Time For A Change...

Well, I leave tomorrow morning for the town of Embu, where I'll be stationed for the next six weeks. I've been told it's a big small town, but there are no rice cakes. That's about all I know so far. It's at the southern base of Mt. Kenya in Central Province. Kikuyu country. Because it is election year, they're sending us out to our internships a week early and bringing us back to Nairobi over the first weekend of December rather than the second. Election Day is currently scheduled for Dec. 27th, but this may change, for no other reason than this is all crazy and it would take you months to understand it as it has me. But politics is violent here. The rallies continually end up with small groups duking it out, and politicians actually use this as a political tool. "Presidential Candidate Kalonzo Musyoka announced today that he has canceled his rally in Uhuru Park because he does not want to cause harm to the public, and urges his fellow candidates to think about the safety of the people...", is close to what you read in the papers everyday (I used Musyoka as an example).

The program wants us all back in Nairobi under their watchful eyes during this turbulent time. Yet, when we're in our separate provinces, we're actually given the assignment of asking as many questions as possible about who everyone is voting for and why. We have a paper due for Fred on the subject. Margo and I visited him in his office at University of Nairobi to discuss all the papers he has assigned for us, and I asked him if it wasn't offensive and obtrusive to ask our families these heated political questions he's listed. He assured me that Kenyans love to talk politics, and it's not like we're not going to know who they're for outside of Nairobi. Each province has their favorite. I'm going to Central, where Pres. Kibaki is from, being a Kikuyu himself. This is the area which has received the most development because of the problem with ethnicity here. Yet, the Kikuyus believe that their area is the most developed because they're hard workers and everyone else, especially the Luos in Nyanza Prov. are lazy. Nevermind the completely uneven distribution of resources, and I'm going to stop now, or I could go on forever.

But, I have become very good at asking questions in a non-biased way, especially since my host-parents are Kikuyu; this has given me good practice (I do not back Kibaki in any way, but right now am torn between Odinga and Musyoka). Margo is going to Nyanza, Odinga country, and the Luos LOVE their Raila Odinga. Fred did actually say to her, "If you mention you're for Kibaki or Musyoka, you die...", and went on despite my little chuckle. I mentioned to my host-parents the other night that I wished American politics were a little more like Kenya's in that Odinga and Musyoka both get to run by splitting their party into two: ODM and ODM-K (and they actually fought over who got to keep the orange as their symbol until Musyoka said Odinga could have it, his party will be an orange and a half. And it really is now). I told them I wished that both Clinton and Obama could run for President against the Republican Party rather than fighting for the Democratic seat. My parents laughed and said that if Obama wins presidency, the US will have 51 states: the original 50 plus Nyanza, and Odinga will be Senator. I thought that was good (Obama is half Luo and they LOVE him too).

Anyway, that's all a really long way of getting to the point here. I will now be here for the elections as I have decided to become a full academic year student. The second half of the MSID program is a great opportunity I decided I could not miss. My internship has now changed from 6 weeks to 5 months, and I'll have in-field interview and research opportunities for a required 60 or so pg research paper that can be used for my senior project for my Bachelors Degree. And no academic year MSID participant has ever been turned down for Grad School. May as well do that too. These are big decisions, it's been a fantastic week, and I am bursting through my stinky African seams. I'm going for it, ladies and gentlemen, so wish me luck. And don't hold me to it. Okay, hold me to it, because it's really what I want. I am so happy!

I'll see you all at the end of April. Have a good winter, suckers!!

Emily Sara

By the way, If anyone is on Facebook, there is a link called MSID Group 2007 that has over 200 photos right now, and growing. All the students here are joining and downloading pics, and they show a little of what I'm seeing here, including Hell's Gate, the game park in Nakuru, and Kibera, and some pics of me jumping for joy.