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.