PS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHELLE TUGENTMAN 20 years young i see!

still sick.

So I went to the doctors yesterday, and got an antibiotic and cough suppressant, and sinus congestion medicine. And for the first time in, well ever, I'm taking liquid medicine... from a brown glass bottle, like the type in Nagel's Ice Cream shop in Ocean Grove from the 1950s(? i think).

I'm feeling a little better, I can finally taste some things again, although my smell isn't completely back. I couldn't go to work today since I work with kids in the hospitals, so i took the day to rest. After 48 hours on the antibiotic though I can go back :) that I can't wait for.

We have class tomorrow, although I need to finish up an assignment (hard to do when I couldn't interview the person at the hospital like i planned today) but i'll figure something out, I'm still waiting on another response to an email interview. OH WELL

I made dinner tonight again it was yummy, spanish rice and seasoned chicken and peppers! Now I'm going to yet again try and get a full nights sleep.

don't forget to smile today! :)

A friend

So sorry I haven't been updating, as usual I've been keeping busy, and I'm come down with a sinus infection so I sleep in any spare time I have, but in the meantime you should check out my friend's blog who attends the University (USIU) I am also at, but she goes full time and is not on the AU program. She has also started her own non profit in a village in Kenya- She is an amazing girl, I would really encourage you to read her latest post, it's inspiring, and well she isn't afriad to speak up for herself (which is why I think we get along so well): http://aliyainkenya.blogspot.com/

don't forget to smile today!

Daily Photos

I'm going to upload one photo daily on this blog (or at least try to- since I know I won't have time to update this regularly in detail, stuff's getting busy real quick):

 www.kattyinkenya.tumblr.com

My first Real Thursday.

I start my internship today on the Sarakasi Hospital Project, and my morning (while that staff in in a meeting) I am talking with James and possibly Marion- the head of Sarakasi. I'm also going to try and talk with people about my final project, which I finally decided on: comparing young adults (ages 18-24) exposure to the arts (specifically visual arts) from slum areas with wealthier areas in Nairobi. And my job has a ton of great people and networks to help me with that, as well as my professors at USIU.

The next few weeks are going to get crazy, so sorry if I'm not posting as much.

don't forget to smile today!

Masai VIllage

We visited a traditional Masai Village this past Sunday, Chief Jooseph (the man with the walking stick and pink beaded shirt on) showed us around the expansive land, we got to see giraffes and a local church and his home, where we were given, (and bought) traditional Masai jewelry:

And here are the animals!

don't forget to smile today!

my excitement is ridiculous.

I'm not even going to tell you about my last few days, because it's been the same- BUT OH MY GOD today was possibly the most life changing day I've ever had in my entire life. I want to type this is all caps to share how i feel, but I fell like that is a bit absurd. BUT COMPLETELY CORRECT.

I can't even.... I have no words... I honestly don't ever want to leave. I can do SO MUCH here, and actually make a difference, hell I made a huge difference today.... I can't even... ok .... let me just try and explain.

So I woke up at 6am today (yes I'm aware it's a Saturday) to get to the Sarakasi Dome this man Moses, who I share an office with for my internship asked me to come in and see the Saturday classes taught at the dome, and to join in the volunteer yoga workshop..... well it started off that way... and now... well, wow.

So I went into the dome and saw about 50 kids (ages 5-16) boys and girls dancing and playing on the stage. Then I was introduced to the class and they just left me with all of them, I had about 15 minutes and gave them a warm up (kind of like I taught my gymnastics classes)... they literally were just like go for it and well I was in charge all of a sudden.

Also everything is in Kiswahili, but most of the kids understand english they just don't speak it as well. So I taught in english if they didn't understand they just copied everyone else, and the kids are teaching me Kiswahili (well mostly Sheng- the slang).

Then I  end up talking with this man James- and incredible man by the way with the cutest 5 year old in the world who didn't want to leave my side- I was then left with half of the group and 3 other volunteers/ teachers and ran another warm up with the half of the kids not in the production they were putting on and taught/ helped them with acrobatic skills (aka tumbling) which was amazing. Then they were given all the circus tricks to practice so i was taught how to juggle, and do these 3 other things that i really can't even describe because I wouldn't know how- but whatever it was awesome.

