Hello from Nairobi! I hope this post finds you all well! Yesterday, I had my first experience on matatus by myself. Matatus are the main transportation for the city. Envision old and kind of junky 15 passenger vans blaring hip-hop music, and you've got a matatu!
Basically matatus work like this: You go up to a matatu or bus stage (stop) and wait for your matatu. When the matatu comes up to the stage, there is someone who works for the matatu that gets out and tries to convince people to get into their matatu. They'll yell, talk to you personally, whatever to get you into their matatu.
Once you find the correct matatu, you hop in, and try find a seat, sometimes while the matatu is already in motion. Depending on the distance between stops, the guy trying to convince you to get into the matatu will sometimes hang outside the vehicle :). Then you go!
Depending on the matatu, you'll have up to 15 people inside, potentially with outrageously loud hip hop music playing. Matatu drivers: mildly insane. They'll go really fast and then slam on the brakes to avoid an accident and they drive all over to get where they need to go, weaving through traffic.
Overall, matatus are overwhelming, insane and simultaneously awesome. For me to get downtown via matatu on off-peak hours is 20 Kenyan shillings (about 27 cents), 30 in the morning (about 40 cents) and 50 (about 67 cents) during afternoon rush hour. It's a cheap way to get where I need to go.
Despite being mildly overwhelming, once you know what matatu you need, it's fairly easy. If you miss a matatu, they often come in less than 5 minutes. I haven't had to wait for more than 3.
Again, I hope you're all doing well, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Kenyan Home
So today is the second day of my home stay. I’m staying in the Fort Jesus Estates in Nairobi, Kenya. I have an absolutely amazing host family. My mother is Constance, and she helps run a feeding center for orphans in Kibera. She has five children, of whom I’ve met three. Faith is the oldest and works as an accountant, Phyllis is a college student studying software engineering, Yvonne is a college student studying journalism, and the two I haven’t met, Tracy and Emmanuel, are both in high school. I find myself getting along with them very well, and we’re already joking around, dancing and singing together already. I’m trying my best to fit in, speaking the few words of Swahili that I can, and eating sukumu wiki (sautéed spinach with tomatoes, onions and garlic) with ugali (maize flour) by hand. You take a chunk of the ugali and ball it up, and then pick up things with it. It was an interesting first try.
Yesterday, I got to the house for the first time, we had some lunch, and I took a nap. Last night, I got a feel for my neighborhood and then we had dinner and we watched a movie. This morning, Faith and I went to Nairobi Baptist Church, which was a good experience for me to go see a church service in a different country.
I just got done doing my first set of laundry. Moreso than warm showers, the thing I think I won’t take for granted again are washing machines. Here, it is a long and draining process as all of our clothes have to be washed by hand. First you have to soak the clothes in water. Then you scrub laundry soap in bar form on the clothes, then you scrub…for a long time. Then you soak it back in the water to get rid of the soap. Then you move the clothes to a couple buckets to wash the remaining soap off, draining the water at each bucket. After this, you move the clothes to another bucket, take them outside, and let them air dry. It took me over an hour and a half, with assistance from Yvonne, to get my clothes done. In particular, you have to lay jeans down on the ground, apply the soap, and then scrub with a scrub brush. It’s hard work.
I’ve truly enjoyed my last couple days here in Fort Jesus. I’ve already learned a lot, and know I have so much more to learn. I hope that you are all doing well, and enjoy your washing machines!
Yesterday, I got to the house for the first time, we had some lunch, and I took a nap. Last night, I got a feel for my neighborhood and then we had dinner and we watched a movie. This morning, Faith and I went to Nairobi Baptist Church, which was a good experience for me to go see a church service in a different country.
I just got done doing my first set of laundry. Moreso than warm showers, the thing I think I won’t take for granted again are washing machines. Here, it is a long and draining process as all of our clothes have to be washed by hand. First you have to soak the clothes in water. Then you scrub laundry soap in bar form on the clothes, then you scrub…for a long time. Then you soak it back in the water to get rid of the soap. Then you move the clothes to a couple buckets to wash the remaining soap off, draining the water at each bucket. After this, you move the clothes to another bucket, take them outside, and let them air dry. It took me over an hour and a half, with assistance from Yvonne, to get my clothes done. In particular, you have to lay jeans down on the ground, apply the soap, and then scrub with a scrub brush. It’s hard work.
I’ve truly enjoyed my last couple days here in Fort Jesus. I’ve already learned a lot, and know I have so much more to learn. I hope that you are all doing well, and enjoy your washing machines!
