Settling into Kisumu

6.17.2010
It’s been a couple of days since I wrote a blog, mostly because we have been getting adjusted in Kisumu. My initial reaction to arriving at our guest house (for about 30 minutes) was disappointment. I had it in mind that we would have more privacy and not be in such a shared situation. Then, after some processing I realized that this is actually the best possible place for our family. Our housemates are very nice—2 of them are researchers from Japan who have been here since April and will be staying through until December. There is another woman who lives in the apartment out back though I can’t recall her name as we just met last night, and there are two caretakers, Janet in the daytime and Lynn at night.
6.18.2010
We have been cooking dinners together as a “family,” and it has been really nice! It turns out to be a very nice thing to have community—we are quite happy. I’ve made a couple of trips to the shopping center called Mega City, and it does live up to its name. It makes Super Wal-Mart look like a 7-11. There is pretty much everything one might need, though the quality and selection is still better in the States for the most part. I’m happy we have it so close by though, and it is proving to be very inexpensive to live here, and would be more so if things were within reasonable walking distance. I think Kisumu proper is about a 15 minute walk, but the Mega City is 2-3K away, and with Claire and groceries it would be a tough walk.
We have hired Lynn to be my helper, which has been great! She is going to help me 4 days a week with anything I might need, and I am so grateful. When we go to the Jubilee market (gigantic farmer’s market), they see a mzunga (white woman), and the price automatically goes up. So, Lynn is helping me negotiate this, and hopefully by the time we leave I will be able to negotiate as well.
I did laundry by hand for the first time yesterday alongside of Lynn, and I have a new appreciation for what goes into this task. I no longer will call a piece of clothes dirty unless it truly is!
On Sunday, Lynn and I will go to the Sunday market and buy some cloth for Casey, Claire and I to have some clothes made. Casey starts his first full day of work on Monday, although he has had meetings this week in both Nairobi and Kisumu.
I think it is time for tea, so I am going to go fix us some—bye for now!