Thursday, February 25, 2010
Update
Yesterday I found out that my Grandpa died. Tuesday I was complaining that I might have to chip in for utilities/rent at the house I am staying and the next day I am buying a roundtrip ticket back home for friday. The other day I email my sister and said that I wish I could come home not to stay but for like a weekend. I can eat some good food and hang out with friends and then I will be able to make it over this hump. I guess I am getting just that really but in the worst possible way. I could have never have imagined this happening, yeah he was old but he was more active then me. I could be sitting around the house for days not even going outside while the Grandparents would be bouncing around the whole Bay Area, visiting friend, going to parties, volunteering. I guess this will be my last post for a while whatever is going to be happening wont be apart of my Kenyan experience. At least not the one I expected.
Monday, February 22, 2010
What I did this weekend:Walking
I have probably walked more since I have been here then I have in the last six months. On Saturday the only thing that i did was walk over to Nakumat Junction just for the fun of it. At Junction they have a movie theater which was playing Sherlock Holmes and Its complicated. Which I was pleasantly surprised about I was worried that the movies would be super old and outdated like (500)Days of Summer old. There also was a bookstore which only had romance novels and chick lit in it which was disappointing. There was a copy of Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson which I almost was tempted to buy until I realized that it cost 1250 shillings which is like 17 dollars! For a tiny little paperback! So I just wandered around the grocery store looking to see what American food they had. They had Sprite but I tried one before and it didn't taste the same. Their Fanta (which I would never usually drink) taste more like the regular ones. They had some Pringles,Rice Crispies, Snickers and Twix. I got a Twix and ate it so fast. They taste exactly the same and it was exactly what I wanted. I then stopped over to buy some fresh squeezed watermelon juice and walked back. I think it is at least a mile away maybe more. The rest of the day I just sat around and watched my Flight of the Conchords DVD's which was great as always.
Sunday was much more fun. I woke up early so I could be ready by 10 to go to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which is a sanctuary for orphaned baby elephants. They were so cute! They get walked out and then the trainers feed them milk with bottles and then the elephants were just playing around with each other. It was so cute and I learned some neat elephant facts. Like elephants only drink milk for the first six months and then they slowly start eating solid food like a leaf or twig. They start growing there tusks at around 2 and when they get released back in to the wild the trainers said that the elephants they knew from being in the orphanage will remember them and help them adjust to the wild and take them under their wing. Elephants are the best. I think if I were to be an animal I would be an elephant. The trainers went through and gave the name and story of all the elephants. One of them whose names means grateful in kiswahili (I cant remember the actual name) was found in a man hole by a man. The man tried to get her out but she was to heavy so he had to go and get help. When they finally got her out the man who found her had to convince everyone to let him take the elephant and get it help because everyone wanted to barbecue it. So the trainer said the elephant had a lot to be grateful for. First it was saved from a man hole and secondly it was saved from being barbecued. There were alot of people there it is a popular tourist spot. After Natasha and I went to Ya Ya center and got lunch. There is a small Masai market there and I was able to go there for a little while. You have to haggle which I have never done before but I tried. I thought I got a good deal on a little chess table I got the vendor to go from 12,000 to 3600 but when I told the taxi driver what I paid he said he can get one for 1,000 shillings. I also got a really cute bag for 450 shillings down from 1000. I read somewhere you should always get them to go less than half of the original price they tell you. Hopefully I will get better as I do it more. I am not very aggressive and I always get sidetracked by all the people trying to start conversations with you and pull you into their little sections. You have to ask around more to get a good feel of the prices before you buy. When I went home after when I was setting up my chess table I realized I was missing one of the pawns. The taxi driver left and I had to walk all the way back to Ya Ya. I thought I got lost but I eventually found my way, the walk was a lot longer than I expected. When I finally got home about an hour fifteen minutes later I went to put my chess piece back and it was the wrong color! I walked all the way back to the market and I didn't even get the right thing. I felt so dumb. I honestly didn't even think to look at what color I needed. I am going to have to go back next week and sort it all out.
