First Week of School/ISP

Thursday February 12th, 2009
Hello everyone! The first week of “classes” is almost over. Every morning we have intensive Kiswahili from 8:30-12:00, with a break for chai in the middle. The way we are learning Kiswahili is really intense but at the same time relaxed and fun. We are broken into small groups of 5, and we have 5 teachers who rotate around, so we learn different styles, different accents, and different vernacular. In the afternoon we have a lecture or a field trip, today we are going to visit AMREF, the African Medical Research Foundation, and learn how to research and begin research for our Independent Student Project (ISP). I have decided to do my ISP in Mombassa, the major city on the coast. I wanted to do it there at first because it’s right next to the beautiful ocean (yay!!) but then I really wanted to do an ISP that was interesting to me. I did a huge paper last semester on ethnicity and politics in Africa, if one influenced the other and vice versa. I focused mainly on the tribes and peoples where the post election violence was the most intrusive, which is here in Nairobi and the Rift Valley. But now I am wondering how the post-election violence affected people outside of the nation’s capital. The coast and the rural villages on the coast are composed of an entirely different ethnic dynamic, so I thought it would be interesting to understand how they associate themselves politically. Questions about ideology, tribalism, ethnicity, education, awareness…as I continue to think about it, more questions came to mind. Let me know what you think about this! I am happy to finally find a topic that is interesting and also somewhat new. Also, two of my friends on the trip with me want to go to Mombassa for their ISPs, so it is also reassuring to have people to stay with. We’re planning on renting a room together for that month, so we’ll save money and also be there to support one another. And go to the beach together!! As for everything else, my homestay family is amazing. They taught me how to make ugali, the staple food of Kenya, and they will teach me how to make chapatti and other Kenyan dishes this week. Next week we have classes again, but the week after that we are traveling to the coast to live in a rural homestay in Bodo. That is going to be extremely interesting…but I hope you are all doing well and I’ll be in touch again soon!