Kerry Allen’s Blog

And now, on my last day in Kakamega, I complete my list.

America #10- Gender equality

Perhaps the thing I was most wary about coming to Kakamega was how I would react to the male-dominated culture. This concern was repeated over and over by many of the other interns. How do we deal with situations and attitudes we view as sexist and wrong in a constructive and “culturally sensitive” (I don’t think I can use that phrase seriously anymore) way? This, I thought would be my greatest challenge.

I’ve heard horror stories and undoubtedly they are all true— women beaten by their husbands; the various difficulties in receiving an education due to lack of money or demand of other household responsibilities; polygamy; lack of bargaining power with husbands/partners in condom use. We female interns were warned to be extra cautious around all men, including our host fathers. We were told it is inappropriate to even refer to a male as a “friend”. We were warned we may not be taken seriously in the workplace. I was prepared for the worst.

On one hand, my experiences with gender inequality were not as severe as I anticipated. With perhaps only one notable exception, the men and women in my organization seemed to operate on equal footing. But this was also an organization which listed women’s empowerment as one of its main goals. My host sister Valarie is a feisty and spirited 10-year old with ambitions of attending university and becoming a newscaster. Women like those at my organization and Valarie make me think Kenya is well on its way to gender equality.

However, as I was thinking about this topic today, I wondered if gender inequality only seems to be fading away. Perhaps its subtlety belies its severity. Dinnertime at my house often stirs frustration within me and perhaps illustrates an underlying sentiment that many Americans would identify as sexist.

My host father usually arrives home last. He walks in, greets the women of the house, and sits in his chair in the living room. From this point on, he does not need to move. A small table is carted over to him and a flask of tea and mug are brought. He sits, watches TV or reads the paper while the house girl prepares dinner. When dinner is ready, the women bring the food to the table in the living room. My host mother brings over a basin and pitcher of warm water and washes her husband’s hands. She then dishes him a plate of food, usually about half of all the food on the table, before any of the women may prepare their own plate. When the meal is complete, the women bring the dishes to the kitchen. (Note: This is in no way meant as an attack on my host father; he seems like a good enough man… it’s just the way the world works here.)

The thinking here is, the man is in charge and the woman is his assistant. This doctrine is beginning to be questioned but the submissiveness seems to be almost ingrained into the thinking of both men and women.

I had been meaning to write about this topic for awhile but have found it difficult to articulate my thoughts on status of gender equality. I think after spending 9 weeks here I feel optimistic that the position of women will continue to improve.

Kenya #10- Random moments

The uniqueness and randomness of life in Kenya is undoubtedly what I will miss most. I have had many moments over the past 9 weeks where I think, how random is my life? A sense of humor is vital to appreciate these situations as sometimes they are uncomfortable or unsettling. Like when someone sits in your lap on a matatu. Or even better, when a chicken sits in your lap. When you have a lizard roommate. When you resort to showering in the rain. When your blog becomes an internet sensation due to your mention of Storm Over Paradise. When you bond with a random Kenyan riding by on a bicycle who appreciates your mischievousness towards ducks. When your matatu leaves the main road and dives into a field of corn to avoid cops. When you are asked to be a man’s 9th wife. When you see a bucket of puppies. When you eat cow intestine. When your James Bond DVD is a Spanish soap opera. When your bodaboda driver is drinking out of a can labeled “battery acid”.

Each day tended to bring some absurd occurrence. Something unique and totally Kenyan.

America #9- English

The language situation in Kakamega is rather interesting and is comprised of three languages: English, Kiswahili, and Kiluhya. Kiswahili is universally known through the country and the go-to language for conversation, business, etc. Kiluhya is a mother tongue of the Luhya tribe, which makes up the majority of the Kakamega community, and is the second largest tribe in the country. I’m assuming that within the next few generations Kiluhya will die out as the country becomes more connected and the language becomes defunct. English, an official language of Kenya, is spoken in various levels by most people in town and then less and less by those in rural areas.

Though most people I interact with on a daily basis speak English well, they generally choose to converse in Kiswahili, which leaves me in the dark for a lot of conversations. It is most frustrating in two situations. One, when I visit rural communities and the meetings occur in Kiswahili. The community members often have an only basic command of English, so that is not really a viable option. And surprisingly, I did not master Kiswahili from our 3 days of lessons during orientation weak. The other thing that really bothers me is when I hear people talking about me in town, but cannot tell what they’re saying. I hear “mzungu” amongst a slew of other words, generally followed by laughter, and naturally feel a little uncomfortable and annoyed by that situation.

