We have now been in Nairobi for three full days. We got in late on Sunday night and quickly fell asleep after a quick cup of tea with the Sisters here. The first day we slept in last, which was lovely, since most of us were up for a few hours in the middle of the night. The eight hour time difference has been a really hard adjustment. After going over some practicalities after lunch, we had the rest of the first afternoon free to explore the Racecourse area of Nairobi where we’re staying. Luckily Sammy, who works for the nuns, showed us around. He took us to places that I’m not sure we would have had the courage to go on our own, including a market nearby. All the vendors came up to introduce themselves and talk to us. A man named Peter wanted me to buy one of his carvings so I could bring it back to Obama when I got back to the states. They seemed a little disappointed when they found out we did not bring any money with us. We also went to look at a church nearby, just as their school was getting out. All the little kids on the school bus went wild and started yelling “Mzungu, Mzungu” (white person) at us and waving. One little guy was even brave enough to come up and shake our hands and say hello. Yesterday we had a chance to go into the city centre of Nairobi. It gave me a much better idea about the area of town we’re staying in. Our side smells like burning metal and trash. The markets are made out of corrugated metal and old wooden beams. Everything is covered in dirt, trash or some combination of both. And rather than having barbed wire (b/c EVERYTHING has barb wire) people have cemented broken glass bottles to the tops of their fences in an effort to keep people out. And this is not a slum area. We saw a slum area today and that gave me some real perspective. We took a matatu into town. Believe me when I say, you have NEVER experienced as public transportation like this. The conductor hangs out of the door (how he doesn’t fall, I don’t know) shouting at people on the side of the road to see if they need rides. Then you get on and you pay 20 KSH (about $.30) to get a ride into town. Luckily, a man who works for the nuns named Sammy took us around town and handled our fares. Apparently they charge much higher fees for mzungus (white people) like us. We were talking about it more over dinner and they said had Sammy not been with us, they probably would have charged us around 100 KSH. So Sammy took us into town. We went to the banks to change our money and use the ATM and got our cell phones. Our phones were 2500 KSH (about $30) and that came with some air time. Everything is pre paid, there are no plans. It’s kind of weird. The phones are not great but it works. After that, we just sort of wandered around for a while. We went to this huge park called Uhuru Park and saw the memorial for the 1998 terrorist bombing of the US Embassy. Uhuru Park was AMAZING! We sat by a big fountain in the middle and enjoyed the cool spray and drank Fanta orange soda from glass bottles. There’s orange fanta everywhere! There was a big lake with some other tourists paddle boating. And there were some really cool birds, including these little ones that looked like sapphires. We then took a matatu back where I literally felt like I was going to fall out of the window and the driver was blaring Bette Midler’s “Wind beneath my wings” and “Lady in red”. We spent that afternoon playing board games and reading so we wouldn’t take naps.
Last night was the first night I managed to sleep through the night. It’s been a real problem, getting used to the time difference. It’s also strange getting used to sleeping under the mosquito nets. The second night was especially bad. I was awake for probably 3 hours in the middle of the night and still couldn’t sleep past 7:45. It was wonderful to have an uninterrupted night of sleep.
Today we went on a safari walk at Nairobi national park. We had a guide who knew where all the animals hide and sleep in the heat of the early afternoon, so we saw lions, monkeys, leopards, cheetahs, Rhinos and a ton of other animals. The people who work there also actually let us walk right up to the cheetah and pet it and take pictures with it. Not something you could do in a regular US zoo. The cheetah was just laying there, not chained or muzzled or restrained. It was so cool. We had lunch and then went off to the Bomas of Kenya. Bomas means “homestead” in Swahili, and they have a big exhibit that has traditional Kenyan homesteads. We didn’t get to see that, but we went to this presentation of traditional African dances. It was amazing, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more, but I got really over heated and wasn’t feeling well.
Tomorrow we leave for Malava. The sisters here have been wonderful, and it will be sad to leave, but I’m exciting to be moving to our new home. We’ve all been living out of suitcases for almost two weeks now. It will be nice to be able to unpack and get to work. We will have internet there, so I should be able to post again over the weekend with my first impressions of our new village.
Thanks for all the well wishes!