Bday & Conferences

The month of January came and went a lot more quickly than I had anticipated. I had a great birthday party. It was a joint birthday with Atieno a weekend earlier than the 27. Our site coordinator took the Kenya volunteers out to this really nice hotel where we had a great meal and some chocolate cake. We had a great time and got to see the different elevated bungalows where guest can stay located in the Karen area.

I also had another party, this time with a friend of mine named Ben. We had a group of people over and shared some great cake and some great lemon meringue pie! It was great to have all of them over and nice to meet a few new friends.

As we moved into February, there came to be more and more office work to be done. We had another training session for community leaders in which we got to hear different people share how they have begun to organize their communities so they advocate for the needs and issues that they are facing. In addition, the office did a small civic education so that the people, even ourselves, could begin to understand the changes that will be made in government in the coming months. The whole thing was a great success and it was also insightful to hear the different leaders share what difficulties they had when working in their communities and the strategies that they use to overcome them.

I was also called to help with another conference, which another person from the office was leading. Dr. Seed joined the office about the same time I got to Kenya. He is developing a curriculum for theological education in different schools and colleges in Kenya. This past week he had his first lectures at Carlial College for three days. I was helping managing the time and making sure that all the participants had received the right materials and handouts. This was my first theological education discussion that I have ever heard and I must say that I enjoyed learning more about this topic and understand a little more about how it plays out in the context of Kenyan culture. 

Carnivores Restaurant

Thursday 3rd was a great day. A visit from Rob’s parents and an afternoon in the Masaai market with Fiona was a good way to start. We had a great time bargaining for prices and some of us bought a little too much that day. Unfortunately I did not buy anything that day but it was nice to spend time with all the YAVs.

Afterward we all went to wait for the taxi that was going to take us to dinner. Minutes went by and then hours. Finally the taxi got there, but we found that it was only one car when we had asked for a van to take all 7 of us. So, instead of waiting for another taxi to get there we did it the Kenyan way and all pilled into the back of the car. It was a great bounding experience and we had plenty of time for bounding on the way to the restaurant, which was like a 30-minute drive.

In the end all was mostly forgotten after we got to the restaurant. Carnivores is a buffet style restaurant that caters to meat lovers. With a variety of different meats that include beef, pork, lamb, crocodile, ostrich, chicken, among others it’s hard to keep track of what you are eating at any given time. I ate way too much that night and tried some very interesting things.

One of the more interesting parts of the restaurant experience was seeing three cats that would walk around in between the tables. They didn’t really do much more than just walk around as if you were not there. It’s also important to note here that the cats that I saw were all fat. You could just tell that they were well fed.

Another cool thing about that night at Carnivores was that there were about 3 or 4 different people who were celebrating their birthdays. This means that the staff would come out and sing happy birthday 4 different times. So we did a lot of clapping because when you are satiated that is pretty much all that you can do.

Museum

A few weeks ago some of the YAVs and I went to visit the Nairobi National Museum. After taking two different matatus from our apartment and walking a little ways we arrived at your destination. We had wanted to go to the museum in the morning but unbeknownst to use the weather had decided that it was going to rain that day; and rain it did. We had to wait until the rain lighted up before agreeing that we were still going to make it to the museum. In the end we reasoned that if we had to be indoors that today than we should spend that time in the museum where there is lots to look at and learn.

The combined ticket for the Museum and the Snake House was only 600 shilling (around $7). We started with the indoor tour of museum, which included a Bird’s of East Africa exhibit, Hall of Mammals, Cradle of Humankind, cultural and historical exhibits, and modern art from local artist. I enjoyed looking at all the bird exhibit because of the vast diversity and subtle differences between each family. It took us a good 3 hours to venture into all the rooms and see everything.

The snack house was located in another building that was open to the air. The snakes were kept in glass cages with a heat lamp. However, in the middle of the courtyard there were grass and a few small trees all box in by a cement wall. Visitors were able to look down and observer turtles and small garden snacks walking around and perching in the trees. I am very glad that I got to do this with a few other YAVs because my mother would not want to visit this part of the museum at all.