So, if I could change one thing about this experience, I wish I could speak the language. And, I look forward to returning to a familiar language in three days.

Kenya #9- Non-verbal communication

Sticking to the communication theme, I have adopted the Kenyan habit of incorporating an excessive amount of noises into my everyday conversation. Obviously, non-verbal communication exists in the US too, but is not used to the extent it is here. It’s kind of hard to describe in words, but Kenyans use a lot of noises, which I guess if I tried to spell them most would be like “hmmm”. The meaning is found in the inflexion. The most common one I’ve adopted is a “hmmm” of confirmation accompanied for whatever reason by a raising of the eyebrows. I hadn’t really realized how bad my “hmmm” habit was until I was listening to Emily explain something about her project to me and every time I made a noise she would crack up. I’m thinking this new Kenyan habit could potentially drive people insane, so just a heads up.

Sidenote: I had my last day of work today. I just have some final evaluations and reports to finish up for FSD tomorrow and then put the polishing touches on my Proposal Writing Guide and then I am finished! We leave Kakamega bright and early on Saturday morning.

America #8- Please/Thank you

(I feel like my mother will love this one.)

Kiswahili lesson of the day:
Tafadhali means please.
Asante means thank you.

Somehow, I know these words, and no one else in the country does. I guess it’s a cultural thing but requests are never asked accompanied by a please and generally not even posed as a question.

For example, in the US if you want peanut butter from someone you might say “Would you please give me some peanut butter?” or “Can I have some peanut butter?”. “Please” might not always be present, but it is always phrased in the form of a question.

In Kenya, however, if you want peanut butter (this particular incident happens quite often), you might say “give me some peanut butter” or “you will give me some peanut butter.” This command / predicting my future actions makes me a little disinclined to comply with the request.

Kenya #8- Beauty of the rural areas

A large part of my work here has involved meeting with rural community members so I spend a lot of time “in the field.” This requires a lot of traveling to places well-off the beaten path. I often feel like I’m on a tour of the Kenyan countryside when I’m riding around on dirt roads on a bike or motorbike taxi. The terrain rolls with something between large hills and small mountains and as we ascend a light breeze develops over the lush, green landscape with the roads lined by banana plants, maize, and other various crops. The serenity of the areas makes the usual hour plus waits for community members tolerable and even a bit pleasant.

(I must apologize for completely failing to get pictures of these areas. I was too nervous to take my camera into the field most days.)

America #7- Heterogeneity

As far as cultural/racial/ethnic make-up goes, Kenya and America could not be more different. As a country made up almost entirely of immigrants, America has what I would think is the most culturally and ethnically diverse population in the world. Though this phenomenon has certainly led to its fair share of conflict, it also provides us the rare opportunity to experience a plethora of people with varying beliefs, values, and traditions. Growing up and attending public school (maybe this was just Perkins?) I became aware at a young age of different races and cultures, and these differences were even celebrated. I never really appreciated that diversity until my time here in Kakamega.

Kakamega has an almost completely homogenous population. About 98% (made up statistic) of the citizens are black, Christian, and Kenya born and raised. There is a small Indian population and I’ve seen a couple Hindu and Muslim temples, but this is an extremely small minority that seems to keep pretty isolated from the Kenyans. There also is apparently some tension between the Kenyans and Indians (who are referred to as “Asians”). I’ve had conversations with several Kenyans where they accuse Indians/“Asians” of being shrewd businessmen and considering themselves superior to the native population. I have not gotten the Indian side of that story.

The homogeneity of the Kakamega population makes the presence of any non-black person an attraction. I have already written about the “mzungu” attention. It’s still pretty annoying, but it could be worse and I can usually laugh at it. Political correctness or racial sensitivity does not exist to any degree. Those of Asian descent in the group have it the worst. Kenyans label them all as “Chinese” and make “ching-chong” and kung-fu noises at them. My favorite non-PC moment is by far a question posed to Deborah by a Kenyan man while waiting on matatu- “Did the atomic bomb mess up your eyes?” Major props to Deborah for being able to laugh that off.

