I am attending a ten day silent retreat focusing on Vipassana meditation. The course starts the afternoon of December 23rd and is running until breakfast on January 3rd.
I am sure that I will have more to say about it after I am finished. The bit that I know so far is that the technique pre-dates the Buddha, but was discovered by him and is used as a tool in Buddhism for looking inward. I will be getting up at 4:30am each day to meditate, I will be meditating for approximately ten hours every day, and each day the meditation will be interspersed with lessons. The lessons are not to teach religious conclusions, but are to teach meditation techniques and give themes to focus on in the meditation sessions. All of the conclusions are made by the practitioner.
For those family members that were thinking about calling me over Christmas, sorry. My phone will probably be off for the duration.
I hope that all of you get the opportunity over the holidays to be with your family and forget everything else that is pulling on you.
22 December 2009
18 December 2009
This Has Happened to Other People I Know (In Kenya)
On the 15th of December I wrote that I had found a chicken egg in my bed. That night I slept very poorly, apparently my chickens have lice!
The next day I was very vigilant about making sure that the chickens could not get into my house. I was busy and did not enter my bedroom at night, but when I did I found another chicken egg!
I began to seriously contemplate if I was crazy or not, but the next day one of my students confirmed that his chickens try to leg eggs in his bed all the time. Apparently chickens are very crafty and once they find a comfortable place they do their best to return. Yesterday I opened the glass windows, and although I still have bars over my windows the chicken tried to squeeze its way through the bars at least three different times. On the third time he succeeded in squeezing through and what ensued was a slow motion chase scene similar to the ones you see in old black and white movies where the fugitive pops out of every little corner, sometimes in front of the chaser and sometimes behind the chaser.
Finally, I coaxed her out and normality was restored, but I have given it a formal warning. Next time the chicken lays an egg in my bed, that is it, I am going to eat it.
15 December 2009
Has This Ever Happened to Anybody Else I Know?
I was cleaning my house on Tuesday, with the door wide open.
I went outside to wash some clothes. Then I came in, ate lunch, sat down to read, and finally went to go take a little nap.
When I was about flop down on my bed, I noticed an egg, right next to the pillow. I was shocked because the chicken had given no other evidence of being in my house. No tell-tale poop or muddy chicken foot prints. The culprit was definitely a chicken though. There is no one else in the school compound, let alone my house or my bedroom. I was so startled that I skipped the nap.
When I was going to bed at night, I realized that there were a few bits of mud on my bed sheets. I was very relieved to be able to rule out insanity or multiple personalities as the cause of the incident.
Burial
I attended a burial on Monday. The man got married in 1988. In 1989 he started experiencing intermittent illness. This continued until 8 December 2009 when he died. Nowhere on the program, or during the service did anyone mention what ailed him all of those years. I never knew him, and cannot say what illness he had, but I have a good guess.
Do his four children and his wife know what killed him? Have they been tested? Will the children grow old enough to have their own lovers and pass the same virus to their sexual partners? How far will the lineage of this transmission extend through their social network?
Eight percent of the Kenyans that know their HIV/AIDS status have the disease. One out of 12.5. Those are the ones who know their status, what is the percentage amongst those who do not know?
Testing is free, but not very many Kenyans get tested. Some get tested once, but few get tested every time they have a new partner.
I do not know what killed this man, but even if he did not die of AIDS the burial could have been for one of the many AIDS victims in Kenya and it would have gone the same.
Do his four children and his wife know what killed him? Have they been tested? Will the children grow old enough to have their own lovers and pass the same virus to their sexual partners? How far will the lineage of this transmission extend through their social network?
Eight percent of the Kenyans that know their HIV/AIDS status have the disease. One out of 12.5. Those are the ones who know their status, what is the percentage amongst those who do not know?
Testing is free, but not very many Kenyans get tested. Some get tested once, but few get tested every time they have a new partner.
I do not know what killed this man, but even if he did not die of AIDS the burial could have been for one of the many AIDS victims in Kenya and it would have gone the same.