Then James has me help him take down all the kids' information and we meet in his office after being and playing and teaching the kids gymnastics, and the circus tricks and trapeze for 5 hours! AND IT FLEW BY.

So after we counted the kids we then realized we only had 3000ksh to send over 50 kids back home (they all live in Nairobi slums, and were taken from the slums to try and better themselves through these classes- which only started a few weeks ago). It was incredibly depressing, and then I find out that was the last of the funding for this incredible project.... taking talented kids out of the slums to hone their skills and teach them all sorts of things like discipline, hygiene, awareness, confidence, social skills, you name it, they're learning it- on top of the dancing and tumbling and music, and million other things.

ok so.... as if my morning wasn't incredible and inspiring enough....my afternoon was even better.

there is so much going on inside my head right now I don't even know how to handle it... and in the best way... i'm actually shaking from excitement/ adrenaline/ emotions...i don't even know.


Ok mini preface- so basically what I did today is what I thought I wouldn't be doing for at least 5 years from now after I finish school, have job experience, travel, and finally settle down in a job...but no I am doing it RIGHT NOW. like this moment, i did it all morning... and ohmygod it's beyond incredible, I actually almost cried in the middle of my meeting, and you all know I'm not one to cry ever in front of anyone, let alone strangers in Nairobi. ... ok there is no way I can call them strangers I feel at home with them... everything is so perfect, and it's hard and challenging, but perfect. so perfect.


Ok to my actual story...

So James and I sat down in his office, and he talked about (well I kept asking about) his goals, and what he wants to do with this project. And well without going on for hours and hours, what came out of this afternoon is that I am basically the acting director to help found this program helping these talented kids from nairobi slums, teaching them the arts and acrobatics and life skills and I'm going to be working on organizing everything from teaching individual classes, to creating a name, to helping run staff training's and meetings, and creating the social media, and publicity, and networking and the fundraising, the works. And all of this happened because a man overheard me mention something about gymnastics when I was meeting my internship boss and he asked me to sit in on a class. I can't believe it.

My goal for the semester is to get this project up and running and funded by the time I leave. And I know I can do it, especially with these incredible people also working on and for the project, volunteering their time and skills, and general kindness.


That isn't even the end of my day... in the office I met another volunteer/ teacher at Sarakasi from Colombia who lives near me and gave me a ride on his motorcycle.. which was awesome. We also stopped to get produce, and i tried sucking on sugar cane, which was delicious by the way. And he is from my area and celebrating his birthday tonight, so I'm going out to meet a bunch of other volunteers and people living in kenya, who well, have the same aspirations that i do... i can't wait. people here are so incredible, and open, and just excited to learn and share their experiences with others.

I miss everyone back home, but please don't miss me, know I am having the time of my life, doing everything I love and care about. Also just a shout out, GOOD LUCK TODAY KENDRA HAYES, i cannot believe you're getting married, best wishes, and i love you dearly.

and please

don't forget to smile today!

Busy, busy.

So today we had out politics of culture in kenya class and learned about the colonization of Nairobi as an urban city, and the people, housing, environment, and public services (or lack there of).

I also have been in contact with my supervisor for my internship, and I'm meeting with her on Thursday!

I just typed up my first assignment for my PofCK class, and a two page double spaced assignment turned into a 2.5 page single space paper. I can't even tell you I'm so excited about everything here, even the work and the readings. I haven't been this excited for school since I began college.

Even my art class has a group assignment due in like 3 weeks, but I've already got all the notes from an old class and started it- it's ridiculous.

I'm going to go finish some readings, and work on my Kiswahili, we have a sort of miniature presentation on greetings tomorrow morning that I am in no way ready for... plus I left my Kiswahili notebook in a bathroom in center city by mistake :( so I'm a little bit behind, but no worries I will catch up!

I'm still loving everything (abnormally so compared to the rest of the group) and for some reason, none other that I can think of besides I love it here, and I have the excitement of a 5 year old Christmas morning.... and well it's great. I'm so anxious to do so much I can't even explain it.

don't forget to smile today!

Everyone here is safe, don't worry.