Also interesting, is the fact that most Kenyans cannot fathom the idea of a non-white person living in America (though they do realize Obama, Michael Jackson, and various hip hop artists are American…. Hmmm). I’ve tried to hint at the obnoxiousness of all the “mzungu” tension and a couple Kenyans have commented that they would probably receive the same attention were they to go to America. They were shocked when I said no one would have any idea that they were not American.

Kenya #7- Children

It is pretty much consensus that children here are cuter than those in America, which is good because children make up somewhere over 40% of Kenya’s population. They wander around in hoards in the afternoon once school gets out and something about their uniforms (dresses for the girls, shirt and tie for the boys) makes them generally adorable. They are the only ones who receive a pretty much free pass for mzungu comments. Their curiosity is almost always genuine, which makes them fun to interact with.

America #6- Riding in cars (or anything that isn’t a matatu)

I just got off yet another crowded, bumpy, unsafe matatu ride. Honestly, I won’t know how to react when I get into my parents car from TPA and get to sit in my own cushioned seat, wear a seatbelt, and not have to swerve around potholes.

Only 10 days left to survive the matatus…

Kenya #6- The Stadium

The stadium (I should write down the name) in Kakamega has turned into quite the sanctuary for me and a couple other interns. The stadium is located just at the edge of town and consists of a field with soccer goals, a dirt track, and covered (this is vital) bleachers. Almost every day after work, I head to the stadium to relax, exercise, and socialize with any other interns who may be there that day. When it’s not raining (recently about 3 days a week), I start running some laps around the track which usually evolves into something more interesting. Children also apparently enjoy lurking at the stadium and on several occasions a group of kids in school uniforms have joined me in my workout. We’ve also played some pick up soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and on Monday, rugby (I found out that I do not have hidden rugby talents). Or if it’s raining, we just hang out under the bleachers and hope it stops before dark.

The stadium has perhaps been one of the most positive experiences of my time here. It’s nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the day and the Kenyans I’ve met there are among the friendliest I’ve encountered in Kakamega thus far. Most everyone is there to run or play and so there is a sense of camaraderie. “Mzungu!” yells are few and there is little unwanted attention. It’s probably the only time I feel really accepted into the community. I also feel like staging a small-scale feminist revolution as a girl exercising and playing sports.

I have been slacking on the blog posting yet again. Blame my Denzel Washington DVD.

America #5- Efficiency

Everything happens slower in Kenya. This is for a variety of reasons. For one, Kenya obviously lacks many of the modern conveniences that America has: the internet is slower; computers, faxes, and printers are harder to come by, etc. Also, people aren’t used to employing those technologies as much and sometimes seem not to consider the time and energy they could save. Another big thing is that time doesn’t really exist here. Peter, the FSD program director (and a Kenyan), perhaps said it best during orientation week: I have a watch, but I don’t have the time. Things happen when they happen. People rule over time in Kenyan, whereas in the US time often dictates our actions. When does a meeting start? When people get there, of course. What time does the matatu leave? When it fills up. This attitude towards time can be really frustrating for a type A person like me, especially when I have such a short time in the country and would like to feel I was slightly productive.

Sidenote: I just finished the book The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski, a Polish journalist who spent several decades reporting and traveling around various countries in Africa. I have been meaning to mention this book as I think it does a pretty uncanny job of describing many of the cultural aspects of “African” culture (quotes because as Kapuscinski points out, there isn’t really one African identity). I would highly recommend reading this book if you want to get a good feel for life in Africa. It’s a quick read, though it does get a little repetitive at the end… maybe just read the first half?

Kenya #5- Cheap produce/markets

Grocery stores in Kakamega do not stock fruits or vegetables (but they do have about 25 different types of soap?). All produce is purchased from small stands in the out door market. At first this was kind of intimidating (still is a little bit) because I didn’t know the appropriate prices for each different fruit or vegetable and shopped in constant fear of being ripped off. But now that I somewhat have the hang of things it’s fun to go to the market and pick out my produce and haggle for the cheapest price possible. It’s a neat atmosphere and I hope I can snap some pictures of it (though this could cause quite a commotion). The best part though, is how insanely cheap everything is. I can get 3 bananas for about 25 cents, an avocado or cucumber for 12 cents. Yesterday we made pizza for 15 people and it cost a mere 3 dollars to buy enough tomatoes, onions, and green peppers for the operation. Amazing.

