Emily's Kenyan Adventure

I’ve been in Kenya almost 2 weeks now (!!) and it really does feel so much longer. The first week went pretty slowly but now it seems to be zooming by. I still have a lot of week one to write about so I’ll just get straight down to it.

Ellie and I were woken up quite early on Sunday morning due to two things. Firstly it was surprisingly cold (we’ve learnt not to leave the window open at night now), and secondly the cockerels that live on the street like to announce the morning in the way they do best, and then repeat this routine over and over just to make their point. How I love those cockerels. We also have a dog next door that likes a good bark every now and again, and a lot of random stray cats, but they’re generally rather considerate noise-wise.

Our house is pretty simple, but in Kenya it’s considered very nice. We don’t have a house girl like most of the other houses round here, however Nancy was saying there is actually quite little to do so having a house girl seems a little pointless. We have a separate room for the toilet and shower (toilet is minus a seat, you get used to it), and the shower also serves as a washing machine. We wash our clothes by hand in a bucket, which is rather simple and a lot quicker than a washing machine I must say. And hanging our clothes out in the hot sun means they usually dry pretty quickly too. The only problem with the shower though is that it’s far too hot when the hot water switch is on (especially hot if you have painful sunburn!) and too cold when it’s off. So we found it’s easier to wash using a bucket of warm water, or switch the switch every now and again so you get the warm “in between” water before you have to jump out for fear of burning or the opposite. But it cleans us, and that’s all we really care about after a hot day in the dust

Anyways, back to the Sunday. We had our oh-so-Kenyan breakfast of Weetabix and then got ourselves all ready for Karanja to pick us up at 9. However this was 9 Kenyan time, so 45 minutes later he arrived and we went to pick up “the Becky’s” (Becca and Becky) and the others. We then started driving somewhere, but none of us were entirely sure where. We were driving through less built up areas and past huge fields that were filled with what looked like enormous pineapples, when all of a sudden Richard stopped the van/mini bus (whatever you call it) and pointed out a lonely ostrich just wandering across the road. They’re surprisingly big and impressive creatures. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a picture as it all happened quite quickly, but I think the others may have taken one so I’ll see if I can get hold of it...

After a little while more of driving we reached the equator, yes the actual equator, so....photo time! We were shown the demonstration of water going down the plug hole on the northern and southern hemispheres. I was very surprised at how effective it was just a few metres north or south of the equator, and then when the water was placed in the middle (middle earth...mwa haha) the water would simply flow straight down. Karanja then tried to defy the laws of physics by forcing the water to spin in the opposite direction. Whilst I am on the topic of our Kenyan dad, I got a text from him today in response to what I wrote about him in my recent blog. He said he will surely kill me. I love you too Karanja

As we continued on the road the weather started getting v v hot, not so fun when the back three seats were now holding four as Mary had also come with us. Opening the windows didn’t always help either, it felt as though someone was just blowing a hairdryer in your face. The road became very very very bumpy indeed with mega potholes that caused Richard to swerve round unexpectedly, making the entire bus sway ominously. Next adventure: Kenyan style bogs. I.e. hole in the ground. We all sort of stood at the door looking in, debating it for a while and trying to figure out the best strategy. But it’s not as bad as it seems, and you get used to them. I suppose it’s technically more hygienic than an unwashed toilet seat, but let’s move on from the lavy topic shall we.

After more driving (and a 20 minute stop where Karanja, Richard and Mary left us in the stifling van, We briefly thought they had forgotten us...) we finally arrived at lake Baringo Reptile centre, a wee “centre” in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. Here we saw and held snakes, a rather mini one then a mahoosive python. Then over to see some crocs (!!!), who were just chilling in the sun, a mega big ant hill, and some dozy looking tortoises.

