Ahhh it's real!

Believe it or not, I am really here. At times, it’s hard to believe it myself. I just can’t believe all of the things I have seen and learned and done in less than a week. It is so surreal that I left Chicago less than 7 days ago and now I am sitting in my bedroom in Nairobi writing to all of you! I will try to give you all the details I can (but honestly, I feel like I will likely be transcribing my entire journal onto this blog).

So after getting dropped off at O’Hare by C&J, I met up with all of the Chicago crew people, who would be flying with me to Amsterdam. I recognized a few faces immediately, and it was clear that we were going to click (out of commonality in nervousness I presume). But regardless, everyone seemed incredibly friendly and just as eager as I was to get going. The flight was long, but upon our arrival, we met up with all the other MSID (Minnesota Studies in International Development) kids in Amsterdam. Regardless of the fact that it was 7 am there, we quickly found a bar and ordered four pitchers of beer.  Before long, we all just kind of found each other. Two dozen twenty-somethings with giant backpacks (looking elated and lost) was probably not hard to miss.

The flight to Nairobi was similarly long and bizarre. To leave Chicago at 4 pm and arrive in Nairobi at 8:30 pm the following day was just really strange. By the time I got there, my body was so confused for having lived a day and a half (and ate four huge meals) in less than 16 hours of flights. The first time I looked out the window and saw desert beneath me was such a shock. Needless to say, the topography was incredible, as was the aerial view of the agriculture over Egypt. Good thing I just watched Signs and was able to recognize these designs and notify Mel in a jiffy.

We got into Nairobi at 8:30 pm, and were greeted by our MSID staff. I am continually so impressed by how much work they did before our arrival to arrange every single detail, and cater to each of us individually. I am so pleased with them, and they are so immensely qualified and committed to their work as educators, Khalif is our coordinator for the program and served as our leader for the first few days. He is such a gentle soul and genuinely cares about our well-being. Our main academic instructor is named Dr. Jama and he joined us after a few days. He has been with MSID for more than twenty years and impresses me so much. Jane, Abdul-Azizz, and Simon are our frontline staff for the semester. They are our main contacts for any concerns or issues we may be having. They are all young and vibrant and we have bonded with them a lot already. Jane is this gorgeous young woman, who was initially a bit off-putting because she is very sarcastic, but we have learned so much from her honesty. She has the most beautiful smile. Simon (who is my personal mentor for the trip) is this very soft-spoken man, originally from a pastoral coastal tribe called the Masai Mara. He is the leader for all of the coastal students (that’s me!) but the entire group will be together in Nairobi. Abdul-Azizz is the third staffer and he has brought me so much joy and laughter already. He is secretly my favorite so far. They are all so warm to us, and I have learned that Kenyans have an excellent sense of humor.

Jane, Me, Simon and & Abdul-Aziz after the last sunrise over Lake Nakuru.

After being picked up at the Jomo Kenyatta airport (named for Kenya’s first President after winning their independence from the British) by our staff, we travelled to a hostel hosted by the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya, just outside of Nairobi. It was too late to drive all the way to our destination that evening, so we stayed in the city and attended to some business downtown the next day. I was introduced to the phenomenon that is Kenyan tea that evening. There is a saying in Kenya, ‘Anytime is tea time’ and they really mean it. These people drink Chai like it’s their job. I guess that is just one of the effects of British oppression decades ago, as they take tea promptly at 10 am and 4 pm each day, and often with meals as well. Kenyans are notoriously late for everything, on average 45 minutes to an hour after they told you to be someplace or meet somewhere. This applies to every situation except tea. I’ve been putting cocoa in mine this past week when it’s available, and always lots of sugar. Its still so curious to me than Kenya exports some of the best, most potent coffee in the world, but you’d never find anyone drinking it here. I could really go for a good mug of coffee right now.

