I spent this weekend on campus. I wasn’t anticipating anything exciting and don’t think I ran into anything amazing. I did however have a little bit more fun than I expected I would. On Friday I didn’t have class so I slept in late and missed breakfast. I spent some time in the library studying and went for lunch with Raija. After lunch I spent some time outside studying and reading about Lake Victoria, and then I did some more laundry. This took a little while! After this I spent a good hour or so talking with Gladwell, my roommate. This was really nice because we haven’t talked very much yet. We talked about my experience here so far and a few different cultural things and food. I told her that my favorite Kenya food was Chapatti and she offered to show me how to make it. I went for dinner with Ann and went over to the Matthews for dessert and to play a game with the other North American girls. This was very nice; I really like getting out of the dorm life and doing something a little different. Alice made peanut butter popcorn for us and also had oatmeal butterscotch cookies and brownies. Oh was it good to be there! We got back after our 11 o’clock curfew so they walked us back to make sure the guards would let us into the dorms. I went to bed.
On Saturday I slept late again but Gladwell had made some small chapattis for breakfast. She saved a couple for me and I put peanut butter on them. This is definitely not how people here eat them! I hung out with Ann for a little while and went to lunch with h her because all of her other friends had gone off campus for the weekend. Afterwards I came back and Gladwell showed me how to make chapatti. It is actually pretty simple; all it is made of is flour, sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil, and water. It is pretty much a guessing game though, you learn the proportions as you learn to make it and eventually you get it right. All you do with the dough is make balls roll them and then dry out the dough on the frying pan, apply oil and fry some more. I am hoping that by the time I get home I can do this! She also made a vegetable stew for us and I actually enjoyed it! The chapattis were better than the ones in the cafeteria and I really enjoyed them! We spent some time just relaxing watching movies. Gladwell also looked at my pictures on my computer. The rest of the night was pretty much spent on movies. I know that watching movies isn’t anything I can’t do at home but I am looking at it as a way of bonding with my friends because there really isn’t much to do here.
I am hoping that soon I can really feel comfortable talking with my friends, as comfortable as I am with those at home. It definitely takes time for me to get to this point though. I am really hoping that it will work.
Today I was walking by myself and thinking about what I am supposed to be doing with my free time, my alone time. Reading the Bible is something, but I am just not feeling that reading and reading is going to get me where I want to be. I was thinking about writing, about writing for my blog, and writing in my journal and how it may be one of the things I am supposed to do. I think that writing gets a lot out of you, and makes you think about things you would otherwise let slide by. I am hoping that all the writing I am doing will get me really thinking, and really realizing new things that are going to make me the Alyssa I will be the rest of my life. I am also hoping that by writing I can inspire someone else. I have no idea how, but hopefully some good will come out of all of this.
Each day I am taking this a different way. My last take was that studying abroad just cannot be completely positive. It has its crappy moments and sometimes it really just sucks, but hey that is life. I just don’t think that life can be completely positive all the time, you can make the best out of what you have but the bad moments help and shape you as a person, without them your life would be different. I know already that there are so many things from home I am appreciating way more than I ever have in my life. I think I have taken for granted the touch of a person, being hugged, even the hugs my mom gives me when I don’t even feel the need. I really don’t consider myself a huggy person, and I am not going to come home and be that person but the warmth of a best friend, someone who really truly understand you means so much and I can’t imagine living my whole life without someone there for me. It has been difficult enough for three weeks and I even have support through the phone and e-mail.
Anyways, overall I am getting better and feeling better about the situation. I am learning to take it for what it is and slowly grasping the culture. Maybe one day soon I will give you all a lesson on Kenyan culture but I feel this is long enough already. Thank you for reading and if there is anything you really want to hear about please let me know. I know I haven’t ended any of my other posts this way but I just felt like it now!
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