Karibu Kenya!

First blog post from Kenya! I can't believe I am here. It's so wonderful, I am absolutely smitten with this place already. I arrived at JBO airport at 8:30pm last night and easily found my bags, got my visa, ect. Then I walked down to the arrivals gate where I was greeted by a sea of people holding signs with peoples names and cab companies. I found the person there to pick me up (sadly no sign with my name though). He was a Kenyan man named Benjamin. On the way to the car he asked me where I was from and I told him Texas. His reply was classic. “Oh!! Texas, just like Chick Norris” he said. After we loaded my bags into the car I stood waiting by the door to get in, Ben stood there as well staring at me odddly before saying “Umm... miss, you use other door.” Derp. Of course Africans drive on the right side of the car.


When I arrived at the volunteer house the power was out, this kind of freaked me out b/c I didn't think that kind of thing happened much in Nairobi, but all things considered it was okay since I went straigt to sleep. I was told there was only one other lady here, and that really worried me. Thankfully however I was woken up a couple hours later to the arrival of three more girls. We didn't talk (mostly because I was asleep) until this morning though.


At six o'clock I saw one of last night's arrivals in the bed next to mine, I could tell she was awake but neither of us knew quite what to say. Finally I got out of bed to look out my window and we struck up a conversation. My roommate (for now) is a Brazillian girl named Thais. She is very nice and has traveled a fair amount. She laughed at me when I said I did not know of Rio and explained “You know, beaches, hot girls, the samba” I think I know what she means now, and she's promised to teach me how to use Kilometers and Celsius temperatures later today since “American's just make it so difficult.” Soon we ventured off into the other bedroom to meet the other girls. Two Canadian's named Victoria (18 yrs) and Erica (17 yrs). There is also Kristian (sorry, if I butchered the spelling!) a nice lady who is from a little bit of everywhere, but mostly France and the US. Soon Wumbai (the host lady here) served us breakfast, toast with peanut butter (I thought of you Kaitlin!!) and some bananas. It was yummy. The food here seems to be utilized well, made to fill you up and give you some protein in a cheap manner.


After breakfast a few more girls arrived (Kristin, 25, California. And Abbey, 18, England). Then we walked to Nakumatt (think Kenyan Wal-mart) and got cell phones. The walk there was so nice, however it also confirmed that I am definitely not in America anymore, things here are so different. But so far I am loving every second of it.


On the way into our neighborhood the first kind of scary thing happened. As we were walking in I saw a man collapse in the street and start to seize and vomit. No one stopped to help him or even blink an eye. People just walked on by. Myself and a couple other girls looked to Mika (the lady to walked us to Nakumatt) in concern and she said to just keep walking. It disturbed me a bit, but realistically there isnt much I could/should do. Life here isn't perfect, but that is what makes it so beautiful. Being surrounded by so many different nationalities is awesome. I love sitting and listening to everyone talk. Thais pausing occasionally to try and remember the English word for something,Abbey's precious accent, and the occasional British infused “fuck!” is like music to my ears.


Anyway, orientation is supposed to be at 9am tomorrow, so hopefully then I'll have a more permanent place to stay. I can not wait for the next six weeks!

The internet connection is intensely slow here, I will upload a couple pics when possible, but to be honest I don't expect that to be anytime soon.

2 Flights Down, 1 To Go

I'm not much for eloquent words right now. My head is kinda spinny, I'm surrounded by every nationality but my own (not that I'm complaining, just makes things a bit disorienting.) Oh, perhaps it would be pertinent to tell you I am sitting at my gate in the Amsterdam airport as I type this.

Everything has gone splendidly today. I woke up, not too stressed or worried. Mostly just wanting some coffee. My family dropped me off at DFW, got some breakfast, flew to Minneapolis, got some lunch, flew here, and well... tried to get some food. I'm not sure if it would be considered breakfast (it's nearly 8am here) or lunch. Regardless, I didn't eat much of it.

Anyway, all is well. I should be in Kenya by night fall.

Here We Go

I would like to start off by saying that while I may not be able to play Tetris to save my life, I can pack a suitcase like no one's business.

On a more serious note, I leave tomorrow morning at 9:55am! I have a layover in Minneapolis and one in Amsterdam. I should be arriving in Nairobi at 8:30pm on Sunday. I still cannot believe it. I have wanted to go to Africa (Kenya specifically) for as long as I can remember. I've always assumed that my dream of going to work in an orphanage was just that... a dream.