We then drove 60 miles (3 hours) to Lake Nakuru National Park for the rest of the week. This was the perfect way to transition into the African lifestyle, get to experience animals up close on daily personal safaris, build relationships with the other people on the program (who are so incredible, by the way), and relax and readjust. Everyone is from all over the country in concentrations from Nursing to Environmental Science to Biology to Political Science and the list goes on. Our entire curriculum is based in country analysis of Kenya, heavy intensive Swahili lessons, and international development and globalization theory. We spent four nights and five days in this absolutely idyllic setting, I felt like I was so spoiled all week.  For example, we were accompanied (and occasionally robbed) by dozens of baboons in our yard. I led 12 of my peers in sunrise yoga as a line of 45 zebra walked peacefully by. It’s truly been unbelievable. I’ll post all my pictures of facebook soon, but the cliffnotes include lions, water buffalo, rhinos, hippos, flamingos, etc. I am not surprised at all that I took 300 pictures in my first five days.

I knew that the driving here would be crazy, but I did not expect this at all. In addition to the fact that traffic laws are nearly nonexistent here, the streets are so packed with motorists and bikers, its wild. Death by auto accident is the number 3 cause of death for Kenyans. The streets are jammed with old vans and minibuses called mutatus, that usually cram up to 20 people into a van made for 7. On top of the fact that regardless of lights, lanes, or even direction of traffic, Kenyan drivers basically go wherever they want on the road. And to top it off, the traffic comes from the RIGHT! This is something I will need to retrain myself, as I become a Kenyan. My friend Cal nearly got smooshed on our first day in downtown because intrinsically we all look left before crossing the street. So you can imagine that driving in the left lane, clockwise around a roundabout with people, mutatus and bicycle traffic feels super weird.

One of my main concerns at this point is food. I definitely did not anticipate the food here. It is all carbs. Often times families base meals around things that are cheap and fill you up. Like potatoes, cabbage, bread, etc.  Like today, I was served a giant bowl of fries for lunch. Originally I thought this would be great, but then I met Ugali. Ugali is this cornmeal ricey starch substance that gets boiled down to a dense cake-like mass that tastes like absolutely nothing, and breaks like a nonabsorbent cookie. This is the central part of every Kenyan meal, and I reeeally don’t like it. Most of the time it is served with some sort of chicken in spiced broth or vegetables or sauce to dip it in. Plus, they eat so much! Three to four meals a day with two full plates at each. I have never gone through a meal without someone commenting at least once on how little I took or that I didn’t finish everything. There is so much pressure, especially from the host families to eat eat eat, because in Kenya plumpness is a sign of good health. Because of all the starch, it is a well-known fact that MSID girls often gain what they call the Kenya 20. Luckily, there’s a lot of fresh fruit.

Some of the group during our orientation week. 

On another health point, I hope that walking to school everyday will help out, plus all the soccer. Then again, when we were playing earlier this week I think I was in for maybe three minutes until I was so overtired I had to stop. Contributors: heat, altitude, ex-smoker. Even ten years of soccer couldn’t keep me in the Kenyan game for five minutes.  In other news: I quit smoking! It was a lot easier than I thought this first week, but I am a firm believer that a change in environment, plus all the distractions, have helped a lot. Only one other student on the program smokes, so it’s good that I’m not around it too much, unlike my smoker clique in MPLS. Cross your fingers for arf to stay quit.

Every day so far we have been up before the sun with activities all day; it almost feels like African summer camp. One of my classmates 21^st birthday was last night, which was also the last night in Nakuru, so we had a bonfire and celebrated. We sang songs and celebrated our last night together before splitting up for our homestays. It was such a surreal way to spend the evening, and celebrate with Marie for her birthday.

