Nairobi

To preface this, because I don’t think I have said it previously (though I meant to), thank you to everyone for your support. I wouldn’t be here without you, and it’s looking to be an exciting three months (now that I have more details of what I will do).

**Warning: This is a long one. And italics don't work. Supposed to be used for offsetting definitions. Hope it's not too much trouble.

So…I’ve finally gotten settled in here in Nairobi. It’s been a busy few days of orientation (or perhaps re-orientation… more later), and I have been given a laptop and a usb modem (essentially remote dial-up internet) and a cell phone with some airtime and m-pesa (lit. mobile-money) (money transfer via text message i.e. how I will be getting funds). Everything is pay as you go, but you can buy airtime with the m-pesa account or transfer airtime between modems and phones as needed, so things are rather convenient in that respect.

Everything else, however, will take a little getting used to. For those that don’t know, Kenya was formerly a British colony, meaning… they drive on the left side of the road. That’s ok; I was in Australia last summer. I will just need to adjust back to looking right first. The city center is usually pretty packed with cars and there are no traffic lights or crosswalks. That’s ok; a college campus plus a slightly faster rush hour. The nerve-wracking bit of it all is the system for driving. Since there are no lights, and traffic is so heavy, you just force yourself into where you want to go, and people will let you in… or not. A two lane road quickly becomes a three lane road. A two way street becomes one (or again narrows down to three). Turn signals are unnecessary. Cars mingle with people, mingle with bikes, mingle with random people on bikes carrying large billboard sized signs. (Only exaggerating about being on bikes.) Mo and I were introduced to this system at night, in the rain, with a car loaded with bags and people (the last part I could have expected [imagine my parents surprise when Patrick pulled up to leave for my graduation with six Kenyans in the car when they were only expecting two. Three hours later, I had a good laugh.]). Despite it being unnerving, it works. People on the sidewalks are helpful when cars are parking or pulling out. I haven’t seen an accident, and I don’t really expect one to happen. Drivers tend to be aware that something can (and will likely) happen in front of them, so they should be ready to slow down. Leave out the opposite side of the road, and I still don’t think Americans could handle it. I look forward to the piki piki (motorcycle taxis) and boda boda (bicycle taxis) rides. One of the first phrases I have been taught, pole pole (poe-lay poe-lay, [slow down!]), will come in handy.

Mo and I arrived at the YMCA intact with four 50+ pound bags (two ours, two donations), three laptops for donation, fully loaded two backpacks, and a camcorder. We get some pizza from Steers (Mo and I are now regulars, having been three of the past four nights. The guy at the counter wouldn’t give us another deal though [Fridays = buy one get one free].) with Marion (SOTENI Kenya [SK] Business Manager), Muthee (SK Board Member), and Stella (?). We return to the YMCA for some rest, get our keys from the front desk, and head to our room… to be met by a swarm of somethings in the hallway. I’m told they might be called ants, but they are four-winged creatures about two inches in length that fly around drunkenly. (People in Mbakalo farm them to then be fried and eaten. Maybe I will try them?). The next morning we moved to Ufungamano House, and were told it was much better than the Y, but the next night found a few in our rooms instead. Good thing there are mosquito nets. (It’s not really that bad. Just different. It was actually pretty cool to see a newt/gecko/lizard running up the wall at the Y.)

Between adjusting and getting set up and pizza, we’ve been meeting plenty of people and I have been trying out the local cuisine. I have only had a couple opportunities for lunch, but mbuzi (goat) and matoke (fried/stewed raw bananas [has the consistency of potatoes and not sweet like I expected) have made the list. So far, so good. There is also githeri (beans and corn), irio (githeri with vegetables), and njahi (white-eyed beans) to try from Express and plenty of others I’m sure. I will probably be looking to avoid the matumbo (intestines [though I’m told that African sausages {intestines stuffed with meat and liver} are good]). I’ve had chicken twice. They serve the leg and breast, but it is cooked fairly dry. (Hard to even cut). Apparently, they cook it drier in the villages. Kenyan tea (milk, sugar, and tea) and the fruit juices have been good.
The people: Vic (Founder of SOTENI, Chair of SK and SOTENI International [SI, located in Cincinnati]), Marion, and Edward (SK Program Manager) have been leading us through the various parts of orientation, taking us around town, and making sure we know what we’re doing when we get to be on our own. We sat in on an SK board meeting today and met Opondo, Martina (where we have been invited to stay upon return to Nairobi), Maola/Willy (non-board member from Baltimore [where we have been invited to stay should we ever be in DC] visiting his brother…), Fred (also non-board member [they joined for lunch]), and Jane (board member). Muthee and the three above were also there. This brings me to my re-orientation point (if you remember that long ago). One of the topics for discussion was who should be reporting where and in what capacity. Leaving out the details (you’re welcome), I thought about the focus of my orientation in Cincinnati and the things I have learned here in Nairobi. Essentially, I left the American orientation with an American point of view (duh), which is that I would be coming in supervising, overseeing, and sharing my knowledge for the various projects (mostly fine so far). The issue, however, is that it is with my agenda and my way of doing things and reporting things with the underlying assumption that I would be the one who has an idea about how things should be done and, more importantly (i.e. the bigger issue), that my way is right. The truth is that, up until this past week, I haven’t had much of a clue about what existed/was going on/needed to be done and even after orientation I still don’t really. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised I’ve let myself do this, but it seems like an easy thing to fall into. I’ll adjust as I go, and attempt to continue to going with the flow (hopefully, dropping the expectations and biases I’ve picked up through orientations [I’m sure here in Nairobi, too] and being open to whatever will happen).

The projects and talking about the ABD program and meeting George (the ABD Supervisor [from Thika]), will need to wait. It’s 11:45 here, and I need to be up around 6:15 to get to the matatu (bus) to leave for Mbakalo at 8:00. It will be an eight hour ride, but we go through the escarpment and see the Rift Valley (apparently gorgeous) along the way. I will say this, going through orientation and finding out the details of what I will likely be doing has made me extremely excited and energetic.

Nakwenda sasa! (I’m off now)

-Pat

Quick note on pen pals: Adjusted to perhaps pair up with a secondary school in Nairobi for higher reliability and closer level of communication, but I don’t know when I will get a chance to chat with a principle/other school admin since I won’t be in Nairobi for a while. Also, (just considered this now) there could be a likely selection of all boys schools to pick from.

Oh, and since I was told I would have a lot of down time, though with the projects (as you will soon find out [hopefully]) seeming to be quite a bit, I don’t know how true it will be. But I will be running out of my own books soon, so... I decided I was going to see how much Swahili I can pick up in the next three months, with the goal of being semi-literate by the end of the month (i.e. making it through the book I have and knowing most of it.) It says it would take two-three with two hours of study a day. (Challenge extended.)