To start it off I'm sure a lot of you have heard about the gas pipeline bursting in Nairobi, or south of the city center, but don't worry my friends and I are all safe pretty far north from the cite. However, it's a horrible tragedy, there were so many homes destroyed and lives lost that shouldn't have been there. For more information here's the article on BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14879401

Learning about this definitely put a dent in the cold rainy day we had :( But I did have two classes and Kiswahili this morning, and managed to get through them all, and enjoying them. I really have become a teacher's pet, it's absurd, but hey I pay pretty damn good attention.

I've got to get a bit of work done before bed, another early day for class tomorrow!

don't forget to smile today!

Weekend #2

So Friday morning we had a 2 hour along Kiswahili class (which I love, our professor Fred is so great). And for our Politics of Culture in Kenya class we broke off into pairs and had a scavenger hunt all around Nairobi. I also found out what my internship is! I'm working as an intern at a Non Profit called Sarakasi Trust, I'm working on the hospital project: http://www.sarakasi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2

I got to visit the theater that the organization is based from on our scavenger hunt (which put us way behind, but oh well). I finally have my way figured out around Nairobi though!

Friday night a bunch of us went out to a bar which was a ton of fun. But Saturday I woke up exhausted from going nonstop all week, and whatever cold has been lingering definitely kicked my butt yesterday. So I spent the day relaxing, catching up with friends, and watching TV online.

Today is, of course, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 but I have to go out and do an observation project, I'm hoping to leave within the next few minutes so I will be back in time to watch the ceremonies online.

I love and miss everyone, and RIP Uncle T.

don't forget to smile today, especially.

I never explained "we've got the kenya"

It's kind of a running joke within our group once someone gets sick, well... They've got the Kenya. Everyone seems to be coming down with a pretty bad bug, or stomach issues. Luckily I only had one morning that I felt a little uneasy- but so far so good I haven't had any problems. Which is awesome, however, that means I'll probably end up being really sick during an even busier week (which really stinks).

Today we had another PCK (politics and culture in kenya) class with Lynsey, where we discussed a lot about ancient urban cities in Africa, and people's perception os Africa, and if it was urban or not. If anyone has seen my facebook pictures you see I'm in Nairobi, it's pretty damn urban, so we all are a little biased in that discussion.

I also had a one on one meeting to discuss my internship options, hopefully I get one of the ones I talked about. More updates on that to come next week.

The rest of the day was lazy, and I just napped, for a while. It was great. We made dinner again (yes i helped cook) and I finally got to speak to Maura! It's cheap fro me to call the US and i just happened to catch her during her lunch break, that definitely made my evening a lot better! Erin, don't worry I'm going to give you a call this weekend (we luckily have caught each other on fb chat a few times already). But remember time difference is 7 hours which is hard because by the time you all are out of school I'm fast asleep.

I got a chance to email some old teachers from KPS today too, which I'm really excited to get responses from. With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up I've been thinking a lot about home (not home sick quite yet) but it's definitely on my mind and it's nice to keep in touch with people I haven't seen in a while.

Also if you have a minute check out this article: http://maplewood.patch.com/articles/remembering-tj-hargrave and never forget 9/11/2001
RIP Uncle T.

and of course... don't forget to smile today!

So We've Got The Kenya.

SO yesterday I tried to post and it deleted it all, but a short debrief:

We visited Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi. It was a crazy experience more because it was fun, and not as depressing as I though. Everyone seemed fairly happy, although everyone was mostly staring at us, rarely do any white people go into the slums, never mind this one in particular. When I spoke to students from Kenya at my University (most of the kids there are extremely privileged) they looked as if they were in disbelief.

Just so you have an idea here is what it looks like (thanks Google Images):

We then came back and discussed it as a group with a group of Kenyans in ICA (for details- http://icakibera.blogspot.com/) that lived in Kibera and were our tour guides over lunch. I just keep learning so much.

We then went grocery shopping and I MADE DINNER, a delicious chicken and rice dinner with green beans and onions and lemon and white wine and garlic and well, it was yummy. I am definitely going to try and learn how to cook while I'm here as much as I can (crazy I know).

Proof of my incredibly delicious food (I have conformation it was delicious because I made everyone in my apartment try it, and one of my roommates was eating it with me, so rude if you doubted me).:

Today we were up early and has Kisawhili then all caught a Matatu into town where Belle and I refused to wait for the USIU bus again and just walked into town and caught a matatu to the road campus is on and walked where I finally got to meet Aliya, Belle's friend that is a student there, who came to Kenya 2 years ago and started a Non Profit up north.