We reluctantly returned to the baking van for more driving about. Mary estimated the temperature was about 34 degrees, but it felt much hotter, something I am certainly not used to as I live in good old Scotland. We stopped for lunch, aaand back in the van. To be honest it seems most of the day was spent driving, so we ended up playing car games such as the legendary “eye-spy”, 20 questions, and “when I went shopping I bought...” but changed it to “when I was in Kenya I saw” which included things like “ potholes” and “a slimy green crocodile with its mouth open”.

We arrived at Lake Bogoria to see the famous flamingos, which were not as I expected to be honest. They are a lot smaller, their bodies being the same size as roughly a seagull. But they were still very beautiful birds. Supposedly although Lake Nakuru is famous for flamingos, Bogoria actually has more now. Could just be rumour, I no know. Roaming free were some zebra, (as I said, common as cows) and my friend the warthog. They really are such funny little things it is a compliment to be called a Pumba (pig for all those that haven’t seen lion king, shame on you) so they say... mmh, cultural differences Bogoria also has some hot springs (and I mean hot!), so hot you could boil an egg. And boil eggs we did Boiled for exactly the right time, so the middle is cooked but just a tad runny....how I like them

For one last time, back in the van, stopping once for Karanja to buy what appeared to be coal from the side of the road. The drive back to Nakuru took about 2 hours methinks, so it was dark by the time we arrived home. We then suddenly realised how dusty and dirty we all were, as the dust from the road blew in the open windows as we were driving. So we went home to a much needed shower

Lea our Kenyan sister taught us some card games, such as the brilliantly named AK-47, very similar to spoons...minus the spoons. Instead of trying to get a run or 4 of the same number, one is trying to get a 4, 7, ace and king hence the name AK-47. Was quite good fun until Lea realised we were beating her every time. Luck seemed to be on the side of the muzungu that night

I’ve rambled quite a bit and I told myself I shouldn’t write so much as last time...but I think I have.
Again I have so much more to say about the first week so I’m guessing another blog will be on its way very soon.

I hope everybody is well, missing you all lots! Looking forward to the next 2 volunteers coming next week, then 2 more in March and then India and Krisitan come out in April, which I am very much looking forward to!
Take care my fellow muzungus!
Em

Well, here I am. We’ve been in Kenya for roughly a week now, and I definitely feel like I’ve been here a lot longer. I’m also thinking I would happily stay here forever now 
A lot has happened in this past week and it equals to roughly 22 pages in my diary/journal, over 500 photos, 5 videos and one heck of a sunburn- be warned the African sun does not agree with the skin of a muzungu. (To those non Swahili-speaking people, muzungu means “white person”)

Well to start at the beginning, we arrived in Nairobi on Friday after an 8 hour flight during which I feared for my life every time the seatbelt signs were switched on due to turbulence. I’ll admit, I’m not the best flyer, I was however very excited at the prospect of the on-flight films, my mental age dropped to that of an excited toddler. Anyways, we arrived in Nairobi and were greeted by the warm heat, a nice change after the British January. We were met at the airport by our new Kenyan dad Karanja, who then took us to our hotel in Nairobi. On the drive I was being a classic tourist, hanging out the window taking pictures of anything and everything such as the random cows and goats that just chill at the side of the road. I fell in love with Africa pretty quickly on that drive.

We had a well needed nap at the hotel then went out for our first lunch in Kenya - pizza. Yes very African I know, but we definitely enjoyed it and Karanja complained we weren’t eating enough. Kenyans like their women plump so we’re often being urged to eat more and more. After our lunch we were off to the “giraffe centre”, which (as we are a group of 8 girls) excited us a lot. We got to do the whole touristy thing of feeding the giraffes and “kissing” them (holding the food between our lips and letting the giraffe eat it from there), which may sound rather unhygienic but we were told that giraffe saliva is actually an antiseptic or something like that. Well, you learn something new every day.There were also a couple of warthogs there, and I have to say, warthogs in real life are actually pretty cool. They have these brilliant funny tails that wave around and then stick up vertically when they sprint off on their little legs. Like their own wee aerial  as well as warthogs and giraffes there were a few tortoises, taking a nap in the (rather hot) sun. They didn’t really do much though, just napped.
After buying some postcards and a bracelet which says, wait for it....”Kenya” on it (in case I forget where I am), we were back in the van, this time on our way to a Kenyan pub/bar/restaurant to have an African beer - Tusker. Karanja wasn’t too impressed that only 3 of us actually had a beer, most of the girls aren’t really beer drinkers. Karanja also informed us that Kenyans were the only ones that ever had warm beer by choice (warm as in not chilled). I didn’t think it would be polite to mention that normally ale in UK is drank “warm” too as we’d only just met Karanja and he might “kill us”. That seems to be Karanja’s favourite phrase. “If they do not cook you nice food - I will kill them”, “if you do not like this food...I will kill you”. Karanja means well but I have an image of him being the only one left in the world one day.

