cockroaches & kibera

We are currently experiencing a cockroach infestation in our tiny apartment. Let me say this: I do not like cockroaches, but I’m okay with the occasional little bugger crawling in the bathroom at night (oh, how Africa has changed me). I am NOT, on the other hand, ok with cockroaches raining down from the ceiling, as they did last night when we gassed our tiny kitchen with bug spray! In an attempt to escape the poison we sprayed in the woodwork, the cockroaches came spewing into our kitchen… all in various stages of death, but still, it was disgusting. Elliot and Max have since purchased more bug spray and are waiting for Eric to get home so they can commence “Operation Death.”

On a much better note, we just got home from an awesome day spent hanging out with the Lisha Mtoto kids in Kibera. While its hard to put awesome and Kibera in the same sentence, I continue to be amazed at how uplifting our visits to the school are despite the surroundings. It’s been over 9 weeks since my first visit to Kibera, and I still find myself in shock every time I walk in. I realize now that I haven’t really written a whole lot about Kibera in this blog, so I’d like to paint a quick picture. The first thing that hits you upon entering Kibera is the smell -- a nausea-inducing combination of spoiled food, piles of trash, stagnant and filthy water, animal and human feces. The Nairobi heat does nothing to help the odor either, and I find myself spending most of our time in Kibera breathing through my mouth in order to avoid feeling sick to my stomach. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the smell is emanating from nearly every corner of the slum… with no sewer system and very few proper sanitation systems, the “streets” (essentially mud paths) are covered in garbage, filth, and contaminated water. It’s impossible to find a clean space to step. Add to this mix some several hundred thousand people, goats, stray dogs, and even pigs and you have one giant cesspool. I’m truly surprised that diseases like cholera aren’t more rampant given the living situation. While there are a few main streets that are paved, most people live in tin shacks in tiny little mud allies which require some serious negotiating to get to without killing yourself. Perhaps the weirdest part of Kibera however is its general location – its set incredibly close to downtown Nairobi, and even closer to several upper class communities. In fact, there are gated housing complexes that border the slum itself… can’t help but think that a view of Kibera might decrease the property values there slightly. I suppose this is just one of many odd Kenyan dichotomies.

Anyway, despite having to face the starkness of Kibera, we had a really lovely day with the kids. For the first time ever we had no criers! All of the kids seemed to be in really good spirits, and we were welcomed with a song and a wave of giggles. They really love having their picture taken and I still can’t get over hearing the little shouts and laughter following each flash – it’s heartwarming. The funniest part was when we each got down to take pictures with the whole group and they all started petting us. “Pet the mzungu” is obviously a fun game in Kibera, as we often have little kids and even adults approach us simply to touch our skin! I think they think that white skin feels different or something. We brought them the glow in the dark bracelets that Max and Elliot had brought from home – the kind you have to snap to make glow. I think Elliot assumed they would be completely bowled over by these “magic” bracelets but when he demonstrated how they glowed in the dark he was met with total silence, which the rest of us found to be hilarious. Eventually the kids got excited about their gifts, though some of the smaller ones did try to eat them. We had to explain to a VERY pregnant Grace (seriously, she is about to burst) that the kids were not to munch on their presents. Afterwards, we helped Grace serve lunch (rice and beans, mmm) – unfortunately she doesn’t have enough bowls or spoons for all of the kids to eat at once, so about 6 of them had to wait. I couldn’t believe how polite and gracious these little ones were as they watched their classmates scarf their food down. I think some of them ate quickly just so they could give their bowls/spoons to someone else to use – it was all very sweet J As school let out we got to take some more pictures with the kids in the alley before we headed out. I will take credit for teaching them the thumbs up sign, which is currently the new big thing at Salama (as you can see in the Facebook pictures). All in all, it was a really nice day and I can’t wait for everyone to read all these kids bios! They are all so worthy of being sponsored.

While I’m blogging, I guess I should update you on our Carnivore dining experience last weekend. We took Lillian and Eric to the infamous African restaurant on Saturday night, and I’d say the evening was a success. We ate EVERYTHING… it was an insane amount of food. I tried ox balls and ox heart… both disgusting. The texture of the ox heart almost made me throw up, though my brother claims it “tasted like roast beef.” We also tried ostrich, camel, and crocodile… the ostrich was actually delicious. It was a very soft meat that tasted a lot like pork. The camel and the crocodile were okay but I don’t think I need to eat them ever again! We had a lot of other meat as well – beef, lamb, chicken, pork – all of which was deliciously prepared.  

In more non-work related news, we went to Lydia’s yesterday and got to meet the newest additions to her family… 4 little puppies! Lydia’s female dog had puppies on Sunday night, so they are very tiny still and haven’t even opened their eyes yet, but man are they cute! I can’t wait to go back next week and see if they have gotten any bigger!

Ok, well in honor of Jamee’s last night we are going to spend the evening watching trashy soap operas (Lillian’s favorite… and for some reason she is convinced that we all love them as well, so this is as much to please her as anything else). I can’t believe it’s my last night with my summer partner in crime – it’s going to be weird the next few weeks without her. Jamee, if you read this, we’ll miss you!!!!!

The boys and I will be spending the next few days adding content to the website so that Matt can make the last minor adjustments when he gets home this weekend. Hopefully it will be up sometime next week, so check back soon!