Update:
Last week was pretty uneventful and work was unfortunately slow. I did work on my proposal writing guide a good amount and should have a draft complete by Tuesday or Wednesday to show Wendy. It’s beginning to storm (though not as bad as storms in St. Pete) around 4pm every day. A few faithful interns show up at the track every day in spite of the rain, hoping it will let up enough to run around the track and not fall in the mud. Jackie and I managed to get a short run on Tuesday after the rain while a soccer game took place on the infield. After the run we saw the most spectacular rainbow I’ve ever seen… unfortunately no cameras were present.

This weekend was pretty good (second to last one!). On Saturday morning Jackie and I got up early to visit Deborah at her rural home stay. We meant to get there early so we could run before it got too hot, but alas we ended up sitting and waiting for our matatu to fill up for a solid hour before the journey could begin. It was nice to get some new scenery on the run, especially out in the countryside, which is so beautiful. Deb’s (or Debu as her host family calls her) family was very nice and seemed slightly disappointed that we were going to leave before showering and eating lunch. But we needed to return to Kakamega to have mzungu time for the 4th of July. All the interns gathered at a hotel pool (why didn’t we do this sooner?) and we just laid out, swam, relaxed, and tried to get rid of our awful tan lines (unsuccessful). Later we moved to another hotel, which allowed us to use its kitchen to cook pizza, which was delicious. Then today a few of us revisited to the pool for a bit more sun before returning home to our families. I went on another run around Amalemba this evening. I really like running around here and no one is too appalled at seeing me in basketball shorts. The only bad thing is that the roads are incredibly dusty and I come back caked in red-brown dust with my eyes burning. Also, can’t be too great for my throat and lungs? Oh well. When in Kenya…

Tomorrow begins what is kind of my last real week at work. Wendy will be at a conference during my final week in Kakamega so I’m not sure if I’ll spend much time at my organization. I may have a couple finishing touches to put on my proposal writing guide and a couple other reports to wrap up for FSD, but besides that I may have some down time. I’m considering traveling to Kisumu one last time or maybe I will just become a frequent visitor at the hotel pool…

America #4- News

I feel completely unaware of what is happening in the US right now as very little information makes its way to Kenya media outlets. The news I have received via Kenya radio, television, or newspapers has been limited to the following subjects:

1. Michael Jackson’s death. In fact, I may have known about this before most people in U.S. It was all over the morning news Friday morning (we were at a resort with a television at the bar/restaurant area) and took up the whole front page of The Nation (the major Kenyan newspaper) the next morning.
2. The NBA playoffs. There was a blurb everyday in the sports section of the paper.
3. Mike Tyson. Somehow his daughter’s death and then his marriage both received coverage in the paper.
4. Obama anecdotes. I read one the other day about him writing a girl a note excusing her absence from school in order to attend a town hall meeting with her father.

And that’s about it. I get updates on the Rays from my parents and email alerts on breaking news, but rarely have time to read into those. Every so often I get access to fast(er) and free internet at work and comprehensively scour online news sources. But I’m still pretty sure I’m missing out on a lot of happenings across the Atlantic.

Kenya #4- Obsession with Obama

Kenyans are OBSESSED with Obama, and it’s pretty amusing. (Also, it is probably much nicer to be here with Obama as President instead of Bush.) Obama’s father is Kenyan and that is enough to have aroused unconditional love for the US President. Obama’s still lives in a small village outside of Kisumu, which is apparently now a tourist attraction and she has reached celebrity status. One co-worker told me she would attract a bigger crowd than rather unpopular Kenyan President Kibaki. Daily, as I’m walking around Kakamega or a surrounding village, comments are shouted at me about Obama. Some people just chant “Obama”, others call me “Michelle” or “Miss Obama”, while claim to be his cousin. There is also a good amount of Obama merchandise. I’ve seen several lesos (large pieces of cloth that women use as wraps) with Obama’s face. This weekend I saw a belt with a holographic Obama buckle. And perhaps my favorite is Obama bubble gum, which comes packaged in wrappers adorned with pictures of the President and his family.

