"Addressed to My Fellow PCTs" - A poem by my fellow PCV Kenya, Louis Vayo II. He has a very talented and gifted soul.

(A poem, titled "Addressed to My Fellow PCTs", as a summary for our training experience)

What do I remember most about Loitokitok?
The dust.
The dust from the ground rose like pillars of smoke
from a bonfire
When the motorbikes came flying by,
Kicking dust from their tires and into my eyes
I'm not much of a crier, but I'm not gonna lie,
All that dust made me pretty sad.

And you know what I don't understand?
When the Kenyan teens greet me with a wave of their hand
they say, "Safi Kabisa" which means completely clean.
How do the Kenyan teens stay completely clean?

But nevertheless
In the beginning those overdressed, fat-cheeked kids were cute,
and with each "how are you?" those kids got cuter..
I don't remember who I told
but I said to them,
"I don't think those 'how are you?'s' will ever get old."
..how naïve I was...
but everything was so new to me
there were so many things to learn, and so many things to see.
And I saw things I've never seen before
Like a goat in a crate, or a family of four
riding on a motorbike. So that's what it's like
on this African tour.

Still, It's amazing all the things we've experienced,
From Kilimanjaro's beautiful, twin peaks in the distance,
To our Kenyan Mamas' constant and fervent insistence
to eat more, despite our resistance.

And those Kenyan Mamas, they are simply unreal
So hardworking, yet gentle, and with hands made of steel
That pot has got to be hot mama, can you not feel?
And the Kenyan men, so strong and so proud through & through
Still they are always ready with a smile and a greeting or two
To make us feel welcome.

But despite their warm welcome..
Adjusting to Kenyan life has not been easy.
Some days just had too much Blue Band, and Kenyan T.V.
But those few hot days in my business clothes, that was the worst situation
When the sweat from my head dripped off my nose, I think I'd smell ugali in my perspiration

We faced so many troubles, but all of you know
We battled spiders, bats, bugs and bad smells in the choo
We sat through hours & hours of church, still with hours & hours to go.
And we'd wait, patient, for Kenyan partner groups to show for a meeting though,
they were late, or they forgot, even though you watched them
scribble down the date

But hey, that's just the Kenyan way,
An unwritten cultural rulebook we need to learn and obey.
Here's what I've learned so far:
Pedestrians yield themselves to cars
Women are seen as whores in bars
When we share, what's ours
becomes theirs
And the locals charge expensive fares,
But only if your skin is fair.
Because here in Kenya, fair skin means money
It's just like saying that the sun is sunny
well that's funny because
that's a stereotype we are here to correct, (I think) we'll consider it a "win"
If we can gain our respect independent of the color of our skin...

I've also learned that Kenya is the land of many hidden children
We can't always see them, but we always hear them
So we walk home to the sound of "Mzungu!, Mzungu!" their tiny voices screaming
And after thirty-six "How are you?s" in a row, it's lost its meaning.
And I've been meaning to tell you, I don't know if I did
But when Michael Smith flips out on that one, unlucky kid, Hell..
Michael Smith, sometimes i'm right there with you.

But seriously, together we can laugh and support each other
Each of you have become like a sister or a brother

And soon we leave Loitokitok, though the cows are still mooing
The roosters still crowing, and the Tusker still brewing
But will all that distraction, I forget what i'm doing here.
Can any of you relate? Do any of you agree?
Then I remember, I'm here to throw starfish back into the sea
One by one, and that's okay with me
because when it's done, if it's one life we saved
One life we changed for two years we gave
..it'd be worth it
Because after two years, we'll be rearranged,
Though I think all along we will have known
That life that has changed will be our own.

And for two years we'll face all manner of trouble
From Malaria to funeral orgies, and with mephaquin: seeing double
But let me tell you the real dangers
When returning to America, we'll be the strangers
And we'll think it's strange: the roads are paved
the toilets flush, the furniture's plush
they use microwaves

But we have two years to go 'till then
So let's let the adventure begin.


(p.s. As a sidenote: there is audio recording of Louis reading his poem, i will attempt to post it at some point when/if i get fast enough internet)

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

So today was our official swearing in ceremony! We are now all Official Peace Corps Kenya Volunteers!

We had a small but nice ceremony this morning at the American Ambassadors residence here in Nairobi. The Ambassador, Mike Ranneberger, was in attendance and administered our swearing in oath. Also in attendance was our Country Director (CD), Steve Wisecarver, along with all of our excellent training staff, our new Site Supervisors and/or Site Counterparts, and two parents from Oloitokitok to represent our host families. Among the other guests in attendance were Dr. Tom Wolf, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) who served in Kenya in 1964 and now works as a leading politcal analyst and consultant in Kenya, and two representatives from the Kenyan Government sectors of Small Enterprise Development and Public Health.

Below i have posted some photos of todays events. The first is one of what we like to refer as "The Family," its my closets group of friends here in Kenya. The second picture is of me and the Peace Corps Kenya CD. The third is of me and my new counterpart, Dennis. There were many other pictures taken by the volunteers and media but i have no way to get those now...i will post them if i can get ahold of them. You may also be able to find an article or two, along with pictures, if you search the intrenet for Kenyan Media sites; i recommend checking the major Kenyan newspapers and television stations.

