First Day @ APT and Kibera

Yesterday we enjoyed a typical Sunday- lots of eating, sleeping, and shopping. We went to the market and bought some herbs and vegetables. We also watched a little quail bird, which is a delicacy, get prepared. It's legs and wings were broken and then it was plucked- all while it was still alive! I felt bad for the little bird, but they kept assuring me it tasted very good. In the market I was also stopped by a little girl, who called to her brother to come meet the "mzungu" or white person, haha! Then five children came running to shake my hand and say "how are you?" After the market we stopped for ice cream sundaes, and then headed home for a dinner of tilapia, kale, and ugali. 

Today was my first day working at APT, aka Amani People's Theater. In the morning I met the staff- Edwin and Maxwell. We planned my internship, and decided that I will help with a conflict resolution program in a local juvenille center, an education program in Kibera, and also help to re-structure the intern program itself. I got lots of materials and I have quite a bit of reading to do...and here I thought I was done with school and on summer vacation, haha! Although what I have read so far has been very interesting as it applies exactly what I have been studying this past semester in my mediation and development classes. After tea we went to tour the Kibera slum, which is the largest slum in Africa. As expected, it was a very powerful and overwhelming experience. It's hard to describe Kibera...there were so many people, cramped into such little ram-shack huts. The garbage was everywhere, and sometimes the stench was quite bad. Also, there were many stands selling rotten food and fish heads-which didn't help the smell. Everything was muddy and dirty, and it was just so expansive. However, I was really impressed by the attitude of the people there. They were very upbeat, and the children seemed especially happy. We visited a little school, called Optimist Education Center, where APT has a program. We took a tour of the classrooms, and I was shocked at how small it was. On average, there were 30-40 students in a room 10 feet by 15 feet. There were not enough desks, so many students had to stand. The rooms were really dark and only a few students had paper and pencils, and I didn't see any textbooks. I was then informed that I would be teaching in this school once or twice a week! The children were so sweet and I'm really excited to return and get to spend time with them. But I'm also nervous, as I have no idea what I'm going to teach them!...should be fun!

After leaving Kibera, we rode in a "matatu", which is a taxi mini bus. They drivers are crazy, and I found myself flinching and expecting impact many times! But we made it back safely, and then we walked home. I decided to take a short rest- which turned out to be a three hour nap! We had a wonderful dinner of vegetable stir fry. Somehow, I'm still tired (must be the jet lag) so I think I'll head to bed.