html Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:58:58 -0400 Student teaching in Kenya....and learning to live without electricity or running water :-)

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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

Hello!
I miss you all so much-fyi :-) Everything is grand in the wonderful country of Kenya. Tomorrow I am leaving with four other volunteers to the coast. I am so excited! It is a 16 hour trip, so we are leaving tomorrow afternoon and we will sleep on the bus throughout the night. We are going to spend all day Thursday and Friday there and leave on Saturday. The town is called, Mombasa. It is where the international cross country tournament is being held. It should be a blast!

Not much has happened the last few days. I have just been relaxing and hanging out with the village children. I absolutely love them. Yesterday we had a water fight. They did not understand that when you are throwing water at someone using a bucket, you don't throw the whole bucket at them. It was hilarious!

A few days ago I went into town by myself, and I ate at this new place called Liban Hotel. (Hotels are restaurants here in Africa). It is run by a Muslim family. Anyway, the owners were so super duper nice to me. They didn't even want me to pay and were really welcoming. Yesterday I went back with three of my "village mates" and we had lunch. It was amazing! The owners/family really love us. I wanted spaghetti, so the owner offered to send someone to the market to buy some. I told him he did not need to do that. Since I am a vegetarian and this other volunteer is too, the owner made special dishes just for us. The owner told the other volunteers that he would go to the market and buy a large fish and make fillets. I just can't believe how friendly and welcoming they are. I went back for lunch today with one of my hut mates, and they were so excited to see us. We are going to visit their entire family next week.

Saturday night we went to our favorite spot, Sherriff's Center, for Miss Bungoma 2007. Erin, the volunteer that was supposed to enter the pageant, chickened out and decided not to do it. Oh well, I still had a blast.

Maryann, I am so sorry to hear about Buttercup. I will truly miss her too. I loved her so much.

Gina, good job on your report card. I am so proud of you! Keep up the great work. I think it is best if you go to college in Miami. That way your big sis has a reason to visit once a month ;-)

Lilli, I sent you a letter from one of the children here in Kenya. She is so excited to be your new pen pal. Maybe one day you will be able to meet her.

And to everyone else, I love you so much and miss you more each day.

Tonight I am going to Levin's house to have dinner and visit his family. I did not bring my camera into town today, so I can't upload any pictures. Sorry. I promise to have some wonderful pictures by Monday. I hope everyone has a safe week.

Love ya bunches,
Jacquie
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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

Jambo!
How is everyone? This is just a short note to say hello, and that I love everyone. I will write more tomorrow when I have time.

Love ya bunches,
Jacquie



P.S. Sorry about all of you who were not able to get through to me on my phone. It only works when I have it on. I will try to keep it on more.


XOXO
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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

How is everyone doing on this wonderful Saturday? I am just relaxing in the wonderful Kenya breeze, sipping on an orange Fanta. Ha...Ha... I love it here! Maryann, I hope you had an amazing birthday. Sorry I missed it. I sent you an African home-made card, so you should be getting it soon.

This weekend I am just hanging out around the village relaxing. I was not able to go the Mt. Elgon Ebola cave :-( Host nation citizens kept telling me that it is not safe there. Almost everyday on the front page of The Daily Nation, there is a story about killings near Mt. Elgon. For the past six months there has been a civil war going on over land. There have been over 200 deaths, 150,000 people displaced, and over 30 schools have closed. So yes, I think it is best if I don't go. I am a little upset because it was going to be the first time I have ever slept in a tent. Oh well, I will get over it.

So since we are staying at home this weekend, my friend Erin is trying out for Miss Bungoma 2007. It is going on tonight at the local pub where we hang out every Friday night when we are home. This should be a hoot! I am the only person that brought "dressy" clothes, so she is wearing one of my outfits. Everyone else brought shorts, tank tops and flip-flops...oh no, I brought like ten pairs of dress pants, dressy tops and nice shoes. I was totally not prepared. Anyway, back to my story. I practiced styling her hair and make-up yesterday (yes, I am the only one that brought make-up). She is going to be looking hot! She said that tomorrow the front page of the newspaper won't have Mt. Elgon massacres but instead, "Muzungu (meaning white person) wins Miss Bungoma 2007." I can't wait until tonight! We are going to have a huge crowd supporting her.