On a more personal note, tomorrow morning we will all be departing Nairobi in different directions. I will travel with the other two volunteers going to the Lower Rift Valley Province, their supervisor along with Dennis. It should take us approximately 2-3 hours to reach Narok and then Dennis and I will continue on together to our site in Oloolaimutia, which is about another 3 hours further. Lets hope none of my luggage walks off (gets stolen) during our journey! Haha.

I anticipate many tears tomorrow, from the girls in our group of course, haha. It will be sad to see each other go, knowing we will very soon be all alone...some of us more than others however. Some volunteers are very close together and will therefore inevitably see one another on a regular basis, others of us will be much more isolated and left to fend off our emotions alone... We have big life changes ahead of us, i hope i am ready for them (i think many volunteers may have not given their futures enough thought in regards to preparing themselves to be alone). The fortunate thing, thanks to some reorganization of the training program, is that we will be back together in 6 weeks for In-Service-Training (IST).

Im excited for the adventure ahead of me and i will do my best to make regular postings from my site. I plan to spend the first week setting up a home and from then on, until IST, i will conduct a Community Needs Assesment (CNA) to determine what types of projects i will be conducting at my site. Also, the CNA will influence what i learn at IST 6 weeks from now.

All i can tell you for sure is that i will be walking alot. Dennis said the first couple weeks we will walk to close villages then, when im in shape, we will start walking to the distant villages. Also, he plans to have me wearing the traditional Maasai clothing once at site!

P.s. My FB posting about "eating REAL doritos" was from the Ambassadors residence...they had REAL doritos for us to enjoy! Unforunately, we dont have the proper credentials to go shopping at the Embassy "Morale Store," the only place (we know of in Kenya) with real American doritos... :o(


F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Yesterday was our final day in Oloitokitok and therefore our homestay move-out day! I was overly ready, as was almost everone else, to be finished with that part of our journey. My homestay family was wonderful, they made me feel very welcome and as if i were one of the kids. My mama and dada (sister) were so helpful, they taught me to cook using the various methods and made sure i knew how to handwash my clothes, though im still super slow and hate doing it! Laundry is definitely going to be outsourced immediately upon arrival to my site...the other household chores i plan to keep, for now at least, so that i have something to fill my time with when i have nothing else to do (it sounds as though i may have quite a bit of non-working time, especially during the first few months).

Above are some pictures of (part) my family and some neighbors, my baba (dad) and my kakas (brothers) were not at home, sorry you dont get to see them...
My family consisted of a baba, mama, 1 dada, 4 kaka's. Just so you know who some of the people in the pictures are...my mama is holding the cut out of my american mama and my dada (sister) is the one holding the cut out of connor, my american brother. I am the one holding the cut out of kylie! Also there is a picture of what looks to be a band, it is a band! They were at our "thank you homestay families" party yesterday! They are from the Nairobi National Theatre. Thats it for now, ill try to post more from here in Nairobi soon!


F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

So....today was my "Final LPI," a.k.a. My language exam to determine whether i get to stay here in Kenya or go home to America....luckily i passed (with flying colors i may add)!

In order to celebrate our success (everyone passed...we are all at least intermediate-low in our site areas vernacular languages) and also to break up the monotony, which has been our lives for the past 6-7 weeks (i lost track/quit keeping track after about 3 days) we went on a minor Safari (which in Kiswaili means "Journey" and in English means "go see some wild, African animals") at Kimana Wildlife Sanctuary. Because i have seen all these animals before, both at the zoo and in the wild, it was more of a social/bonding activity for me and also an opportunity to provide you all with some nice wildlife pictures and a half-decent/interesting post about my life, FINALLY. I know many of you may think/expect there to be wild animals running around everywhere in Africa, when in actuality that may not be/probably isn't/is not the case in most of Africa...though here in Kenya it is partly true! Many of the game parks here don't have fences so the animals go where they please (the predators kill, particularly the Maasai's cattle, whenever they please) creating an interesting dynamic...! Also, i debated about attending this event because my site, where i will be headed in ~1 week, is located at one of the best/most well know game reserves in the world, the Maasai Mara! This means that i will/should/may encounter wild animals regularly in my daily life! Put another way, as my Peace Corps site description stated, the only real security issue i will face shall be "wild animals!"

Sidenote: The Maasai Mara Reserve is where the mass Wildabeast migration occurs. It typically happens around July...it is the amazing event many of you may have seen depicted on the video/TV series Planet Earth!

Well that is enough jabbering from me for now...below are pictures from my "Safari" today, enjoy!

Sidenote: The picture with the van, which is called a Matatu and is one of the major modes of short and long distance public transportation here in Kenya, depicts a common occurence of our "Safari" today. Unfortunately, we picked a rather "Shitty" matatu, pardon my english, so we had to push start it in the middle of the wildlife sanctuary, emphasis on WILD, on more than one occasion!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Mt. Kilamenjaro -from the village of Kwa Maji, just outside the town of Oloitokitok, Kenya where i have been participating in pre-service training. My final language exam is tomorrow at 10a.m.- wish me luck!

On Sunday we will be headed back to Nairobi where we will be sworn in as Official Peace Corps Volunteers (assuming we pass our language exams). After that we will depart for our sites! Finally!

(When i get to Nai-robbery i will update this blog, i hope to make it more informative and of course more aesthetically pleasing.)

- From Kenya With Care

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care