Sunday was much more fun. I woke up early so I could be ready by 10 to go to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which is a sanctuary for orphaned baby elephants. They were so cute! They get walked out and then the trainers feed them milk with bottles and then the elephants were just playing around with each other. It was so cute and I learned some neat elephant facts. Like elephants only drink milk for the first six months and then they slowly start eating solid food like a leaf or twig. They start growing there tusks at around 2 and when they get released back in to the wild the trainers said that the elephants they knew from being in the orphanage will remember them and help them adjust to the wild and take them under their wing. Elephants are the best. I think if I were to be an animal I would be an elephant. The trainers went through and gave the name and story of all the elephants. One of them whose names means grateful in kiswahili (I cant remember the actual name) was found in a man hole by a man. The man tried to get her out but she was to heavy so he had to go and get help. When they finally got her out the man who found her had to convince everyone to let him take the elephant and get it help because everyone wanted to barbecue it. So the trainer said the elephant had a lot to be grateful for. First it was saved from a man hole and secondly it was saved from being barbecued. There were alot of people there it is a popular tourist spot. After Natasha and I went to Ya Ya center and got lunch. There is a small Masai market there and I was able to go there for a little while. You have to haggle which I have never done before but I tried. I thought I got a good deal on a little chess table I got the vendor to go from 12,000 to 3600 but when I told the taxi driver what I paid he said he can get one for 1,000 shillings. I also got a really cute bag for 450 shillings down from 1000. I read somewhere you should always get them to go less than half of the original price they tell you. Hopefully I will get better as I do it more. I am not very aggressive and I always get sidetracked by all the people trying to start conversations with you and pull you into their little sections. You have to ask around more to get a good feel of the prices before you buy. When I went home after when I was setting up my chess table I realized I was missing one of the pawns. The taxi driver left and I had to walk all the way back to Ya Ya. I thought I got lost but I eventually found my way, the walk was a lot longer than I expected. When I finally got home about an hour fifteen minutes later I went to put my chess piece back and it was the wrong color! I walked all the way back to the market and I didn't even get the right thing. I felt so dumb. I honestly didn't even think to look at what color I needed. I am going to have to go back next week and sort it all out.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The longest trip of my life
I came to a sudden and slightly embarrassing realization yesterday. This is the longest time I have ever been away from home and I have only been here barely two weeks out of a six month trip. I was sitting in my neighbors backyard after meeting in the in-laws and listening to him describe the honeymoon period many of the expats he places experience when they first come to Kenya when it hit me. So far everything has been going well. I have been taking everything in and enjoying all the differences from home. Like the traffic, walking around everywhere, the sun (which seems brighter here even though it is hot). While at the same time putting all the things I have been struggling with in perspective, like starting to fall asleep as I write this, people staring, the bugs and the food. But seriously I feel like everyone is staring at me all the time. I have never felt so self conscious and I am always self conscious. I do think that to a certain extent I have been exaggerating how much I am enjoying my stay even to myself. I guess you just have to fake it till you make it or maybe I am just really tired and spouting out nonsense.
This past weekend I was able to finally go into town (central Nairobi). One of my co-workers took me on a matatu ( I keep on wanting to call them a Mugatu like in Zoolander) which is basically a bus. They have kinda a bad reputation because they drive so crazy. So now I am going to be able to go into to town all by myself which is exciting. I barely know how to get around Hayward and I have lived there for a year but I am determined to learn my way around Nairobi. So once in town we walked around the University of Nairobi campus, very huge especially compared to Chabot. We went to an outdoor market where they were selling all kinds of exotic fruit. When we were there I was almost ran over by a car. There was a huge SUV that went down the little road the market was on and the tires were literally two inches from my feet the side mirror almost hit me I had to lean extra far back to avoid it! We also got ice cream, walked in Uhuru park, walked past Parliament and all these other sites downtown that shall remain nameless because I cant remember what they were called. All in all it was pretty fun now I just have to actually do it by myself. I hope I don't get lost. It wont be the getting there that is hard, it will be the getting back that is difficult. You know getting off the bus at the right stop.
This past weekend I was able to finally go into town (central Nairobi). One of my co-workers took me on a matatu ( I keep on wanting to call them a Mugatu like in Zoolander) which is basically a bus. They have kinda a bad reputation because they drive so crazy. So now I am going to be able to go into to town all by myself which is exciting. I barely know how to get around Hayward and I have lived there for a year but I am determined to learn my way around Nairobi. So once in town we walked around the University of Nairobi campus, very huge especially compared to Chabot. We went to an outdoor market where they were selling all kinds of exotic fruit. When we were there I was almost ran over by a car. There was a huge SUV that went down the little road the market was on and the tires were literally two inches from my feet the side mirror almost hit me I had to lean extra far back to avoid it! We also got ice cream, walked in Uhuru park, walked past Parliament and all these other sites downtown that shall remain nameless because I cant remember what they were called. All in all it was pretty fun now I just have to actually do it by myself. I hope I don't get lost. It wont be the getting there that is hard, it will be the getting back that is difficult. You know getting off the bus at the right stop.