We have two new volunteers that arrived Wednesday evening. Michelle is from Washington and Daniel is from Canada. Michelle is working with the HIV/AIDS program and Daniel has something to do with micro-economics. They seem very nice. I don't think I introduced my IU friends yet (the students who arrived a week later than me), so I will do that now. There is Lori, Michelle, Erin, Jordan, April, David, Sandy, and Claire. I am going to give you a description of each. Lets start with Lori....I don't know if I told you, but she is the one that had bug bites all over her butt. When the bumps were squeezed, little white bugs crawled out. No joke! Isn't that disgusting? I understand how a person would freak out about that, but she is a totally hypochondriac. She complains about everything. But enough about her. Lets move on to Erin. She is hilarious. Everywhere we go, she has to comment on a man. She has like five African boyfriends. She is the one trying out for Miss Bungoma 2007. Erin and I went to the same high school, but we didn't know each other. David and Sandy are husband and wife. They are basically our parents away from home. Sandy is 50 and David is 64. They are awesome! April is one of my roommates. She is the sweetest person I have ever met. Last semester she did 'semester at sea' so she is used to traveling. My other roommate is Jordan. He is hilarious! Claire is my third roommate. She is the one whose BOYFRIEND Evan, not fiance, lives three houses down from my grandparents, in Illinois. What a small world. When I told my grandpa that Evan lives near him, my grandpa printed a picture of us from my blog and brought it to their house and asked Evan's mother if she knew anyone in the picture. Grandpa you are too funny! So those are the other volunteers.

This past Tuesday was our last day teaching until next week. The students have a little break after they are finished testing. So on Tuesday the entire school had an award ceremony, which recognized the top three students in every class. They also recognized the most improved students. Guess who was the most improved student overall??? Levin!!!!! He was most improved out of over three hundred students. Isn't that amazing! I love him so much! After the ceremony I gave him a big hug and kiss (which embarrassed him). Of course I was crying :-) I walked home with him that day and finally met his family. They were so welcoming and friendly. They hired someone on a "boda-boda" to go to the nearest market and get me two large sodas. They also made me some chapatis, which are kind of like a tortilla but so much better. I stayed for awhile and watched some African wannabe Back Street Boys on dvd. It was hilarious! The family did not know much English, so I just enjoyed listening to them communicate amongst themselves. I explained to his aunt that Levin was most improved in the school. They were excited to hear that. Yesterday Levin came by my hut and hung out with us for a few hours. All of the other IU volunteers love him. A few of us were playing cards and Levin was brushing our hair for us while we played. He is such a sweetie.

I am going to start my service learning project soon. Since teaching here is graduate credits, I have to do a service learning project. I am going to help at the nearest orphanage, and hopefully be able to start some sort of funding project for them. Yesterday some of the volunteers went to the orphanage, but I was not feeling well. I went to bed at 8:00pm the night before and didn't wake up until 2:00pm the next day. I just felt dizzy and weak. I think it is my anti-malaria medicine. Anyway, I am very excited to start working at the orphanage.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. I am still looking for paint to paint some Easter egg rocks :-)

I love you all!
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Jinja, Uganda


This picture is for Lilli!



Hello!
So this past weekend was absolutely the best days of my life. It was wonderful! We left Friday afternoon for our trip to Uganda. We went through immigration on the border and took a bus to our destination in Jinja, Uganda. When we arrived, we checked into our hostel and ate dinner on the Nile River. It was amazing! I sipped on a Nile Special (beer) on the Nile. How crazy is that? On Saturday we went water rafting. It was so much fun. Our raft did not tip until the very last rapid. We decided to try the hardest rapid possible, so of course we tipped. I thought I was dying. It was the most incredible experience ever. During our rafting a guy taped us, so I have it captured on dvd. Sunday we went back to our village and relaxed the rest of the day. While I was in Uganda, I missed my little hut in Kenya so much. It is like home to me now.
Oh, I almost forgot my funny story....while we were rafting, there were a few calm spots where you could get out of the raft and swim. When it was time to get back in the raft, one of the other rafters tried to pull me back in the raft, and I lost my pants in the river. Luckily, I was able to grab them. It was the funniest thing ever.
I am not going to the coast this coming weekend, but we are going in two weeks. This coming weekend we are going to Mount Elgon to camp. It will be my first time EVER sleeping in a tent. I am so excited! We are going to camp and visit an elephant cave. We are going to go inside a cave, I forget the name, that is famous for the Ebola break out. When I was in nursing school, we had to read a book called, The Hot Zone. It is about a serious disease called Ebola, that liquefies your organs. But don't worry, there has not been any outbreaks since 1995. My experiences just keep getting better :-)

I wanted to update everyone on my special friend, Levin. His aunt wrote me a letter thanking me for supporting him. She told me that I am welcomed in their home anytime. I will be going there today, so I will let you know how that goes.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter. I miss you all and think about you often.

