Mwisho ni karibu (The end is near)

Updated Contact Info:

Matt Priest, PCV
P.O. Box 163
Nzeeka, Kenya

Phone:

To call from the States dial:

011 254 736 543 139

For faster deliveries send it the address above. For safer deliveries send it to the Peace Corps address that can be found somewhere in a previous post. And since we are sort of on the subject (sort of a stretch) people have been asking me for gift ideas. Since the holiday season is approaching I thought I could shed a little light on this topic.

Ideas:

- a star map or two (you can see the stars pretty easily here)
- a popular English book that has been translated into Swahili (for practice)

Yeah, I can't really think of anything else I really want. Maybe easy Mac, beef jerky (I don't know, you just get cravings), twizzlers, a cheeseburger, rack of ribs, ... I'm making myself hungry. CD's with new music on them is another idea. With some work I can get them on my MP3 player.

An amazing present is a contact of a person or group that would like to help support a Kenyan school meet some needs. Such as my school which has no science lab and is expected to perform science experiments on its final exam. If anybody is interested I can send more information.

Swearing in

...has not happended yet. Less than a week away. We found out we will be swearing in at the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya's house. He's going to be there and hanging out. It should be a good time.

Political situation

Ever since we arrived in Kenya the news was consumed with Referendum. This was a vote yes/no on a new contitution. If it passed they rejected the old constitution and started immediately with the new one. The yes side was assigned the symbol of a banana, and the no side an orange. You really had to be careful what you were seen eating, because some people took it as a political statement. There was some rioting leading up to it and even some deaths. Kenyans are very passionate about their politics. In the end the government supported proposed constitution failed to pass. And so, the following day the President dissolved his cabinet and all ministers and assistant ministers. The next day he suspended parliament for at least three months. This happended two days ago. So Kenya basically doesn't really have a government right now. The president wants to start over from scratch, he wasn't happy with the advice and guidance he was being given. He's a brave man.

That's all for now, hope Thanksgiving was solid. Enjoy the snow!