Nakuru
This post is from January 23rd: My time in Lake Nakuru was absolutely amazing. We left Nairobi the morning of the 19th to head to Lake Nakuru National Park. After a few hours on a bus, we arrived. Waiting to be let inside the park, we were greeted by a monkey who hopped onto the top of our bus, where our bags were, and was looking for food. We also got to see baboons run around and we saw a rhino walking near the lake.
That night, we got into our hostel at the park and just relaxed. On our way to the hostel, we saw a male and female lion. It was an amazing.
The next morning, we woke up and started our orientation work. We had orientation in the morning and early afternoon and then went on game drives. During orientation, numerous animals such as cape buffalo, zebras and gazelles walked by, and baboons even hopped over the fence and walked around as we sat there. On the game drives, we also saw giraffes, a leopard, impala, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, flamingoes and rhino.
One particular drive was absolutely beautiful. It started raining while it was still sunny. A rainbow formed over Lake Nakuru, and we could see the lake with the small mountains and clouds in the background and buffalo eating near the lake. It was amazing. The following morning, we went up to a place called Baboon Cliff where we watched the sun rise over the park. Some baboons stay here at night and were docile in the morning, so we were able to get within a few feet of them. It was beautiful.
One day at the national park, we went to the city of Nakuru to go to the market. It was an interesting experience, and good for me to learn how to buy in the market.
We just arrived into Nairobi today (the 23rd), and I’m currently having some down time at my home stay. I hope this post finds you all well. I miss you.
That night, we got into our hostel at the park and just relaxed. On our way to the hostel, we saw a male and female lion. It was an amazing.
The next morning, we woke up and started our orientation work. We had orientation in the morning and early afternoon and then went on game drives. During orientation, numerous animals such as cape buffalo, zebras and gazelles walked by, and baboons even hopped over the fence and walked around as we sat there. On the game drives, we also saw giraffes, a leopard, impala, warthogs, hyenas, jackals, flamingoes and rhino.
One particular drive was absolutely beautiful. It started raining while it was still sunny. A rainbow formed over Lake Nakuru, and we could see the lake with the small mountains and clouds in the background and buffalo eating near the lake. It was amazing. The following morning, we went up to a place called Baboon Cliff where we watched the sun rise over the park. Some baboons stay here at night and were docile in the morning, so we were able to get within a few feet of them. It was beautiful.
One day at the national park, we went to the city of Nakuru to go to the market. It was an interesting experience, and good for me to learn how to buy in the market.
We just arrived into Nairobi today (the 23rd), and I’m currently having some down time at my home stay. I hope this post finds you all well. I miss you.
Habari!
This post is from January 18th: Habari from Kenya! I’m writing this post on January 18th, but I don’t know the next time I will be able to get internet access, so I will post this as soon as I can. I hope that you are all doing well.
I flew into Nairobi this morning, and an adviser for my program was at the airport waiting for me with a taxi. As soon as I walked outside, I immediately felt the heat and enjoyed the fact that everything is green! Parts of Nairobi National Park extend to the road near the airport, so one of my first images of Kenya was seeing a group of giraffes eating and walking in the park as we drove by! It was amazing!
I stopped over at a cyber café to send a quick e-mail to my family to let them know that I arrived in Nairobi safely. After that, the cab driver took me to where I am right now, the Wildlife Parks of Kenya, where my group is staying for the night. Upon my arrival, the host took me to my room, and I set my things up. After not sleeping well most of last week because of time differential and being uncomfortable on the plane ride last night, I took a nap as I have some down time until everyone else from my program shows up somewhere between 8-10 pm.
After my nap, I found the host and she got a student who is studying at the hostel we are staying at tonight to show me where to get some food. As we were walking, I had my first interesting Kenyan experiences. First off, the hostel I’m staying at is near Nairobi National Park. About 5 minutes from our hostel, we walked by a warthog lying in the grass. Trying not to look overly excited like a stupid tourist, I just walked by. Later, I asked the student I was walking with about the commonality of animals in the area, and learned that animals may be around in this part of Nairobi as there is a lot of green space and we’re close to the park.
I flew into Nairobi this morning, and an adviser for my program was at the airport waiting for me with a taxi. As soon as I walked outside, I immediately felt the heat and enjoyed the fact that everything is green! Parts of Nairobi National Park extend to the road near the airport, so one of my first images of Kenya was seeing a group of giraffes eating and walking in the park as we drove by! It was amazing!