Update:

We had our midterm retreat this past weekend at Hell’s Gate, a park about 6 hours away from Kakamega. We left Kakamega around noon on Thursday and arrived in time to unpack, eat dinner, and plan out our activities for the rest of the weekend. Friday, most of us rented bikes for the day and took a guided tour through Hell’s Gate. It was a long, very tiring day, but really cool. We biked through the park where a good variety of animals were roaming around: giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, wart hogs, antelope, birds, and monkeys (which were freely roaming around our campground stealing camera lens caps and molesting towels). After biking and looking at animals for a couple hours we arrived at the Hell’s Gate gorge. We hiked down into and walked around for a bit. The rock formations were pretty great (I took some pictures of all this of course… I probably won’t post them until I’m back in the US though). Then we took a tour of a Masai village. The Masai are a tribe of Kenya that has more or less maintained their traditional culture. They talked about the culture a bit, gave a demonstration of the weapons they use (basically throwing a thick, polished stick ridiculously hard), and sang and danced. Then we climbed back on our bikes and labored back to our resort/campground completely exhausted and ready for dinner (CHEESEBURGERS!!!!!).
On Saturday we took a boat out to Crescent Island (actually a peninsula), hiked around a bit and saw mostly the same animals as the day before. Crescent Island was used as a major filming site for Out of Africa so we got some cool facts about the movie and the Island. Apparently, Crescent Island was not originally inhabited by animals, but they were all brought in for the filming of the movie. We got back to Saturday in the early afternoon, relaxed, took hot showers (yessssss), and had a meeting to discuss the progress of our internships.
As cool as all the animals were, perhaps the best part of the retreat was the food. (Seriously, I have a one-track mind here.) The resort had a pretty good selection of food and I made sure to take advantage: cheeseburgers, pizza, cheesecake, salad, egg rolls, samosas, mashed potatoes, ice cream.

So now there are three weeks left. Wendy and I will sit down this week and plan out what meetings we will be having in July and I’m hoping I can become more and more involved working with the community groups. Also, I’ve made some good progress on my grant writing guide and should be able to complete that in time.

Quick entry because work is almost over (I worked in the office today on my proposal writing guide) and it is soon going to begin storming. I’m going on a mid-term retreat to a place called Hell’s Gate tomorrow through Sunday, so I’ll be away from the internet for awhile.

America #3- Toilets

I really miss toilets. Pit latrines certainly aren’t the end of the world, but porcelain is just magical.

Kenya #3- Cool words

Although my Kiswahili skills are incredibly limited, I have picked up a little and I must say it is a pretty neat language. My favorite thing is the tendency to repeat syllables or sections in the same word: polepole (slow), bodaboda (bike taxi), pikipiki (motorbike taxi), etc. But none of these are as cool as my current favorite: pilipilihoho, which means green pepper.

DISCLAIMER: This is a personal blog, written with the purpose of describing my experience in Kenya to friends and family back in the U.S. The tone is often sarcastic, which those who know me are apt to pick up on. This is not a forum for debating the merits of American vs. Mexican vs. Mexican dubbed television. Let’s be honest, 90% of TV shows are crap. Good day.

America #2- Good Television

If you think prime time American TV is bad, it’s really not. The TV programming in Kenya is absolutely atrocious. And unfortunately for me, my host family spends the entirety of their evenings watching said atrocious television. At the beginning I would sit and watch with them, trying to integrate myself into the family. After a week or so I started bringing a book out to the living room and read while they watched. Now, I often feel the need to retreat to my room. However, dinner is generally served and eaten (in front of the television) during the worst program of them all: Storm Over Paradise.

Storm Over Paradise is actually Tormenta en el Paraiso, a Spanish soap opera that has been dubbed into English for Kenyans’ viewing pleasure. As if Spanish soaps aren’t bad enough, the dubbing gives it an extra flavor of crazy. The acting is of course awful and the story lines obnoxiously absurd and dramatic. Here’s a recap of what’s happened this month.
Nicholas and Aymar went from hating each other, to riding horses and then falling in love and then planning on getting married, to then hating each other again because Nicholas left Aymar at the alter because he was drugged, kidnapped, and dropped in the middle of no where. Of course Aymar doesn’t believe this and is now marrying some other guy. Several other characters on the show call Aymar an “island tramp.” Attempts have been made on her life
Nicholas and his two brothers (who are the sons of the owner of the hacienda that is “The Paradise”) fight a lot. Oftentimes over Karina Rosenberg, who has seduced all three. Karina is also not really Karina. The real Karina Rosenberg is some crazy girl who was traumatized in a fire and is now called “The Little Mermaid” (what the heck??) and lives in a nunnery. The Little Mermaid/real Karina is in love with David (one of the brothers) who has recently decided he loves her too, even though I think she has the mental capacity of a 5 year old.
The three brothers’ mother is an alcoholic also living in the nunnery who has now returned causing her ex-husband and three sons all sorts of tumult. She’s misunderstood.
Fake Karina and her god mother are constantly plotting to inherit the hacienda. Good luck.
Of course there are several other sub-plots, and I’m not certain how all of those tie in, but you get the idea. The dialogue is absolutely nauseating and I’m wondering how much of that is due to shoddy translation.