Back to Training: A New Crop of Math/Science Teachers
After raod-trippin' with the boys, I headed down to Pre-Service training in Loitokitok for a week of intense awsomeness.
As part of the pre-service training for secondary school teachers, the trainees practice teaching in schools for a week. At the end of the school year, Kenyan teachers do not appreciate having their normal schedule disturbed in order to accommodate a group of untrained teachers. Not only are the trainees untrained in terms of their teaching, but further, they speak at these poor children with tons of enthusiasm in an accent of English that is sometimes very difficult for them to understand.
For this, and other reasons, the teaching practicum is setup by Peace Corps, and is dubbed a “model school.” This year there were three of four volunteers that did all of the organization and facilitation for the model school. Three volunteers brought students from their respective schools. In the mornings these students helped the trainees by letting the trainees teach them. Then, in the afternoon, myself and the three volunteers taught the students life skills.
We discussed the qualities that make various types of relationships positive or negative. We talked about goal setting. We also talked about HIV/AIDS facts vs. myths, and the 8-step approach to using a condom. It was very fun and rewarding working with these students for a week. There are a few of them that I miss even now. Then in the evenings we had various activities that were meant to be more recreational. All of the activities were big hits, including board/card game night, movie night, and, the session that I planned, a bridge building competition.
For the bridge building competition, I gave them each 30 straws, 7 pieces of paper, 2 pieces of string, a hand full of tooth picks and about 4 ft of masking tape. The bridge had to be free-standing and had to span a gap that was longer than both the straws and the paper.
We had a couple of trainees spend the night each night in order get more interaction time with the students. They were super excited about entering the competition, and they made a bridge using two trusses, each chalked full of triangles. The bridges were judged by placing an empty cup on top and measuring the amount of water poured into the cup before the bridge collapsed. The group of trainees even included an engineer, but they still came in last place!
I thought that it was rather unfortunate that the team that came in first basically made a bundle of tape, straws, and paper. Maybe I gave the groups too much tape...
These evening events went until around 10pm each day. Then the volunteers had to meet to debrief and plan for the next day, then we went to sleep at 11pm-midnight, and got up at 5:45 to do it all over again.
Gosh it was a lot of fun! Also, it was really awesome to see the PC trainees experiment with teaching. During our model school literally no one used an interactive activity with the students, but during this model school, the students got out of their seats to participate almost every class. I feel confident that with this introduction to teaching in Kenya that these teachers will go forth and make good Peace Corps secondary school teachers.
At the end of the week I said good bye to Kelly, another PC secondary school teacher. She was an integral component of the model school planning and facilitation. She was also on the Volunteer Action Committee, representing the views of the other Peace Corps Volunteers with me. She actually has a teaching license from the States, which is rare for a PCV. She has been a mentor of mine, and she has inspired me in the classroom. I am excited for her for this change in her life. I am thinking about what I will do in a year when I go home. I hope to have applied to graduate school programs. I also know that I am invited to go ice fishing with Kelly in Minnesota, which I will definitely take her up on!
I am excited to be here for another year though. Even though the training was not meant for me, I got practice teaching life skills to students and I got to observe other teachers lessons, all of which I will bring back to school this year.
If I do one thing for this next year, I want it to be teaching life skills.
As part of the pre-service training for secondary school teachers, the trainees practice teaching in schools for a week. At the end of the school year, Kenyan teachers do not appreciate having their normal schedule disturbed in order to accommodate a group of untrained teachers. Not only are the trainees untrained in terms of their teaching, but further, they speak at these poor children with tons of enthusiasm in an accent of English that is sometimes very difficult for them to understand.
For this, and other reasons, the teaching practicum is setup by Peace Corps, and is dubbed a “model school.” This year there were three of four volunteers that did all of the organization and facilitation for the model school. Three volunteers brought students from their respective schools. In the mornings these students helped the trainees by letting the trainees teach them. Then, in the afternoon, myself and the three volunteers taught the students life skills.