Friday, February 12, 2010
First Post, First week in Kenya
Break out the champagne it is my one week anniversary with beautiful Kenya. The time has flown by and I cant believe it has been a full week here is a day by day recap:
Friday Feb 5: I arrived at the airport at around 9:30. I had to wait in a long line to have my passport checked then I headed down to wait for luggage. All day I had been stressing about how I was going to manage all of my bags. I had a duffel bag, that ripped and was falling apart with every step. I was struggling with it the whole time I had my layover in London and when I got lost in Heathrow. I also had checked a huge backpack that had all my clothes in it and I had a bag with wheels that didn't work. It weighed about 50 pounds because it was had a bunch of book in it. I ended up having to wait for about an hour for all my bags to come out and when they finally came there were still about 20 or so people who hadn't gotten their bags yet. Luckily there were carts for the luggage and people who helped put your bags on them. I didn't even get stopped at customs because of my trusting face I think and as soon as I walked out of the door I could hear Natasha calling out my name and waving for me. I met her driver and we all headed back to her house. It was dark so I couldn't really see anything out of the window but I still was so excited staring out of it in a happy daze. The house I am staying at is so nice. It is three stories. I have my own bathroom and my room is even bigger than the room I have at home. There is even a banana tree in the backyard. As soon as I got in I went straight to bed but I couldn't sleep. I was to excited.
Saturday Feb 6: I woke up at around six but I stayed in bed until around nine. I ventured downstairs and introduced myself to the housekeeper Melissa and then unpacked. I mostly lounged around trying to take it easy since I didn't sleep at all the night before. Later some college students that Natasha knows came over and we all went to dinner. It was nice that I was able to meet people my age more or less right away. The restaurant that we went to was interesting to say the least. I had never eaten Ethiopian food before and I don't think I am going to planning on eating it again anytime soon. It was a clear spongy "bread" that you dipped in all these different kind of sauces. I tasted like phlegm I had to choke it down because I didnt want to be the whiny American who is picky and difficult. One good thing though was there was this five layer juice that I got and I was so suprised that one of the layers was avacado juice. I have never heard of someone juicing an avacado before but it was good.
Sunday Feb 7: I slept on and off all day. I couldnt believe it. I would wake up for an hour or two and sleep for three. I was even supposed to go and to a sanctuary to see some baby elephants but I slept through the time it was open.
Monday Feb 8: Monday was my first day in the office. I came in late for the staff meeting and I had to awkwardly introduce myself to the people which was not one of my finest moments. When I came in I immediately felt underdressed. Everyone was in office apperal and I was in jeans and a frumpy sweater. I mostly just sat around all day. I was able to meet with Rebecca who is going to be my supervisor for a while and I think she wished I was more qualified than I actually am. Everyone was very nice though but sometimes I can only understand every other word because of their thick accents. I always have to remind myself that they probobly have no idea what I am saying either and I really am the one with the accent because I am the only one who is not a Kenyan there.
Tuesday Feb 9: Today I got to finally travel around Nairobi some. I went with Natasha, Patricia (Natasha's assistant and head of communications) and David (the driver) to visit two of GRACE's partners. First we went to the Kicoship and then we went to SMAK. It was really amazing to sit down and listen to people talk about the work they are doing. When you think of outreach work you mostly picture huge international organizations but it is really the smaller grassroots organizations who are doing most of the work. They are the ones that understand how to reach and relate to the community. Driving around Nairobi is crazy. There are huge crowds of people walking in every direction. There are street lights but no one actually stops at them. There aren't really lanes either. There are sometimes three or four cars crammed in the road going one direction if there is enough room for your car you can make your own lane.