I stopped over at a cyber café to send a quick e-mail to my family to let them know that I arrived in Nairobi safely. After that, the cab driver took me to where I am right now, the Wildlife Parks of Kenya, where my group is staying for the night. Upon my arrival, the host took me to my room, and I set my things up. After not sleeping well most of last week because of time differential and being uncomfortable on the plane ride last night, I took a nap as I have some down time until everyone else from my program shows up somewhere between 8-10 pm.
After my nap, I found the host and she got a student who is studying at the hostel we are staying at tonight to show me where to get some food. As we were walking, I had my first interesting Kenyan experiences. First off, the hostel I’m staying at is near Nairobi National Park. About 5 minutes from our hostel, we walked by a warthog lying in the grass. Trying not to look overly excited like a stupid tourist, I just walked by. Later, I asked the student I was walking with about the commonality of animals in the area, and learned that animals may be around in this part of Nairobi as there is a lot of green space and we’re close to the park.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Dublin
Hello from Dublin! Tonight is my last night in the city, and it has been an amazing experience. Tomorrow I leave to head down to Nairobi!
So Leah and I got here Thursday morning, and arrived at our hostel, which is right on the Liffey River in downtown Dublin! It is beautiful. We went on a very interesting tour of Kilmainham Jail which was formerly used to house numerous individuals, including political prisoners in Ireland until the early to mid 1900's. Then we preceded to go out for a little bit, grab some dinner and then called it a night.
The next morning we went on our first of two walking tours in the city. We saw many interesting things on the first tour. We learned about the history of the city and Ireland as a country, and saw how the city developed over time. We saw City Hall, Dublin Castle, where Handel's "Messiah" was first performed, the river, Trinity College and Irish Parliament. Later that night we went out.
This morning we woke up and went on another tour, this time seeing a few different things. On this tour we saw parts of medieval Dublin, where the Vikings landed, the Museum of Natural History and other parts of downtown Dublin. However, on this tour, we got to go into the Chester Beatty Library. Here, Beatty donated historic religious artifacts for the Irish people. This visit was special as we saw some of the original writings of the books of Mark, Matthew and John as well as Paul's letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, as well as others. It was beautiful and fascinating to see what we read today in its original form.
As I said earlier, I leave Dublin tomorrow to fly to London and then onto Nariobi. I hope this post finds you all well and I hope to hear from you soon! God Bless!
So Leah and I got here Thursday morning, and arrived at our hostel, which is right on the Liffey River in downtown Dublin! It is beautiful. We went on a very interesting tour of Kilmainham Jail which was formerly used to house numerous individuals, including political prisoners in Ireland until the early to mid 1900's. Then we preceded to go out for a little bit, grab some dinner and then called it a night.
The next morning we went on our first of two walking tours in the city. We saw many interesting things on the first tour. We learned about the history of the city and Ireland as a country, and saw how the city developed over time. We saw City Hall, Dublin Castle, where Handel's "Messiah" was first performed, the river, Trinity College and Irish Parliament. Later that night we went out.
This morning we woke up and went on another tour, this time seeing a few different things. On this tour we saw parts of medieval Dublin, where the Vikings landed, the Museum of Natural History and other parts of downtown Dublin. However, on this tour, we got to go into the Chester Beatty Library. Here, Beatty donated historic religious artifacts for the Irish people. This visit was special as we saw some of the original writings of the books of Mark, Matthew and John as well as Paul's letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, as well as others. It was beautiful and fascinating to see what we read today in its original form.
As I said earlier, I leave Dublin tomorrow to fly to London and then onto Nariobi. I hope this post finds you all well and I hope to hear from you soon! God Bless!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
London
Hello everyone! I'm in London in the hostel back from a pub where I had some bangers and mash! So great! My time in London has been wonderful.
My friend Leah who's studying in France picked me up from the Heathrow yesterday and we took the Tube to the hostel. Luckily Leah is with me because she knows how to use the Tube, whereas I was a little lost my first few times, and she's been helping me not look more like a ridiculous tourist than I already am.
After dropping our things at the hostel, we headed over to the Tower of London, which was really interesting, giving me new insight on the history of the city. We then walked along the river and saw the Tower Bridge. After that, we took the tube over to King's Cross and did our best Harry Potter fan pose in front of platform 9 3/4.
We headed over to Picadilly Circus, London's Time Square. We walked from there to China Town, Leicster Square and around the West End. Both being exhausted, we came back to the hostel and fell asleep pretty early.