We discussed the qualities that make various types of relationships positive or negative. We talked about goal setting. We also talked about HIV/AIDS facts vs. myths, and the 8-step approach to using a condom. It was very fun and rewarding working with these students for a week. There are a few of them that I miss even now. Then in the evenings we had various activities that were meant to be more recreational. All of the activities were big hits, including board/card game night, movie night, and, the session that I planned, a bridge building competition.
For the bridge building competition, I gave them each 30 straws, 7 pieces of paper, 2 pieces of string, a hand full of tooth picks and about 4 ft of masking tape. The bridge had to be free-standing and had to span a gap that was longer than both the straws and the paper.
We had a couple of trainees spend the night each night in order get more interaction time with the students. They were super excited about entering the competition, and they made a bridge using two trusses, each chalked full of triangles. The bridges were judged by placing an empty cup on top and measuring the amount of water poured into the cup before the bridge collapsed. The group of trainees even included an engineer, but they still came in last place!
I thought that it was rather unfortunate that the team that came in first basically made a bundle of tape, straws, and paper. Maybe I gave the groups too much tape...
These evening events went until around 10pm each day. Then the volunteers had to meet to debrief and plan for the next day, then we went to sleep at 11pm-midnight, and got up at 5:45 to do it all over again.
Gosh it was a lot of fun! Also, it was really awesome to see the PC trainees experiment with teaching. During our model school literally no one used an interactive activity with the students, but during this model school, the students got out of their seats to participate almost every class. I feel confident that with this introduction to teaching in Kenya that these teachers will go forth and make good Peace Corps secondary school teachers.
At the end of the week I said good bye to Kelly, another PC secondary school teacher. She was an integral component of the model school planning and facilitation. She was also on the Volunteer Action Committee, representing the views of the other Peace Corps Volunteers with me. She actually has a teaching license from the States, which is rare for a PCV. She has been a mentor of mine, and she has inspired me in the classroom. I am excited for her for this change in her life. I am thinking about what I will do in a year when I go home. I hope to have applied to graduate school programs. I also know that I am invited to go ice fishing with Kelly in Minnesota, which I will definitely take her up on!
I am excited to be here for another year though. Even though the training was not meant for me, I got practice teaching life skills to students and I got to observe other teachers lessons, all of which I will bring back to school this year.
If I do one thing for this next year, I want it to be teaching life skills.
01 December 2009
Thanksgiving and the Boys
School ended at the start of last week. Once the term ends my school is empty so I like to find other things to do. I was happy to be able to attend Thanksgiving at a woman's condo in Nairobi with about 8 other volunteers. By the time that I arrived most of the cooking was already underway. Wanting to feel useful I offered to make the gravy. I was surprised when they handed me a package of gravy mix, but I quickly set it aside, pronouncing myself the gravy-king for the evening, as I tossed the package aside and made the gravy from scratch.
What am I thankful for? - I am thankful to the Mosiers and Rowes who taught me to cook. I am thankful for all of the teachers that I have had in my life.
After Thanksgiving we had a couple of days before we had to be in Nairobi again for our mid-service medical checkups. Wanting to get out of the city, Matt and I decided on Hell's Gate National Park as our destination. Two volunteers that we had not met before asked if they could come along with us, to which we over-enthusiastically said "YES!"
It was so nice to road-trip with the boys. Plans didn't work out as we planned, but none of us really cared. The hotel where we thought that we had bunks in the dorm room told us that they had been booked full for this night since a month ago, but it is okay, we could have slept in a tent if we had to. In the end we found a dorm room a couple of hotels down next to Lake Naivasha. It was raining, prohibiting us from hiking where we had wanted to, but that did not matter. We sat out on the porch to the dorm room and talked about some of the finer points of evolution and about the States. It turns out that one of the men was the president of the frisbee club in college and also did a lot of home brewing. Both being passions of mine in college.