Wednesday Feb 10: Patricia, Brenda, David and I went to Magadi to visit one of there partners that works in a hospital there as a nurse. It took a little over two hours to get there on a bumpy rural road. There were so many potholes in the road that David had to drive in a zig zap pattern to avoid them all. Magadi is on the fringes of Maasai country in the Rift Valley and for the last hour of the drive we passed village after village. It was beautiful, it looked just like the pictures in the travel book but so much better because it was real, I was really there. At the hospital it was all Maasai there and they were all so quiet. They just sat there waiting to be seen by the doctor, not really talking or moving really like a statue, they just sit quietly and stare. There was a group of woman who were at a breast feeding seminar and there were the cutest babies there, some of them only one week old. When we went into one of the wards there was a little boy there maybe 9 or so who was there because he was hit in the head with a spear when he was playing! He was fine though just a little scar on his head.
Thursday Feb 11: Everyday I wake up with more bug bites all over my body. I think I have around 40 already. All over my legs, arms, and neck. They itch so bad. I spray my bed down with bug spray every night but it only helps so much. David, Patricia and I went to Mitaboni to visit Martha one of there partners. It is kind of funny on all the trips I have taken so far even though David thought maybe we would see giraffes or something on the drives the only thing I have seen are donkey, goats and cows. I have seen more donkeys then I could ever possibly want to see. It took about an hour and a half or so to get there and the meeting went smoothly. Martha was very prepared and the discussion about what she had been up to went quickly. She then brought out the tea and cake. Everywhere you go tea is offered and it is really good. She then took us out to some of the sites they are working in. Mitaboni had been in a drought for a long time but they are out of it now. She took us to the dam that was built and told us how it took five years for the vegetables to start growing and the land to become fertile. I cant imagine five years of hunger but now it is super green and lush. They grow so much stuff tomatoes, potatoes, carrots,corn, bananas, mangos, beans. We then went to another farm and one of the people asked us to take a picture of there dog because it was so tiny, they thought it was the funniest thing but it was starving and looked so sad. After a quick tour around the town we headed back to Nairobi.
Friday Feb 12: Today! It really has been a whirlwind and I spent most of the day trying to find an internet modem and filling out a spreadsheet with information about the OVC's (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) at one of the preschools that were just opened. It kind of heartbreaking reading there family information. Some of there families lived on 500 shillings a month which is like six dollars. I don't even know how to wrap my head around that. It makes me feel really happy to be here really honestly. I am trying to do whatever little bit I can. When I went to get the internet modem in the afternoon I went in to central Nairobi for the first time and I saw a Taco Bell but it was called like taco something else but it had the same symbol. I was so excited I am going to have to go there one of these days.
Friday Feb 5: I arrived at the airport at around 9:30. I had to wait in a long line to have my passport checked then I headed down to wait for luggage. All day I had been stressing about how I was going to manage all of my bags. I had a duffel bag, that ripped and was falling apart with every step. I was struggling with it the whole time I had my layover in London and when I got lost in Heathrow. I also had checked a huge backpack that had all my clothes in it and I had a bag with wheels that didn't work. It weighed about 50 pounds because it was had a bunch of book in it. I ended up having to wait for about an hour for all my bags to come out and when they finally came there were still about 20 or so people who hadn't gotten their bags yet. Luckily there were carts for the luggage and people who helped put your bags on them. I didn't even get stopped at customs because of my trusting face I think and as soon as I walked out of the door I could hear Natasha calling out my name and waving for me. I met her driver and we all headed back to her house. It was dark so I couldn't really see anything out of the window but I still was so excited staring out of it in a happy daze. The house I am staying at is so nice. It is three stories. I have my own bathroom and my room is even bigger than the room I have at home. There is even a banana tree in the backyard. As soon as I got in I went straight to bed but I couldn't sleep. I was to excited.
Saturday Feb 6: I woke up at around six but I stayed in bed until around nine. I ventured downstairs and introduced myself to the housekeeper Melissa and then unpacked. I mostly lounged around trying to take it easy since I didn't sleep at all the night before. Later some college students that Natasha knows came over and we all went to dinner. It was nice that I was able to meet people my age more or less right away. The restaurant that we went to was interesting to say the least. I had never eaten Ethiopian food before and I don't think I am going to planning on eating it again anytime soon. It was a clear spongy "bread" that you dipped in all these different kind of sauces. I tasted like phlegm I had to choke it down because I didnt want to be the whiny American who is picky and difficult. One good thing though was there was this five layer juice that I got and I was so suprised that one of the layers was avacado juice. I have never heard of someone juicing an avacado before but it was good.