I had my first real day of classes, and I loved it. My IO class is going to be awesome I learned so much about African history, even though the teacher made fun of how I pronounced African countries in front of everyone. My Art class is going to be too easy, and I actually had to correct the professor (I waited until after class, since that would be beyond disrespectful to do here in front of anyone) but art is not popular in Africa let me tell you, except a lot of tribal traditions.

Honestly the school is more about the cultural experience than the education, luckily because I'm loud and my IO professor likes me (and knows me since I'm a class coordinator) answers all of my questions about the examples he gives. He mostly uses issues in Africa (some I know nothing about) but explains them for myself and about half of the class that is International and doesn't know much about African history, I've learned so much here.

I take two sets of notes in my classes, one for the class itself and one set is on the cultural differences, interactions, teaching methods, etc.

I also have a meeting Friday to decide on what my internship for the semester will be! I can't wait for that.

don't forget to smile!

First day of classes.

Oh my, let me tell you was it an interesting day. Again, in the best way. I'm learning so much, and not primarily in the classroom.

This morning we were up bright and early at 5:30 am to turn the water heater on (yes we have to do that) then went back to bed until it was hot enough to shower. Then we walked our everyday walk of 30 minutes to AU Center for our first Kiswahili class then right at 9 we walked out to the main road and hopped into a matatu to head into town and wait for the USIU bus, hoping to catch a 9:30 bus, but oh no.  We waited almost 2 hours for it to come and had to call our abroad advisor because it didn't come until almost 11:15- when class started at 11am and we still had a 30 minute bus ride. Welcome to Nairobi, and Africa time. It wasn't too fun waiting, but definitely a good lesson in patience.

The bus ride itself was semi-terrifying. it rained all last night, and with all of the dirt and mud and construction I thought we would get stuck. Traffic here is probably the scariest thing about the city. But eventually we arrived safe and sound... but very late.

Luckily there were about 6 of us on the bus that were late to my first class, International Organizations, where my teacher is pretty great, not the most engaging, but he knows a lot and worked for the UN for a long time, and is currently a Kenyan Ambassador. I also volunteered to be a class coordinator with another student (from Kenya)... this will be interesting.

We had a few hours to kill in-between classes and grabbed lunch next to campus at a bar/ restaurant place which was relaxing. Then did our own tour around campus for a little. I then had my Visual Arts class, which I honestly cannot wait for. One of my roommates is also in that class with me, so we are definitely going to be study buddies and the professor is fantastic. My biggest worry was about the classes from what I've heard from past students, but I think I really lucked out.

Belle (a friend of mine from AU who I knew before this trip) is also here, and she has a friend who goes to USIU who comes into town tomorrow, I can't wait to meet her and her friends, I really think I will get such a different experience knowing locals, and other students than the usual AU Abroad program in Kenya (they're known for traveling in packs and sticking together at USIU).

After my art class there were only 5 of us left on campus, but we missed the last bus to we took a matatu, let me tell you was that an experience. The 3 girls left together and Steven stuck with me so it wasn't just two girls traveling alone. The traffic was ridiculous and didn't get us into town until almost 6:30, which is crazy. We then ran to grab the matatu that brings us to our neighborhood before it got dark (luckily we made it on time)... however to cut the traffic he decided to drive ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY... during rush hour.  Even the locals in the matatu were not ok with it. let me tell you was that an experience. Luckily it was only a few minutes (but felt like a lifetime) that we had cars and buses and motorcycles swerving around us until we got to our stop, which everyone immediately jumped out of, and Steven and I just tried to understand what just happened. Again, welcome to Nairobi. Mom don't worry that isn't a regular occurrence- but definitely an experience you will probably have while living here (we were warned), so don't worry usually it's not that bad.

I just looked at the time and realized it's only 9:12pm, and it feels like midnight I"m exhausted, it was a longgg day. As I feel most days here will be. Tomorrow we have our first Politics and CUlture of Kenya class and are going to a much poorer part of the city to see first hand what Urban Slums are like. It will definitely be an interesting morning.

don't forget to smile!
and mom and dad, don't you worry I'm having a blast, and am being as safe as you can be here, I promise!