When the rain stopped we went out to the lake and found a hippo, in the water, in its natural habitat, with no barrier keeping us apart. Luckily, he did not want to decrease the distance between us.
Then, the next day, we went to Hell's Gate National Park, the only park in Kenya (so I have been told), where you can walk or ride a bike through the park. We rented really unkempt mountain bikes from the park service, and spent the day riding up to groups of zebra, giraffe, and warthogs, scaring them off as we gave chase on our bikes.
In all, we rode close to 30 km on these mountain bikes, most of which had low-to-flat tires by mid-day. Towards the end of our circuit in the park we went to the park's main feature, called "the Gorge." It reminded me of one of the slot canyons entering the Grand Canyon, without the adjoining Grand Canyon.
There is no way that they would allow a tour like this one in the States. Our guide showed us how to over come each obstacle, sometimes showing us hand holds to use to skirt by pools of water on a small ledge. Other times wedging himself horizontally between the two cliff faces as he progressed toward and up over a ledge in the canyon.
I cannot imagine most tourists overcoming these obstacles, but it didn't matter for us - the boys. After two hours of canyoneering, and a day of riding bikes we mounted the matatu for the two hour journey back into Nairobi. Finishing off the night with a mango lassi and paneer from a deserted Indian restaurant.
Just us boys.
It really made me miss these interactions. Backpacking, road-tripping, and relaxing, just us boys, together, without another care in the world, a nice way to celebrate the end of a term and re-energize myself.
What am I thankful for? - I am thankful to the Mosiers and Rowes who taught me to cook. I am thankful for all of the teachers that I have had in my life.
After Thanksgiving we had a couple of days before we had to be in Nairobi again for our mid-service medical checkups. Wanting to get out of the city, Matt and I decided on Hell's Gate National Park as our destination. Two volunteers that we had not met before asked if they could come along with us, to which we over-enthusiastically said "YES!"
It was so nice to road-trip with the boys. Plans didn't work out as we planned, but none of us really cared. The hotel where we thought that we had bunks in the dorm room told us that they had been booked full for this night since a month ago, but it is okay, we could have slept in a tent if we had to. In the end we found a dorm room a couple of hotels down next to Lake Naivasha. It was raining, prohibiting us from hiking where we had wanted to, but that did not matter. We sat out on the porch to the dorm room and talked about some of the finer points of evolution and about the States. It turns out that one of the men was the president of the frisbee club in college and also did a lot of home brewing. Both being passions of mine in college.
When the rain stopped we went out to the lake and found a hippo, in the water, in its natural habitat, with no barrier keeping us apart. Luckily, he did not want to decrease the distance between us.
Then, the next day, we went to Hell's Gate National Park, the only park in Kenya (so I have been told), where you can walk or ride a bike through the park. We rented really unkempt mountain bikes from the park service, and spent the day riding up to groups of zebra, giraffe, and warthogs, scaring them off as we gave chase on our bikes.
In all, we rode close to 30 km on these mountain bikes, most of which had low-to-flat tires by mid-day. Towards the end of our circuit in the park we went to the park's main feature, called "the Gorge." It reminded me of one of the slot canyons entering the Grand Canyon, without the adjoining Grand Canyon.
There is no way that they would allow a tour like this one in the States. Our guide showed us how to over come each obstacle, sometimes showing us hand holds to use to skirt by pools of water on a small ledge. Other times wedging himself horizontally between the two cliff faces as he progressed toward and up over a ledge in the canyon.
I cannot imagine most tourists overcoming these obstacles, but it didn't matter for us - the boys. After two hours of canyoneering, and a day of riding bikes we mounted the matatu for the two hour journey back into Nairobi. Finishing off the night with a mango lassi and paneer from a deserted Indian restaurant.
Just us boys.
It really made me miss these interactions. Backpacking, road-tripping, and relaxing, just us boys, together, without another care in the world, a nice way to celebrate the end of a term and re-energize myself.
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