Day 2 we started our journey to our new home Nakuru, but taking a lot of stops to do “fun things” as our Kenyan dad would say. They were fun mind. Karanja arranged to meet us at our hotel at 10 (British time he specified i.e. on time), so we were ready to go at 10 as was Karanja. Richard however (he drove us in the van/mini bus) was not. He turned up about 45mins later. We then drove around Nairobi, stopping at a public view point overlooking the city and then a public park. The park was I suppose similar to one you would find in the UK, just a lot prettier (lots of flowers and greenery) and hotter. We were then informed we would be meeting Karanja’s cousins, cue monkeys. Monkeys! The only animals we get in parks in UK are stupid squirrels. We got to feed the monkeys, have them climb on our shoulders and all those adorable things. Although I now understand the phrase “cheeky monkey” literally: the little devil snatched a whole bag of nuts out my hand when I wasn’t looking. Monkey 1, Emily 0. They could be quite greedy so I liked to tease them by holding out an empty hand and watch them snatch at thin air, all in vain. 1 all. We also had our first encounter with a glue addict, supposedly very common here. He was walking round asking for monkey nuts (or so we think) with a bottle of glue between his lips, and holding out a plastic bag as thought waiting for something to fall from the sky into it. I know not.

Once we’d left the city we had a brilliant view of the rift valley, and stopped at one of the many many view points, where lakes and mountains in the valley were pointed out to us by friends of Richards (it would appear he knows everyone). As we were on a rather steep hill we were standing on a wooden floor on stilts of some sort, and it did not feel safe. I kid you not when I say I felt the whole thing sway in the wind at one point. I ended up buying an elephant ornament, which is nice but I never really wanted to buy it in the first place. I did manage to haggle though, from 1000 ksh to 500, I was quite proud of myself. But after a week here I realise that is still quite expensive. Especially when I didn’t really want it. Present from Kenya Mummy and Daddy?

Moving on, we stopped at Lake Naivasha for a boat trip, where we saw lots of birds (including massive pelicans and massive eagles) and....hippo! Such strange big things. Our boat did then decide to break down just after we had passed a big group of the hippos, not surprising as we often drove (do you say drove in a boat?) through all the weeds, not around them. But after a few minutes our Kenyan, Victor, fixed it and we were on our way again. At one point a when we were just minding our own business a huge bubble erupted right next to/underneath our boat, and as we looked back to see what it was a biig hippo stuck its head up out of the water. Victor seemed to think it would be a good idea to turn the boat around to get a better look, but we’d rather keep our distance.
After getting off the boat we walked through a field in which wildebeest (correct spelling?) and zebra were just walking around, although we didn’t get very close as they would run away. We were so amazed to be walking around zebra but we later realized that zebra were just as common as cows. And don’t get me started on how common cows are. You often see a few just chilling at the side of the road, or a big herd crossing the roads, causing the traffic to wait. Cows as well as goats and donkeys. And on the topic of roads, drivers are crazy here. There aren’t really any rules when it comes to driving. There isn’t really such thing as lanes, indicating, or speed limits. I did see some traffic lights in Nairobi but they didn’t work. Even if they did i doubt anyone would follow them anyway.