PS: i almost forgot, the Kenyans who are working with AU Abroad all call me crazy (but in Kisawhili) because i like to dance while i walk, and apparently i have a funny/ very loud laugh, Amin in particular laughs almost every time i open my mouth, i thought the fam would appreciate that anecdote.

post number 2 of the day

Ok so today was a chill day, as you saw I spent an hour and a half with the previous post. But I figured I'd try to post at the end of every day so I don't have to write such long posts.

Today was a fun, relaxing day. My roommates and I (the 4 of us) all woke up late, and eventually walked into Westlands to get groceries. Luckily we grabbed rain jackets because it ended up down pouring.

We all got back and I COOKED DINNER. yes you read that right, I Katty Hk cooked a meal for myself and my roommates- stir fry of course, and had a mango (probably the most delicious mango ever) for dessert. Now I'm sipping on some tea everyone's doing their own thing for a big, then we are making popcorn watching a Disney movie and heading to bed. Class starts tomorrow, bright and early 8am!

also I forgot if I mentioned this in my last post or not, but it's hard for me to take photos out in public or croawded places, so until I'm more comfortable and know my way around there won't be too many!

goodnight, sleep tight!

Weekend Adventures

OK so to start this off- I love it here. The people, the place, the program, I am beyond happy to be here. And this is going to be an extremely long post.

I'm going to back track and start off with Friday, since I was super busy the past two days and exhausted by the time I got back to my apartment.

FRIDAY:
My first day out in Nairobi. Of course Thursday night I couldn't fall asleep since I got in around midnight, and slept both of my plane rides, then unpacked a little, and of course from the excitement couldn't sleep, so I woke up Friday morning at 8 only sleeping about 3 hours (not what you want to do here). We all got up met for a quick breakfast and I met our program leader, Lynsey, who is great. She has been living in Kenya on and off since 2002 (more permanently since 2007, working on her dissertation). I met the other group members and we all got in taxi's, I got into Lynsey's car and we drove to USIU.

Ok let me tell you driving here is a scary thing. First because of Kenya's colonization by the British everyone drives on the left side of the road (kind of). There aren't really any rules, and definitely no stop signs or lights (except in center city) it's kind of a free for all, be aggressive or get no where. There are also people walking along side of all the roads and just crossing highways wherever (including myself- I have to get used to looking the opposite way when crossing, and booking it to get across or you will be run over). And since it's a developing country most of the roads are dirt or under major construction. Please excuse my language but the only thing I can think of to explain the roadways and highways is that they are an enormous clusterfuck of activity.

Once we arrived at USIU (the university we are all enrolled in, which isn't the most accurate portrayal of Kenya because it's such an expensive school and mostly wealthy international students studying business or IR)  we had a quick tour, got our schedules and got our ID photos taken. I'm taking Visual Arts of the World and International Organizations.

After that we split up into groups, I was with one of the orientation assistants (also a senior at USIU) Amin, and two other AU students. We walked down the road (we do A LOT of walking here) and I got to cross my first highway. That was interesting. Ok so to explain how most people get around in Kenya, including myself. Cars here are expensive, like twice the price they would be in the US so it's mostly Matatus, Buses, and Taxis. Again, all of these are kind of a free for all. The Matatus are the cheapest, they're about the size of a 15 passenger van but they squish in seats to fit anywhere from 14+ people (not including the driver and money collector). There are "official" stations where they pick people up, but really they stop on the side of the road wherever people are, which really messes up traffic (there are no lines on the roads making lanes remember). One guy hangs out of the side of the van and says a price to the destination (I also have to learn all the numbers of the Matatus and what part of Nairobi they go to).  Riding one is a whole different story, you are squished with no leg room (luckily I'm smaller) and you have to be completely aware of your surroundings ,aka your bag and pockets, because one of the most likely places to get robbed are on these because everyone is so tightly packed together, and it's usually fairly hectic getting on and off. But oh man are they cheap, it's about 20-30 ksh (the exchange rate is 93 shillings to the US dollar) so basically like 30 cents to get into the town center.