On the way back we got caught in the rain again but we soon found a matatu that took us home. Still trying to get a hang of the different matatu numbers and what rout each of them take. I am sure that by the end of the year I will have a better grasp on such things. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning in Kenya started with my favorite meal of the day aka Breakfast! Breakfast was comprised of Christmas bacon and eggs as well as Christmas Mangos. Nairobi Chapel’s joint Christmas service started at 10:30 with Christmas carols to open and a message about the meaning of Christmas. The afternoon finished with a Christmas lunch at our sight coordinator’s house.

In many ways this meal was similar to what you might have in the United States on Christmas with a little twist. I had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, salad, spiced rice, beef ribs, macaroni and cheese, christmas cookies, carrot cake, apple pie, and red velvet cake. The best part of it was sharing the meal with my group of YAVs as well as Bob and Kristi Rice (Presbyterian Mission Co-workers). I definitely ate too much and we stayed well into the afternoon.

The day ended with and exchange of gifts. Us YAVs had done Secret Santa and after we finished eating Christmas lunch/dinner we gave our gifts to one another. It was great to have everyone there and take a picture in front of the Christmas tree. And just as I thought that the night couldn’t get better, Phyllis sent us home with left over cookies and cake!

Although it was nice being with the other YAVs, Phyllis’s family, and friends, there were still things that I missed having this year. One of the major differences with having Christmas in the southern hemisphere is that the weather is hot and sunny. It seemed vary strange to have a warm and bright weather on Christmas when you are use to having cooler temperatures.

Another part of Christmas that I missed this year is the public expression. While people in Kenya may celebrate Christmas to a larger extent in their own homes, you don’t tend to see many public expressions of Christmas decorations as you drive around the city. The exceptions are mostly the Malls where there are lights strung up and Christmas trees. Most of the houses in Kenya have protective wall with a gate at the front, which don’t allow you to see inside. But even the apartments that have balconies or the windows looking out to the road don’t have any lights or Christmas decorations hanging in or around them. This provides for a very different environment in which to have Christmas.

This has led me to ponder if we YAVs are part of very few people how really like to celebrate Christmas both publically and privately. However, this is truly false because everyone I spoke with ask me if I had had a nice Christmas. I even received calls from people from my office that wanted to tell me Merry Christmas and ask how my Christmas has gone.

In conclusion I want to send some shout outs to the world best parents Ruth & Hunter, Ndaya, Andrew, Lloyd-Sidles, Brand Clan, Kaku & Grand Paw Max, Jess & Derek, Doug & Christina, Beth, Meredith, Wesley, Paw Paw & June, The Farrell’s, The Irby’s, Crescent Hill Pres, The Welches, Bethany, and Chela.

I miss you all!

First Retreat

Monday the 17^th we all went on our first YAV retreat of the year. Nicole and Gina flew in from Tanzania a few days before the retreat. On Monday morning our guide, George picked us up from our respective houses and brought us to Phyllis’s (site coordinators) house. After a nice lunch and refreshments, we took off with Phyllis and her family leading the way in their car. Phyllis surprised us by taking us on a Safari at an animal reserve where we stayed for two nights. It was a first time for many of us to go on a Safari and to stay at a luxurious camping/hotel located within the reserve itself.

Located close to Mt Kenya, Sweetwaters Tented Camp and the Ol Pejeta Conservency reserve are a great place to go if you want to get out of Nairobi and see the wildlife. Rob and I shared a spacious and plush tent that came equipped with two beds with comforters and hot water bottles, toilet, sink, and shower (with hot water). A lounge area where me and the other YAVs drank cups of hot tea is right beside a floodlit waterhole. Our own tents opened to the same waterhole where many waterbucks, zebras, and birds would gather.

The whole experience was great. It was a little hard to get up at 6:30am to start he Safaris but completely worth it. Most of the animals are out and about in the mornings and retreat into shaded areas once 12pm comes around. I was really shocked about how close that our guide could get us to the animals. This was nice because my camera does not have a good zoom on it. At night I was most thankful for the hot water bottles because it got really really cold.

  

The first time we went out we got rained on a little. We went out in the van and our driver opened the roof so that we could stand up and see all around us. This was nice but it also means that water was able to get into the van. The second morning we went was better. The sun came out early and the light provided lots of good opportunity for good pictures. In only two days we got to see elephants, buffalo, impala, zebras, cheetahs, lions, rhinos, and others.