People ask me how I made this happen, and I really don't really have a solid answer. The best I've got is this: I wanted it. I worked my ass off, and thought of nearly nothing else for months. I stopped saying "someday I'm going to go to Kenya," and instead said "I'm going to Kenya, ASAP." Four months later, innumerable hours of work (and plenty more spent daydreaming), a couple emails, and I'm on my way.

I've researched this off and on for years, but none of that could prepare me for the way I feel right now. My brain is going ninety to nothing trying to make sure everything is packed and that I've made all the right preparations. Realistically though, I'm passed that point. I am doing my best to proceed with open eyes and without expectations. I am as ready as I ever will be.

So, here goes nothing...

Productive!

Finally, a day that was utilized to the most of its ability! I've been procrastinating everything till the last minute, naturally. Today I went to the airport to confirm my plane ticket and ran almost all the rest of my errands. Best of all though, I accomplished all of this while hanging out with my best friend. We also had a going away dinner at Babe's, and while we were there I took notice of all the honey and sauces that they had on sale. Thinking that it might be nice to bring one with me for my host family I went to check them out. This picture just happened to be placed on top of the display:



In case you can't read that, due to my sucky camera phone, it says "Babe's Chicken... now famous in Nairobi, Kenya"

Pivot Point Free Till May

Saltgrass Steakhouse; it is the epitome of a love-hate relationship. Kind of like your annoying little sister, you want to strangle her whenever she is around but as soon as she's gone you wish she was there.

Today was my last day at work for the next six weeks. I held it together pretty well, but to be honest I'm gonna miss that place and those people more than I let on. Everyone there (as much as they pick on me) seems to be really supportive, and I know there is a couple girls who would like to have the same opportunity someday. It was nice to leave with their well-wishings, and gave me a little more confidence in myself since mine own seems to be waning in these last few days. And, potentially most importantly, a lovely girl named Tanya brought me cupcakes... with sprinkles. How nice is that?!

It's certainly not the best job in the world, but the people I've met there have, without a doubt, changed my life. I've been there for one year as of this month, and looking back to the person I was when I started and the person I am now is mind boggling. And, let's face it, had I not had this job there is no way this trip would have been possible. I can't think of any other job I'd rather endure 60 hour work weeks at, or for that matter any other cause.

So, goodbye SGFC, until Mayish. You will be missed.

One week to go and accidently packed.

One week to go. Yikes. This week I accomplished more or less nothing... up until about an hour ago that is.

For a while I have been setting things for my trip aside as I came across them; some bug spray, a couple pair of old shoes to give to a child who needs them, playing cards, medicines, ect. Well, my Portia-esque 2am productivity kicked in and I thought to myself that I should go ahead and put those things into my suitcase, so that they don't get misplaced. An hour later, here I sit, very nearly packed. I'm not sure what happened. I just started tossing things into the suitcase and before I knew it I was like, "okay! done!" I still have some stuff to pick up at the store, and I guarantee that suitcase will be unpacked and repacked about once a day till I leave. But for the most part I'm set.


The number one bit of advice I have received since I started 'studying' for this adventure was NOT to over-pack. My goodness, I am a stress-aholic, 20 year old female, going alone to a developing country, for a month and a half... don't over-pack? You're kidding me, right? That seems impossible. However, when it comes down to it trying to pack 'the perfect suitcase' will drive me absolutely mad. I'll worry that I forgot something, that whatever I packed is insufficient, that I should have brought more long sleeved clothes... the list is never ending. So for once, I think I'm just going to skip the worry and assume that whatever I leave my house with will workout, and if not I'll pick things up along the way.

I am torn between wanting time to speed up and slow down. I have a lot left to do this week, however since my last day of work is on Tuesday I should have plenty of time to get everything done. Kila la kheri, (good luck) to me. :)

Lists

I am a compulsive list maker. I make lists about making lists. My to-do lists have everything on them, from 'sleep' to 'wake up' 'do laundry' to 'make new to-do list.' It's a pretty strange habit that I think I inherited from my mother (she is a compulsive sticky-note user, though the same concept still applies).
Anyway, I make lists... for everything. In the last week I have made more lists than I could ever fathom all because of this trip. Things to do, things to buy, things to pack, things to worry about, things to be excited about... a plethora of things.

Then, I found this site. Which allows you to customize your packing list for the duration/location/activities of your personal trip. It's all pretty generic, but it has tons of little things from experienced travelers that I would have never thought of on my own. Plus it's nice not to have to compile the list myself once in a while.