Jambo Rafiki: August 2011

Things To Look Forward To

Things I'm looking forward to in the next month:

1. Have almost a full week to indulge my Martha Stewart side decorating my apartment

2. See Matt!

He's fun to bring to parties AND he cleans up real good.

He's my favorite.

3. See my lovely friends

4. See my family. Is my brother cute or what?

5. Eat a really big burrito

I am feeling very grateful to be a woman in the time and place that I am. Being an American woman has undeniable privilege attached to it, even if there are things in our culture I don't like. Some of the only times I come close to losing my patience here are when a man is being pushy with me or dismissive and I can tell it is because I'm a woman.

I was at a health training and was talking to some women and they said they do not get to decide their physical relationships, if protection is used, or how many children they will have. These are all men's decisions. In a world of HIV/AIDs not being able to use protection is frightening. In another case, I heard about a group of women saying that men will rape and then tell the women if they drink an Orange Fanta they will not get HIV. Not sure where to start on that one. One other sad case was a teacher saying that when she discussed the concept of love with her class of girls it was universally accepted that if he loves you, he will beat you.

It's very hard for me, as an outsider, to fully understand another culture. I can't help but look through an American woman's eyes and I know I miss nuances and complexities and I feel a bit silly trying to interpret what's going on here at all when I've only been here a few months. But when I see these wonderful women I want them to be able to say no when they want to, decide if and when they will marry, when they are ready to have children and how many they would like to have, and enjoy educational and work opportunities.

Necessities

Living in Kenya shows you what is necessary. Turns out electricity and running water are relatively easy to live without. A few days ago I was whining a lot because I wouldn't have running water for a while. But two hours in to not having running water I hardly noticed anymore, it just takes a little bit of extra work and getting up 10 minutes earlier to boil water for a bath ;). My beloved Mexican food is not necessary and neither are my pretty clothes. I am still very attached to my phone and internet. Water and electricity I can live without, but when the phone lines go down I feel a little bit of panic. But the only thing that is irreplaceable are my wonderful friends and family. It's such a blessing to get to see people in person and spend time together having a meal or playing a game or just sitting together, I'm so excited to be able to do that soon!