From Where I Sit

Feb 16

From where I sit

Well, I’ve been in Kenya for almost 7 weeks. But I don’t think I’ve told anyone back home about where I am actually living.  Kitale Town is situated in north western Kenya.  It’s relatively small town compared to Eldoret and Nairobi. It’s basically a farming community where just about everyone has a few cows, chickens, and sheep. Charangany Hills are east of town and I can see them when I get up on the main road, I think it’s R-48 on maps, but the Kenyan’s call it Charangany Road.  Alice’s house is 3km from town. The property is about 60-70 acres in size and both Silas and Nelson live with their families. Nelson is married to Sarah and they have two boys, Owen and Ammon. Silas is married to Eunice and they have one boy Shannel.  There are other people living on the property and they rent some houses. I’m not sure how many people actually work for Alice.  

Christie is the maid in the house. She’s 23 and an Ugandan. She works hard here washing clothes, mopping floors, washing dishes, and everyone under the sun that needs to be done here. She’s a very sweet young woman. Edna is Alice’s daughter and she has a daughter, Michelle, who is most likely the most adorable little girl in Kenya. 

Between Christie and Edna I don’t need to do anything around the house. My clothes are washed and put back in my room. Everything here that is washed is ironed. I keep telling Edna and Christie not to iron my clothes, but they keep telling me I must look SMART, meaning neat. (when have I ever been neat?)  Now you’re thinking I’m getting off scott free. WRONG.  I pay Alice 4000ksh a month and I buy groceries at the market twice a month. It works out to be 10000ksh a month I think. Basically I pay out about $150.00 a month to be here. Not bad considering I don’t do my own laundry. When I leave to come back to the states, I’ll leave my MP3 player here and some clothes, mostly shoes I think, and I’ve purchased some things that Alice and Edna can use here in the house.

I work, well I can’t really call it working hehe at Legacy Schools teaching one English class a day and now I’m teaching literature at Kibomet Secondary School across the road from where I live.  I walk about one Kilometer to Legacy schools every morning and back. It’s funny too, because a lot of the time I come in contact with student’s from the public school as they are coming home or going to school. A lot of the time I end up with a dozen or so kids walking with me for a while. They all practice their English on me and I’m trying to get them to expand their vocabulary.

At Legacy school, the kids are great. Very respectful and smart. They are just like kids everywhere except here in Kenya they are very obedient and they do what they are told.  It’s so different from the States.