However, it was lunch time when we went into town so not many Matatus were running, and everyone was going to lunch so they were crowded, so we took a bus into town (which are slightly more expensive, and about the same as Matatus but bigger) that ran us about 50 ksh. This was a mjor highlight of my day. This one little girl and her mother got on the bus in front of us and (of course) i started making silly faces at her, before I got off I gave her one of my silly bands, and in return she gave me her hair clip as her mother told me that "she wanted you to have something to remember her by" I almost melted on the spot. Also just a reminder kids, especially smaller children are NOT used to seeing white people or wazungas in Kiswalhili which literally means white people. You do stick out being white, it's kind of how it is everywhere. And kids are fascinated and immediately grab at you or stare.  When we went into town Amin gave a quick tour of they city (and yes we were expected to remember it) and we went to lunch, I tried goat (probably one of the more popular meats here) and it was tasty, but had lots of bones. Also I will definitely be eating a ton of rice and this meat stu sort of thing (I can't remember the Kiswalhili name of it). At lunch was the first time I had a little kid just grab at my leg and just look confused at me. I've gotten a lot more of that since then.

Now mom I know you want to see a million pictures, but it's really hard for me to take them because it really isn't smart to show that you have any sort of valuables on you at any time. I'm already an easy target for being a small white girl, and until I get to know and understand they city better I definitely won't be drawing more attention to myself with a camera. But I do have pictures from yesterday and last night I will eventually post, I promise!

Also town (or city center) in Nairobi is crazy. Absolutely nuts. The traffic is 10x worse than the roads I had traveled on, and the people- there are SO MANY PEOPLE everywhere. My one friend Steven (who spend the summer in Thailand said he thinks the inner-city infrastructure may actually be more hectic than in Bangkok., just to give you an idea. The street are not only for cars, taxis, matatus, etc but carts, and people pulling carts, and people. ONe safety thing we were told is not to walk on the sidewalk between parked cars and a wall (unless there are shops to go into). Because that makes you an easy target for robbery. So apparently it's safer to walk in the street between the moving traffic and the parked cars (I would say it's debatable, but I won't argue) you have about a foot of room to walk, and you have to pay attention if you don't want to get a foot run over. But it's fun, it's so busy and well I love it.

After seeing the city and eating (I now was in a huge food coma, and absolutely exhausted- we had been walking around since 9am and I still hadn't really slept, and well they city is overwhelming, but in the best way) we went to the grocery store and got a few things for the group dinner we were going to cook, and by we I mean some of us, the rest (including myself) helped cut veggies/ fruit and clean up. We also got some beers, Tusker is the more famous local beer, and it's delicious, and only $1. Also dad you'll appreciate this, Johnny Walker ( 1liter) of red label was about 18$, and black label only about 25$. EVERYTHING is so inexpensive.

We got back from grocery shopping and I looked at my feet, note to self- keep to shoes not sandals. Everything is dirt around here basically, and where there is grass it's usually illegal to walk on it. So we are walking on the side of dirt roads with cars kicking up dust everywhere, and trash all over, like everywhere. No bare-feet here, there is way too much broken glass or wires, or just in general crazy sanitation problems in the streets. But it definitely adds to the experience. This sounds ridiculous that I"m excited about trash on the roads, but I really do love everything about this place (so far). This is why I came here. The most frustrating thing so far is trying to figure out this Nokia phone. Biggie and Colin I know you two could help me out on this one.

OH also! I found out that Steven (the only boy out of 15 people) on the trip actually lived across the hall from me all of last year in spring valley, small small world.

We headed back to our apartments and all good a DELICIOUS dinner with everybody under the direction of Barrel and Sabina (also orientation assistants, and by now friends). We all pushed Amin into helping, but gender roles are slightly different here, let me tell you. Steven of course being an AU student knew he would have to help out or probably get yelled at by the ladies of the trip. He has learned well. I'm kidding of course (but really only partially). After dinner and a few beers we all started to watch The Constant Gardner (for our Politics and Culture Class that we start this week with Lynsey in the AU Abroad Center) but I fell asleep about 20 minutes into it and slept through the night until 7am yesterday when I had to wake up.

OK i finally finished Friday, on to.... drum roll please...

