Halloween and Countdown to December

Hey Everyone,

Well, Halloween in Kenya was a success. A bunch of the PCVs in the Western/Nyanza area converged on Kisumu for the weekend, and needless to say we had a good time. Friday it was just a lot of hanging out at the hotel, but Saturday there was a party at a house owned by an American NGO. It was good to meet other Americans, to not have to worry about getting things stolen from you at a bar. I stayed up way too late, though, and was once again reminded that I am no longer 22.

I am heading back to Nairobi on Nov. 10 to get some more tests run on my knee, which has been giving me some trouble as of late. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, but i'll keep you posted.

Other than that i'm just working on planning some projects/events for the relatively near future. Me and Jenn (my PCV friend who is also in Funyula)are going to start a summer camp so that the kids (many/most of whom are orphans/vulnerable children) have something to do when they are not in school. Also, hopefully sooner rather than later, we are going to try and have a male circumcision event in the area, in conjunction with the Nyanza Reproductive Health Center and the CDC. Aside from general hygiene issues, there is some evidence to suggest that circumcised men are less likely to transmit HIV. Finally, Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, so i'll be heading down to another volunteer's site to help out with an event being put on down there. Even though there isn't a ton of day-to-day work to do, I have enough to keep me busy.

The other benefit of all these longer-term things is that they give me landmarks to pass the time. Amie is coming down here December 19, and i'm really excited about it. By the time I get back from Nairobi and settled back to life at my site, it'll only be about a month away, which is awesome. Anyways, that's all for now, i'll keep everyone posted on developments with the projects/my knee. Take it easy.