Matt Goes To Africa: Full Throttle

Don't get too excited.
Notice how the date is in June. Surprising? That's because you (the reader) are most likely viewing this in July ... when it was written. And it isn't even being composed by Matt, but by me, the poor man's Matt. His grand scheme included at least a post a month, and, well, that's just not happening. The last post is evidence to that statement, as it clearly has been constantly altered and lengthened over the past month(s).

So where does that bring us? To this writing, of course ... clearly just meant for posterity's sake. Embedded is the last video that I uploaded on YouTube. It's Matt at his best and brightest. Soon to come will be an entirely new photo album, which will be a complete overhaul on the current one ... plus (dare I say it?) over a hundred new pictures.

Once again, don't get too excited. It's still a few weeks away. As Matt felt that it was quite cool to update a post more than once, I will come back to this one later when the new pictures are ready to be viewed ... and edit it to say exactly that. Who knows how long this paragraph will stay intact ... it has already been changed since the first time it was published for clarity in this very paragraph.

Matt will finish the current term of school around the end of July, so expect a less sardonic, and more informational, update around that time.

Oh, and why that specific date? I would like to think that Matt would care enough to wish me happy birthday on the very day. This is to keep my respect for him alive.

So, Happy Birthday Dan!

Love, Matt Dan

Gorillas in the Mist

At the end of April I visited the fair country of Rwanda. It was my first time leaving the country since arriving in Kenya in September of '05. To get to Rwanda we had to travel through Uganda. For a lot of people in America, I think their view of Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda are the movies The Constant Gardener, The Last King of Scotland, and Hotel Rwanda. These movies do not paint these countries in an especially good light and focus on a major blackeye in the nation's history (note: I've never seen The Constant Gardener - I don't know what its about. A guy how gardens all the time? Does that reflect negatively on Kenya?). But, these things happened in the past and Uganda and Rwanda have made huge strides since the time of genocide and brutal dictatorship.

So this trip was a couple months ago, so let me just highlight: Uganda and Rwanda are beautiful with many terraced hills and winding roads. They are much cleaner than Kenya and have better road systems. While in Rwanda I visited some genocide museums and went to the bamboo forest to see the mountain gorillas. We were SO close! I could have reached out and touched them, but thought better of it. I also left my gorilla costume at home. It was such a great experience. Check out the pictures and if possible some of the videos from that trip.

I plan to go back to Uganda in August to go rafting on the Nile River. Should be fun... and life-threatening.

Pictures from Rwanda:







Those are gorillas, although from the back they could be my Uncle Mike. C'mon Mike, I'm only joking ... a little.

So my school term is half over. I'm crazy busy, but I'm seeing positive results. My time is winding down: less than 6 months!

PS: A new group of Peace Corps Volunteers came to the country last month and I met them at the airport and did a short orientation for them for a couple days. I felt like a celebrity when a few of them recognized me as the Matt from the popular website mattgoestoafrica.com

People actually read this thing!

Norther, Souther, Wester, Easter!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny found my house this year, after getting lost last year. I think the fact that some other PCV's were visiting me at the time helped him find the place. He left 5 brown eggs around the house which we promptly decorated (traditional Easter egg designs, Kenyan flag, Jesus). It was enjoyable.

It's been a while, let's rewind...

Once upon a time (2007) a school year began. It continued. Around the end of February a Peace Corps meeting was planned on the coast which I attended. Honestly, the training wasn't so spectacular, but it was a good excuse to see many people I haven't seen for a while and get to know the new group a bit better. It also meant I got to wear my coast skirt again. We visited my favorite south coast island again: Wasini. We cleaned up the coral reef garden and offered business advice to the operators of the slave caves in Shimoni. And then it was back to school...

A few weeks before school ended I saw an advertisement in the newspaper about a theatre production in Nairobi. I decided I wasn't getting my theatre fix so I went for the weekend and saw the play 'An Inspector Calls'. It was well done, I am happy to report. We have some actors in Kenya! I think I might have to go see more in the future. The same weekend I went to the movies and saw Dreamgirls (a musical movie) so I had a theatre overdose. It's a good overdose.

The school term ended in a flurry of activity. There were exams to write, exams to mark, exam results to compile. Now in America, most teachers just make photocopies of tests and quizzes provided by the publishing company with the textbook. Not the case here in Kenya. I have to create my own questions or take them from past exams, and assign them point values. I really overanalyze this task: 'Is this a fair question?' 'Does it demonstrate their understanding of the chapter?' 'Would this exam encourage or discourage them?'... But I always get it done. Then they need to be typed (by a typewriter) and copied (by a duplicator, not a photocopier). Its a lot of work for the secretary. After marking the exam they must be entered in the record books, and comments need to written for each subject for every student. Also, since I am a class teacher I need to write an overall comment for each student in Form 3. Some sample comments from other teachers: 'Wake up!' 'Pull up your socks!' 'Get serious!' 'Put in more efforts!' 'A trial' ... And the term ended.

As I mentioned earlier, after closing I had some visitors. They had both visited me previously so they knew the lay of the land, the hotspots, the wazee. We had a good time, we climbed Ulilinzi rock which apparently is the home of a gigantic serpent and we were lucky we didn't die. We defied all odds. A guy in my village also announced to us that he is running for Member of Parliament (MP) this year and is likely to be Vice President of the country by the year 2012. He oozes confidence, which you gotta have to be a politician. You think John Dingell even considers the possibility of losing? He's only been in Congress for like 50 years, why should he start losing now?

So I'm just hanging out this month. Next week I have DPS training to help facilitate. After that our school starts the remedial teaching for the Form 3's and 4's. And then the second term (my second to last) begins in early May. Time is running.

I want to rhetorically (metaphorically? proverbially?) tip my hat to my brother for his work on this site. It's beautiful, it inspires shock and awe, it takes my breath. He's imported all my previous posts from the old website to this one. So you can start at the beginning if you have arrived to this site late. I was reading through my old posts and I realized I never answere a question I had posed: 'What famous rock group members are all dead including one that was assassinated?' Answer: Mt. Rushmore. Aww, snap! I got ya good! Which one was assassinated? Ask my brother, the assassination expert (back, and to the left).

Also check out the pictures. They are back, I don't think there's anything new, but its good to refresh your memory.

Hope wherever you are you are doing something you enjoy!

And I am living happily ever after