SATURDAY:
After an awesome night's sleep I got up and showered (you have to turn the hot water on before you shower here, so we don't waste a lot of money on utilities). Also our last roommate Quinn moved in! I felt so awful for the 3 girls who got it at like 1am, and 5am and had to get up at 7am. But I also felt their pain the day before.

For the first time we all walked to the AU center- where we have Kiswalhili (also Kiswalhili is the language, and Swahili are the people which are from both Arabic and Bantu descent). Now we have to do this walk 3-4 days a week at 7:30am it's about a 25-30 minute walk and be there by 8am for class. I am going to be in such great shape by the end of this semester. I also figured out I absolutely can't wear sandals (no matter how hot it is) because of all the construction we go over a tiny foot bridge and it's pretty dirty (which I don't mind) but some of it is uphill, which is rough without real shoes. We got a tour of the classroom and the AU site itself then Lynsey gave of 3 talks, externships (we went over individual options for our internships out in Nairobi),  health (what to watch out for),  and Victor the AU program assistant and our "everything" guy gave us the safety talk. We also had breakfast made by the "group mom" who stays at the center most of the time, which was yummy. The fruit here is so good, like really really good.

We broke off into groups and I had my first Matatu ride and Victor was our leader this time and went over the Matatu/ Bus stops with us again (except this time we expected to now just know it- my memory will also be getting much sharper, you're told something once and well you have to know it). Also Instant Coffee and I are becoming closer friends.

We also did a few touristy things in Nairobi which was pretty cool. We went to the old US Embassy, where the bombing in 1998 (i think) took place and toured there. That was a little rough for me, I left early and waited outside.  The 10 year anniversary of September 11th is coming up quickly, and I'm far from home. I think that's probably the hardest part, and when we were at the memorial is when I realized that. Thankfully Belle (who I was friends with prior to coming to Kenya) understood immediately and just sat outside with me while I caught my breath. I definitely am going to call the US Embassy on Monday though, not only to register with them, but to see if they are doing anything for the anniversary, or if there is something else in Nairobi that I could go to for the day.

After we left there we walked down Harambee Avenue, which meaning pulling together (i think) where most of the ministries were, and we went to the roof  of this hotel/ building that I can't remember the name of (about 32 stories up- which is one of the tallest in Nairobi) and got to see an aerial view of Nairobi right from the city center, which was awesome. I will have pictures of that to post mom, don't worry.

During this touristy morning I learned a lot about Kenya and the corruption and older politics, and not by being told but by experiencing it, which was incredible. For example: we got out of the Matatu that we took from AU into town and Victor asked why it cost us 30 in stead of 20 ksh because it was a Saturday, the man replied there aren't a lot of Matatus running because of the major police presence on the roads that day (there were heavily armed military men all along and on the roads) so they could charge more and use the extra money to bribe them. Good thing we contributed to corruption. Again this is why I came here, to have experiences like that, and hopefully, eventually try and do something about it.

We had lunch again, and then got to go to the Masai Market. We were given 100 ksh (about a 1$) and had to see who could get the best thing for that amount. I ended up bargaining with silly bandz! Kenyans here love them, and therefore love me for having them (which is way better than everyone back home making fun of me- rude).

We were taught how to keep a "bitch face" to try and make people think we knew where we were, or where we were going, but I couldn't keep a smile off of my face, and well people took really well to it. No one believed that I had only been in Kenya for less than 48 hours, which is a huge compliment here! After the market we met everybody for a group dinner and had a typical Swahili dinner at a local restaurant about a 10 minute walk from our apartments. We made it back just in time before in down poured. It is the  "rainy" season here, or spring, but it's not like DC or NJ spring. It's probably in the high 70s low 80s in the sun during the day, and cools off at night to the low 60s. But remember we are only 1 degree away from the equator, so the sun is hot, hot, hot. I wear sunblock out everyday, something you cannot find here, thankfully I brought a ton with me.

After we all rested for a little we decided to all go out (except those who hadn't really slept obviously). There is one girl in our group who was here last fall, and has a boyfriend, so they know their way around pretty well and a large group of us went out with them to a club last night. It was such a great time. Our group really got to know each other, had a few beers, and danced! We danced so much and I loved every second of it!