Sunday Feb 7: I slept on and off all day. I couldnt believe it. I would wake up for an hour or two and sleep for three. I was even supposed to go and to a sanctuary to see some baby elephants but I slept through the time it was open.
Monday Feb 8: Monday was my first day in the office. I came in late for the staff meeting and I had to awkwardly introduce myself to the people which was not one of my finest moments. When I came in I immediately felt underdressed. Everyone was in office apperal and I was in jeans and a frumpy sweater. I mostly just sat around all day. I was able to meet with Rebecca who is going to be my supervisor for a while and I think she wished I was more qualified than I actually am. Everyone was very nice though but sometimes I can only understand every other word because of their thick accents. I always have to remind myself that they probobly have no idea what I am saying either and I really am the one with the accent because I am the only one who is not a Kenyan there.
Tuesday Feb 9: Today I got to finally travel around Nairobi some. I went with Natasha, Patricia (Natasha's assistant and head of communications) and David (the driver) to visit two of GRACE's partners. First we went to the Kicoship and then we went to SMAK. It was really amazing to sit down and listen to people talk about the work they are doing. When you think of outreach work you mostly picture huge international organizations but it is really the smaller grassroots organizations who are doing most of the work. They are the ones that understand how to reach and relate to the community. Driving around Nairobi is crazy. There are huge crowds of people walking in every direction. There are street lights but no one actually stops at them. There aren't really lanes either. There are sometimes three or four cars crammed in the road going one direction if there is enough room for your car you can make your own lane.
Wednesday Feb 10: Patricia, Brenda, David and I went to Magadi to visit one of there partners that works in a hospital there as a nurse. It took a little over two hours to get there on a bumpy rural road. There were so many potholes in the road that David had to drive in a zig zap pattern to avoid them all. Magadi is on the fringes of Maasai country in the Rift Valley and for the last hour of the drive we passed village after village. It was beautiful, it looked just like the pictures in the travel book but so much better because it was real, I was really there. At the hospital it was all Maasai there and they were all so quiet. They just sat there waiting to be seen by the doctor, not really talking or moving really like a statue, they just sit quietly and stare. There was a group of woman who were at a breast feeding seminar and there were the cutest babies there, some of them only one week old. When we went into one of the wards there was a little boy there maybe 9 or so who was there because he was hit in the head with a spear when he was playing! He was fine though just a little scar on his head.
Thursday Feb 11: Everyday I wake up with more bug bites all over my body. I think I have around 40 already. All over my legs, arms, and neck. They itch so bad. I spray my bed down with bug spray every night but it only helps so much. David, Patricia and I went to Mitaboni to visit Martha one of there partners. It is kind of funny on all the trips I have taken so far even though David thought maybe we would see giraffes or something on the drives the only thing I have seen are donkey, goats and cows. I have seen more donkeys then I could ever possibly want to see. It took about an hour and a half or so to get there and the meeting went smoothly. Martha was very prepared and the discussion about what she had been up to went quickly. She then brought out the tea and cake. Everywhere you go tea is offered and it is really good. She then took us out to some of the sites they are working in. Mitaboni had been in a drought for a long time but they are out of it now. She took us to the dam that was built and told us how it took five years for the vegetables to start growing and the land to become fertile. I cant imagine five years of hunger but now it is super green and lush. They grow so much stuff tomatoes, potatoes, carrots,corn, bananas, mangos, beans. We then went to another farm and one of the people asked us to take a picture of there dog because it was so tiny, they thought it was the funniest thing but it was starving and looked so sad. After a quick tour around the town we headed back to Nairobi.
Friday Feb 12: Today! It really has been a whirlwind and I spent most of the day trying to find an internet modem and filling out a spreadsheet with information about the OVC's (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) at one of the preschools that were just opened. It kind of heartbreaking reading there family information. Some of there families lived on 500 shillings a month which is like six dollars. I don't even know how to wrap my head around that. It makes me feel really happy to be here really honestly. I am trying to do whatever little bit I can. When I went to get the internet modem in the afternoon I went in to central Nairobi for the first time and I saw a Taco Bell but it was called like taco something else but it had the same symbol. I was so excited I am going to have to go there one of these days.
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