Love ya bunches,
Jacquie

P.S. Please ignore my spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. I have to type fast and send quickly. Love ya~
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1175084400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1175084400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1175084400/tpod.html Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:39:46 -0400 Student teaching in Kenya....and learning to live without electricity or running water :-)

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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya


Hello!
Thank you for the wonderful comments and emails. It makes me feel like I am still so close to home. This week has been crazy! My school is testing, so the days go by so slowly. I had to give six tests, fifty questions each, and then grade them by hand. I miss scan-tron tests. Then we have to add the totals, find the average, find the average of the last three terms, and then write it down on each report card. I feel like I am back in the Little House on the Prairie days. The tests are taken once a month, and sent to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

There is a little boy in my class, who has problems with his eyes. I am not sure what is wrong, but he is slowly going blind. He is in my second grade class, but he should really be in grade three (age does not place you in a grade, test scores do). Since he can not see well, he fails his tests. Oh by the way, his name is Levin. He is a very smart boy, and he is the only one that raises his hand, EVERY TIME I ask a question. I asked my supervising teacher if I could read the tests to him, and she replied, "No, you will give him answers." That of course ticked me off, so I went to Mama Betty (she is my host mother and the director of the school). I told her the little boy's situation and she told me that was fine if I read the tests to him. So on Monday I told my supervising teacher that Mama Betty said it was okay to read the tests. She gave me the tests and I took him outside to sit on the steps. As we were walking, another teacher comes over to me to see what is going on. I told him the situation, and he told me that if Levin is having eye problems, he needs to go to the clinic and lay down. So he took Levin to the clinic. Meanwhile, I am ticked off because the teachers do not understand that he has a serious eye problem. After ten minutes of waiting, I went to the clinic and asked if he was ready to go. He told me yes, jumped off the table and held my hand. It was the sweetest moment ever. We went back to the classroom to get the test, and we were then stopped by another teacher (the headteacher of the school). He asked me what was going on, and I told him. He told me that Levin must have a phobia of tests, and if he does not stop crying he needs to go home. I told him that Levin was not crying and that his eyes are like that everyday. The teacher then sent Levin to the clinic, again. At this point I was frustrated. I went back to my hut, crying the whole way there. I wanted to call my mom, but it was about 2am in Indiana. So I wrote in my journal and tried to figure out what to do. I went back to the school, took a test from my classroom, took Levin out of the clinic, and read the test to him. I also read the tests to him today. Levin was so thankful, and appreciative, that I didn't care if the other teachers did not agree. I know in my heart that was the right thing for me to do. I am going to Levin's house next week to have dinner with his family. I can't wait!

I am very excited about the next few weeks. In two days I be will traveling to Uganda. We (all of the volunteers) are going water rafting on the Nile River. We will leave Friday and return Sunday evening. I will try to post pictures on Monday. I have never been water rafting, so this should be very interesting. The following weekend we are going to the Coast to relax and swim in the Indian Ocean. There is supposed to be a huge coral reef in the Indian Ocean. Our students are on break the week we are going to the coast, so we will be leaving on a Thursday and returning home on Sunday. The town we will be staying in is Mombasa. It is where the International Cross Country race was held last week. It is supposed to be amazing there! I can't wait. In three weeks, we are going to boat on Lake Victoria. It is the largest lake in Africa. There are tons of hippos there. It's also a great place to shop till we drop....YES!!!! I will definitely take pictures.

I am starting to understand the saying, "it's a small world." One of the other IU volunteers, who I have never met until this trip, is engaged to a guy who lives three houses down from my grandparents in Barrington, IL. Isn't that crazy? Also, I met a man who was roommates with a professor I know in Indiana. This really is a small world.

So, today I started making birthday invitations. I am having a bonfire. I am trying to get everyone in the village to join me. I am going to have an African cake made, which I am so excited about. To really make things interesting, I am thinking about making "tacos." So many people still think I am lying when I tell them that we eat tacos in the United States. I try to explain a taco to them, but they just laugh. (If you don't know what taco means in Swahili, read my first or second entry).

Maryann, thank you for the letter. It was the funniest thing ever. I sent one to you, so let me know when you receive it.


Take care and I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter. I think I am going to paint rocks and have an Easter egg hunt around the school. I'll let you know how it turns out :-)

Love ya bunches,
Nafula
(My African name, meaning Rain)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1174561620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1174561620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mochabocha/kenya/1174561620/tpod.html Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:43:36 -0400 Student teaching in Kenya....and learning to live without electricity or running water :-)

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Bungoma/Kabula, Kenya

Here are some pictures...
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