We went to markets in town bought mangos and bananas for ten cents each. They use Kenyan shillings here, which will take some getting used to, along with innumerable other things. Kenyans call us ‘mzungu’ which means wanderer or traveler and is a nonderrogatory term for a white person. Basically just meaning you’re a tourist and you don’t know what you’re doing. Some of the students have had an issue with the title, especially when walking on the street and a child yells ‘Look, a mzungu!’ and all the passersby laugh. It really doesn’t bother me though. I figure the resentment just comes from the fact that in the US, white young people have never been called any term before that really applied to them specifically, as it was always assume that one was white unless otherwise corrected. It is my opinion that this sudden racial categorization has caught many people off guard, as most young people are fully unaware of the astronomical white privilege they posses. It is the general opinion that white people in Kenya are filthy rich (and we are here as donors) or experts (people told me how smart I was at the market like 12 times yesterday). Generations of repression under British imperialism still influences the fact that although we are foreigners, it is assumed that white people are automatically in positions of authority. It is not an unlikely situation that an undergrad sophomore from Wisconsin would be pressures and preferred to perform a surgery in a Kenyan hospital, or a far more qualified post-medical school residency intern. So that puts a lot of the health care interns in difficult positions of flirty with the lines of what is legally and morally appropriate responsibility to assume on the job. Often times the lines our blurred, and if something bad happens during a surgery and a life is lost, the overwhelming sentiment is not of blame or anger, but that God must’ve had a plan for this person. That shiz does not fly in the U.S.

Speaking of internships!!!! I recently was notified of my internship placement, which will consist of the last 7 weeks of my semester after completing my 6 weeks of academic coursework in Nairobi, the capital. To my extreme delight, I was placed in the coastal city of Mombasa in southern Kenya, that is one of the most visited cities in the country, and on the eastern coast of Africa. I will literally be on the Indian Ocean. I am more than happy. Originally, I feared they would keep me in Nairobi because of the urban scholastic background, but Mombasa is a dream come true. It is extremely hot during the days (96 on average?) and real muggy and humid at night. This is compared to the 80 and 55 that much of the rest of Kenya experiences on the reg. SO looks like I’m gonna be buying some flowy dresses. I will likely be staying with a Muslim family (yay!) as at least 70% of the city practice Islam. What an amazing opportunity to learn, I can’t wait. Plus the crew of people going down there with me will be a blast. So happy I brought two swimsuits.

PRETTY GIRAFFE! There is a National Park right in Nairobi, which is so rare for how large it is (around 3 million people). This is where one would come to see the contrast of the Safari capital of the world, and the ballooning modernization and growth of an urban center. 

As I type this, I am sitting on my bed at the home of my first homestay. We got dropped off at school today and picked up by our families. I spent the day unpacking and having separate hangout time with each of my host sisters. Natasha, 24, is about to get her master’s in law, and even the brief conversations we had today were so stimulating for me. Then there’s Cynthia, who I share a bedroom with, and is your average 18 year-old. She recently finished high school but is waiting for her test results to confirm her commencement. She is fluent in French and studies that daily while she waits for results at the end of February. She loves modern American music, and we were jamming out to Drake, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyonce, etc., on the radio all day. My youngest sister is Angel, 12, who is a trip. She is so hyperactive and nosey, immediately she hid from me and left her friend alone (who came to the house literally for 1 minute just to see Me and leave). She goes through all of my things all the time, and is constantly distracted and moving on to a new activity every few minutes. My hostmother is Theresa, but I am to call her Mama, as it is disrespectful to call a matriarchal figure by her first name, especially with the age difference. Janet, 30, is their live in house helper. Since services are so inexpensive here, it is common place for families to have a house help (regardless of their socioeconomic background) who often takes on the role of cook, maid, nanny, etc. This is an aspect that I will really have to get used to, because I’m not really comfortable being served like this, but culturally this is the norm. I will likely spend most of my time with Janet and Angel, as the others are really busy and won’t be home much.  They have all been so welcoming and warm, I almost teared up during dinner because the 6 minute prayer was all for me and every aspect of my journey here from safety in travel, for my parents and sister, for school and learning, for comfort, flexibility and openness, and that I don’t get too homesick (all mentioned separately and thoroughly). They are so happy to have me and I feel the same. Plus Kenyan’s watch a ton of television and movies, so it is likely I will come home stocked with oodles of DVDs, roughly 40 cents each.

I’ll write more soon, but know that I am safe and happy and settling. School starts on Monday and I’ve gotta learn my way around town. Pictures soon to come!

All my love,

arf. from africa