Now mom and dad- don't be too worried we were all safe only took taxis to get to and from the club (and got the taxi drivers number because he works nights, and wasn't too expensive, about 400 ksh, when split it only 100 ksh each), and stayed in a large group, if anyone went anywhere we had a buddy system. But the club scene itself is different, for one there are prostitutes everywhere.  Which was unsettling at first, but by the end of the night you didn't even notice. And (almost) everyone else at the club is respectful of you (being a girl, well a white girl) but I learned quickly as long as your vocal if someone is bothering you they back off immediately, but it honestly didn't really happen nothing that wouldn't happen in general on the streets of Nairobi during the day, plus we each had 9 people looking out for each other. We were all exhausted by the time midnight rolled around and called taxis to take us home. Then we all spent the next few hours talking which was great. I had an awesome time learning about everyone last night, and can't wait to know more as time goes on.

Also a few fun facts about life here: you have to turn on each outlet before you use it, of course we have to boil all of our water before drinking, I will indefinitely be very sick soon from the food and/or water, the local beer Tusker is delicious, I have a balcony at my apartment, and it's fantastic. Also just a reminder that I'm 7 hours ahead of EST. So it's about 6:40am your time, about 1:40pm my time.

Ok I have to wrap this up everyone's waiting on me to go grocery shopping. Today is out day off before classes start first thing in the AM tomorrow. Time to navigate our way around Westlands (our neighborhood) because we have to go pick up a few things in town, then when I get back I plan on cooking food and putting on a disney movie and getting lots of sleep. Maybe skyping?

Also sorry if there are any horrible typos or bad grammar, there was a lot of information I was putting down, and I have NO time to reread it.

love and miss everybody, I will post pictures on facebook probably later today.

...don't forget to smile today!

beyond exhausted.

the good kind of exhausted.

now i promise i will post IN DETAIL (yes for all of you family members reading this) on sunday about my travels, i'm honestly too exhausted from the time difference and walking around the city all day, and i have to wake up at 7am tomorrow! i ditched my group movie so i could go to bed early, 9pm friday night BEDTIME.

goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.

...and don't forget to smile today!

there's no place like home, except maybe a new home.

Ok so I want to make this short, but I know it's not going to be. I need to sleep because it's after midnight and I have to be awake by 8am tomorrow- woohoo!

So I've had horrible luck with traveling this summer, and of course it continued for this trip. My trip to Morocco was canceled because of the bombings and unrest in the area, then my Visa for Ghana came too late, then of course Hurricane Irene canceled my original flight to Kenya. But oh no that wasn't all, when my parents and Nancy took me to the airport I had to rebook my ticket because the card we used to pay for my flight was lost and we couldn't confirm. The flight to Amsterdam wasn't too bad, I honestly just slept the whole way. 

Once in Amsterdam I had a few hours and had a coffee at the airport and continued to read this book, Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women which I can't take my nose out of, it's incredibly clever and the author, Elizabeth Wurtzel and I have very similar views when it comes to feminism, and the whole female empowerment saga- which of course I will have a whole new out look on after this trip.

I finally got on the plane, and of course something on the plane was not working and had to be replaced- while we sat on the runway for an extra 2 hours (lucky me). I ended up sitting between a Kenyan who had moved to the UK and started his own business and an older German man who teaches German at a private school in Kenya. Both were entertaining to talk with and informative. Again I slept a majority of this flight and read a little. 

Once I arrived in Kenya (mom you'll be proud of this) a Spanish woman came up to me and asked if I spoke Spanish- of course I don't, but I took it for a few years (way back in elementary/ middle school) and both of my sisters take it so I knew enough to explain to her what everything was asking on the Entry Visa form, and talked with her a little bit about why I'm in Kenya- in horribly broken Spanish and some expert charades. 

Our Program assistant, Victor, was waiting for me at the airport with another student who had flown in a few hours before me- her flight also had to be rescheduled thanks to good old Irene.

We then drove to my new home, and I finally got to see my apartment, and meet my roommates. Only 2 were here, and the 3rd is coming in in about 5 hours. 

Now I have to try and figure out my cell phone, and fill out some paper work, and of course, unpack!

Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep tonight, before our big day tomorrow, we are heading to USIU and into Nairobi for orientation.

don't forget to smile today!