Kenya

I just woke up and remembered a dream I was having… in Swahili.  It wasn’t all Swahili but it’s a sign that I’m on my way to being fluent.  You always hear people talking about whether they can dream in a language other than their mother tongue, so it must be a significant event.  I was never fluent in Spanish, but after studying it for five years and growing up in San Diego I probably got pretty close.  Having said that, I don’t remember having any dreams in Español.

As far as I can remember the dream, I was at a movie theater somewhere.  I think I had snuck in and gotten kicked out, or I dunno.  The part I remember is telling some little Kenyan kid ukiingia utachapwa (“if you enter you will get hit”).  That’s all I remember.  Maybe I wasn’t sneaking in, maybe I was working there, who knows.  Anyways, let’s hope I have more dreams in Swahili because it’s a pretty funny phenomenon.

On a side note, my Spanish sucks now. Any simple sentence I try to create in my head comes out in Swahili. Oh well. Hopefully it’s still in there somewhere.

Kenya, Pictures

4224I think Matuu means “footsteps” in Kikamba. I made some footsteps there the other day. Matuu is about two or three hours from Tala depending on the car and the route. I passed straight from Tala through Kilamabogo instead of passing all the way through Nairobi and Thika. There are a few big dams in that area but the water was really low, and you’re not even allowed to swim or take pictures. We ended up going to the staff club at Kamburu Dam for some swimming (in a pool).

The chronology was something like this: arrive in Matuu, play with puppies, cook dinner, talk about Swahili, talk about politics, sleep, go to the dams, go swimming, eat grilled meat, sleep, come back to Tala.

Enjoy the pictures: http://thefro.org/gallery2/v/2009/matuu

Animals, Kenya

The rains have started to fall in Tala. As far as I can tell, this has two major ramifications:

  1. Farmers will grow food this season (rains were sporadic last season)
  2. Lots of animals will crawl into my house

Let it be known: I come in peace, but if you scare the shit out of me I might kill you. Especially at night. Visitors I’ve had in the past year and a half:

  • Scorpions: 5
  • Snakes: 2.5 (one was technically in the pit latrine in my backyard, so that’s half ;)
  • Spiders: 6

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