Other Kenyan favorites include: The Tyra Show (great… this is who represents the US here), Nigerian soaps (possibly worse than Spanish soaps, but a lot of it isn’t in English so I don’t know), Funk Master Flex (is this actually a show in the US?), and WWE (kill me).

The one bright spot in the television line up is: “Can U Dance!” a dance competition for Kenya’s best dance duo. I get pretty pumped when I catch this on TV on Saturday nights. I keep seeing commercials for Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother, but have yet to actually view an episode. I think they come on past my bedtime.

Kenya #2- Time to Read
This may directly correlate to the lack of acceptable television programming, but I love how much reading I can do here. Since high school started I’ve done very little non-school, non-Harry Potter reading, but I think I’m on book #5 for the trip: One Hundred Years of Solitude. I’ve been meaning to read it for quite some time, which was evidenced by the Barnes and Noble receipt faded beyond legibility stuck inside the front cover. After I finish One Hundred Years of Solitude I think I’ll investigate FSD’s collection of literature because I spotted a couple others I’ve been meaning to read for awhile. Anyhow, I’m hoping I can keep up this habit at least until school resumes in the fall.

I am officially half-way done with my time in Kenya. So with this landmark, I’ve decided to go through two lists: “The 10 things I miss most from America” and “The 10 things I will miss most from Kenya” (in no particular order).

America #1 – Food
Ok, I said no particular order but this one is the exception. I’d say about 60% of my day is spent thinking about food I cannot have and would consider questionable means to obtain. The food here is good but very repetitive.
Breakfast: I have a cup of tea and then a slice of bread with peanut butter. If I’m lucky (I’m usually not) I can dig up a piece of fruit. Twice I got an egg. Not only is breakfast unexciting, but I’m pretty ready for lunch.
Lunch: Since I go to the field most days lunch is what I carry with me. So PB&J it is. And once again, sometimes a piece of fruit. I’m going to hate peanut butter by the end of this trip
Dinner is any combination of:
A carbohydrate: ugali, rice, chapati, or spaghetti (very rare)
A vegetable: kale, cabbage, potatoes (not sure how this isn’t a carbohydrate) and about 3 other types of leafy vegetables which are more or less indistinguishable to me.
A protein: beans, beef, chicken (uncommon), or tilapia with scales, bones, head, eyes still intact (we had this a couple times right when I got here but I don’t think I’ve had it since week 1)

This menu is not as exciting as it may sound. These are the things I crave most- any other vegetables, cheeseburgers, sushi, Mexican food, green curry, mashed potatoes, pancakes, chic fil a, seafood, wraps, Cuban, salads, milkshakes, barbecue

Until I leave Kenya (I’m already dreaming of my Emirates airline meals), please please please do not talk to me about food (GORMAN!!!).

Kenya #1- Chai (tea)
Keeping with the theme of food/drink, I will talk about Kenyan tea. They love tea and I have adopted their ways, which are of course not quite as healthy as my tea consumption in the US. Every morning, evening, night (anytime?) there is a large thermos of chai available in my house. The chai at my house is definitely superior to any I can find around town. I start each morning with chai and then have another cup when I return home. My house girl prepares it by first boiling water and milk then sifting some tea into it (I think this is what happens). There is also what I’m sure are copious amounts of sugar added at some point during the process, but I don’t have to see it happen so I don’t feel guilty. There is also a spice called tea masala that can be added which gives it an extra tasty flavor (much like the “chai” flavor in the US). I think I may actually be addicted to the chai and could experience serious withdrawal upon my departure.