Today we saw basically the rest of London's tourist sights. We went on a scenic walk along the river, which was beautiful in snow, and saw St. Paul's Cathedral, the Globe Theater, London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament building. We crossed the river and walked into Parliament Square and took some pictures in front of Westminster Abbey. We then walked from there to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, back to Trafalgar Square, where we had lunch, and then to the National Gallery. At the National Gallery we saw some amazing art pieces, including portraits dating back to the 1500's. After a little rest back and the hostel, Leah and I went to a pub and had some traditional British food.
I leave tomorrow morning for Dublin. These last two days have been amazing. I love the city of London, and have already had some amazing experiences.
I hope this post finds you all well! Hope to hear from you soon.
My friend Leah who's studying in France picked me up from the Heathrow yesterday and we took the Tube to the hostel. Luckily Leah is with me because she knows how to use the Tube, whereas I was a little lost my first few times, and she's been helping me not look more like a ridiculous tourist than I already am.
After dropping our things at the hostel, we headed over to the Tower of London, which was really interesting, giving me new insight on the history of the city. We then walked along the river and saw the Tower Bridge. After that, we took the tube over to King's Cross and did our best Harry Potter fan pose in front of platform 9 3/4.
We headed over to Picadilly Circus, London's Time Square. We walked from there to China Town, Leicster Square and around the West End. Both being exhausted, we came back to the hostel and fell asleep pretty early.
Today we saw basically the rest of London's tourist sights. We went on a scenic walk along the river, which was beautiful in snow, and saw St. Paul's Cathedral, the Globe Theater, London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament building. We crossed the river and walked into Parliament Square and took some pictures in front of Westminster Abbey. We then walked from there to Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, back to Trafalgar Square, where we had lunch, and then to the National Gallery. At the National Gallery we saw some amazing art pieces, including portraits dating back to the 1500's. After a little rest back and the hostel, Leah and I went to a pub and had some traditional British food.
I leave tomorrow morning for Dublin. These last two days have been amazing. I love the city of London, and have already had some amazing experiences.
I hope this post finds you all well! Hope to hear from you soon.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Leaving
Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. I sit in O’Hare airport writing this post, reflecting on the last few hours, and realize that this entire leaving situation was much harder than I expected it to be. There were more tears than I was expecting from both myself and family, and find myself missing them a bit already.
While this morning was a bit of a struggle, I look forward to an amazing adventure on which I’m about to embark. The only time I’ve been out of the country was when I went to Tijuana, Mexico when I was five years old for a few hours with my family. I’ve traveled alone before within the United States, but this is a different kind of journey. I’m about to spend the next few months learning about the lives of others in different places, an experience I cannot wait to begin.
While I obviously have a bit of anxiety as I look to transition to a new and exciting stage in my life story, I can’t help but feel blessed as I look back at the support I’ve received from all of you over the past few weeks. Whether it was a prayer, monetary support, a book, a kind word or encouragement, I few times have felt more blessed in my life. I know there are people out there praying for me, and I can’t thank them enough for all they do. You all have blessed me so much, and I know that I have your love and support, as well as the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ over this trip, as well. I again cannot thank you all enough for what you’ve done for me already. I will keep you in my prayers as I head off.
Hopefully you’ll be hearing from me again something soon in the United Kingdom or Dublin! Niwasiliane(Keep in touch)!!
While this morning was a bit of a struggle, I look forward to an amazing adventure on which I’m about to embark. The only time I’ve been out of the country was when I went to Tijuana, Mexico when I was five years old for a few hours with my family. I’ve traveled alone before within the United States, but this is a different kind of journey. I’m about to spend the next few months learning about the lives of others in different places, an experience I cannot wait to begin.
While I obviously have a bit of anxiety as I look to transition to a new and exciting stage in my life story, I can’t help but feel blessed as I look back at the support I’ve received from all of you over the past few weeks. Whether it was a prayer, monetary support, a book, a kind word or encouragement, I few times have felt more blessed in my life. I know there are people out there praying for me, and I can’t thank them enough for all they do. You all have blessed me so much, and I know that I have your love and support, as well as the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ over this trip, as well. I again cannot thank you all enough for what you’ve done for me already. I will keep you in my prayers as I head off.
Hopefully you’ll be hearing from me again something soon in the United Kingdom or Dublin! Niwasiliane(Keep in touch)!!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
One Week
Hey everyone,
So here's my first post. I will attempt to update this blog as often as possible while I'm gone. I leave one week from today! I will have more posts and updates to come!
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