Living in Eldoret Now

Yesterday I came to a realization about why I have such a problem journaling and blogging, updating everyone back home on what's going on here.  I know it's important and something I would like to do more often, but it's so tough.  I think I've figured out why:  Everything, even the "normal, everyday things," are worthy of a blogpost or a journal entry.  For example, yesterday I left Nairobi and headed to Eldoret, which is the city in Kenya where almost all of the professional runners live and train.  I cannot even begin to explain the experience of traveling this far in a matatu alone.  I'm sandwiched in the front seat of the matatu (which is an African-style taxi, seating 14 passengers) between the driver and a large man next to me named Muhammed.  I quickly learned my friend Muhammed thinks it appropriate to scream as loud as he can during every phone call, so for six hours I had him next to me screaming in my ear.  Accompany that with a typical African radio station blaring way too loud and the two little girls behind me crying the whole way, and you begin to understand my situation.  The radio....three songs, played back-to-back-to-back: Enrique Iglesias' "Hero", Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes," and then finished up with "Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do."  Then, twenty minutes later the same station throws in a couple of Backstreet Boys songs...You can't possibly find entertainment like that in the States...Also, as you might expect, African comfortable temperatures are different than they are for me.  So, as we're cruising down the road in our stuffed matatu with all the windows rolled up, everyone is happy while I'm sitting there sweating bullets.  When the matatu stopped I got out and my shirt was drenched in sweat.  Everyone must have been looking at me like a freak, especially when I sat down and ordered a hot cup of chai!

Anyway, that's a brief summer of six hours of my day yesterday.  Today I'm working with an organization called A-Step which uses sports (soccer, volleyball, running) to mobilize youth and give them opportunities for a better life.  I'll give a longer update on the details here very soon.

-Jordan