Just a quick hello... Jennie and I are set to swear-in next week as training comes to an end. It's been a crazy 10 weeks, and as we reflect on what we have done, we just really want to thank all of you for being supportive. In truth coming here has been hard, and frustrating, and at times it has been one of the best experiences of our lives. I think that the next two years will prove to be no less amazing, and we hope that you will continue to follow us through it.
So with that said, some details. Saturday is family appreciation day, which in peace corps roughly translates to a community day full of cooking and awkward, halting conversation in Kiswahili. It will be really ridiculously fun for our language group, and frankly we all love chapati (Kenyan naan basically) and guacamole, a dish we have shamelessly inculcated our host families with. There is an abundance or ridiculously tasty avocados just falling off the trees at present, so it had to be done. We'll also roast a goat. Jen and I are still veggie, but the folks here get positively giddy over some nyama choma so we couldn't disappoint.
After that we have our final language proficiency interviews, which again basically amount to awkward and halting conversation, only this time sans goat. For one half hour we have to discuss food, culture and family in Kiswahili with a trained interviewer, who then rates our level of proficiency. And I must say, for only speaking Kiswahili this last 10 weeks, we have been chattering on pretty well.
Monday we have a party with our whole class, which officially makes it a full weekends worth of awkward and halting conversation, only this time with beer. It's just a time to unwind and appreciate how far we've come. We started as a group of 50, and now we are about 45, but that's still amazing considering how hard uprooting and moving to a developing country is. In the final analysis here, it looks like we are going to do great. Stay tuned for photos later in the week, and for goodness sake, will somebody post and let a kid know whats happening with the Tour De France already!!!!!
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9 comments:
Good luck with the get-together's coming up guys, I'm sure you-all will do fine.
Nick tour update:Danish star.. Rassmussen won 8th thru 16th stage and was headed for overall victory but now is headed home for skipping drug testing, Italy's Daniele Bennati won 17th stage and Spain's Alberto Contador is the overall leader. I guess not much changes on the tour as far as drugs go.
Have some goat for me!!
see ya Dad
*Baa-aa-aa-aa* Yummy, goat. Actually, being serious once more, grilled goat is pretty tasty. Then again, almost anything grilled with garlic is tasty. Congrats on surviving the training & language - YAAAAY!!
Package in assembly stage, will email you once it's been successfully sealed and sent.
love as always,
M
i'm glad that things are going so well so far. i've been away from most internet activities for a while myself. i just spent the last 20 minutes catching up on your blog and i'm completely floored. drop me a line with instructions on how to send you guys care packages. i can't help with the tour but it seems like your dad has that covered.
one world.
kmec
briankmec@yahoo.com
Hi you guys, Congrats on all you have acomplished. People outside the Peace Corps don't really understand the stress and hard work involved. When we called our families after final selection (in Oberlin, Ohio) we were all floored by the total lack of comprehension - even my mother didn't have a clue and she always did! Anyway - Rock on!! I too am preparing a pk and will send it very soon. I have tried to call but either your phone is off or you're out of reach. I'll keep trying. The tour de France has been well covered except for the reaction of the fans here in France. Many boo the riders (but not all do). The papers have said things like "Tour de Farce" and "The Tour is Dead". The final stage ends today here in Paris so I'm staying home. You can't get anywhere because of the road blocks. Contador has only a 23 second lead so who knows? Do you get Newsweek or Time Mag? Want a subscription? I had one when I was in Africa and it was great. Take care, love, Hazel
Hey Kids,
Remember and let me know the best time of year to come (in '08). Jennie, I ran into Kent Benson today. IU Center 1973-1977, 7th all time scoring leader at IU, #1 draft pick of the NBA in '77. Pretty good thrill for this ex-IU fan. Love Uncle J.
Hey Nick and Jen. Glad things are going well. Le Tour is over, but I'll try to help with la Vuelta coverage. And hey, we all want to know how to send you guys chocolate or whatever you "need". Things here are good. I just finished a clinical and had some great experiences with some kids from Somalia. Also, Cheryl and I have been researching property in CO. Let us know if you guys need some Smartwools for climbing mountains!
"Tour de Farce"
I like that.
Trevor and I rode clown bikes around the block today. We didn't wear tights or use steroids and our times were shamefully bad. With only one gear (low) and 5 inch wheels, a third of a mile lasts a long time.
The food chain is actually a myth. In reality, the human species stands at the center of a swirling vortex from which nothing edible can escape, a bit like a black hole in the center of a great cloud of interstellar gas.
Speaking of great clouds of gas, George said something on television today.
If you think about it, a goat is actually a compressed form of vegetable matter. The goat eats plants, removes and ejects all of the useless material, then compresses all of the good stuff and stores it in the form of tasty meat and fat. So if you eat goat, you're actually eating grass.
And that's why God put swirling vortex's in the universe.
Yo peace corps people. enjoying the postings. went to boston for the beers family reunion a few weeks ago, it was fun. saw your parents. Della is walking now! 14 months. she can say dada, mama, hah (hot), bah (ball) and then BAH really loud accompanied by demonstrative pointing for everything else. She is a loud child. She wrestles with Jett and likes to hit Grady. she climbs on everything and can open the front door. she tries to do somersaults w/ them. it is frightening having a monkey in the house who does not understand gravity and is stronger than a grown adult. The boys start preschool in two weeks at a little waldorf in-home program on a farm 5 minutes from here. they are psyched. They rode ponies on a farm this weekend! Chris is at a gig tonight...that's a day in the life here in Erie. :) Hazel's suggestion of time magazine is a great one. we want to send you a care package too but are not sure what to put in it. i was thinking gatorade powder, c packets, nestle quick? we are going to kauai for xmas w/ your folks and joan and rick. i am sure it will be fun but if we could just beam there instead of the long plane ride...thinking of you often. much love, the beers of colorado
The only question is.. how much does a ticket cost from Kenya to Kauai? Things are good here, and we will be sure to post as soon as we can. Thanks again for all of your responses, we love reading them. If you want to send things, nestle quik sounds great, cliff bars, anything you can think of is cool, but we pretty much get everything we need here. Things for the kids here might be a good choice such as small cheap toys and candy, maybe crayons and chalk. We can't post address information here, so we can email personally if you need our contacts. We love you all and we will set up some pics very soon. Much love nick and jennie
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