We finally arrived in Nakuru at about 7.30, by which time it was already dark. We met up with our new Kenyan mothers, and went to our new homes and unpacked. Ellie and I are living together with our mum Nancy. Nancy has a daughter (who we think is called...lea...) who is 21, and two sons, Eustace (?)Who is almost 24 and Kevin who is very almost 18. There is another daughter but she doesn’t live here anymore. Ellie and share a room, which isn’t big but suits us fine. Within an hour of unpacking i had all my photos up on the wall. I was worried they would make me homesick, but they haven’t. It’s nice to wake up to 
I’ll write more hopefully soon as i have so much more to say on this week. So for now hope you all in UK are well and enjoying the cold weather as i nurse my sunburn 
Em

So today marks the four week countdown until my journey begins with a flight from London to Nairobi.....eek!
Just over a year ago now I made the pretty big decision to spend 6 months of my gap year in Kenya, in the provincial capital of Kenya's Rift Valley province: Nakuru. Here I will be living with a Kenyan host family, along with other volunteers, and spend my time teaching in a local primary school. Mainly we’ll be teaching English but other topics are welcomed so hopefully we’ll end up teaching a good mix of subjects. I think I’ll be taking my flute out which will no doubt come in useful in the classroom, and previous volunteers have bought instruments for the children which seems a good idea, it’d be great to teach some music. Equally I’m really looking forward to do a little learning myself on African music, I’ve already treated myself to a couple of CD’s of Kenyan music.....which I’ve yet to listen to...

I’ve spent a year getting myself all excited for my placement, but it’s always seemed like an age away. Now it’s suddenly 4 weeks to go and I’ve realised there is so little time and so much to be done! I’ve started buying myself some “summer” clothes, as when I arrive it’ll be coming into the hottest period of the year (usually around February to March), which to my knowledge isn’t actually all that hot, in the 20 to 30 degrees roughly. But still, I’m looking forward to being able to leave the house without wearing warm coats, scarves and multiple layers of socks as I’ve had to on many occasions during this snowy winter. Not going to lie, I don’t think I’ll be pitying you back at home when I’m putting on the sun cream in January
My visa arrived last week, very exciting stuff, my passport isn’t so bare now. Filling out the application for it was a bit of an effort and a half though. Spent a good ten minutes at the post office sorting out the postal order (a completely new thing to me) and the different envelopes and random bits of paper, but it seemed to work out in the end. I’m up to date with all my vaccinations, and my malaria tablets are on their way hopefully. I’m also in the midst of making my own kit list, looking through lists that Changing Worlds have sent us, and also the kit list of a volunteer called Katie who is out in Kenya at the moment and will be there when we arrive in January. I think in January there are roughly 7 (??) of us going out, then if my memory serves me correctly Joel and Steph will be coming out at the very beginning of February, followed a month later by Beth and David... and perhaps some more volunteers. As I haven’t already mentioned, Changing Worlds is the Gap year company that I’ve organised my placement with. They have placements in roughly 17 different countries in the world and I think they can range from 3 to 6 months. Actually two of my friends are now seriously considering placements with changing worlds and both had interviews within the past week.
Anyways, all that has to be done from now until January is basically buying kit I think. So that includes clothes (however we can buy most of our clothes out there, which means I don’t need to be getting that much now....meaning I must limit myself to the amount of clothes I buy, which as a member of the female sex I find this rather difficult), medical supplies, materials for the school, and general bits and bobs. Also in January I will say goodbye to being a brunette and returning to my natural hair colour: blonde. I have to say that’s something I’m not really looking forward to actually. Partly because after a year of having brown hair it’ll be a surprise to see my reflection as a blonde, and partly because I’m worried it’ll go wrong....but to lessen the chance of a disaster I’ll go to a hair dressers this time.
Well, I think that’s me done for now. When I’m in Kenya I’ll hopefully be able to write here once a week on average, and hopefully it’ll be more interesting than this entry
So....Merry Christmas to all! See you in the next year...